Ravens take rare 0-2 start into Dallas with Cowboys coming off blowout loss at home
Baltimore (0-2) at Dallas (1-1)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, Fox.
BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 1.
Against the spread: Ravens 0-2, Cowboys 1-1.
Series record: Ravens lead 5-1.
Last meeting: Ravens beat Cowboys 34-17 on Dec. 8, 2020, in Baltimore.
Last week: Ravens lost to Raiders 26-23; Cowboys lost to Saints 44-19.
Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (7), pass (4), scoring (14T)
Ravens defense: overall (15), rush (1), pass (32), scoring (28)
Cowboys offense: overall (17), rush (25), pass (9), scoring (7)
Cowboys defense: overall (19), rush (20), pass (16), scoring (30)
Turnover differential: Ravens even; Cowboys plus-1.
Ravens player to watch
RB Derrick Henry is a power back facing an interior defensive front that’s been a nagging weakness for the Cowboys for a long time. There is an injury issue for Dallas as well. Veteran DT Jordan Phillips went to injured reserve with a wrist problem, leading the Cowboys to reunite with Carlos Watkins this week. DT Mazi Smith missed practice to start the week because of a tight back. Henry had 84 yards and a TD in the loss to the Raiders, and Dallas allowed 190 yards rushing and four TDs in the loss to the Saints.
Cowboys player to watch
WR CeeDee Lamb is still looking for a breakout game coming off an All-Pro season that included eight 100-yard outings. The Ravens are giving up a league-worst 257 yards passing per game through two weeks. Lamb hasn’t been completely bottled up, though. He had a big catch on an early touchdown drive in the Week 1 win at Cleveland. His 65-yard score after ducking out of a tackle briefly got Dallas back in last week’s game against New Orleans. Lamb can become the sixth player in NFL history with at least one touchdown catch in nine consecutive regular-season home games.
Key matchup
Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons vs. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. It’s always intriguing when an elite speed rusher faces one of the league’s best running quarterbacks. And this is the first time Parsons will see the reigning NFL MVP because the most recent meeting between the clubs was 2020, the year before Dallas drafted Parsons in the first round. Parsons is in rare company as an All-Pro selection in two of his first three seasons, and Jackson is a two-time MVP.
Key injuries
CB Nate Wiggins, the Ravens’ rookie first-round draft pick, didn’t practice to start the week after missing the loss to the Raiders because of a neck injury sustained in a car wreck. … LB Adisa Isaac, a rookie third-round choice, could be in line for his NFL debut. Isaac missed the first two games with a hamstring issue. … Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson appears set to return after missing a game with a knee injury. … Lamb (ankle) and CB Trevon Diggs (foot) showed up on the injury report Wednesday, but coach Mike McCarthy there wasn’t concern with either player. … DT Mazi Smith left practice Wednesday when his back tightened up, and his status is in flux.
Series notes
The only victory for the Cowboys in the series came during the remarkable rookie seasons for QB Dak Prescott and RB Ezekiel Elliott in 2016. Dallas won 11 consecutive games and was the top seed in the NFC when those two finished neck-and-neck in voting for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (Prescott won). The 27-17 win over the Ravens at home was the ninth victory in that run. Prescott threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns and Elliott had 97 yards rushing. They have been reunited this season after Elliott spent last season in New England. He was let go in a cost-cutting move after the 2022 season.
Stats and stuff
The Ravens, who reached the AFC championship game last season, are 0-2 for the first time since 2015, when they lost their first three games and missed the playoffs. That was the middle of a stretch of Baltimore missing the playoffs four times in five seasons after winning a Super Bowl. … The Cowboys have allowed 92 points in their past two home games — the loss to the Saints that ended a 16-game home winning streak in the regular season and a 48-32 wild-card defeat against Green Bay in January. The franchise worst is 93 points from consecutive home games in the winless (0-11-1) expansion season of 1960. … Since 2021, the Cowboys are 12-2 coming off a loss. That .857 winning percentage is tied with Buffalo for the best in the NFL during that span. … Jackson needs one more game of leading the Ravens in passing and rushing yards to tie Cam Newton for the NFL record at 40. … TE Mark Andrews needs one TD receiving to tie TE Mark Heap for the most in franchise history at 41. … LB Kyle Van Noy had two sacks against Las Vegas a week after fracturing an orbital bone against Kansas City. … LB Odafe Oweh had a career-best 2 1/2 sacks against the Raiders. … Prescott needs 69 yards passing to join Tony Romo and Troy Aikman as the only Dallas QBs to reach 30,000 yards. CB Trevon Diggs has one more chance to reach 20 interceptions in his first 50 games. Only three others since 1990 have done it — Marcus Peters, Richard Sherman and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed. … Ravens K Justin Tucker needs one FG of at least 50 yards for 59 such kicks in his career, which would break a tie with Sebastian Janikowski at No. 2. Cowboys second-year K Brandon Aubrey is 13 of 13 for his career from at least 50. That’s the most without a miss from 50-plus in league history.
Fantasy tip
This won’t be the week to try to figure out how the Cowboys might use Elliott and Rico Dowdle. The run game was probably the top concern for Dallas coming into the season and hasn’t had a chance to find a rhythm. Baltimore has the NFL’s best rushing defense through two weeks.
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