When this game appeared on the schedule, it figured to be a matchup between two of the top teams in the NFL.
The Ravens playing at the Cowboys sounded more like a potential Super Bowl preview than an early season clash of two struggling teams.
The Ravens — at 0-2 for the first time since 2015, when they missed the playoffs — are the more desperate team here.
The Cowboys, though, are coming off a humiliating, 44-19 loss to the Saints, which ended a 16-game regular-season home winning streak.
“They just have things to fix like we have things to fix,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis told reporters during the week. “We’ve got to get things tightened up so we don’t have another slide like we did last week. And I know they’re thinking the same thing. We’ve got to see who fixes what first.”
The Ravens, who had the best record in the regular season a year ago before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, are well aware that just one team since 2000 has recovered from 0-3 to reach the postseason. So, that’s staring them in the face.
“We’re trying to right our wrongs [and] get our pride back,” linebacker Odafe Oweh told reporters. “It’s kind of tense in terms of: We do not want to go 0-3. That’s not what’s going to happen. Everyone is pretty focused and understands what we have to do, even if it’s not outwardly spoken.”
The Ravens will hope to take advantage of a Dallas defense that was gashed by the Saints, and Baltimore will try to do that by getting running back Derrick Henry going.
The Cowboys defensive front has been a weakness, and now they are dealing with injury issues there, with defensive tackle Jordan Phillips on injured reserve with a wrist injury and defensive tackle Mazi Smith having missed practice to early in the week because of a tight back.
Dallas allowed 190 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the loss to the Saints. Henry, who rushed for 84 yards and a TD in the loss to the Raiders last week, is surely salivating.
On the other side, the Cowboys hope to break out star receiver CeeDee Lamb against a Ravens secondary that’s yielded a league-worst 257 yards passing per game through the first two weeks.
Perhaps the top matchup to watch will be Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons against Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. This is speed versus speed.
Parsons was particularly outspoken during the week about the Cowboys’ effort in the New Orleans loss, which included Saints TDs on each of their first six possessions.
“Everyone didn’t play to 100 percent,” he said. “That’s just me being accountable and just saying the truth. We all got to play better.”
On his weekly podcast, Parsons said, “The effort was not there by all 11 [players].’’
Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer disputed Parsons’ assessment, saying, “I don’t really think it was an effort issue. [The Saints] beat us off the snap quite a few times, [and] we didn’t get moving quick enough. I just got to do a better job.’’
Parsons added he’s “trying to right the guys, get everyone to calm down. This is adversity. Don’t shy from it.’’
Linebacker Eric Kendricks, who had two sacks and an interception in his Cowboys debut against the Browns in Week 1, called last week “a good piece of humble pie, for sure.’’
How both teams react to the humble pie served to them last week when they meet Sunday makes this one of the most fascinating matchups of Week 3, one of much consequence.
“We’ve got to find our mojo and do what we do,” Jackson said. “We’re not moping around. Our guys [are] not doubting each other.’’
Nor is Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.
“We’re not going to be defined by everyone that’s saying we’re not any good [or] that the season is over after two games,” he said. “That’s what’s going to be said, and we understand that. But no one inside is going to say that.”
Since 2021, the Cowboys are 12-2 coming off a loss.
“[We’ve] got to reset and we’ve got to respond,’’ Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said.
“We’ve got so much ahead of us,” Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of good players that can do the work. I’m confident we’ll get it done. We’ll learn from this.”
