Self-inflicted wounds and a goal-line collapse in Rio leave Dallas reeling. Despite Brandon Aubrey’s heroics, the Cowboys’ inability to stop Derrick Henry proves fatal in a heartbreaking finish.
The Dallas Cowboys suffered a tough 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium in Rio on Sunday.
With the Cowboys' defense again questionable at times, as injuries are piling up, Brian Schottenheimer's offense had the ball on the Ravens' two-yard line facing a first down, yet couldn't punch it in, instead settling for a field goal.
Brandon Aubrey tied things up with seven seconds left as overtime loomed, but Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers for a 27-yard gain to set up a Tyler Loop field goal, which he converted.
The Cowboys had several self-inflicted wounds throughout the game, but the biggest ones came in the final minute.
Prior to the game, we highlighted five things the Cowboys had to do in order to walk out with a win. Let's see how they did.
1 - Curtail Derrick Henry's influence: Grade C
The defense started well, stopping Henry on fourth down on Baltimore's first drive, and held him to just six yards on four carries through the opening two drives.
But after that, Henry ate, ending his day with 89 yards and 2 TDs from 26 carries.
But the Cowboys' defense did get a huge third-down stop with Baltimore needing one yard, and then a fourth-down stop late in the fourth quarter as Jaishawn Barham made himself known.
So, the defense got some wins, but Henry still totaled 89 yards and a couple touchdowns.
2 - Offense has to be perfect: Grade C
Dak Prescott and the offense had been up and down for most of the game, but started hot, racing out to a 10-0 lead.
They cooled a touch, but then found their groove in the second half after a Jake Ferguson fumble and an Aubrey field goal was blocked. After that, Dallas scored on three of their next four possessions.
The one they didn't was a three-and-out with five minutes left.
But what will keep Dallas up at night is that the offense had the ball facing a 1st and 2 at the Ravens' two -yard line with a chance to win the game, and they stalled out, settling for an Aubrey field goal.
GOTI had to get it done there...and it didn't.
3 - Contain Lamar: Grade C
Lamar finished with 50 yards from six carries, as he had runs of 21, 17, and 12, but for the most part, the Cowboys curtailed his running threat.
The 17-yard run helped set up the go-ahead touchdown.
Not a vintage Lamar performance, but much like the entire Ravens team in Rio, he did just enough.
4 - No self-inflicted wounds: Grade F
Where do we start? Dallas on one drive, had 68 yards worth of penalties.
The two failed fourth down calls, one of which saw Javonte Williams fumble, then the Terence Steele holding call that negated a third-and-nine conversion from George Pickens.
But wait, there's more.
Two Aubrey flags on kickoff for kicking the football out of bounds (Ravens started at the 40-yard line both times).
And perhaps the worst was a false start on Luke Schoonmaker as the Cowboys had the ball at the two-yard line late in the fourth quarter with a touchdown to win the game.
Just awful all the way around.
5 - Don't play scared: Grade C
The Cowboys won the coin toss and deferred, but luckily, the defense forced a three-and-out.
The two fourth-down calls were right, in my opinion; it was just a lack of execution. But again, we go back to that final sequence on offense, with the ball at the two-yard line: where was Williams?
And don't even get us started on the defense Christian Parker played with seven seconds left that allowed a game-winning field goal.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer after the game was asked to grade himself as a play-caller. He went with an "F.''
Our Mike Fisher half-jokes, "That's too high.''
Brutal stuff. ... and a bunch of "C's'' ... that in the end do indeed add up to an "F.''
