Brian Schottenheimer steps up and takes blame for late-game Cowboys failure
The Ravens beat the Cowboys 34-31 in Rio de Janeiro on a 56-yard field goal from Tyler Loop, but the aftermath belongs to Brian Schottenheimer.
The Baltimore Ravens pulled off a dramatic win over the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro , in a game decided in the final seconds. With the score tied late, Lamar Jackson connected with Zay Flowers on a 27-yard pass that put Baltimore in field goal range, and Tyler Loop answered with a 56-yard kick to seal the 34-31 win.
After the loss, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer took responsibility for the mistakes in the final seconds and admitted his decisions hurt Dallas' chances.
"I didn't do very good in the final 20 seconds (of Sunday's game in Rio). … I hurt our chances to win that game. I'm better than that. … Those things won't happen again."
Dallas came up just short of the end zone
The sequence that defined the game began with the Cowboys ' last offensive drive of the fourth quarter. Dallas reached the red zone and got as far as the Baltimore 5-yard line, but couldn't find the touchdown that would have secured the win.
Schottenheimer explained that the plan was to score and close out the game, though he admitted the execution fell short.
"Yeah, we thought we were going to score a touchdown. We thought we were going to score a touchdown and move the ball really well down there. We've got to find a way to punch it in. I've got to call some better plays to get it in."
The defensive plan: play for overtime
The coach also revealed that the defensive idea was to concede a short pass and, if they couldn't stop the Ravens, go to overtime.
"We felt like, let's boom it through, put them out there, make them throw the ball short, and we'll be fine," Schottenheimer said. "Play for overtime. That's what the plan was."
Schottenheimer also defended the decision to use man coverage on Baltimore's final possession, a call that let Lamar Jackson find Zay Flowers at the Dallas 38-yard line to set up the winning field goal.
"I liked the [defensive] call. We wanted to stay sticky. But at the end of the day, they ran two ins. It's actually a play we run quite a bit of. The bottom line is you've got to make the ball go to the first one, not the layer that they hit to Zay Flowers. That's where we have to be better."
