Jaishawn Barham met Derrick Henry at the Dallas 1, and the Cowboys finally found the kind of resistance this game demanded. Henry had gained 2 yards from the Dallas 4 on second-and-goal. On third down, a replay review overturned the initial touchdown ruling and credited him with 1 yard, putting Baltimore at the 1.
Then Barham drove Henry backward on fourth down, ending the threat with a 3-yard loss.
That was excellent goal-line defense by Dallas, which lost 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Barham made the decisive tackle, while Otito Ogbonnia had helped on the preceding play. The stop gave the Cowboys the ball at their own 4 and a chance to turn resistance into something more useful than a nice clip for the highlight package.
They did exactly that. Javonte Williams gained 1 yard, Dak Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for 49, and Brevyn Spann-Ford added 19 to move Dallas to the Baltimore 27. After a short Tyler Goodson run, George Pickens converted third-and-8 from the Baltimore 25 with a 16-yard catch. KaVontae Turpin then finished the seven-play, 96-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run.
The march put Dallas ahead 28-24. It lasted 3:21 and displayed precisely the sort of clean, forceful response a defense hopes to earn with a goal-line stand.
The teams then exchanged punts, another small success for the Dallas defense. But the next Baltimore possession broke through. After Dallas punted from its own 28, Baltimore started at the Ravens’ 36 with 5:45 remaining.
Lamar Jackson immediately scrambled for 17 yards to the Dallas 47. Henry followed with an 8-yard run, then added 1 yard on the next play. Baltimore did not need a magic trick.
It needed its running game, and it trusted it.
The Ravens’ touchdown possession covered 64 yards in 11 plays. Henry’s first two carries gained 8 and 1 yards. An illegal-formation penalty erased Jackson’s 12-yard scramble, but Baltimore recovered by converting third-and-6, with Jackson finding Mark Andrews for 10 yards. Henry added 3 more, and Zay Flowers caught a 14-yard pass to reach the Dallas 16.
Then Jackson was stopped for no gain. On the next play, Flowers caught another 14-yard pass, carrying Baltimore to the Dallas 2. A false start pushed the Ravens back to the 7, and defensive pass interference brought them back to the 2.
Henry was stopped there, too, but Baltimore had already made Dallas defend a long, physical possession. An incompletion followed before Jackson found Matthew Hibner for the 2-yard touchdown with 1:30 left.
