Cowboys-Ravens predictions and preview: Trying to slow Lamar Jackson and bounce back

The Dallas Cowboys are coming off an ugly loss, one that hit all too close to home after their embarrassing wild-card loss that ended last season.

On Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the Baltimore Ravens and dynamic QB Lamar Jackson will be looking to avoid an 0-3 start and huge hole to start the season. We asked The Athletic’s Jon Machota and Saad Yousuf their thoughts on the matchup.

1. Is this a nightmare matchup for the Cowboys’ defense against a run game featuring Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry?

Machota: I wouldn’t call it a nightmare, but it isn’t great. I expect the Cowboys’ defense to be an inspired bunch coming off that embarrassing loss to the Saints. That doesn’t mean they are going to all of a sudden shut down Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. I think the Cowboys will be better up the middle. I wonder how they will hold up on the outside if Henry or Jackson get the perimeter opportunities that Alvin Kamara did last Sunday. CB Trevon Diggs isn’t exactly a great tackler. The last thing you want is being in a position where he’s the last line of defense with Henry running full speed. Look for LB DeMarvion Overshown to make an impact that looks more like Week 1 than Week 2. I don’t think a few days of practices can completely fix what we saw last Sunday, but it should be better.

Yousuf: The only thing that keeps it from being a full nightmare is that the Baltimore offensive line has some holes that could allow the Cowboys’ defensive line to hold its ground a little more than it did last week. Kamara is a great running back but one of the most concerning things about the game against New Orleans was that the Cowboys were never even in position to get stops, let alone actually make the play. They were getting manhandled up front and getting thrown backward. Tackling Jackson and Henry will be a challenge but it all starts with actually getting in position to make the play. That begins with the defensive linemen standing their ground and creating opportunities for the linebackers to make plays.

2. This would be a great game for Dak Prescott to play like the game’s highest-paid player, wouldn’t it?

Machota: It certainly would. He and CeeDee Lamb have to have a big day for Dallas to win. And they should. Baltimore is giving up a league-high 257 passing yards per game. Jake Ferguson has returned to practice. He’s expected to play. Even if that doesn’t lead to a bunch of catches for the Cowboys’ top tight end, maybe it opens up some things for Brandin Cooks, who only had two targets last week. Prescott hasn’t been bad the first two weeks, but he hasn’t been great, either. They need him at his best Sunday. And that might mean finding a way to win in a shootout between the top two finishers for last season’s NFL MVP. The biggest area where Prescott needs to step up is in the red zone. Dallas is scoring touchdowns on only 25 percent of its red zone trips this season. The Cowboys converted on nearly 60 percent last season.

Yousuf: I expect Prescott’s play to be improved this week as he’s expected to get Ferguson back. With the running game suffering the way it is, there’s more pressure on Prescott to make things happen through the air. The Cowboys’ offense can’t control how effective the defense will be but it can do its part. The Cowboys moved the ball down the field against the Saints but weren’t able to finish drives with touchdowns. Sustaining drives will be important, especially to give the defense rest, but it has to end in the end zone instead of settling for field goals. Prescott’s play hasn’t been a primary issue through two games but it’s been far from perfect. From orchestrating the line of scrimmage before the snap to making key throws on big downs, Prescott needs to be on top of his game.

3. At 0-2, the Ravens desperately need a win. What is the key for the Cowboys preventing that?

Machota: First of all is some good health. Lamb (ankle) and Diggs (foot) didn’t practice Wednesday. They were both limited Thursday. All signs point to them playing Sunday. After watching that debacle last Sunday, just getting some stops has to be high on the list. There obviously can’t be six touchdowns scored on Baltimore’s first six possessions. No way the Cowboys are winning if that happens again. If they can get some stops early, maybe even a takeaway, I think the offense will do its part. But that’s going to be easier said than done against a desperate team with arguably the league’s most dangerous player at quarterback.

Yousuf: They need to figure out how to contain Jackson. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was reluctant to commit to using Overshown as a quarterback spy, mentioning it could be Micah Parsons who gets used in that role. However, the Cowboys choose to approach it, disrupting Jackson will be key to containing the Ravens on the ground and through the air. Head coach Mike McCarthy talks a lot about the “2.3,” which is how many seconds they’d like to force the ball out of a quarterback’s hands. Jackson’s running ability up the field gets the most shine but his ability to buy time and throw down the field is a legitimate threat, too.

4. You’re Mike McCarthy: Keep going running back-by-committee or give one back the bulk of the carries?

Machota: I’d stick with running back-by-committee unless someone emerges from the group. If Rico Dowdle or Ezekiel Elliott or Deuce Vaughn or Dalvin Cook have a hot hand, I’d continue going with that player. But that hasn’t happened the first two weeks and I have my doubts about it happening at all. So unless they go outside of the building to upgrade the position, this committee approach might be their best plan of attack. I don’t think this will be a great rushing attack all season, but they need to at least get to where they’re middle of the pack. Right now, that would be averaging around 120 rushing yards per game. They’re currently averaging 85. Their longest run is 12 yards, and it’s by Lamb, a wide receiver.

Yousuf: Ideally, even in a committee approach, you’d like to have a player who could at least be the feature running back and the face of the committee, supplemented by a couple of other guys who have specialty skill sets. I’m not quite sure that the Cowboys have that running back on the roster but I would like to give Dowdle the opportunity to show, once and for all, if he can be that guy. The Cowboys can still use Elliott in short yardage and pass protection and deploy their Deuce Vaughn package situationally. But allowing Dowdle to get in a rhythm and see if he can establish something consistent would be something I’d try for a couple of weeks.

5. Prediction?

Machota: I think the 0-2 Ravens are the more desperate team. They badly need a win with the Bills and Bengals up next on their schedule. The Cowboys have been great at bouncing back from losses under McCarthy. However, I think Jackson’s playmaking ability ends up being too much. There were just too many alarming things that happened defensively for the Cowboys last Sunday for me to think it will all be fixed after a few practices. For example, I could see them being better against the run, but then Jackson connects on some huge plays in the passing game to Zay Flowers. The Cowboys’ defense will be more competitive, but ultimately I don’t think it will be enough. Full disclosure, I picked the Browns in Week 1 and the Cowboys in Week 2, so this might actually be a good sign for Dallas. Ravens 27, Cowboys 21.

Yousuf: There’s no way to really measure desperation for a team but the Cowboys and Ravens both come into this game with different levels of it. The Cowboys are trying to rebound from an embarrassing home opener that certainly got their attention. There’s a level of urgency that’s been evident in their comments all week. On the flip side, this is a Ravens team that’s 0-2 and has the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals on the other side of this week’s game at AT&T Stadium. Since 2021, the Cowboys are 12-2 following a loss, with their only back-to-back losses being nail-biters (an overtime home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 and a two-point loss in Miami last year). Although it wouldn’t surprise me if either team won the game this week, I expect the Cowboys to be prepared for the challenge and do enough to get things back on track. Cowboys 27, Ravens 23.

Quick-hit predictions

(Top photo of Lamar Jackson: Rob Carr / Getty Images)