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Dez' Ravens 34, Cowboys 17: 'Joy And Pain'

'Joy And Pain': Dez Bryant's Baltimore Ravens Top The Dallas Cowboys, 34-17 - With Dez Sipping 'Wine To Cope'
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On the morning before his Dallas Cowboys were to take on the Baltimore Ravens in a nationally-televised Tuesday night kickoff, team owner Jerry Jones explained to us his feelings for Cowboy-turned-Raven receiver Dez Bryant.

“He was a joy for me,'' Jerry told us. "He was a pain in the ass, but he was a joy.”

You want "joy and pain''? You got it all in this game, and even before this game - even from Bryant ... without him even playing in it.

Baltimore Ravens 34, Dallas Cowboys 17 happened with a great deal of drama from Dez, even though he was a late pregame scratch due to a positive COVID test.

Bryant, out of football for two years but looking forward to this "homecoming game,'' first tweeted in anger. Then he mentioned a sort of re-retirement. Then the emotional Dez finally found a balance.

"I’m about to drink some wine and cope,'' he wrote - unintentionally offering sound counseling to saddened Cowboys fans.

The hapless Cowboys dropped to 3-9, now having lost six of their last seven, and pick a department - it was awful. 

The Ravens (7-5) approached a Cowboys defensive rushing record with 294 yards on the ground.

Said FOX analyst Troy Aikman during the game: “There’s no other way to put it: this defense is just not very good.”

Dallas missed a trio of field goals, surely pushing Cowboys Nation to ponder whether its special teams should trade "cleverness'' for "competence.''

The Cowboys under first-year coach Mike McCarthy displayed an inability to comprehend clock management and the use of timeouts.

“Frankly, we need to play better,'' McCarthy said, wasting a perfectly good use of the word "frankly.''

What went wrong for Baltimore? One guy got sick.

What went wrong for Dallas? Everything.

This could've been a showcase for Bryant, who scored 73 touchdowns over eight impressive seasons for Dallas before being released in April 2018. But the Ravens didn't need him. Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP, can't really throw much.

But against coach Mike McCarthy's Dallas defense? Opponents don't really need to throw much. Really, how often does Team A get blown out when Team B throws for 107 yards?

Honestly, the opponents don't really need to do much at all to overcome the Cowboys' collective incompetence.

Said QB Andy Dalton: 'It’s frustrating ... All we can do is put our head down and work.''

Yeah, but ... weren't they already working?