2024 NFL season, Week 3: What We Learned from Sunday’s games

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Kevin Patra’s takeaways:

1. Ravens sprint out to big lead, hold on late in Dallas. Derrick Henry was rolling early as Baltimore built a 28-6 lead, which it held midway through the fourth quarter. Then the offense sputterd, Justin Tucker missed a field goal, and the defense allowed three consecutive touchdown drives to make things interesting. Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers with a clutch third-down pass to help ice the game. He sealed it with a 10-yard keeper to get Baltimore in the win column. The Ravens ran over Dallas’ defense early, with Henry and Jackson finding lanes and gashing the Cowboys up the gut. Henry galloped 25 times for 151 yards (6.0 YPC) with two touchdowns. Combine that with Jackson’s 14 carries for 87 rushing yards and a score, and the Ravens performed like we presumed they would on the ground entering this season. Baltimore bullied its way for 274 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 45 carries. Getting up big allowed John Harbaugh’s team to grind down a questionable run defense with Henry. The King showed that while he might not be the engine of the Ravens’ offense every week, he still can maul opponents when needed.
2. Cowboys’ furious comeback bid falls short. Mike McCarthy wanted to get off to a fast start, electing to receive the ball to start the game. A first-drive punt coupled with an inability of his defense to get off the field scuttled those plans, as the Cowboys got down, 14-3, in the opening frame. Mike Zimmer’s defense deserves a lion’s share of the blame for getting gashed on the ground again. However, the offense’s inability to sustain drives and a CeeDee Lamb fumble in scoring range was a major factor in the 28-6 deficit. Credit Dak Prescott for finding playmakers late to make things interesting, but it was too little too late. McCarthy’s club once again hasn’t played consistently for four quarters through three games. Early in the contest, it looked like they’d get boat raced at home for the third consecutive time dating back to the last postseason. Maybe the Cowboys can build upon the end-of-the-game performance, but an L is an L.
3. Best kicker in NFL torch is officially passed. We’ve known for a while that Brandon Aubrey was the best booter in the NFL. Sunday confirmed it, with former crown-holder Justin Tucker in attendance. Aubrey booted through both of his field goals, a 51-yarder to close the first half and a seemingly nonchalant 65-yard hammer in the first quarter — one yard shy of the 66-yard league record owned by Tucker. The ease with which Aubrey slams the pigskin is wondrous. He deserves a shot at a 70-yarder at some point. The Cowboys kicker also pulled a rabbit out of his head with an excellent watermelon-style onside kick that actually worked. Meanwhile, Tucker continued to struggle, missing a 46-yarder early in the fourth quarter. We knew the torch would be passed from Tucker at some point. Sunday made it official.

Next Gen Stats Insight from Ravens-Cowboys (via NFL Pro): Dak Prescott threw into a tight window on 35.3% of pass attempts in Week 3, his highest rate in a game in over six seasons (since Week 4, 2018). Prescott struggled on tight window throws against the Ravens, completing 5 of 18 such pass attempts for 66 yards (-7.0% CPOE).

NFL Research: Derrick Henry had his 12th career game with 150-plus rushing yards and two-plus rushing touchdowns, tied for second-most in NFL history tied with LaDainian Tomlinson and one behind Jim Brown. Henry is the first 30-plus year old with such a game since the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson in Week 12, 2015.