Seven seconds give Jackson, Flowers and Loop enough time to beat Dallas in Rio

Lamar Jackson had seven seconds and a timeout. The Cowboys had just tied the game, but Baltimore’s quarterback found Zay Flowers over the middle for 27 yards and stopped the clock with one second remaining. Tyler Loop then made a 56-yard field goal, giving the Ravens a 34–31 victory Sunday in the NFL’s first game in Rio de Janeiro.[2]

The last possession depended on more than a long kick. Dallas sent the kickoff into the end zone, putting Baltimore at its own 35 without using any time. Ravens coach Jesse Minter said seven seconds was enough for the route they wanted; with less, they might have let the clock expire. Flowers said he had a one-on-one matchup against a nickel defender. He won it, Jackson delivered the pass, and the quarterback immediately called timeout.[5]

Minutes earlier, Dallas had been close enough to win without overtime. A pass-interference penalty against Nate Wiggins gave the Cowboys first-and-goal at the Baltimore two. Instead of a touchdown, they produced an incomplete pass, a false start, a short Prescott scramble and another incompletion. Brandon Aubrey’s 23-yard field goal tied it with seven seconds left. “We’ve got to put the game away, period,” Prescott said afterward in remarks published by the Cowboys.[6]

Baltimore improved to 2–1 and Dallas fell to 1–2 before a paid crowd of 72,792 at Maracanã Stadium. Jackson completed 15 of 20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns, adding 50 rushing yards. Prescott threw for 276 yards and a touchdown. Dallas gained 415 yards to Baltimore’s 378, but twice reached the Ravens’ one- or two-yard line and came away with field goals.[1]

Dallas finds room to run

The Cowboys began with the running game they had been missing. Javonte Williams carried 19 times for 98 yards and a touchdown. Prescott said Baltimore’s defenders were playing back to protect against Dallas’ receivers, creating room underneath. Williams credited the offensive line’s communication and the threat of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens outside.[8]

Those receivers finished with 112 and 82 yards, respectively, so the running improvement came alongside a productive passing attack.[3]

Williams did much of the work on Dallas’ opening possession, but the Cowboys stopped giving him the ball after reaching the one. Prescott missed Ryan Flournoy, then Roquan Smith sacked him for a nine-yard loss. Aubrey made the field goal. Dallas scored a touchdown on its next possession, only to give Baltimore useful field position when Aubrey’s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds. The Ravens started at their 40 and put together their first scoring drive.[9]

Derrick Henry scored on runs of four and three yards as Baltimore erased a 10–0 deficit. The second touchdown followed a long pass-interference penalty against Markquese Bell on a throw intended for Devontez Walker. A Loop field goal extended the lead before Aubrey answered just before halftime. Baltimore went into the break ahead 17–13, with neither offense having made the other team chase an unmanageable margin.[3]

Dallas’ early rushing success made its final choices harder to accept. Williams had been effective enough to reach the edge of a 100-yard game, but never received a carry on the last goal-line series. He did not criticize the calls afterward. “I support the coaches and their decisions and the play calls that they made,” he said, crediting Baltimore’s defense. The loss left a real offensive improvement buried beneath the missed opportunity to finish.[8]

A blocked kick and a goal-line stand

Dallas lost its first possession after halftime when Travis Jones forced Jake Ferguson to fumble and Trenton Simpson recovered. On the next drive, Terence Steele’s holding penalty erased a third-down completion to Pickens. Aubrey eventually tried from 59 yards; Keondre Jackson blocked the kick. Baltimore took over near midfield, Henry broke a 29-yard run, and Lamar Jackson finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Moore for a 24–13 lead.[2]

Keondre Jackson said the Ravens had identified an opening while studying Dallas’ protection. He credited Keyon Martin with opening the edge and Tavius Robinson and the interior players with doing their parts. The block prevented Dallas from cutting the deficit and gave Baltimore a short field for its next touchdown.[5]

Ferguson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass, and Lamb’s two-point catch brought Dallas within three. Baltimore threatened again through Matt Hibner, Rashod Bateman and Flowers, reaching the Dallas three. Henry appeared to score on third down, but replay overturned the touchdown. Dallas still needed one more stop.[1]

Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham made it, dropping Henry for a three-yard loss on fourth-and-one. Prescott then drove Dallas 96 yards in seven plays. Lamb’s 49-yard catch carried the Cowboys out of the shadow of their goal line, Brevyn Spann-Ford added 19 yards, and Pickens converted third-and-eight. KaVontae Turpin ran around the left side for a nine-yard touchdown and a 28–24 lead. Dallas had answered a possible two-score deficit with its own advantage.[3]

Baltimore had to respond with an increasingly makeshift offensive line. Starting center Jovaughn Gwyn left with an ankle injury and replacement Ethan Pocic later left with a knee injury. Rookie guard Vega Ioane moved to center, with Andrew Vorhees entering at guard. Carson Vinson was already making his first start at left tackle in place of the injured Ronnie Stanley. The changes put unusual responsibility on young players during the deciding possessions.[4]

After an exchange of punts, Jackson led an 11-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. Mark Andrews converted third-and-six, then Flowers caught consecutive 14-yard passes to reach the two. On third-and-goal, Jackson found Hibner for the lead with 1:30 left.[1]

Hibner finished with two catches for 23 yards; his first NFL touchdown forced Dallas to score again.[4]

The touchdown Dallas could not find

Prescott moved the Cowboys back into scoring position with completions to Flournoy and Lamb before Wiggins’ penalty. On the last third-down pass, Prescott threw the ball away with Pickens near the pylon. He later said he should have waited a little longer and put the ball toward the front corner. His frustration was with the offense as much as the defense: Dallas had held a chance to win in its own hands and had settled for a tie.[6]

Brian Schottenheimer accepted his share of that failure. The coach said he needed better calls near the goal line and acknowledged that he might have overcoached Prescott about avoiding a forced throw. “I’ve got to call some better plays to get it in,” he said. The first-down opportunity at the two became second down at the seven after Luke Schoonmaker’s false start, narrowing the options at precisely the moment Dallas needed a touchdown.[7]

Aubrey’s final kickoff also differed from his earlier efforts. Dallas had previously used kicks that required a return or bounced through the landing zone; this time it sent the ball directly through the end zone. That handed Baltimore the 35 and preserved the seven seconds. The Cowboys had successfully tied the score, but they had left Jackson a usable field position, one passing play and a timeout.[9]

Loop’s kick came after a difficult end to his rookie season, when a missed 44-yard attempt kept Baltimore out of the playoffs. This time, he finished the job. The relief did not erase Baltimore’s defensive concerns. Kyle Hamilton said afterward that the offense should not need to score 30 points to win and that the players had to fix their repeated fourth-quarter problems. The Ravens had allowed a long Dallas touchdown drive and then another march to their goal line.[4]

Loop had already discussed a possible celebration with punter Ryan Eckley, who suggested a knee-slide if they ever won on a last kick. Loop told reporters he feared landing on his face. When the moment came, he chose Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebration instead.[5]