Ravens Survive Nail Biter for First Win of Season
The Baltimore Ravens have won their first game of the 2024 season, coming off two straight losses in a nail-biter against the Dallas Cowboys. In what seemed like a blowout game early in a cross-conference matchup, the Cowboys soon showed why they are consistently one of the top teams in the NFC, bringing the game within just one position in the last quarter. The game will be one to remember, and for the Ravens, it may be one to look back on as a spark for the rest of their season.
The first quarter started with the Cowboys receiving the kickoff. Rico Dowdle had a few good runs combined with a few short passes from Dak Prescott and a helpful penalty committed by Odafe Oweh. However, after three penalties of their own on the opening drive, the Cowboys were eventually faced with a third down and 15 and couldn’t convert, resulting in a punt. The Ravens were immediately able to capitalize on their first possession. They had a huge 30-yard catch and run from Charlie Kolar combined with four rushes including a nine-yard rushing touchdown from Lamar Jackson to jump on top 7-0.
The Cowboys were able to respond with a strong drive of their own. Dowdle was once again able to come up with a pair of scrappy runs of about five yards each. Hunter Luepke came up big with a 17-yard catch to bring the Cowboys near midfield. Kyle Van Noy came up huge for the Ravens with a sack that took the Cowboys back four yards to set up a 65-yard field goal that Brandon Aubrey nailed, just one yard shy of tying the NFL record for longest field goal. On the next drive, the Ravens started with four straight runs and a first down. On just their second pass play of the game, Jackson connected with Nelson Agholor for a 56-yard pass to get Baltimore to the two-yard line. Derrick Henry was able to punch it in for a one-yard rushing touchdown to bring the score to 14-3. Dallas again responded with another strong drive. Ezekiel Elliott got his first touch of the game, and Dak was able to find Jake Ferguson and CeeDee Lamb for a 24-yard catch and an 18-yard catch to bring the game into the second quarter. The Cowboys were down to the nine-yard line until Tyron Smith committed a holding penalty to push them back ten yards. Dak again found CeeDee Lamb to get them back to where they were, but Nate Wiggins came up massive to force a fumble, which was then recovered by Marcus Williams on the nine-yard line.
The Cowboys' defense was finally able to stop the Ravens on the third drive of the game and stop the fumble from being a costly turnover. Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely were able to catch their first passes of the game, but neither were able to get more than four yards on a play. The Ravens went 29 yards on eight plays before being forced to punt. The Ravens were able to pin the Cowboys within their own ten-yard line. They almost forced a safety on third down, but Prescott was able to throw a desperate pass into the ground to avoid it, resulting in a three-and-out drive for Dallas. The defense picked them up and responded with a three-and-out drive holding the Ravens to just nine yards on a Henry run and Zay Flowers pass before taking a delay of game penalty and punting. The Cowboys were able to avoid the third straight three-and-out drive but were not able to get much out of the drive. Jake Ferguson was able to catch a six-yard pass and KaVontae Turpin was able to get his first two touches of the game and gain a first down. Prescott was unable to connect on third down, which resulted in yet another punt. The Ravens were able to get the first score of the second quarter on an outstanding 88-yard drive on eight plays. Derrick Henry ran three times and caught one pass, accumulating a total of 51 yards. The drive was capped off by Jackson finding Rashod Bateman wide-open in the middle of the endzone to run the score up to 21-3.
After the touchdown, Dallas had only 25 seconds on the clock to work with but made good use of the time. Dak connected with CeeDee on a 31-yard reception to stop the clock and make it to the Baltimore 33-yard line. Then, Nate Wiggins committed a defensive pass interference penalty, which was canceled out by an offensive holding penalty committed by Tyler Guyton. With only six seconds left in the half, Dallas settled for a 51-yard field goal drilled by Aubrey to head into the half down 21-6.
The Ravens started the second half electric. Jackson had two carries for 22 yards, and Henry again had an outstanding drive with three carries for 58 yards, capping off the drive with a 26-yard rushing touchdown to extend the Ravens’ lead by seven more. Dallas attempted to drive down the field with the aid of two Baltimore penalties committed by Nate Wiggins and Eddie Jackson, gifting the Cowboys a free 20 yards. Dallas was then set back ten yards by an offensive penalty called on Brevyn Spann-Ford. On third down and 18, Kyle Van Noy came up enormous yet again with his second sack of the game to make it fourth and 29, forcing the Cowboys to punt. The Ravens started the next possession strong, gaining two first downs almost immediately with a running trio of Jackson, Henry, and Justice Hill. After a holding penalty by Daniel Faalele to make it third down and 20, the Ravens couldn’t get back to the first down marker, resulting in a punt to start the Cowboys on the 23-yard line. Ferguson had two receptions for 17 and 26 yards, and Wiggins again committed a penalty, giving the Cowboys five yards. Prescott couldn’t connect on any other passes and, after fumbling and recovering for a loss of five yards, forced the Cowboys to punt.
To start off the Ravens’ first possession of the fourth quarter, they had a couple of short runs and a 12-yard pass caught by Rashod Bateman to get into field goal position. Justin Tucker was set up for his first field goal of the game at 46 yards out but missed left for his third missed field goal of the year, turning the ball over to the Cowboys on the 36-yard line. Prescott found Ferguson yet again for a gain of 16 and then found Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin to get to the one-yard line. Prescott punched in a one-yard rushing touchdown for the Cowboys’ first touchdown of the game. They attempted the two-point conversation to make it a 14-point game but didn’t complete the pass. The Cowboys got the ball right back after successfully completing the first on-side kick this season. They were able to get a quick first down, but their momentum slowed after Van Noy batted down an incomplete pass. Jalen Brooks had a big reception, and Tolbert was able to get in the endzone with a 15-yard receiving touchdown, but they failed the two-point conversion to bring the score to 28-18. The Cowboys’ defense then came up with a massive stop to force a quick three-and-out drive from the Ravens. Dallas answered extremely strong offensively with a 91-yard drive to march downfield. Prescott was able to spread the ball to everybody during the drive with additional help from two Baltimore penalties. The Cowboys capped off the drive with a 16-yard passing touchdown caught by Turpin, this time kicking the extra point, making it a three-point game in favor of Baltimore. On the Ravens’ possession, they got a first down forcing Dallas to use all three of their timeouts to stop the clock. With two minutes left in the game, Lamar Jackson sealed the deal by running up the middle to get the last first down needed to win the game. Baltimore moves to 1-2 with the 28-25 victory and heads back home next week to take on Buffalo on Sunday Night Football. Dallas also moves to 1-2 and takes on the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium for a Thursday Night Football matchup.
