Ravens Stun Cowboys in Rio: Tyler Loop's 56-Yard Walk-Off Caps a Seven-Second Week 3 Miracle

Tyler Loop carried one missed kick through an entire offseason. On Sunday in Rio De Janeiro, he flushed it from 56 yards as time expired, lifting the Baltimore Ravens to a 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys at Maracanã Stadium and touching off a party that looked more like a Copa final than a Week 3 game.

Brandon Aubrey's 23-yard field goal knotted it at 31 with seven seconds left, Dallas booted the kickoff for a touchback, and Lamar Jackson had time for one throw. He drilled Zay Flowers for 27 yards, found an official for a timeout with one second showing, and Loop did the rest. Then the kicker broke out Cristiano Ronaldo's "Siuuu" on the most hallowed grass in Brazilian soccer, and his teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. The NFL's first game in Rio, and third in Brazil overall, got the finish it deserved.

Samba Rhythm, Shootout Tempo

Baltimore's afternoon opened like a bad mixtape. Aubrey hit from 28 yards, and when the Ravens went for it on fourth down from their own 30 and came up short, Javonte Williams cashed in a 2-yard touchdown five plays later. Baltimore trailed 10-0.

Then Derrick Henry went to work. He plowed in from 4 yards, finished an 89-yard march from 3 yards out, and Loop tacked on a 27-yarder to complete a 17-point answer. Aubrey's 38-yarder with 18 seconds left before the break made it 17-13 at halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Baltimore's defense and special teams. Travis Jones knocked the ball loose from Jake Ferguson on a shovel pass and Trenton Simpson pounced. Later, Dallas lined up a 59-yard try, and safety Keondre Jackson knifed in clean to block it. Four plays after that swat, Lamar Jackson hit Chris Moore for a 4-yard score and a 24-13 lead.

Dallas responded with a 15-0 run that flipped the stadium. Dak Prescott found Ferguson for a 19-yard touchdown to wipe away the fumble, and CeeDee Lamb snagged the 2-point try. The Cowboys then stuffed Henry on fourth-and-inches at the goal line when rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham sliced through. A 96-yard drive followed, highlighted by a 49-yard strike to Lamb and finished by KaVontae Turpin's 9-yard touchdown run, and Dallas led 28-24 with 9:42 to play.

Baltimore's reply was its best drive of the day: 11 plays, 64 yards, and a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Matt Hibner, his first in the NFL, for a 31-28 lead with 1:30 left. Then Nate Wiggins was flagged for pass interference after tangling arms with Lamb, giving Dallas the ball at the 2. Wiggins then blanketed George Pickens on a fade, a false start backed the Cowboys up, and they settled for the tie.

The Stars Who Owned Rio

Jackson was surgical: 15 of 20 for 186 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 136.7 passer rating, plus 50 rushing yards on six carries. He did not carry the offense so much as conduct it.

Henry ground out 89 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and a 5-yard run early in the second quarter pushed him past Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (13,259 yards) into ninth on the NFL's career rushing list. Flowers led the Ravens with five catches for 84 yards and added a 20-yard jet sweep, part of a 192-yard day on the ground.

On the other side, Lamb caught seven passes for 112 yards plus the 2-pointer, Pickens added 82 receiving yards and Williams ran for 98. Roquan Smith countered with nine tackles and his first sack since Christmas 2024, a blitz that forced an early Dallas field goal.

The Timeout Heard Round the World

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer had Aubrey kick deep, figuring seven seconds from the 35 was harmless. "At the end of the day, we just felt like, hey, let's boom it through," Schottenheimer said. "Play for overtime. That's what the plan was."

Ravens coach Jesse Minter figured he needed only about 18 yards to give Loop a look. Jackson gave him 27 on a throw Next Gen Stats said traveled 36.4 yards in 1.6 seconds, then had the presence of mind to track down an official before the clock hit zero.

"Everyone was on the same timing," Jackson said. "The line did a great job protecting, Zay ran a great route and I just had to deliver the baby."

"Unbelievable play by Lamar and Zay," Minter said. "Heads up on the time. You practice for those moments, you wait for them to come up and it came up today and we were ready."

The Ravens' own site billed it as the quickest game-winning drive in NFL history, and per ESPN's database, no game-winning drive since 1978 had started later after a kickoff. Loop's 56-yarder was also the longest make of his young career.

The Receipts

• 192: Baltimore rushing yards on 38 carries, enough that Jackson threw only 20 passes.
• 0: Ravens turnovers. Dallas lost a fumble and had a field goal blocked.
• 0 for 2: Baltimore on fourth down, and both misses fed a Dallas scoring surge.
• 415: Yards allowed by the Ravens, who also gave up a season-high 31 points.
• 9th: Henry's new place on the career rushing list, with Jerome Bettis, LaDainian Tomlinson and Curtis Martin within reach this season at his current pace.

What a Win in Rio Buys Baltimore

For Baltimore, this was bigger than a 2-1 record. A week earlier, the Ravens coughed up a fourth-quarter lead at home and were outscored 18-3 after halftime in a 24-17 loss to New Orleans. Minter's first-year group closed this time, and in an AFC North that never hands out freebies, that is no small thing.

The defense remains the asterisk, and Kyle Hamilton did not sugarcoat it. "Happy we got the win, but it's unacceptable to be saying we're a Ravens defense, whatever that means at this point," Hamilton said.

Dallas drops to 1-2 after splitting its first two games, and Schottenheimer captured the mood. "I am hurting, they are hurting," he said. "It is a long trip (to Rio), but no one cares. We also have a long flight back." The Cowboys visit Houston next Sunday, while the Ravens fly home to host Tennessee.

Redemption Has a Passport

Loop, whose 44-yard miss at Pittsburgh ended last season one kick short of the playoffs, said the long offseason pushed him toward a simpler outlook. "Football is a gift. It's meant to be enjoyed," he said. Mission accomplished. He enjoyed it in front of 72,792 people, in one of soccer's cathedrals, with a Ronaldo impression on top. Plenty of kickers get haunted by a miss. Very few get to chase the ghost out in Rio.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press and BaltimoreRavens.com.