RIO DE JANEIRO
The Baltimore Ravens looked like they were about to put away the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Leading 24-21, the Ravens opened the final quarter at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium with a 20-yard gain to wide receiver Zay Flowers. It set up Baltimore at the 3-yard line with one of the greatest running backs of this generation, Derrick Henry, and a two-time MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson, in the backfield with an opportunity to go up by two scores.
“These guys just keep playing, man,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said about his team. “They don’t quit.”
A Jackson loss of one yard on the ground was followed by a gain of two from Henry to set up third-and-goal. Henry was handed the ball again and appeared to get the ball across the goal line for his third touchdown of the night. Instead, after a lengthy review, he was marked short of the goal line to bring up fourth down.
The Baltimore offense stayed on the field and gave it right back to Henry, who was stuffed for a loss of three yards. Rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham and second-year outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku combined for a stop that lit the Maracanã ablaze with cheers.
That sequence kicked off a wild final quarter that ended in a heartbreaking 34-31 loss for the Cowboys.
Here’s how it all unfolded.
A 96-yard drive to take the lead
The energy shifted in the entire country of Brazil after the Cowboys’ stop on Henry.
The offense took the field and immediately picked up 69 yards on three plays, highlighted by a 49-yard moon shot from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb that moved the team past midfield. A few plays later, the Cowboys converted a critical third down with a 16-yard George Pickens reception.
“We were just wanting to get both of those guys [Pickens and Lamb] involved,” Prescott said. “We got a whole season of work under our belts with those two guys, so it really depends on what defenses are giving us and how they’re playing us. We were able to attack with both of those guys.”
On the next play, a jet sweep to wide receiver KaVontae Turpin saw the Louisiana native speed to the edge and walk into the end zone from nine yards away to give the Cowboys a 28-24 lead with 9:42 to play.
Dallas’ chance to put it away
It’s not often that both teams get a chance to go up by two scores in the final quarter, but Dallas found itself in the same situation that Baltimore squandered just minutes later.
The Ravens’ ensuing offensive drive went three-and-out, and the Cowboys were given the ball back with 7:29 left and a four-point lead. The Cowboys went three-and-out themselves.
“Absolutely [I put that on myself],” Prescott said.
Baltimore got the ball back as if it had never given it away. With 5:45 remaining, Jackson and the offense started from their own 36-yard line, and it took just one play to get across midfield. For a team that has struggled to finish games, its leader knew they needed a big drive.
“We’ll hit momentum, be winning games, and then we hit a hump when it’s time for us to perform,” Jackson said.
The Ravens drove down the field behind two receptions from Flowers that accounted for 28 yards. For a player who was questionable coming into the day with a hamstring injury, it was his statement on the classic that the game turned out to be.
“You just see him blazing past people, and you better wake up,” Jackson said. “Got to get on his level. It’s wonderful to have Zay back out there. Call him Sonic from now on.”
After another lull in the run game at the goal line, Jackson found SMU product tight end Matthew Hibner for a 2-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to retake the lead at 31-28 with 1:30 to go.
With one timeout in-hand and trailing by three points, Prescott wanted the ball in his hands.
Cowboys’ almost perfect drive
Starting from the 35-yard line, the Cowboys did not immediately go to Pickens and Lamb. Instead, Prescott found receiver Ryan Flournoy, who had been targeted six times at that point but had failed to record a reception. He came through at the biggest time.
“Flo made some big catches on that last drive,” Prescott said.
His first reception went for 13 yards. His next, for nine, came on a play where Prescott was blown up, yet he placed the pass perfectly for Flournoy to grab it and go out of bounds.
Two plays later, a pass interference call on the Ravens set up Dallas at the 2-yard line with 23 seconds to go.
“I thought we were going to score,” Prescott said. “We just got in our own way. That’s the only thing that stopped us tonight.”
On first down, Prescott threw an incomplete pass looking for Pickens. Before the second down play, tight end Luke Schoonmaker was called for a false start, backing the offense up to the 7-yard line.
“I needed to call some better plays to get it in,” Schottenheimer said.
The false start changed “a number of plays,” Prescott said. “It’s a whole different vibe to your six-[yards]-and-out plays. A lot changed. The fact that we could have run the ball being right there where we are. But at that point, a lot changed.”
The second down play from the 7 broke down before Prescott scrambled for a 2-yard gain. The Cowboys were forced to burn their final timeout. On third down, Prescott appeared to be looking for Pickens in the end zone, but he threw it way over the head of everyone. Schottenheimer and Prescott confirmed it was a throwaway.
“We were throwing a quick out. I probably overcoached Dak on that one,” Schottenheimer said. “With no timeouts, it had to go to GP or be a throw-away. That’s on me. I overcoached him.”
“I was throwing it away,” Prescott said. “I don’t want to get into all of it right now. I probably should have just sat on it a little bit longer, sink on my back foot and just throw it to that front pylon.”
Brandon Aubrey came out for his fourth field goal attempt of the night and nailed it home from 23 yards out. Seven seconds remained, and things appeared to be heading to overtime tied at 31.
Cue the meltdown.
Ravens’ last gasp finds paydirt
Earlier in the game, Aubrey had kicked two illegal kickoffs out of bounds that resulted in the Ravens starting at the 40-yard line. Despite seven seconds being on the clock and the Cowboys experiencing solid kickoff coverage so far this season, Aubrey was told to boot it out of the back of the end zone.
“Yeah, it was,” Schottenheimer said about if the decision to kick it out was because of the earlier miscues. “At the end of the day, we just felt like, ‘Let’s boom it through. Let’s put them out there and make them throw the ball short, and we’ll be fine. Play for overtime.’ That’s what our plan was.”
The Ravens offense got the ball with one timeout at the 35-yard line. Jackson dropped back to pass, sat in the pocket for a couple of seconds, and fired a strike to Flowers for a wide-open gain of 27 yards. Jackson turned to the official behind him and immediately called timeout with one second remaining.
“[The head official] looked up and said there was one second on the clock,” Schottenheimer said. “Bottom line is, we have to keep that ball in front of us. … I liked the call, we wanted to stay sticky [in coverage]. At the end of the day, they ran two ins. It’s a play we run quite a bit of. The bottom line is you have to make sure the ball goes to the first one, not the later that they hit to Zay Flowers. We have to be better. We just have to execute in those situations.”
Schottenheimer later said that the defensive play call was a man-to-man robber call, meaning the cornerbacks had a matchup — although they intentionally played it safe — while one safety came underneath.
“It was a get-down-timeout situation,” Jackson said. “It’s something we’ve been practicing since camp. We were practicing almost every day at camp, mixing it in practice sometimes. We were surprised because we didn’t go over that all week. We weren’t expecting to be in a situation like this, but coach called the play. Everyone was on the same timing. … I felt like we already won.”
The gain set up the Ravens at the 38-yard line. Lucas Lovejoy High School product Tyler Loop came out for the Ravens and booted it through from 56 yards out to a deafening roar from the crowd and a field storm by the Baltimore sideline.
“I prayed to Jesus,” Jackson said. “I prayed to God. … I couldn’t show it, but I had all my faith in [Loop].”
A long flight home to DFW
Now, the Cowboys will have to figure out how to flush away a loss that Prescott called “embarrassing” on his way out.
“This one hurts,” Prescott said. “I think we’ll just have to get back to work, but it sucks. It sucks. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Knowing you had a game, could have won a game. You don’t, you tie it hoping for overtime. We put our defense in a terrible position, and that’s a good offense with an MVP quarterback who makes a great throw. The kicker comes in and makes a game-winning field goal. That’s the NFL.”
The Cowboys departed the stadium an hour after the game ended to head straight to the airport for a roughly 10-hour flight home. They will land early Monday and will have two off days before returning to the facility on Wednesday to begin preparing for the Houston Texans next Sunday.
“I don’t question these guys,” Schottenheimer said. “They don’t have quit in them. They’re hurting. I’m hurting. I felt like we made enough plays to win the game, but we didn’t. Baltimore did. I credit the guys in the locker room. This was a long trip, and it’ll be a long flight back. We got to get right to work as a staff. I’m very, very disappointed for the men in that locker room.”
Game schedule dates, times, locations Sept. 22 New York Mets 6, Rangers 3 Sept. 23 New York Mets 7, Rangers 2 Sept. 24 Rangers 3, New York Mets 1 Sept. 25 Minnesota 10, Rangers 2 Sept. 26 Rangers 6, Minnesota 2 Sept. 27 Minnesota 6, Texas 4 Season complete Sept. 17 Wings 97, Los Angeles 77 Sept. 19 Wings 87, Phoenix 82 Sept. 21 Phoenix 87, Wings 86 Sept. 23 Wings 103, Seattle 91 WNBA playoffs First-round series (best-of-3; Golden State leads 1-0) Game 1: Sept. 27 Golden State 104, Wings 80 Game 2: Sept. 30 vs. Golden State, 8 p.m., ESPN Game 3 (if necessary): Oct. 2 at Golden State, TBD Sept. 13 N.Y. Giants 28, Cowboys 20 Sept. 20 Cowboys 37, Washington 20 Sept. 27 Baltimore 34, Cowboys 31 Oct. 4 at Houston, 12 p.m., Fox Oct. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video Oct. 18 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC Oct. 26 at Philadelphia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC Nov. 1 vs. Arizona, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 8 at Indianapolis, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco, 3:25 p.m., Fox Nov. 22 vs. Tennessee, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., Fox Dec. 7 at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS Dec. 27 vs. Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NBC Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA Aug. 29 North Carolina 15, TCU 10 Sept. 12 TCU 63, Grambling State 7 Sept. 19 TCU 31, Arkansas State 7 Sept. 26 Central Florida 21, TCU 13 Oct. 3 vs. BYU, 6 p.m., ESPN Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA Nov. 6 at Arizona, 9:15 p.m., ESPN Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN Sept. 5 Indiana 52, North Texas 16 Sept. 12 North Texas 44, UNLV 6 Sept. 19 Texas State 49, North Texas 35 Sept. 26 North Texas 63, Houston Christian 14 Oct. 1 at Tulsa, 8 p.m., ESPN Oct. 10 vs. Charlotte, TBA Oct. 24 at Navy, 2:30 p.m. CBSSN Oct. 29 vs. Florida Atlantic, 6:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2 Nov. 7 vs. Rice, TBA Nov. 14 at UTSA, TBA Nov. 21 at Tulane, TBA Nov. 28 vs. UAB, TBA All home games at Crowley ISD Multi-Purpose Stadium Aug. 27 Central Oklahoma 59, Texas Wesleyan 7 Sept. 5 McNeese State 52, Texas Wesleyan 0 Sept. 12 Texas Wesleyan 56, Texas College 20 Sept. 26 Texas Wesleyan 41, Nelson 16 Oct. 3 at Arkansas Baptist, 2 p.m. Oct. 10 at Louisiana Christian, 2 p.m. Oct. 17 vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 1 p.m. Oct. 24 at Langston, 2 p.m. Oct. 31 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State, 2 p.m. Nov. 7 at Ottawa (Arizona), 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at Wayland Baptist, 2 p.m. Sept. 5 FC Dallas 4, Kansas City 3 Sept. 9 FC Dallas 2, Minnesota 1 Sept. 12 FC Dallas 2, Portland 1 Sept. 19 FC Dallas 0, Austin 0 Sept. 26 FC Dallas 1, LAFC 0 Oct. 10 at Charlotte, 6:30 p.m., Apple TV Oct. 14 vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV Oct. 17 at Houston, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV Oct. 24 vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV Oct. 28 vs. Columbus, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV Oct. 1-3 Dirt Track Championship Oct. 2-3 Goodguys Lone Star Nationals Oct. 14 Tony Stewart Bowling Tournament Oct. 16-17 High Limit Racing Championship Oct. 29-31 POWRi Racing
This story was originally published September 27, 2026 at 10:22 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Nick Harris is the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has experience working on the beat for DallasCowboys.com and previous work experience at Yahoo Sports/Rivals and 247Sports.