Lamar Jackson and the Ravens thwart Cowboys' late comeback and take first win: Key takeaways

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By Jeff Zrebiec, Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf and Alex Andrejev

The Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson survived a final scare from the Dallas Cowboys and secured their first win of the season on Sunday.

The Ravens' two-time MVP quarterback threw a touchdown and ran for another while relying on veteran running back Derrick Henry, the four-time Pro Bowler Baltimore signed in March, to further boost their running game. Henry added two more TDs in the 28-25 victory.

The Cowboys lacked the same momentum – even Tom Brady was in the commentary booth expressing his frustration with Dallas' offense. Although three touchdowns in the fourth quarter kept the game close, Dallas could not complete the comeback and fell behind to 1-2.

Ravens prove they have an offensive identity

All that was talked about during the week was that the Ravens lacked an offensive identity the first two weeks. Well, they found one on Sunday. The Ravens have always been at their best when they have relied heavily on their running game. They made it clear that was their intention and have not deviated from it.

Jackson had another strong game, but he was never really asked to do much. Baltimore threw the ball just 15 times. The Ravens will need to get more out of the air going forward, but with the Cowboys struggling to stop the run, offensive coordinator Todd Monken stuck to his script on Sunday. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens editor

How Baltimore rode his big back

Henry, who lives in Dallas during the offseason, had interest in signing with the Cowboys during the offseason. However, the Cowboys were not that interested. Henry showed the Cowboys what they were missing, rushing for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and also catching a ball for 23 yards.

Lamar on Derrick Henry: “He did what Kings do.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) 23 September 2024

The Ravens needed every one of those yards to beat the Cowboys. Henry now has four touchdowns in three games with his new team. — Zrebiec

Ravens still have a penalty problem

That may be petty considering what was otherwise a dominant win for much of four quarters, but the Ravens still have a penalty problem to solve. They entered the game ranked 30th in penalties and 31st in penalty yards. Against the Cowboys, they picked up 13 more penalties for 105 yards.

Some of the penalties on offense helped stop the Ravens' offense. Some penalties are the price of doing business, but the Ravens need to cut down on unnecessary penalties. — Zrebiec

The Cowboys’ offense found its momentum, but not enough

It was too little, too late for the Cowboys offense. After stalling for the first 50 minutes of the game, Dak Prescott led a fierce comeback, aided by an onside kick recovery. The offense was able to march down the field, with Prescott distributing the ball evenly to his targets. However, there simply wasn't enough time on the clock to recover from a series of mistakes earlier in the game.

CeeDee Lamb's fumble in the red zone in the first half was a major blunder, as it negated a potential touchdown, but at least it was a game-changing field goal. Tyler Guyton's holding penalty at the end of the first half was also the potential difference between a touchdown or a field goal. The offense left too many plays on the field and demanded a lot from their weak defense, which couldn't give them the final stop they needed.

Despite the loss, Prescott maintained his faith in his team and said, “Jump off if you want,” as he walked back to the locker room. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys editor

Dallas fails due to defensive weakness

The Cowboys are losing for the second week in a row and it's because of the defense. Too many open receivers, too many big runs, too many big plays allowed when the game was still open. Last week it was Alvin Kamara and Derek Carr who looked like one of the best running back/quarterback duos in the league. This week it was Henry and Jackson.

Dallas' offense did everything it could to get back into the game late. The defense finally had a chance to do its part again. On third-and-six with 2:18 to play, Trevon Diggs left too much room for Jackson to find Zay Flowers for a first down. After using up all of their timeouts, the Cowboys still had a chance right after the two-minute warning.

But Jackson tried again to strike with his feet and made the last first down needed to run out the clock.

We know there are problems at defensive tackle, but the blame for Dallas' defense cannot be placed solely on the middle of the defensive front. — Jon Machota, Cowboys editor

Required reading

(Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)