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Cowboys rally big, but Ravens hold on to hand Dallas their second straight loss
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Cowboys rally big, but Ravens hold on to hand Dallas their second straight loss

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) scores a touchdown in a win over the Cowboys. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) scores a touchdown in a win over the Cowboys. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

After one week, the Dallas Cowboys looked like one of the best teams in the NFL. After two weeks, the Baltimore Ravens were 0-2 with a home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

It’s hard to count on anything so far this season. The Cowboys have gone from 1-0 with a strong performance at the Cleveland Browns to what looks like a total free fall. And the Ravens aren’t all that bad.

The Cowboys came back to close the scoring on Sunday, but the first three quarters should be a concern. The Ravens led 28-6 after three quarters and held off a furious Cowboys rally to win 28-25 and avoid an 0-3 start. Instead of everyone freaking out about the Ravens this week, they’re freaking out about the Cowboys.

Dallas had a tough game for the second week in a row after getting trounced by the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. The Cowboys finally made it interesting, but after three quarters they looked miserable again.

Baltimore is a good team and no one should have thought otherwise despite an 0-2 start. Maybe the fourth quarter is a concern for the Ravens, especially after blowing a fourth-quarter lead in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but through three quarters they looked like their usual dominant Ravens.

The Ravens led 28-6 after three quarters. The Cowboys came back in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a recovered onside kick that led to a second straight touchdown and cut Baltimore’s lead to 28-18. Dallas scored another touchdown and trailed only 28-25 with less than three minutes left.

Before that fourth-quarter rally, the Cowboys weren’t doing anything right. CeeDee Lamb had a bad fumble on the Baltimore 10-yard line early in the second quarter, and that was a huge turnaround. Lamar Jackson didn’t have a great game because he didn’t have to. He made plays when he had to, but mostly the Ravens let Derrick Henry eat. Henry had 151 yards rushing.

Dak Prescott’s numbers looked good at the end, with 379 yards passing, and maybe what the Cowboys did in the fourth quarter can be used as momentum. Dallas better hope so, because there’s a lot to worry about after two straight home losses.

If the Cowboys had played better in the first three quarters, their fourth-quarter revival might have been successful.

Dallas’ defense has looked terrible the last two weeks. Against the Saints in Week 2, they gave up far too many explosive plays. The loss to the Ravens was different. Baltimore simply let Henry run all over them, with Jackson making plays when he had to. Henry broke numerous tackles, and while Dallas isn’t the first defense to have trouble tackling Henry, it still wasn’t a great look for a defense that’s suddenly suspect. The loss of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who became the head coach of the Washington Commanders this past offseason, seems like a pretty big deal. Ultimately, when Dallas needed a stop to get the ball back, Baltimore picked up two first downs and secured the win.

The Cowboys’ offense has put up some decent numbers, but it’s hard to give them all the credit when the opponent is only defending a double-digit lead. The lack of a solid running back was easy to see during the offseason, but the Cowboys didn’t seem to let it bother them. Dallas has had almost no running game to speak of over the past two weeks. Part of that is the fault of running backs Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott, part of it is negative playwriting, and the offensive line hasn’t played well either.

The Cowboys still have a lot of work to do on several fronts, but they need to figure out something before their winning streak ruins their season. Baltimore didn’t play a perfect game, but they did enough to win, which is a welcome change from their first two games of the season.