'This one hurts': How are Cowboys reacting to third straight 1-2 start?

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  Todd ArcherSep 28, 2026, 09:48 AM ET

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  Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Whenever and however the 2026 NFL season ends for the Dallas Cowboys, they will look back at Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL's first game in Rio de Janeiro as a defining moment.

The Cowboys are 1-2 for the third straight season. In 2024, they finished 7-10. In 2025, they finished 7-9-1.

As elated as they would have been with a comeback victory against the Ravens, they walked out of Maracanã Stadium to their buses knowing they had a 10-hour flight back to Dallas with nothing but time to relive the pain of a last-second defeat.

"We just got to lean on our brotherhood. We got to lean on the family that we've created. The trust," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "This is one game. It's early in the season, thankfully. We're 1-2. We would love to be 2-1 going back, going home. We're not. It's a long season. ... After a loss you don't have no choice but to lock arms and run back into the fire and trust what you've done in your process.

"And so hopefully it's one of the best things that happened for us. Hopefully, look back at this in a month or a couple months and say it was good."

But they have no way of knowing that now.

"I'm sure when I land," Prescott said, "I'll be just as pissed."

The Cowboys were two yards away from pulling off a potential comeback victory that could have led to a season momentum boost. Then they were seven seconds away from forcing overtime.

The emotional swings can be deflating.

"Oh, I don't ever question these guys, man. Watch the way they play," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "I mean, this team doesn't have quit in them. They're hurting right now. I'm hurting. I felt like we made enough plays to go win the game, but we didn't. So give Baltimore credit for that. But at the end of the day, I hurt for the guys in the locker room. They put a lot into this. It's a long trip, but no one cares."

The Cowboys can point to a number of plays that could have changed the outcome, beyond the last minute of regulation.

On their first drive, they failed to score a touchdown from the Baltimore 1, settling for a field goal. In the third quarter, there was a controversial lost fumble from tight end Jake Ferguson and a blocked 59-yard field goal attempt from Brandon Aubrey.

The defense stopped running back Derrick Henry on fourth down in the first and fourth quarters, but they were unable to sack Lamar Jackson or force a turnover.

And after kicking off seven seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 31, the defense couldn't make a one-play stop, as Jackson connected with Zay Flowers for 27 yards with 1 second left to give Tyler Loop the opportunity to win the game with a 56-yard field goal as time expired.

"Every loss is heartbreaking," rookie defensive back Caleb Downs said. "It's not a good way to lose and we have things to fix."

So, too, does the offense.

When the Cowboys had the chance to take the lead late, they got to the 2-yard line with 23 seconds left after receiver CeeDee Lamb drew a pass interference call, but a second-down false start penalty on tight end Luke Schoonmaker pushed the ball back to the Ravens' 7.

With 14 seconds remaining, the Cowboys called a timeout after a Prescott scramble. Prescott's third-down pass to receiver George Pickens was high and wide.

"I probably overcoached [Prescott] on that because it had to go," Schottenheimer said. "With no timeouts, it had to go to GP or throw away."

Prescott had regrets.

"I probably should have just sat on it a little bit longer, sank on my back foot and just put it on that front pylon," he said.

The Cowboys settled for the tying field goal from Aubrey, thinking they would go to overtime. After having Aubrey go for the touchback, the defense allowed the 27-yard completion with one second left.

A year ago against the Green Bay Packers, one second remained on the clock in overtime that allowed the Packers to kick a tying field goal. One second remained this time, and the Cowboys lost.

Schottenheimer said he was honest with the players in the postgame locker room.

"I told them this one hurts, and I was sorry," Schottenheimer said. "I was sorry that we didn't find a way to win. I was proud of them, how hard they played, how many guys had to step up and make plays and move in and whatnot. It was back and forth. It was a hell of a football game if you didn't care who won. But I told them I was proud of them, but I also told them that it's supposed to hurt. We have to find a way to win football games."