5 Winners & 4 Losers in Cowboys Heartbreaking Week 3 Loss to Ravens

The Dallas Cowboys fell to 1-2 with a gut-wrenching loss to the Balitimore Ravens on Sunday.

Losing to the Ravens on its own isn't something to hang your head over. They're one of the top teams in the NFL, and this one came down to a late field goal, with Baltimore winning 34-31. The problem is that Dallas did a lot to hurt themselves in this one and let it slip away in the final seconds.

As is always the case in a back-and-forth game, there were players who stood out with excellent play as well as those who made some key mistakes. Here, we look at both with our winners and losers from Week 3.

Winner: Caleb Downs, S

Dallas Cowboys DB Caleb Downs tackles Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. | REUTERS

Baltimore wanted to challenge the Dallas defense early, deciding to go for it on fourth-and-one from their own 30. They had faith in Derrick Henry against the porous Cowboys' run defense, but rookie safety Caleb Downs had other plans. Downs broke through the line to stuff Henry for no gain, allowing Dallas to score on a short field, going up 10-0 early. Downs continues to be one of the few bright spots on an otherwise struggling defense.

Loser: Markquese Bell, S

Baltimore Ravens' Josh Cuevas in action with Dallas Cowboys' Markquese Bell. | REUTERS

Dallas is banged up in the secondary, which has Markquese Bell starting at safety next to Jalen Thompson. Early in the second quarter, those two were beaten deep by Devontez Walker, but Lamar Jackson underthrew the wideout.

As Walker tried to stop to adjust to the ball, Bell reached out and made contact. That was enough to draw a flag, giving Baltimore the ball on the one-yard line. The 49-yard penalty set up Derrick Henry for a touchdown, giving the Ravens the lead 14-10.

Bell was called for another penalty late in the game when he was guilty of holding Zay Flowers. That gave the Ravens a fresh set of downs with 1:43 left to play in a close game.

Winner: KaVontae Turpin, WR

Dallas Cowboys' KaVontae Turpin scores a touchdown against the Ravens. | REUTERS

He didn't light up the stat sheet, but KaVontae Turpin made a huge play in the first quarter that allowed the Cowboys to score their first touchdown. On third-and-seven, Turpin caught a short pass from Prescott, but was short of the sticks. He made a move, and despite Nate Wiggins getting a hold of his jersey, Turpin fought for a nine-yard gain and a first down. JaVontae Williams scored on a two-yard touchdown on the next snap, making it 10-0.

Turpin made another key play in the fourth quarter. Following a turnover on downs, Dallas moved the ball 96 yards. Turpin capped it off with a nine-yard touchdown run, giving the Cowboys a 28-24 lead.

Loser: Jake Ferguson, TE

Dallas Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson and WRs CeeDee Lamb and Ryan Flournoy celebrate during the game against the Baltimore Ravens. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Trailing 17-13, the Cowboys needed a score after receiving the third-quarter kickoff. They were well on their way and even converted a huge fourth-and-four to extend the promising drive. Unfortunately, it all came to a halt when Jake Ferguson took a shovel pass and fumbled the ball away. The defense held, but it still kept Dallas from being able to take the lead. Ferguson scored a touchdown later, but it doesn't take away from the fact that his fumbling problem has continued and that he took potential points away from his team.

Winner: George Pickens, WR

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens catches the ball as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey defends. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

George Pickens hasn't been putting up the numbers we were accustomed to seeing over the first two weeks, but he hit his stride on Sunday. Pickens was catching everything thrown his way, with a 19-yard grab in traffic on third-and-10 near the end of the third quarter standing out as his best catch of the day.

Pickens fought hard for the reception, picked up several yards after the catch and moved the chains. The Cowboys also benefited from a roughing the passer penalty, moving it to the Baltimore 19. Two plays later, Prescott found Jake Ferguson for a touchdown and it was suddenly 24-21. That score likely doesn't happen if not for the spark Pickens provided.

Loser: Terence Steele, OT

Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Terence Steele against the Philadelphia Eagles. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Terence Steele remains the biggest concern on the Dallas offensive line, and he made a costly mistake in the third quarter this weekend. Dak Prescott had struggled to push the ball downfield all game, but finally connected on a 20-yard pass to George Pickens on third-and-nine and the Baltimore 24. The celebration was short-lived since Steele was flagged for holding, making it third-and-19 at the Dallas 46,

Prescott completed a 13-yarder to Pickens on the following play, setting up a 59-yard field goal attempt. That kick was blocked and in the blink of an eye, the score was 24-13. Just a reminder of how much momentum can flip based on one field goal.

Winner: Jaishawn Barham, LB

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaishawn Barham on defense during the first half against the New Orleans Saints. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Dallas defense has been in desperate need of a tone-setter, and they may have found that in Jaishawn Barham. The rookie was a bully in this one, shoving a tight end aside to record a tackle for loss on Derrick Henry on one play and stuffing him at the goal line on fourth down on another. That play gave the Cowboys the ball at the four-yard line, and they used the momentum to go 96 yards and score a go-ahead touchdown.

Winner: CeeDee Lamb, WR

Baltimore Ravens' Nate Wiggins commits a pass interference against Dallas Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb. | REUTERS

CeeDee Lamb is off to the hottest start of his career, recording more than 100 yards for the second consecutive game. This weekend, he had 112 yards on eight receptions and was able to draw a pass interference (albeit a questionable one) to give his team a shot at going for the win. They wound up losing in frustrating fashion, but that wasn't Lamb's fault.

Loser: Brian Schottenheimer, HC

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer looks on during the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Maracana Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A lot of fingers will be pointed at defensive coordinator Christian Parker, and for good reason. His defense surrendered 34 points and somehow managed to give up a game-winning field goal with seven seconds remaining. As bad as that was, Brian Schottenheimer's game management was far worse.

The offense moved the ball down field in a hurry after Baltimore took the lead and had a chance to score a touchdown on their final drive. For some reason, they took their foot off the gas once the clock was under one minute. They did the same thing at the end of the first half and had to settle for a field goal rather than score a touchdown, and that's what happened here.

What's worse is the Cowboys finally called a timeout with 14 seconds left, then threw the ball away, killing just four seconds. Why even call the timeout if you're not going to give it a real effort to score the touchdown?

Lastly, Dallas booted the ball out of the end zone after their field goal. Had they even done a squib kick or forced a return, the Ravens would have chewed up too much clock to attempt the long pass and get the timeout called.

There was a lot that went into this loss, but it was salvagable at the end, if not for the poor coaching decisions.

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