The NFL is unpredictable. You can’t do much right for the first three quarters, but then everything just seems to click. That’s how it went for the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore dominated Dallas on both sides of the ball and entered the fourth quarter with a 28-6 lead. Dallas mounted a furious comeback, recovering an onside kick and scoring 19 unanswered points with a chance to get the ball back at the end of regulation for a game-tying/game-winning drive. Unfortunately, Baltimore sealed the win late with two crucial first downs to run out the clock. The loss is disappointing for the Cowboys as they slide to 1-2 to start the season. And despite the close finish, Dallas’ mistakes for most of the game dug a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of. This is where things went wrong for the Cowboys.

Self-inflicted errors

Remember, the Cowboys only had six accepted penalties for 44 yards. That doesn’t lessen the impact of the penalties on the game. To open the game, Dallas had numerous penalties on their first drive. It wasn’t the start you wanted to make, taking the ball after winning the first toss. This served as an ominous harbinger.

Instead of moving forward in the right direction, the Cowboys went backward. Multiple penalties negated potential points. After a CeeDee Lamb reception at the Baltimore nine-yard line, Tyler Smith would commit a holding penalty to push the Cowboys back 10 yards. The penalty changed the dynamic of the team’s play calling, and on the ensuing play, Lamb fumbled the ball away to Baltimore as the offense left the field empty-handed.

Then, with the offense desperate to answer after a touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman, a holding penalty on Tyler Guyton negated what would have been pass interference on Lamb and put the offense on the Ravens’ one-yard line. Without Guyton’s penalty, there was a chance the Cowboys could have scored a touchdown entering the halftime locker room and narrowed the deficit, but instead Dallas settled for a long field goal from Brandon Aubrey. Lamb’s turnover and team penalties sapped any momentum and confidence the offense could have had much earlier in the game.

Don’t stop the run

The formula is out for the Cowboys defense. Want to neutralize Micah Parsons and keep him from taking control of the game? Flatten him and the defensive line with the running game. You hate to say that a defense is one-dimensional and can only rush the passer, but what’s anyone supposed to think with a performance like Sunday’s?

Dallas couldn’t contain the rushing attack against the New Orleans Saints last week, struggling to pass and fend off blocks. This week, their problem was setting their edges and playing with good eye discipline. Lamar Jackson didn’t necessarily need to win the game from the pocket, throwing just 15 passes. Once the run game was firmly established, it led to play-action pass drawing on defense, and the Ravens’ deception caused the defense to lose leverage and leave wide-open receivers in the secondary. The Cowboys missed over 10 tackles.

Baltimore rushed for 274 yards on the ground on 45 attempts (6.1 ypc) and converted 16 first downs rushing versus two for Dallas. The Dallas offense and defense are bottom-five units when it comes to stopping the run and running the ball. Last week, we thought the Cowboys’ rush defense was susceptible to giving up big gains. However, allowing so many yards inside and out and a vintage performance from Derrick Henry (151 rushing yards) may have illustrated that the run defense is far worse than anyone could have imagined.

Lack of explosive plays

While Dallas had a late surge, the reason they were behind so much and couldn’t sustain drives was because they couldn’t generate explosive plays. We understand that the running game wouldn’t provide that spark, and it hasn’t all season. The Cowboys’ running backs have only one run of 10 yards or longer, leaving Prescott and the receivers with the burden of generating big gains.

A few factors caused the offense to underperform against the Ravens. For starters, the offensive line has struggled to protect Prescott. Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton are rookies, so there is a learning curve and they need time to adjust to the NFL. Guyton’s protection issues include rushing Prescott out of the pocket, forcing him to throw prematurely, and breaking down the vertical attack. Veteran Terence Steele also has similar issues. Nnamdi Madubuike has given Steele problems with his strength and technique, getting the edge on Prescott and flushing him out of the pocket prematurely.

While Prescott had limited opportunities to throw the ball deep against a Ravens secondary that had historically lost yardage, there were a few opportunities. Prescott sent deep shots to Cooks and Tolbert, but the receivers couldn’t make the play. The lack of a vertical threat early in the game condensed the offense’s yardage. Nearly every throw Prescott made in the first three quarters was fiercely contested. The offense was chained until it was too little, too late.