Ravens vs. Cowboys: 5 things to watch in Week 3 matchup

The Ravens are "close," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Thursday. Close to consistency. Close to success. Close to victory.

"Nothing too hard for us to fix," outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said, "but it's definitely something that we have to get right."

"We lead the league in yards," coach John Harbaugh said, "but the points have to come with it."

"I believe we're right there," quarterback Lamar Jackson said. "It's the small things we're messing up."

But "close" with an 0-2 record is still 0-2. And 0-3 teams don't often make it out of the regular season happy. Since 1990, just four of the 162 teams that started a season 0-3 reached the playoffs. Just two won their division. None won the Super Bowl.

After a stunning loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Ravens enter Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys (1-1) in almost must-win territory. Here's what to watch in their Week 2 matchup at AT&T Stadium.

Prescott was the consensus MVP favorite entering Week 15, but consecutive losses to the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, along with the Ravens' late-season rampage, gave Jackson the opening he needed to claim his second award.

Now Prescott has a chance to help hand Jackson his own bit of history. Over his three seasons at Louisville and six-plus seasons with the Ravens, Jackson has never lost four consecutive games as a starter. After falling in last season's AFC championship game and the Ravens' first two matchups of 2024, Jackson is on a three-game skid for the first time in Baltimore.

Jackson leads the NFL in total yards (687) this season, but that production hasn't translated to wins. He's optimistic it will. Jackson called Wednesday's practice "one of the best days we've ever had" on offense, and Monken said Thursday that "we just have to put it all together."

"I believe in the guys in the locker room," Jackson said Wednesday. "We know what we want to do when we go out there Sunday, and we know we've been busting our behinds each and every game. It's like we're coming up short, but I feel like, at the end of the day, we're beating ourselves somewhat, because it's penalties killing us, and the M.E.'s [mental errors] we're doing. Even me, making the missed throws, we just have to fix those little things, and I feel like we're going to win our games like we're supposed to."

Henry can show the Cowboys what they missed out on. He had 18 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown in the Ravens' loss Sunday to the Raiders, a big step forward after his quiet Week 1 , and now gets to face a reeling Cowboys run defense.

Dallas was shredded for 190 yards (4.9 per carry) and four rushing touchdowns in its 44-19 loss Sunday to the New Orleans Saints. The Cowboys allowed 2.44 yards before contact per carry, according to TruMedia, the third-worst rate in the NFL in Week 2, and they could offer even less resistance up front Sunday. Starting defensive tackle Mazi Smith hasn't practiced this week because of a back injury, and reserve defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was placed on injured reserve Wednesday.

At Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's Monday news conference with local reporters, five of the first six questions he took were about the run defense or the Ravens' rushing attack.

"I don't really think it was an effort issue," Zimmer said of the Cowboys' poor showing against the Saints. "I think that team [New Orleans], they beat us off the snap quite a few times, got us where I thought we were slow with our hands. That's my fault. I got to get them better ready to play than that. I talked to them during the week about it. But, at the end of the day, we didn't get moving quick enough."

The mere threat of Henry and Jackson could leave the Cowboys vulnerable elsewhere. Saints quarterback Derek Carr went 7-for-11 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on play-action throws, which Harbaugh said the Ravens didn't use enough of Sunday.

In Week 1, a miscommunication left running back Justice Hill matched up with Kansas City Chiefs star defensive lineman Chris Jones in pass protection on the Ravens' final play. In Week 2, their defense struggled to reliably pass off routes when the Raiders sent players in motion, leaving receivers uncovered for easy completions.

On Sunday, the Ravens' offense will have to know to find No. 11 before every snap. Outside linebacker Micah Parsons "is certainly a guy that you want to know where he's at," center Tyler Linderbaum said Thursday. The three-time All-Pro has lined up at both edge spots and at all three linebacker positions for Dallas this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

"The challenges he presents, his skill set, being explosive, being that speed guy off the edge and using his quickness and using his explosiveness helps him," Linderbaum said. "And it's going to be a challenge. Our tackles know that, but we're excited for the opportunity. We have to have a great week of practice and just have a game plan ready for him."

The Ravens can't afford a repeat of Week 2, when they limited Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby to just four pressures — two of which were sacks. Jackson has been sacked just three times total this season, but every sack has led to either a turnover or the Ravens' drive ending after that set of downs.

Big pass plays have been a big problem for the defense through the season's first two weeks. Despite relatively good health in their secondary — cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Marcus Williams, who missed much of the 2023 season's opening month with injuries, have played every defensive snap — the Ravens have the fourth-worst explosive-pass-play rate in the NFL, giving up gains of at least 16 yards on 16.2% of opponents' drop-backs. The five completions of at least 20 air yards they've surrendered are tied for third most, according to TruMedia.

"They understand that they're the best secondary in the league, and they tell themselves that every day at practice," tight end Isaiah Likely said. "So it's really just all of them playing on a string, playing on one chord, making sure that all of them are in the same spot, same place. ... They're the best secondary I've seen for countless years, so them just being them at the point of attack, whether the ball's in the air, whether they're playing their guys — once they get back to that, they're going to be exactly who they're supposed to."

Lead wide receivers have been especially troublesome for the Ravens' defense. The Chiefs' Rashee Rice had seven catches for 103 yards in Week 1. The Raiders' Davante Adams had nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown in Week 2. The Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb, a first-team All-Pro last season, might be more potent than both. He can dominate over the middle and after the catch, as Rice did, or win on vertical balls down the sideline, as Adams did.

"He's one of the premier players in this league, but just really diving in and watching him on tape, I've been really impressed with him," defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. "He's really good. I think the lesson that we take is that when you have these guys at receiver, a guy like CeeDee Lamb, they can change the game in an instant. We're definitely going to have to have a plan, and we're going to have to execute that plan at the highest level to try to contain a guy like that."

They have seven sacks, tied for third most in the NFL, and they rank seventh in sack rate (9.5%). They also have just 21 quarterback pressures (28%), tied for 20th, and rank 28th in pressure rate, according to PFF.

That feast-or-famine production played out in the second half Sunday. The Ravens had two sacks of quarterback Gardner Minshew but just seven pressures total on his 24 drop-backs (29.2%). When not pressured after halftime, Minshew went 13-for-17 for 164 yards and a touchdown. And, when blitzed, he went 5-for-6 for 60 yards and a touchdown.

"I feel like I could have done some different things to help our team out and help us try to control that," Orr said. "Hats off to Minshew and the Raiders. They came in in the second half, they outexecuted us and they beat us. I'm a person that — you guys are going to know, I'm always going to take accountability, look [at] myself in the mirror. So, looking back at the film, there's definitely some spots in there where I feel like I could've done things differently."

The cleaner the pocket for Prescott, the greater the trouble for the Ravens. When not pressured last season, Prescott completed 72.5% of his passes, threw 27 touchdown passes and six interceptions and averaged 0.31 expected points added per attempt, sixth best in the NFL among 35 qualifying quarterbacks.