Dallas, TX
Cowboys news: Dallas loses second-straight despite late-game heroics
Cowboys show fight late, but can’t complete comeback, drop to 1-2- Shane Taylor, Inside The Star
It wasn’t the bounce-back game fans were hoping for.
Slow Start
We all should know by now that this team is built to play with the lead, it has been that way for a few years now. Yet, the offense failed to do anything with the football after taking the open kickoff.
Once again, the defense got shredded. They got gashed on the first two possessions, putting them behind early 14-3.
The only points of the first half came from Brandon Aubrey. The only decent drive they had ended inside the 10-yard line when CeeDee Lamb fumbled the football.
No surprise, right? The best player on the team finds a way to do such a Cowboys thing and end any quick hope of Dallas having a chance to keep the same close.
Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry did whatever they wanted to. They closed the first half with another touchdown to extend their lead to 21-6 at half.
Gamebreakers: Cowboys who clawed vs. Ravens- Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com
The game wasn’t all bad.
Brandon Aubrey, K
It’s yet another week wherein the Cowboys struggled to find offense, but Brandon Aubrey was still Brandon Aubrey. He didn’t get many chances to swing his right boot against the Ravens by virtue of the offensive mistakes (e.g., fumble, penalties, etc.), but he made it count with each opportunity. His afternoon included kicking a 65-yarder right down the middle of the uprights with room to spare, the single longest field goal in the history of the Cowboys’ franchise. There was a time when the offense wasn’t the concern and the kicker was, but that’s flipped in 2024.
Rico Dowdle, RB
It was a valiant effort by Dowdle, to be honest. He not only started for the second week in a row, but he made it count when he was given the ball. His total yardage doesn’t say much, but what’s also true is that he was averaging 4.5+ yards per carry each time he took a handoff. So what is missing here? Well, the fact he was only asked to carry the ball seven times entering he fourth quarter, largely because the Cowboys were being blown out for a second consecutive week and running the ball would accomplish nothing. Dowdle looked solid, though, and also on his 18-yard burst late in the game that kept the Cowboys alive — leading to a touchdown by KaVontae Turpin.
The Forgotten Play: This unremarkable Mike McCarthy decision cost Cowboys vs Ravens- K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
There is plenty of blame to go around.
Trailing 21-6 at the half, the Cowboys defense took the field after the break but still wasn’t able to corral the Ravens’ rushing attack. Derrick Henry raced for 26 of his 151 ground yards and getting into the end zone for a 28-6 lead.
Dallas took the ball back at their 29 with 11:58 remaining in the third quarter and marched into Baltimore territory before the drive bogged down. A Tyler Guyton hold on 1st-and-10 from the Ravens’ 29 effectively killed the drive. On 3rd-and-18, Prescott took a sack for a loss of 11 yards, pushing them back to the Baltimore 48.
Dallas decided to punt and the Ravens started a new drive at their own 11.
Why didn’t Dallas try for a field goal there? Earlier in the game, superstar kicker Brandon Aubrey nailed a 65-yarder with room to spare, kicking from just one-yard shy of the NFL record. Why wouldn’t McCarthy give Aubrey a chance to set the all-time record and inch a little closer?
Sure, at the time the game felt out of reach and the decision was almost assuredly from the perspective of Dallas needing a big play to get back in the game. Kicking the ball deep to pin the Ravens means a turnover gets possession deeper in enemy territory.
But if Dallas had kicked and made the field goal, everything about their fourth-quarter comeback changes. When Dallas scored their first fourth-quarter TD, the game is 28-15 with the extra point try coming.
Derrick Henry revelation proves he took Cowboys’ free-agency snub personal- Leigh Oleszczak, The Landry Hat
Henry could have been wearing the star on Sunday. What could have been?
Derrick Henry set out to embarrass the Cowboys and he did just that
For all of the wrong reasons, the Cowboys’ rushing attack has been one of the biggest talking points through two games. Rico Dowdle has been the best horse in the stable, but the backfield lacks a true difference-maker.
Henry clearly took it personal that Dallas didn’t even call. He ran all over Zimmer’s defense to the tune of 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns while also tallying 20 receiving yards. He was a headache all afternoon.
If the Cowboys went on to complete their comeback, we’d be attacking this story from a completely different angle but unfortunately, it fell just short. There’s no doubt that Dallas could have used Henry, especially in this game, as their rushing attack was once again a non-factor. The offense had just 51 rushing yards on 3.2 yards per carry and Dak Prescott had the only rushing touchdown.
Cowboys winners & losers from Week 3 loss to Ravens – Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated
There was more of the latter on Sunday.
Loser: Mike Zimmer
In Week 1, Mike Zimmer was getting hit with all the praise. His defense was lights out in his return to Big D, holding the Browns to 230 yards. They also forced two turnovers and sacked Deshaun Watson six times. They were the complete opposite in Week 2 as they surrendered 432 yards to the New Orleans Saints in a 44-19 blowout.
It wasn’t much different in Week 3 as the Ravens were able to assert their dominance from the opening drive.
Zimmer has an impressive resume and has had more than his share of success in the NFL but has a lot of work to do to turn things around. Given what his defense showed on Sunday, it’s fair to question if that’s going to be possible.
First Shift 🏒
For the past four regular seasons, the Stars have the best road record in the NHL.
Through 164 games, Dallas tops the league with a .655 points percentage away from home. It also leads in goals per game at 3.40 and in GAA at 2.70. That spans two different head coaches and several different players, but there is a culture that the team hopes to tap into Wednesday when the best-of-seven playoff series moves to Minnesota for Game 3.
“You have to be able to play on the road,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Since my time here, our guys feel really comfortable.”
The Stars were tied for second in road points percentage this season at .683, so an actual improvement over their previous average. They were third in GAA at 2.73 and sixth in scoring at 3.41, so the league has improved. That said, the new coaching staff has also embraced a sound road strategy.
Like Pete DeBoer before him, Gulutzan doesn’t worry too much about matching lines – at home or on the road. The road matching can create some real gymnastics, as the home team gets second change. But the fact that a team chooses not to chase that part of the game.
“That’s why you program your guys to play in those situations and not yank them off every time something happens,” Gulutzan said. “That way they have the confidence to play in all of those situations.”
The Stars coach did make some tweaks after a disappointing team performance in Game 1. Arttu Hyry jumped in for Adam Erne and played center on a line with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel. The right-handed Hyry was a solid complement to lefties Steel and Benn. That allowed Hryckowian to move up to the top line in place of Steel. The left-handed Hryckowian is good balance to right-handed center Johnston.
Again, when you have those options, you are comfortable with whatever line is on the ice.
“I like our combinations right now,” Gulutzan said. “One of the things you worry about is the hands of your centermen, and on each line we have a righty and a lefty that are more than capable. Plus, all of the guys know their systems and their jobs, and they’ve been doing it all year.”
The Stars have had several injuries this season to key players, and that means everyone has played everywhere with everyone else. That’s big this time of year.
“I definitely think that helps,” said Colin Blackwell. “It just makes everything flow. If the coaches shuffle things up, you usually land with someone you have played with before.”
And that means playing on the road isn’t as difficult. The biggest challenge might be fact that Minnesota will be fired up by its home crowd and will be looking to make a point about grievances they perceived in Game 2.
“I don’t know if we need a bulletin board,” Gulutzan said when asked about the Wild making “bulletin board” statements Monday. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and grind this thing to where we need it to go.”
The Dumb Zone hosts analyze the record-breaking contract extension for Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, critiquing the team’s media narrative regarding the negotiations and debating the kicker’s value in a “fourth-down revolution” era.
Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 8:58 of the first period. His slap shot from above the right face-off circle deflected off Wild forward Danila Yurov and then bounced off the end boards and in off Wallstedt’s left arm.
“I’ve had a goal like that go in on me, too, that’s a tough bounce,” Oettinger said. “Like I said in Game 1, we got some bad bounces. We got a nice bounce there. We had one where I was behind the net, and the guy was shooting it in the net and our (defense) stopped it, so we got some good bounces. The way we played the last 40 minutes of the game, I think, didn’t give up much, had a ton of good chances offensively. The power play, we got looks and our (penalty kill) was great. If we kind of build off the game that we played the last 40 minutes, I think we should feel very good for the next few games.”
Faber tied it 1-1 at 11:33. He took a pass from Hughes, skated around Robertson in the left circle and cut to the slot, where his wrist shot ramped up and in off Oettinger.
Duchene put the Stars back up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 4:02 of the second period. Mikko Rantanen gained the offensive zone along the right boards and sent a backhand pass to Duchene, who snapped the puck between Wallstedt’s pads from in front.
Robertson made it 3-1 at 7:09 of the third period when he tipped Lundkvist’s wrist shot from the blue line past the right pad of Wallstedt.
“I think we got to do a better job, I mean, the odd-man’s, right? I thought we played a really good game. Probably their best game, you know, meaningful game. And, yeah, we didn’t get fazed by it. Was really good by us. Just got to be smarter in some areas, and we get to go back home and in front of our crowd,” Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said. “They want (penalties). I mean, they’re looking to play 5-on-4. I mean, that’s their game. They can’t hang with us 5-on-5. We got to just be smarter, and myself included. But it’s a heated game out there. You’re gonna have emotional swings and learn from it. We got a split series.”
-
Technology1 minute agoMichael and Susan Dell surpass $1 billion in donations backing AI-driven hospital project
-
Business7 minutes agoContributor: ICE raids and migrant pay cuts are devastating California economies
-
Entertainment13 minutes agoReview: Monica Lewinsky, a saint? This devastatingly smart romance goes there
-
Lifestyle19 minutes agoWhat are Angelenos giving away in one Buy Nothing group? All this treasured stuff
-
Politics25 minutes agoCommentary: He honked to support a ‘No Kings’ rally. A cop busted him
-
Sports37 minutes agoSun Valley Poly High’s Fabian Bravo shows flashes of Koufax dominance
-
World49 minutes agoMoldovan oligarch sentenced to 19 years in prison over $1bn fraud
-
New York3 hours agoTrump’s Immigration Crackdown Pervades Long Island Suburbs