Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott towels off during time out late in the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens at Maracanã Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
RIO DE JANEIRO — The crowd of 70,000-plus was amazing — loud and proud to have two NFL teams in their country playing American football.
When the Brazilian national anthem was played in the late afternoon at historic Maracanã Stadium, nearly everyone was standing and singing.
What started as a disjointed effort by the Cowboys ended with them nearly matching the electricity of the moment. But, ultimately, some of the Cowboys’ biggest names failed on this international stage late Sunday afternoon in a heart-pounding 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
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“We played hard, we fought back, long trip, had our chance to win and unfortunately we didn’t get it done,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said after the game.
The Cowboys lost on a 56-yard field goal by Ravens kicker Tyler Loop as time expired. There were questions as to how the Ravens were allowed to get into position to win the game.
With seven seconds to play in a 31-31 game, quarterback Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to receiver Zay Flowers, who was wide open in the middle of the field. The pass rush, which once again didn’t present anyone with confidence it can take quarterbacks to the ground moving forward, allowed Jackson too much time.
Defensive coordinator Christian Parker has much to answer for as to why Flowers, who had five catches for 84 yards, was left open in soft coverage. Parker, who doesn’t talk to the media after games, also must explain what’s going on with the pass rush and the run defense. Baltimore had 192 yards rushing.
Jackson somehow was able to get a timeout with one second left and Loop made the long field goal, setting off a wild celebration as if the Ravens had won a title. All it did was stun the Cowboys.
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“Yeah, frustrated,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Frustrated as hell. Embarrassed. We don’t call ourselves the best offense, GOTI, and get down in the 1-yard line and don’t put it in.”
With the Cowboys trailing 31-28 late in the game, Schottenheimer played the clock, against himself, instead of working to keep more time. The Cowboys were able to get to the Ravens’ 2 when cornerback Nate Wiggins was flagged for pass interference against CeeDee Lamb with 28 seconds remaining.
The Cowboys seemed to be in the perfect position to, at worst, tie the score. Winning the game seemed the more likely outcome.
On first and goal, Prescott misfired a pass to Pickens on a fade route. The Cowboys were going to call a pass play despite averaging 4.9 yards per rush on Sunday, but a false start penalty on tight end Luke Schoonmaker pushed them back 5 yards.
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“We really liked the movement play,” Schottenheimer said of the call before Schoonmaker’s penalty. “They actually lined up wrong. I wish I had it wrong; we would’ve walked in. But that was the plan.”
The call was a planned bootleg for Prescott.
So with 20 seconds left and the ball at the 7, Prescott avoided a sack by picking up 2 yards, right tackle Terence Steele got hurt and everything was beginning to fall apart.
The game came down to a third-and-goal play when George Pickens got open in the corner of the end zone. Prescott, under some pressure, decided to throw the ball away instead of trying to make a play.
The incompletion set up Brandon Aubrey’s tying field goal.
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Yet, the miss to Pickens on a pass that Prescott must make proved costly.
“I was throwing it away,” Prescott said.
When told Schottenheimer said Prescott was told to throw the ball away based on the time of the game clock and the pressure, Prescott tried not to get into the weeds.
“Don’t want to get into all that, definitely not right now,” he said. “Maybe in a week, still fresh. Yeah, just upset, I don’t want to get into it.”
The Cowboys played with plenty of heart, but that doesn’t win football games. Talent and coaching do.
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On Sunday afternoon, the talent and the coaching didn’t match the moment.
Schottenheimer had the best line of the night when asked about his own play calling: “We lost. Give it an F.”