Ravens vs Cowboys: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Baltimore Ravens' wide receiver #04 Zay Flowers runs with the ball during the NFL match between the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 27, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

In a potential game-of-the-year candidate, the Baltimore Ravens won a thriller in Rio against the Dallas Cowboys by a score 34-31. It wasn't pretty, but it was a major victory that could hopefully help this team shrug off some of the demons they've had about closing games. There was plenty of good, bad and ugly all across the board in an up-and-down performance so let's get into it.

The Good

Redemption: The biggest storyline coming out of this game. Tyler Loop received a lot of hostility this offseason after his massive miss to end the Ravens' season that triggered shockwaves for this organization. Then, after a rough preseason, he watched competition get signed to the roster and faced honest questions about how long he could keep this job started. He's done nothing but be near perfect since then. Outside of a field goal that was blocked Week 2, he's hit all of his kicks. And when the pressure was as high as it could be this early in the season, Loop hit a 56-yard bomb to win it for the Ravens. Suddenly, he has the trust of the fanbase back again - and Baltimore might have a new clutch kicker.

Lamar Jackson crunch-time narratives: It's always been a silly narrative. Since Lamar Jackson became a starter in 2019, he has 12 fourth-quarter comeback wins, tied for seventh with Aaron Rodgers. Now he's done it again. It's his first game-winning drive that started with less than a minute on the clock. It's also the fastest game-winning drive in the Super Bowl-era. Jackson wasn't perfect in this game and had some accuracy issues early, especially deep. But he got better as the game went on and was clutch when it was needed.

Three-headed monster: After missing it for the second half of Week 1 and all of Week 2, the beast made its return in Week 3. Jackson completed 15 of his 20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns and a 136.7 passer rating He also added 50 yards on the ground in key moments, both to save himself and kickstart the offense when it was sputtering. Running back Derrick Henry had a down day by his standards with only 89 yards on 26 carries. He still managed a couple of explosives, including a long of 29 yards, and had two touchdowns. Zay Flowers' return also had a massive impact. In a game many were nervous about the shifty wideout playing in due to the poor field conditions potentially worsening his hamstring injury, he was a vital to the win. Flowers had five catches for 84 yards including the massive 27 yard strike that set up the game winner. His efficiency this year has been the best in the league. It's hard to argue that any other team has a better QB-RB-WR trio than the Ravens.

Carson Vinson: While the offensive line unit itself is still a struggling unit trying to build and figure itself out, Vinson's play on Sunday can't be thrown out. With Ronnie Stanley down, Vinson made his first career start in his second season and did a commendable job. Pro Football Focus had him giving up zero pressures. He was a little hit-or-miss in the run game and still has plenty to work on. But right now, Vinson is exactly what you need as a backup left tackle: a guy you can plug in and not have to worry about, even if he won't give you spectacular play. Hopefully with a little more development, the Ravens have their future left tackle on the roster.

Vega Ioane: After a rough showing last week against the Saints where Ioane's ability to process up the middle blitzes was put to the test, Ioane reasserted himself against the Cowboys. It wasn't a flawless performance but Ioane was getting after in the run game moving bodies and help up in pass protection without a pressure according to PFF. The most impressive part was Ioane's slide to center after the Ravens lost both Gwyn and Pocic to injury. Ioane became the snapper and finished the game without any snap issues and no pressures. It was a massive moment where the rookie stepped up in just his third career game and was prepared for the moment. Now, at least for now, Ioane is going to stick at center. We'll have to wait and see if it's a season-long change.

The Bad

Penalties: For the third week in a row, penalties are on this list. The Ravens committed nine for 78 yards on Sunday. Once again, a couple of them took away big plays for the Ravens and set them back into unfavorable situations. You can't even blame it on the strange environment of playing internationally, as the crowd seemed almost Ravens heavy. There were more pre-snap, procedural penalties along the offensive line. It has to get fixed.

Slow starts: The Ravens came out and went three-and-out on their first drive and then followed it up with a four-and-out on their next. The defense also allowed 10 points to open up the game on their first two drives. Both units proceeded to improve and flip the moment in the first half. But Baltimore's coaching staff needs to figure out how to get off to better starts and put themselves ahead. The Ravens are going to start a gauntlet of a scheduled in a couple of weeks against tougher teams and will need more consistency to open games if they want better chances at winning.

Sack conversions: The Ravens only managed one sack while hitting Dak Prescott eight times with 22 pressures. The pressures are a good sign, the conversion rate simply isn't good enough and the defense needs to find more sacks. While I know some will panic about the lack of pass rush, both the success on blitzes and a four-man rush, I am not worried just yet. While they haven't converted just yet, the pressure numbers for the Ravens defense is good, and when the secondary play does improve, more sacks should come with it. As Nnamdi Madubuike ramps up, those sack numbers should jump up as well too. Trey Hendrickson will convert more and I've liked the flashes I've seen from Mike Green and Zion Young when out in a position to utilize their skill sets.

Secondary play: Considering Jesse Minter's calling card was elevating secondary play in LA, it's confusing how a more talented secondary in Baltimore is struggling so much. Especially after seeing the success the scheme had in the preseason. Marlon and Bate Wiggins had their struggles in this game, which is to be expected against a duo as talented as Lamb and Pickens. But both have made a handful of plays so far this season and overall have been better than last season. Wiggins came back with a lock down end to keep the Cowboys out of the end zone at the end of the game. But the safety room outside of Kyle Hamilton has been abysmal. They don't do anything. Malaki Starks and Jaylin Hawkins struggles seem to have nothing to do with talent and everything do with looking lost. Both of them are playing like they are lost, jumping at random things and playing hesitant at times. I don't know if they just aren't comfortable in the scheme yet or don't know what their roles are, but they are both capable of playing much better than this. At this point, I have to guess that Minter and the staff are aware of the lack of impact from their safeties and are working with those guys to get it fixed. I'm going to give it time because we know Minter is capable of elevating that part of a defense. But they don't have long until a couple of powerhouse offenses are on deck.

The Ugly

Fourth-quarter collapses: I know the Ravens won. I know Lamar Jackson lead two drives at the end of the game to get the lead and win the game, and I know the defense forced a field goal at the end despite an awful pass interference call against them. I also know Loop finally hit his first clutch game winner in the NFL. That doesn't mean the problems disappear. The offense was non-existent for most of the second half and the defense, once again, just seemingly forgot how to play in the fourth quarter. Both units did what they needed to at the end of the game and the Ravens finally won like that, so maybe this is the start of a mental shift that Jesse Minter and the coaching staff can build on. But until we see this team not continuously put themselves into these situations at the end of games, win or lose at the end, buttholes in this fanbase will be clenched when the fourth quarter starts. Winning these close games is exhilarating, but they never should have allowed to be that close. They had chances to extend the lead, separate, and stick the knife in. The Baltimore Ravens are talented enough to face playoff teams and beat them where it's not even close.

Short yardage: This is not a new issue for this team in recent years. Their offensive line play hasn't been good enough at getting push when teams know they are running the ball in short yardage situations. They used to bully teams in the run game back in 2019, didn't matter if other teams knew they were running the ball or not. Folks will point to Derrick Henry's success rate at 3rd-and-short and 4th-and-short. Henry's running style staying high and his need to have space to build momentum isn't conducive to short yardage push plays. But Derrick Henry's goal line touchdown numbers in his career tell you he also shouldn't be this bad in Baltimore. The line simply needs to learn how to get better push in those scenarios. I'd also like to see rookie Adam Randall maybe get a shot at those plays. The Ravens don't have a dedicated back for them like they did with Gus Edwards back in the day, Justice Hill or Rasheen Ali aren't built for it either. Randall has a similar style to Henry, bigger back who runs more upright with similar explosive numbers. But Randall was noted consistently among draft experts as a guy who loved barreling through contact at the line of scrimmage and pushed for extra yards. As a rare running back prospect who's still learning the position, the Ravens might be able to teach Randall to be a short yardage guy.

Offensive line injuries: When you don't resign your Pro Bowl caliber center, your offensive line is probably already in trouble. If you then lose all three of the centers you signed to replace him in the first three weeks, you're really in trouble. That's where the Ravens are right now. The interior line was already a concern because they hadn't been performing well as pass lovers up the middle. Now the Ravens will slide their first-round rookie who was drafted to be a stalwart guard over to center and hope they can find somebody to step up at right guard. The names Andrew Vorhees and Emery Jones Jr don't inspire a ton of confidence but the Ravens are going to have to figure this one out, as terrifying as that is. Ioane at center might be a temporary solution but I don't know if the Ravens will be able to find a team willing to trade a starting caliber center. So the Ravens will have to figure out what players they can acquire at what positions to put together a functioning O-line for the rest of the year.