RIO DE JANEIRO — One of many questions about the Cowboys‘ 34-31 loss to the Ravens on Sunday was coach Brian Schottenheimer’s decision not to kick off short of the goal line late in the game.
After the Cowboys had tied the score at 31, kicker Brandon Aubrey sent the ensuing kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. The Ravens started their last drive of the game at their 35 with seven seconds to play.
If Aubrey had kicked short, it would have forced a return and taken seconds off the clock.
Instead, it gave quarterback Lamar Jackson a chance at one play to get his team into field goal range. Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to receiver Zay Flowers with one second left.
So why wouldn’t Schottenheimer force the Ravens to return a kick?
Schottenheimer said two shorter kicks by Aubrey that went out of bounds for penalties gave him pause.
“Again, it happens occasionally,” Schottenheimer said. “It can’t happen twice in a game. We don’t expect that from Brandon. We know how talented Brandon is but like I said, no one coaches or played a perfect game and because of that, we ended up coming up short to a good football team and a team that played well tonight.”