The Baltimore Ravens finished week 13 in a rare Tuesday game with a clear 34-17 home win over the Dallas Cowboys. The home side ended their recent loss streak and kept their playoff hopes alive. The guests from Texas in turn disappointed defensively again across the board. (You can find the highlights of the game here!)
After an unsuccessful opening drive, the Cowboys took the lead with a 31 field goal goal. Previously, Safety Darian Thompson had intercepted a forged pass from Lamar Jackson by wide receiver “Hollywood” Brown.
In his first game after surviving the corona infection, Jackson quickly recovered and turned the game around a few minutes later with a 37-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter.
The answer from the cowboys was not long in coming: A 56-yard return from Tony Pollard brought them to just before the red zone, then quarterback Andy Dalton found wide receiver Michael Gallup for a 13-yard touchdown. Shortly thereafter, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker gave a 31-yard field goal attempt and guests even more lift.
They didn’t make much out of that, however, because D-Liner Brandon Williams hit a pass from Dalton and rookie linebacker Patrick Queen managed an athletically high-quality interception. Just one move later, Jackson finally found Miles Boykin for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Cowboys narrowly miss Hail Mary touchdown before the break
Before the break, Zuerlein missed a field goal for Dallas, Tucker scored again and the Ravens were ultimately lucky that a Hail Mary of the guests in the end zone slipped through the hands of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Break time: 17:10 Baltimore.
In the second half, Zuerlein missed two more field goal attempts, while the Ravens gradually pulled away with a touchdown from Brown and another Tucker field goal. Dallas shortened less than five minutes before the end again with a touchdown from Amari Cooper from 1 on the fourth attempt, but much more was not possible for the Texans, especially since the Ravens added another touchdown by rookie JK Dobbins.
The Ravens ended a series of three bankruptcies in a row and thus keep their playoff hopes alive. For the cowboys, however, the season should be over soon.
Baltimore Ravens (7-5) – Dallas Cowboys (3-9)
Result: 34:17 (7: 3, 10: 7, 7: 0, 10: 7) BOXSCORE
Ravens vs. Cowboys – the most important statistics
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Unbelievable happened in the middle of the second quarter: Justin Tucker missed a 36-yard field goal attempt. This is remarkable because the Ravens kicker sank his last 70 attempts within 40 yards in a row. It was the longest run in the NFL.
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Lamar Jackson is the first quarterback in NFL history to have reached at least 5,000 passing yards and at least 2,500 rushing yards in his first three seasons in the league. In addition, he has now scored 4 rushing touchdowns in his career that went at least 30 yards. All other QBs in the league together have scored 4 rushing touchdowns over at least 30 yards since 2018.
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With the Boykin touchdown, the Cowboys continued a worrying trend: They already allowed 120 points directly after Turnovers. These are by far the most of the NFL. The Broncos are beaten in second place with 86.
The star of the game: Ravens Offensive Line
This game was decided at the front. The Ravens dominated the line of scrimmage and simply didn’t allow anything. The guests had just as little an answer to the Run Game (294 YDS, 2 TD) as did hands to Jackson, who went out of the game without a QB hit. A simply outstanding performance of this O-Line.
The flop of the game: Cowboys Defense
The defense of the cowboys was like a barn door again. They had access in the run game, plus problems in tackling. And coverage was also lacking – even the happy interception early in the game doesn’t change that much. Their own offense showed a decent end zone and a better mood could have made it tighter in terms of points, but the defense lost this game.
Analysis: Ravens vs. Cowboys – the Tactical Table
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The cowboys often made life difficult with ineffective running plays in early downs, which often resulted in long 3rd downs. And these were not often used. When it comes to passing moves, they mostly rely on simple route combinations such as comebacks, curls or even slants and crossers, the latter mainly under underneath. At the beginning there were also a few screens.
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The cowboys also tried to support their completely mixed up offensive line as best they could with additional blockers. Before the Gallup touchdown, for example, they played 12 people and put tight end Blake Bell as an additional blocker, and sometimes the running back in Pass Protection also helped. Another means for this purpose were empty sets to pull the defense apart and thus make flashing more difficult.
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At the Ravens, Lamar Jackson showed no after-effects from his Covid illness and was involved in the running game as usual. As a result, Baltimore played a lot of the read option, especially as Dallas rarely had an answer – at break the home side averaged 10.1 yards per carry – 161 rushing yards in total.
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