Cowboys vs. Ravens: Winners and losers

· Yahoo Sports

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The Dallas Cowboys traveled more than 5,000 miles to Brazil for their Week 3 meeting with the Baltimore Ravens, and the first NFL game played at the Maracanã Stadium produced plenty to talk about. It was a dramatic finish that left Dallas returning home after losing to the Ravens 34-31 in literally the final second of the game.

Dallas had stretches where it looked capable of controlling the game, particularly through its rushing attack, but Baltimore repeatedly found ways to punish mistakes and attack a Cowboys defense dealing with significant injuries.

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Some players strengthened their case with excellent individual performances, while other areas of the roster had a much more difficult afternoon. Here are this week’s Cowboys winners and losers from today’s tense and disappointing loss.

Winner: Javonte Williams

If there was one thing Dallas badly needed to find in Brazil, it was a running game. Javonte Williams provided it.

After being held to 41 rushing yards against the Giants and just 30 yards against Washington, Williams finally found room to operate against Baltimore. He reached 98 rushing yards on 19 carries, with one touchdown, averaging 5.2 yards per attempt, and consistently gave Dallas manageable situations.

What made the performance particularly encouraging was how different it looked compared with the opening two weeks. There were hard runs between the tackles, patience behind his blockers and, most importantly, explosive plays. Dallas has spent the opening weeks looking for evidence that its rushing attack could become a genuine part of the offense rather than something used simply to keep defenses honest.

Winner: T.J. Bass

Tyler Smith cannot return quickly enough, but T.J. Bass continues to make the Cowboys feel considerably better about surviving without him.

Bass entered this game as one of Dallas’ better performers through the opening two weeks. According PFF grades, his 71.1 overall grade ranked eighth on the team, with his pass protection a highlight of his strength. 

The assignment became considerably harder against Baltimore’s defensive front, but Bass continued to hold his own while also being part of Dallas’ best rushing performance of the young season. That matters because the Cowboys haven’t been getting enough movement from their offensive line. Dallas’ own staff pointed out during the week that Williams had regularly been dealing with contact behind the line of scrimmage and that the absence of Smith was being felt.

Williams was getting great success when he got behind Bass and Tyler Guyton, this was a big stress point for the Ravens defense. 

Winner: Jaishawn Barham

This was not a perfect game from Jaishawn Barham, but it might have been his most encouraging one yet.

Early on, the rookie linebacker looked like exactly that, a rookie trying to diagnose one of the most difficult offenses in football. Lamar Jackson’s ability to hold the football on option plays, Derrick Henry’s downhill running and Baltimore’s misdirection repeatedly forced Dallas’ linebackers to make decisions in a hurry. Barham was caught out on some of those early snaps. What matters is how he responded.

As Dallas fought its way back into the game, Barham became noticeably more decisive. Instead of waiting for plays to develop, he started attacking downhill and getting into the backfield. One of his biggest moments came midway through the fourth quarter with Dallas protecting a 28-24 lead. Henry took the ball to the left side, but Barham shot into the play and dropped him for a loss on fourth down. He made more impactful plays to stress the Baltimore ground game and these are exactly the type of plays Dallas needed from its rookie linebacker in the that moment. 

Loser: DaRon Bland

This was always going to be one of the toughest assignments of the season for Dallas’ secondary, and DaRon Bland had an afternoon that was more frustrating than productive.

Bland was involved in a costly pass interference call as Baltimore tested Dallas downfield, adding to a Cowboys penalty total that repeatedly made life harder on the defense. Against Lamar Jackson, giving away free yardage is particularly damaging because Baltimore already forces defenders to account for so much before the ball is even thrown.

The larger problem was that Dallas needed its most experienced cornerback to help stabilize an injury-hit secondary, and Baltimore continued generating advantageous situations against the back end of the defense.

Bland isn’t solely responsible for those problems, but when you’re the established starter surrounded by backups and inexperienced players, the expectations become higher. This wasn’t the kind of stabilizing performance Dallas needed from him.

Bland ended his day with one tackle, zero pass breakups, and a long list of targets for catches against him, including a TD. 

Loser: Field-goal unit

This one shouldn’t be placed solely on Brandon Aubrey. Aubrey had already converted from 28 and 38 yards and once again looked perfectly comfortable kicking in conditions that had generated plenty of discussion before the game. 

Dallas sent Aubrey out for a 59-yard attempt while trailing 17-13. Baltimore got penetration and Korie Jackson blocked the kick, immediately giving the Ravens life. What happened next made the mistake considerably more painful.

Derrick Henry broke loose for 29 yards on Baltimore’s next possession and the Ravens eventually reached the end zone, stretching the advantage from four points to 11.

That’s why this goes down against the entire field-goal unit rather than Aubrey individually. On a long attempt, protection has to hold up long enough for one of the NFL’s strongest legs to get the football away cleanly. Dallas didn’t do that.

Loser: Secondary depth

This isn’t necessarily about blaming one backup defensive back. It’s about Dallas discovering just how quickly injuries can expose the bottom of a depth chart.

The Cowboys entered Brazil without Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Cobie Durant. Hooker is recovering from a fractured forearm, Locke suffered a torn plantar fascia and Durant has been dealing with a hamstring strain. 

That left Dallas asking considerably more from players such as Markquese Bell, Alijah Clark and Shavon Revel. Baltimore eventually found them.

Late in the third quarter, the Ravens started producing explosive plays almost one after another. Matt Hibner gained 21 yards, Rashod Bateman followed with a 31-yard reception, and Zay Flowers then opened the fourth quarter by taking an end-around 20 yards to the Dallas 3-yard line. That sequence demonstrated exactly what Dallas feared entering the game.

The starters don’t just give a defense better individual players. They allow the coordinator to disguise coverages, communicate more effectively and trust defenders with difficult assignments. Take several of those players away at the same time and every weakness becomes magnified.

Dallas knew its secondary depth was going to be tested in Brazil. Baltimore made sure it received the examination.

Loser: Cowboys pass rush

At some point, pressures have to become sacks. For the second week in a row, Dallas’ pass rush failed to finish the job.

The warning signs were already there against Washington. The Cowboys generated 12 pressures and six quarterback hits, but somehow finished the game without recording a single sack.

There were occasions when the Cowboys affected Jackson and forced him away from his initial position, but there was nowhere near enough consistent pressure to make Baltimore uncomfortable. That becomes even more disappointing when considering who Baltimore had protecting Jackson’s blindside.

Starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley was inactive with a toe injury, leaving Carson Vinson to make the first start of his NFL career. This should have been an obvious matchup for Dallas’ edge rushers to attack. Instead, the Ravens largely prevented Vinson from becoming a weakness Dallas could exploit. 

Later, more Ravens offensvie linemen went down, leaving them very exposed. Dallas failed to capitalize.

After failing to get home against Washington and then producing another sackless performance in this week’s game, it is becoming difficult to dismiss this as simply bad luck.

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