For the third straight home game and the second in a row in the young 2024 season, the Dallas Cowboys were completely outscored by their opponent for almost the entire 60 minutes of the game. In contrast to last week’s 44-19 loss to the Saints, the Cowboys rallied in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens but were unable to overcome a 28-6 deficit and didn’t score their first offensive touchdown until less than nine minutes into the game. The Cowboys have failed to find their winning ways at home, which typically involves building an early lead, positioning their defense to stifle the passer, and controlling the ball in the short passing game. Instead, that script has been completely flipped, and they’re faced with large deficits that force them to defend the run and push the ball downfield themselves.

The Cowboys knew they would see a steady dose of Ravens running either way, with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry sitting at 0-2 and ready to test Mike Zimmer’s defense to the breaking point to avoid a disastrous 0-3 start. For the most part, Dallas was unable to match this intensity as a 1-1 team itself. For the second straight week, linebackers and secondary players led the way in tackles while the front four repeatedly failed to hold their ground at the point of attack. While this sometimes made things easy for a Ravens offense that didn’t allow a third down longer than eight yards until the third quarter, nothing came easy for the Cowboys offense. It was once again ineffective at running the ball, often found itself behind the chains with penalties, and struggled to establish top WR CeeDee Lamb as a way to stretch the defense.

It was KaVontae Turpin and Jalen Tolbert who helped soften up the Ravens’ defense late in the game with fourth-quarter touchdowns that showed a positive battle for Mike McCarthy’s team, giving the team something to build on in the short week before their division opener at the New York Giants on Thursday night. Tight end Jake Ferguson also made his presence felt in his return from a knee injury, leading the team in targets, catches and receiving yards as a player the Cowboys will need more consistency with early in games to turn things around this season.

Here are a few more notes on the Cowboys’ disappointing three-point loss to the Ravens.

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• The Cowboys were completely destroyed on defense against the Saints last week, as they couldn’t stop the run and therefore opened up every throw Derek Carr wanted. In this game, their secondary faced a different kind of challenge, as the Ravens can still challenge vertically, but their focus was clearly on running the ball. The numbers Dallas had to put up early for the run defense as a sign of respect for the Ravens’ physicality were telling, as Malik Hooker was on the backfield play on Charlie Kolar’s 30-yard run-and-catch to set up the game’s first score. One play later, both Hooker and Donovan Wilson got their eyes in the backfield against a Baltimore two-back set to give Jackson a crease to run the ball in from nine yards out.

This Cowboys defense simply isn’t used to playing tight formations with numbers at the line of scrimmage, and even in these new looks Zimmer has installed that should help them against the run, their lack of size and push upfield makes them ineffective. It also leaves plenty of one-on-one matchups in the backfield for opponents to pick up on, like Zay Flowers working against Trevon Diggs for a crucial third-down conversion in the final two minutes that allowed the Ravens to run out the clock.

• The Cowboys defense had few opportunities to pressure the passer in this game, but it did lead to their first stop of the game in the second quarter. Micah Parsons lined up as a stand-up rusher against the center and was able to take full advantage of the matchup, winning quickly alongside Osa Odighizuwa to apply pressure on Jackson. The Cowboys offense would not be able to build on this momentum, as they began with a first-down run with Ezekiel Elliott for no gain, and ultimately evaded a safety before kicking out of their own end zone.

Early down runs, particularly between the tackles, still feel like wasted plays for this Dallas offense right now — desperate to find a balance that doesn’t put even more pressure on Prescott along with rookies Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe to shore up pass protection. This may be the second straight week that the Cowboys have pointed to the scoreboard deficit instead of their own players as an explanation for why they couldn’t run the ball. The truth is, though, the list of players who scare opposing defensive coordinators from a matchup standpoint is razor thin right now, and none of those Dallas backs (led by Rico Dowdle with eight carries against the Ravens) are going to make the cut.

• Speaking of Tyler Guyton, his late holding penalty in the first half proved costly as it negated a pass interference penalty against CeeDee Lamb, which would have put the ball on the one-yard line. Lamb was frustrated up to that point in the game, and the fact that he had set up the Cowboys’ first touchdown of the half may have changed the flow of the game entirely.

Guyton needs to do a better job of relying on his size and initial strength in pass protection to keep rushers at bay and give Prescott more opportunities to step into throws. This is where Guyton excelled as a right tackle at Oklahoma, but so far the position change and increased speed and athleticism he’s faced at the NFL level have made it much harder for Guyton to win on athleticism alone.

• Of all the encouraging things to happen during the Cowboys’ furious comeback attempt, perhaps the most encouraging was the inclusion of KaVontae Turpin more into the offense. The Cowboys desperately needed another receiver besides Lamb to establish themselves against the Saints, but couldn’t do so while also missing Ferguson at TE. Even with Ferguson’s return, the determined effort to target Turpin out of a clean pocket shows that there’s enough in McCarthy’s playbook to build on, and this offense can finally reach a turning point.

Turpin, along with Jalen Tolbert, scored on similar routes up the middle, an area Dallas needs to continue to prioritize. Prescott continues to show himself to be one of the most accurate QBs in the league when given the opportunity to throw to receivers running against linebackers or safeties, throwing with anticipation and timing to create yards after the catch.

Turpin caught all three of his targets for 51 yards in the game. It was his second in a row with at least three targets and a reception after being shut out in the season opener against the Browns.