OWINGS MILLS — No lead has been safe for the Ravens.
Baltimore appeared to be coasting with a 22-point cushion in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys. However, the Ravens committed several miscues that let Dallas nearly erase that lead.
First, Justin Tucker missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt that the Cowboys turned into a touchdown on the ensuing possession.
Then, Zay Flowers could not corral an onside kick that Dallas recovered. Zak Prescott threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 7:07 left in the game.
After the Ravens’ offense stalled, Prescott threw another 16-yard touchdown to KaVontae Turpin to pull within three points with 2:53 remaining.
The Cowboys used their timeouts before the two-minute warning, and quarterback Lamar Jackson made a 10-yard run to earn a first down and seal a 28-25 victory, the Ravens’ first of the season.
“I thought everybody really got locked in on trying to get the job done,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Everybody understood what needed to be done. We were trying to get stops, and we were focusing on that. And then when we got back out there, we were trying to end the game with the offense on the field.”
Jackson had talked all week about how the Ravens need to finish games stronger after blowing a 10-point lead in a 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last week at home.
The Ravens improved to 1-2 with the victory over Dallas but they’ll head back to Baltimore still trying to figure out why they struggle so much late in games.
“We’ve got to finish, man,” Jackson said.
The Ravens have been outscored, 32-7, in the fourth quarter over the past two games and that needs to be cleaned up if they want to make a run at a second straight AFC North crown.
“We want to get those stops,” Harbaugh said about the opponents’ scoring drives in the fourth quarter. “We definitely want to get those stops.”
Since 2007, the Ravens have 10 losses when leading by seven or more points in the fourth quarter, the most by any NFL team.
Baltimore had 13 penalties for 105 yards against the Cowboys. That also has been an ongoing issue this season.
“The penalties are a problem. Too many penalties,” Harbaugh said.