With the Ravens prevailing in a dramatic 34-31 win over Dallas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Once again, Baltimore was seemingly teaching a master class in making Jesse Minter’s “be at our best when our best is needed” mantra look like a punchline before Dallas presented its doctorate in coming up small in crunch time over three decades. Credit the Ravens for making the biggest plays.
2. You have to feel good for Tyler Loop, who waited nearly nine months for that game-winning opportunity and drilled it. He’ll still only be as good as his next big kick for quite some time and I’ll maintain summer competition was warranted, but it’s obvious the organization believes in him.
3. Zay Flowers has 10 catches for 234 yards and a touchdown in just 41 snaps this season. Baltimore left itself open to criticism if he experienced a setback with his hamstring, but Flowers brought elite impact in 21 snaps, none bigger than his 27-yard catch to set up Loop’s kick.
4. This game will be remembered for Lamar Jackson delivering the last-second bullet to Flowers, but it was Jackson’s 21-yard designed run to start the third drive that breathed life into a sleepwalking Ravens offense. I’ll never understand wanting to minimize Jackson’s legs, which only does the opponent a huge favor.
5. Though it’s fair pointing out Mike Macdonald’s 2022 defense experienced early-season struggles before hitting its stride, this Ravens defense didn’t experience as much offseason turnover as the offense and simply needs to be better. The Cowboys were always going to score some points, but those final 19 minutes weren’t pretty.
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6. That begins with needing to tackle much better. Minter said, “Tackling is an art, and it requires a high, high level of detail. I’d say we’re not detailed enough in tackling right now.” It’s also something players have been doing their entire football lives, making it tougher to blame coaching.
7. Struggling in short-yardage situations is one thing, but the Ravens weren’t even close as the game continued. You had to wonder why we didn’t see a tush push or sneak rather than handoffs with Derrick Henry beginning several yards behind the line of scrimmage.
8. Of course, the offensive line wasn’t getting nearly enough push and lost its top two centers to long-term injuries. Rookie Vega Ioane did an admirable job sliding to center and can probably handle that position fine, but that’ll just open up new concerns at the right guard spot.
9. Though I may not have seen a performance from Nnamdi Madubuike that screamed PFF’s highest Week 3 grade for any interior defender, his 47 snaps were very close to what you’d expect his typical workload to be. Minter expects him to “get better and better and better as we go.”
10. The special teams weren’t going to let three-time Pro Bowl kick returner KaVontae Turpin hurt them and instead kicked touchbacks, but Keondre Jackson blocking a Brandon Aubrey field goal and Loop hitting the 56-yarder provided the opposite of the liability the group was last week.
11. Dallas kicking the touchback with seven seconds remaining vindicated Minter’s decision to try to cover the kickoff late in the first half last week when New Orleans had 24 seconds and three timeouts. The Cowboys only needed to prevent a return touchdown, and the clock would have expired.
12. Situational awareness in real time is so critical. Given how depleted the Dallas secondary was — just-elevated practice-squad cornerback Reddy Steward was covering Flowers on that final pass — by the end of the game, the Ravens had even more reason to go for the jugular and not just settle for overtime.
