The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens have always felt like the game of the week in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season. The two teams had an afternoon shootout at the international showpiece in Rio de Janeiro, and the Brazilian fans arrived in an instantly recognizable fourth quarter.
The Ravens beat the Cowboys 34-31 on a game-winning field goal by Tyler Lopp as time expired. Lupp’s 56-yard touchdown capped a lopsided last-minute drive that saw the Cowboys score a game-tying field goal inside the 10-yard-line, then make a crucial special-teams error, then think it would lead to overtime.
The Cowboys had a chance to win the game and were driving, but their play was conservative in the red zone, resulting in a 9-play 60-yard drive that ended with a game-tying field goal. The Cowboys had seven seconds left on the clock when they kicked off against Baltimore, and for some reason, Dallas chose to get it back instead of letting them lose a few seconds on the clock during the return. That means the ball was spotted on the Ravens 35 yard line.
On the next play, Lamar Jackson found Zay Flowers for a 27-yard pass. It looked like time had expired, but the officials put one more second on the clock, saying Jackson had crashed in a timeout. Lupp kicked the game-winning field goal on the next play.
Check out Jackson’s throwback to Flowers here. Was it time to count?
The authorities decided that Jackson had passed out before it was too late. It’s so close, and I don’t know how the officials decided Baltimore got out in time.
Loop kicked the game-winner on the next play:
Some Cowboys fans have a hard time believing the time has passed.
It’s also easy to blame the touch decision on the offense.
What a loss for Dallas. The Cowboys fell to 1-2 while the Ravens improved to 2-1.
