Despite the inconsistencies and issues Baltimore has faced this year, the Ravens’ overall talent level is decidedly higher than what the Cowboys have on their roster. Baltimore wins.
WHAT: Week 13, Game 12 vs. Dallas Cowboys
WHEN: 8:05 p.m. (ET); Tuesday, December 8
WHERE: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (70,745)
RECORDS: Cowboys, 3-8; Ravens, 6-5
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Ravens lead, 4-1. Dallas did not defeat Baltimore for the first time until their most recent meeting in 2016; it was the last NFL team to register its first win over the Ravens. In Baltimore, the Ravens are 3-0 against Dallas with wins in 2000, 2004, and 2012, outscoring the Cowboys by an 88-39 margin.
TV and LOCAL RADIO: NFL Network and WIYY-FM, 97.9
REFEREE: Brad Rogers
About the Cowboys
(statistics/ rankings through Nov. 28)
—The Cowboys were born as an expansion franchise in 1960, the same year as the Minnesota Vikings. Given that there was intense competition between the NFL and American Football League at the time, the Cowboys’ presence eventually forced the AFL’s Dallas Texans, which actually won a league title, to move to Kansas City and become the Chiefs three years later. There had not been an NFL team south of Washington since the previous version of the Dallas Texans folded in 1952 – the most recent instance of an NFL team becoming insolvent – eventually becoming the second version of the Baltimore Colts in 1953. The previous Colts franchise folded after the 1950 season.
—Reportedly, Clint Murchison, who owned the Cowboys at the time of the 1960 expansion, purchased the rights to the Washington fight song “Hail To The Redskins” from the author, who had a parting of ways with Washington owner George Preston Marshall. Murchison agreed to sell the song back to the Redskins’ organization if they would vote for the Dallas franchise; a unanimous vote was required for new expansion teams at the time.
—Despite not having won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season, the Cowboys have completed 60 seasons with one of the most impressive resumes in professional sports. Dallas has accumulated 33 playoff berths (tied with Green Bay for the league-high), including 24 division titles (second-most behind the Packers’ 27, with 20 championships in the modern-day NFC East) plus nine wild-card berths. The Cowboys are 8-8 in the NFC Championship Game; the 16 appearances at the conference-title-game stage are tied with Pittsburgh for third-most behind the New York Giants (19) and Green Bay (17).
—Dallas has eight Super Bowl appearances, tied with Denver and Pittsburgh for the second-most behind New England’s 11. The Cowboys’ five championships are tied for second-most with San Francisco behind the six won by New England and Pittsburgh. However, with a 4-10 postseason record over the last 24 seasons, Dallas has not even advanced as far as the NFC Championship Game since its 1995 Super Bowl campaign despite winning seven NFC East Division titles since then.
—When the Baltimore Colts were part of the NFL, they took on the Cowboys seven times in regular-season play and Super Bowl 5, the first post-merger Super Bowl, played on the temporary Tartan Turf field in Miami’s since-demolished Orange Bowl. The Colts won a turnover-filled game, 16-13, on rookie kicker Jim O’Brien’s last-second 32-yard field goal. Dallas won five of the seven regular-season meetings with the Colts, taking two of the three games in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. In Week One of the 1978 season, a Colts’ team coming off three straight AFC East titles but having to deal with quarterback Bert Jones’ injury, allowed a long touchdown to Tony Dorsett in the first minutes of a Monday-night game in Dallas and lost to the Cowboys, 38-0.
—The Cowboys’ lifetime series with the Ravens doesn’t include many games – the two have only five-lifetime meetings, tied with Detroit and the New York Giants for the Ravens’ fewest games with any opponent – but it has had some memorable moments. The dominant 2000 Ravens won a home shutout over Dallas, 27-0, and blew them out again four years later, 30-10, also at home. The 2000 game is believed to be the only one involving the Ravens called by the legendary Pat Summerall-John Madden broadcast team.
—In 2008, in the final game at Texas Stadium in Irving, Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee ripped off long fourth-quarter touchdown runs to pace a 33-24 Baltimore win on a Saturday-night national-TV telecast. Four years later at home, the black-jerseyed Ravens lost Lardarius Webb and Ray Lewis to respective knee and triceps injuries and, despite allowing the Cowboys over 200 rushing yards that day, escaped with a 31-29 win when kicker Dan Bailey hooked a 51-yard last-second field goal try wide left in the west (Russell St.) end of the stadium. In 2016, Dallas finally got its first win over the Ravens at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, 27-17.
—Dallas got off to a 3-8 start this year, with the victories coming by a combined seven points against non-contenders Atlanta, the New York Giants, and Minnesota. On the other hand, the seven losses have come by an average margin of over 12 points per game. The schedule hasn’t seemed that tough, with three straight home games at one point (Dallas lost two of them) before a three-in-four road stretch surrounding the bye week. On top of that, the upcoming game in Baltimore is the first of three road trips in five weeks to close the season, a stretch that includes trips to Cincinnati and the New York Giants. Based on the remaining opponents’ records, the Ravens and Cowboys have the two easiest remaining schedules in the league.
—Through ten games, all four NFC East teams had losing records and negative point differentials, so it should come as no surprise to learn that Dallas has been outscored in all four quarters. It has fared best in the second quarter (90-112) and third (40-52), but that hasn’t been enough to compensate for slow starts in games. Opponents are averaging just over 32 minutes of possession time against Dallas (its own average, 27:59, is the league’s fourth-worst) due to opponents converting over 49 percent of third-down plays (third-worst) and getting 26 first downs via Cowboy penalties. The team has run the ball 294 times and attempted to pass it 488 (including sacks allowed), a dismal minus-194 pass-run ratio. Dallas has only recorded four interceptions and allowed 25 passing touchdowns, as well as 15 ground scores.
—The Ravens are moving from playing a Pittsburgh team that has the league’s best turnover ratio to taking on a squad tied with Denver for the worst at minus-13. Dallas has fumbled the ball 18 times and lost 12 of them; the latter figure is the league’s highest. The Cowboys’ defense has intercepted only four passes, the second-lowest number in the league (Houston and Philadelphia, three). With ten takeaways on defense, Dallas is one of only seven teams with ten or fewer. The 23 total giveaways are tied for the league-high with Denver; there are only three teams that have committed 20 or more turnovers.
—According to STATS, Inc., Dallas leads the NFL with 23 dropped passes through ten games. Mistakes like that are also reflected in the team’s penalty total, for the Cowboys have been charged with 68 accepted infractions, tied with Buffalo for the league’s third-most, and a total three higher than that of the Ravens. Still, Dallas has committed very few of the most-seen penalties, such as false starts (nine) and offensive holding (six). The Cowboys have not committed a personal foul penalty all season. Individually, linebacker Jaylon Smith leads the team with six penalties, and only three other Cowboys have four or more.
—Through the Thanksgiving games, Dallas is ranked ninth in total offense (17th rushing, ninth passing, 20th scoring at 22.8 points per game). The Cowboys’ robust average of 23.9 first downs per game is third-best in the league, but the third-down conversion rate ranks 22nd, and the red-zone touchdown percentage is the league’s ninth-worst. Defensively, Dallas is ranked 22nd overall (32nd and last vs. rush by allowing 156.4 yards per game, 11th vs. pass, 32nd and last in scoring by allowing 32.6 points per game). The Cowboys are one of only two teams allowing more than 30 points per game, the other being the New York Jets. The team’s third-down defense has been rather soft, allowing the fourth-highest conversion percentage; the Cowboys’ red-zone defense is the league’s ninth-worst.
—First-year Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is the ninth head coach in franchise history, but the sixth in the 25 seasons the Ravens, who have had only three head coaches, have existed. Going into the 2020 season, McCarthy had coached the Green Bay Packers for 13 seasons after 13 more as an assistant coach in the league. McCarthy had a 125-77-2 regular-season record in Green Bay, the fifth-highest win percentage among active coaches. His teams won six NFC North Division titles (including a team-record four straight), appeared in four NFC Championship Games, and won Super Bowl 45 over Pittsburgh (a game ironically held at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium). McCarthy took Green Bay to the playoffs nine times, a franchise record.
—Starting quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys’ 2016 fourth-round pick, is gone for the year after incurring a severe ankle injury. In one of last offseason’s most underrated – and, as it turns out, most prescient – moves, the team signed unrestricted free-agent and former Cincinnati Bengals starter Andy Dalton, who has missed action himself with a concussion. Dalton, Cincinnati’s 2011 second-round pick (35th overall), took the Bengals to a team-record five straight playoff berths and was invited to three Pro Bowls, but the team never won a postseason game in that time.
—In 16 career games against Baltimore, Dalton is 8-8, completing 56.5 percent of his passes with 21 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, 31 sacks, and a below-average 76.6 rating. This season, the Cowboys are 3-3 when Dalton plays; he has completed 65.1 percent of his passes with five touchdowns, five interceptions, 11 sacks, and a 77.5 rating.
—Most observers currently contend that running backs are now devalued, that they shouldn’t be taken in the first round of the draft. Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State) was picked fourth overall in 2016, and he has earned three Pro Bowl invites and an All-Pro berth, won two rushing titles, and averaged a solid 4.5 yards-per-carry through his career. However, after fumbling only five times in his first four seasons, he has coughed the ball up five times this season. Moreover, his per-carry average is only 3.9 this year, and he has just one 100-yard game in 2020 (which could be tied in with the team’s up-front problems), but he still has 707 yards and five of the team’s ten rushing touchdowns. Elliott has also caught 39 passes (fourth-most on the team) for two touchdowns. Prescott rushed for three scores before his injury, and Tony Pollard, a 2019 fourth-round pick, has two touchdowns, including a team-high 42-yarder this year, and 15 catches. Rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb has seven carries on end-arounds, and Dalton has rushed it 12 times.
—The Cowboys’ quarterback problems and offensive-line woes have prevented a good receiving corps from showing off its considerable talents. However, ex-Raider standout Amari Cooper is still having a banner year, leading the team with 71 catches, an 11.9-yard average, and three touchdowns. Rookie first-rounder CeeDee Lamb is next with 53 receptions, a per-catch rate of 12.3, and four of the team’s 16 receiving scores.
—Assuming the mantle at tight end from future Hall of Fame member Jason Witten is Dalton Schultz, a 2018 fourth-round pick from Stanford (137th overall). He has hauled in 44 balls, averaging 9.8 yards and scoring three times. In the same draft as Schultz came under-the-radar third-round wideout Michael Gallup (Colorado State, 81st pick), a good downfield threat has 37 grabs for a nearly 15-yard average. The little-used Cedric Wilson 2018’s sixth-round pick from Boise State (208th overall) has 16 receptions and two scores. The promising Noah Brown has ten grabs.
—Dallas’ offensive line has been beset by injuries, an underperforming run game, and less-than-mobile backup quarterbacks. The unit has allowed 31 sacks, tied with Detroit and the New York Giants fifth-most in the league, nine behind league leader Philadelphia. At center, veteran and former first-round pick Travis Frederick retired, and rookie Tyler Biadasz (hamstring) is out, so Joe Looney, a 2012 fourth-rounder who has also played guard, is the center. Starting tackles Cameron Erving and Zach Martin, the latter a six-time Pro Bowl guard (drafted one spot ahead of Baltimore’s pick), got hurt last week against Washington with respective knee and calf injuries, so second-year tackle Brandon Knight and rookie Terrence Steele are at left and right tackle.
—For all intents and purposes, Knight and Steele are the team’s third-string tackle tandem. Top pair Tyron Smith (neck) and La’el Collins (hip) are both gone for the year, with the latter not having played at all in 2020. Smith, a seven-time Pro Bowl pick, saw his season end with neck surgery in early October, while Collins The guards are 2018 second-round pick Conor Williams (Texas) and second-year Penn State product, Connor McGovern. Listed as the swing tackle is Greg Senat, a 2018 Ravens sixth-round pick (212th overall) released by Baltimore after a foot injury.
—The Cowboys’ defensive line in general, and pass rush in particular, was supposed to have been helped by two players with suspensions on their resumes, veterans Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory (seven quarterback hits, three tackles for loss). The pair have combined for seven of the team’s 22 sacks; Smith (44 tackles, 11 quarterback hits) leads the team with five sacks, all in road games. On the other side is veteran DeMarcus Lawrence, who has another solid year with 42 tackles, 4.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and eight quarterback hits. On the interior are the bulky Antwuan Woods, a three-year veteran who will sometimes drop back in coverage, and rookie third-round pick Neville Gallimore
—The Cowboys’ 4-2-5 base doesn’t require lots of quantity at linebacker, but there is veteran quality on the second level. The starters are 2018 first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch (45 tackles, fifth on the team) and Notre Dame product Jaylon Smith. The Cowboys spent a 2016 second-round draft pick after he had a catastrophic knee injury in college in the hopes that he would recover. He has, to say the least, with a team-high 101 tackles (his third straight 100-tackle season), five tackles for loss, four pass breakups, and his first interception of the year last week. The top backups are a team-leading veteran (but often-injured) Sean Lee, now in his 11th year after being a second-round pick from Penn State, and Joe Thomas (40 tackles), a 2014 undrafted player.
—Dallas’ secondary is another unit that has had to reinvent itself, what with top corner Byron Jones leaving for Miami in free agency and Anthony Brown (ribs) currently out. Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, respective fourth-year players from Colorado and Michigan, are the starters with fourth-round rookie Reggie Robinson in the slot and occasionally safety. Xavier Woods (free) and Donovan Wilson (strong) are the safeties; Woods, a 2017 sixth-round pick, is second on the team with 57 tackles, while Wilson, a 2019 sixth-rounder, is fourth on the squad with 47 tackles, plus 2.5 sacks. A very productive backup has been rookie second-round pick Trevon Diggs (Alabama), third on the team with 48 tackles and a team-high ten pass breakups. Diggs leads the team with two interceptions, but the Cowboys only have four pickoffs as a team, the league’s second-fewest behind Philadelphia and Houston with three each (as of Nov. 28).
—The Cowboys have strong special-teams return and coverage units, all ranking in the league’s top ten. On punt returns, Dallas is averaging 10.7 per runback, the league’s eighth-best, and on kickoffs, the Cowboys have accumulated a 23.7-yard rate, ranking ninth. The punt coverage team allows only 5.5 yards per return (tied for seventh-lowest), and on kickoffs, Dallas is yielding runbacks at a 20.4-yard rate (sixth-best). Backup running back Tony Pollard has run back 22 kickoffs, averaging 21.9 per attempt, and rookie wideout CeeDee Lamb is the punt returner, running back 18 punts 8.4-yard average with only four fair catches.
—Placekicker Greg Zuerlein’s nickname is “Greg The Leg,” but even though the former Los Angeles Ram has been successful on 18 of 21 field-goal tries, all three of his misses have come from beyond 50 yards. Part of the reason for that could be a sometimes-troublesome back injury. Longtime punter, Chris Jones’ streak of 120 straight games ended with abdominal surgery earlier this month. Jones’ directional game was a bit off this year, with only five coffin-corner punts among his 24 attempts; he did have only one touchback. He had been helped by good punt coverage with a 42.6-yard gross average and a net rate of 40.2 yards. The new punter is the 2018 undrafted punter and former XFL player Hunter Niswander, who has just seven punts this year, netting 44.7 yards.
Prediction
As far as lifetime resumes are concerned, Dallas outshines Baltimore. But teams from Charm City have proven to be an obstacle for the Cowboys. The first time Dallas played in a Super Bowl (V), it lost to Baltimore. And the Cowboys have never won at M&T Bank Stadium in three previous tries. They weren’t close games, either: the Ravens outscored Dallas 88-39 in those games and threw a shutout in 2000.
Even with all the inconsistencies and issues Baltimore has faced this year, the Ravens’ overall talent level is decidedly higher than what the Cowboys have on their roster. Baltimore wins.
Baltimore 27, Dallas 19
