Dallas’s Touchback Choice Put Coordination Under the Microscope

The ball sailed through the end zone, and Baltimore took possession at its 35-yard line. That touchback is where Brian Schottenheimer’s new account of Dallas’s 34-31 loss to the Ravens becomes most useful—and where hindsight needs to keep its seatbelt fastened.

The Cowboys coach explained Tuesday that, if given the same situation again, he would choose a short kickoff. He also accepted responsibility for inadequate communication with the special-teams staff. For Plano and the wider Dallas-Fort Worth audience, that makes the decision more than a postgame preference. It exposes a coordination problem in the few moments after Brandon Aubrey’s field goal had tied the game.

It does not establish that a different kick would have produced a different winner.

The situation turned on the interaction between field position and the clock. Baltimore had little time remaining, so it did not need to construct a long, patient possession. Dallas gave the Ravens a starting point that eliminated much of the field. From the 35, Baltimore needed one substantial gain to move into a far more comfortable position for a winning field-goal attempt.

That gain arrived on the next significant opportunity. Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers, moving Baltimore across midfield. The throw changed the calculation immediately: the Ravens no longer needed several safe completions merely to approach kicking range. One connection had done the heavy lifting.

Schottenheimer attributed the completion to a failure in coverage alignment and communication, saying the defense did not make Jackson settle for a shorter throw. That is the coach’s diagnosis of the play, not a claim that every assignment can be independently reconstructed from his comments. The sequence itself is clear, though.

Baltimore received favorable field position, Jackson found Flowers for 27 yards, and the Ravens converted that advantage into the winning kick.

The Dallas decision deserves criticism without swallowing the credit due to Baltimore. Jackson recognized the opportunity and delivered the pass. Flowers was the intended receiver on a completion that covered 27 yards, and that single play gave the Ravens the territory they needed.

A generous starting point helps an offense; it does not throw the ball or complete it. The Cowboys made the next snap more dangerous than it needed to be, and the Ravens handled it well.

A short kickoff would have changed the possibilities, not guaranteed the ending. Schottenheimer argued afterward for making Baltimore handle a shorter kick. That hindsight identifies a choice worth reviewing, but it cannot establish where the Ravens would have started or what Jackson would have done next. The process can be criticized without awarding Dallas a hypothetical win.

The kickoff should also be separated from the offensive confusion that preceded Aubrey’s tying kick. With 23 seconds remaining, Dallas had first and goal at Baltimore’s two. Schottenheimer described the play as including both a run option and a pass option for a one-on-one matchup, with Dallas taking a shot to George Pickens.

A false start by Luke Schoonmaker moved the ball back to the seven.

On the next down, Baltimore covered Dallas’s pass concept. Dak Prescott scrambled, and the Cowboys used a timeout while continuing to pursue a touchdown rather than settling immediately. With 14 seconds left on third and goal, Terence Steele exited and Broderick Jones replaced him.

Schottenheimer said he overcoached Prescott at that moment. Dallas ultimately used Aubrey’s field goal to draw level, leaving Baltimore one possession away from stealing the game.

Those offensive decisions deserve their own review, but Tuesday’s explanation added a separate point of accountability. Once Dallas tied the score, the coach and special-teams staff needed to agree quickly on how to make Baltimore spend its remaining time and territory. The touchback handed the Ravens the latter advantage before the defense had a chance to impose the former.

That is the cleanest judgment available from the ending. Dallas can improve the communication around a compressed kickoff decision without pretending the short option would have stopped Jackson and Flowers. The Cowboys created a favorable launch point for Baltimore, then failed to prevent one decisive completion. The first mistake made the second more costly; the Ravens’ execution made it fatal.

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