Ravens Beat Cowboys in Rio on 56-Yard Kick

Tyler Loop's 56-yard field goal as time expired gave the Baltimore Ravens a 34⁠–⁠31 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, 27 September, at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the NFL's first regular-season game in that city and its third in Brazil (AP / ABC News; Guardian; Baltimore Ravens). A field goal is a kick through the goalposts worth three points; ESPN's scoring summary logs Loop's kick at 0:00 of the fourth quarter (ESPN).

With seven seconds left after Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey's 23-yard kick had tied the game at 31, Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers and called timeout with one second remaining, setting up Loop (AP / ABC News). A timeout stops the game clock; without it, the final second would have run out. "Everyone was on the same timing," Jackson said. "The line did a great job protecting, Zay ran a great route and I just had to deliver the baby" (AP / ABC News). "Unbelievable play by Lamar and Zay," said Ravens coach Jesse Minter. "Heads up on the time" (AP / ABC News).

For Loop, it was a turnaround. The Ravens' own recap noted that he missed a 44-yard field goal last season that would have sent Baltimore to the playoffs (Baltimore Ravens).

Baltimore (2⁠–⁠1) had taken a 31⁠–⁠28 lead on Jackson's 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Matt Hibner with 1:30 left; Dallas (1⁠–⁠2) answered with a drive capped by Aubrey after a pass-interference call on Nate Wiggins at the Ravens' 2 (AP / ABC News). Pass interference is a penalty for illegally blocking a receiver's chance to catch the ball; Wiggins, a Ravens cornerback, was called with 23 seconds left when his arms locked with Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb (AP / ABC News). After an incomplete pass, a Dallas false start, a penalty for moving before the play begins, pushed the Cowboys back to the Ravens' 7, and they settled for the tying kick (AP / ABC News).

The game swung all afternoon, according to ESPN's scoring summary. Dallas led 10⁠–⁠0 in the first quarter on Aubrey's 28-yard field goal and a 2-yard touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Derrick Henry answered with touchdown runs of 4 and 3 yards, and Loop's 27-yard field goal made it 17⁠–⁠10 before Aubrey's 38-yard kick with 18 seconds left in the half cut it to 17⁠–⁠13 (ESPN).

In the third quarter Ravens safety Keondre Jackson blocked a 59-yard Aubrey attempt, and Lamar Jackson's 4-yard touchdown pass to Chris Moore four plays later made it 24⁠–⁠13 (AP / ABC News; ESPN). Dallas then scored 15 straight points (Baltimore Ravens). Dak Prescott threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson, and Prescott's pass to Lamb for a two-point conversion, a play from close range after a touchdown worth two points instead of the usual one-point kick, cut it to 24⁠–⁠21 (ESPN; AP / ABC News). At the goal line, needing only inches for a touchdown on their last try of the series, the Ravens gave the ball to Henry, and rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham tackled him behind the line; and KaVontae Turpin's 9-yard touchdown run finished a 96-yard Dallas drive for a 28⁠–⁠24 lead with 9:42 left (AP / ABC News; ESPN).

Derrick Henry ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns for Baltimore; an announced crowd of 72,792 watched (AP / ABC News; Guardian). Henry, who carried 26 times, moved past Eric Dickerson (13,259 yards) into ninth place on the NFL's career rushing list (ESPN; AP / ABC News). Jackson completed 15 of 20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns without an interception and ran for 50 yards; Flowers caught five passes for 84 yards (ESPN). For Dallas, Prescott completed 25 of 40 for 276 yards, Lamb caught seven passes for 112 yards and Williams ran for 98 (ESPN).

The NFL has played in Brazil since 2024, but its two earlier games there were at the 48,000-seat NeoQuímica Arena in São Paulo (AP / ABC News). After concerns about the field during the week, the grass at the Maracanã, Brazil's most famous soccer stadium, appeared to hold up well, AP reported (AP / ABC News; Baltimore Ravens). "I am hurting, they are hurting," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "It is a long trip (to Rio), but no one cares" (AP / ABC News).

The Ravens host the Tennessee Titans next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET; the Cowboys visit the Houston Texans (Baltimore Ravens; AP / ABC News).