Jerry Jones says Cowboys coaching staff has 'no explanation' for final-seconds collapse against Ravens

Jerry Jones has a simple verdict on how his Dallas Cowboys turned a first-and-goal from the Baltimore 2-yard line with 23 seconds left into a 34-31 loss: there is no acceptable explanation, and the coaches know it.

There is no explanation you're satisfied with. None. Let's be sure that we all understand that. They don't have one that they're satisfied with.— Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner

Speaking Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones laid out his frustration in detail — two days after the Cowboys dropped to 1-2 following Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, the most-watched international game in NFL history according to CBS, which said the broadcast peaked at more than 30 million viewers and averaged 24.904 million.

The sequence that cost Dallas the game unfolded in the final half-minute. Trailing 31-28, the Cowboys had first-and-goal at the Baltimore 2-yard line with 23 seconds left. Dak Prescott threw incomplete into the end zone. A false-start penalty on tight end Luke Schoonmaker pushed the ball back, and Prescott scrambled to the Baltimore 5-yard line. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer — who is also the team's play-caller — used Dallas's third and final timeout with 14 seconds remaining.

That timeout decision was the first flashpoint. With only one more offensive play likely before a tying field goal attempt, burning the timeout at 14 seconds rather than closer to 10 left the Ravens with meaningful time at the end. On the third-down play that followed, Schottenheimer instructed Prescott to throw quickly to wide receiver George Pickens or throw the ball away — an instruction, the coach later admitted, that backfired.

It had to go to [Pickens] or throw it away. He was throwing it away. That's on me. I overcoached him.— Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys head coach

Prescott threw it away so quickly the clock ran from 14 seconds to only 10. Video showed Pickens appeared to have separation for a potential touchdown. Kicker Brandon Aubrey then tied the game at 31 with a short field goal — but seven seconds remained on the clock.

The final error came on the ensuing kickoff. Aubrey kicked the ball into the end zone for a touchback, spotting Baltimore the ball at its own 35-yard line with those seven seconds. Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers, Baltimore called timeout with one second left, and Tyler Loop made a 56-yard field goal to win the game.

Schottenheimer, in his second season as a head coach after 25 years as an NFL assistant, did not deflect the criticism at his Tuesday press conference.

I'm man enough to take mistakes. I make a lot of mistakes. I'm certainly not perfect. I hurt our chance to win that game and I'll be better. And I'm better than that. I'm better than I performed in the last 28 seconds.— Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys head coach

Schottenheimer also said he and Jones spoke directly after the game and that the relationship remains intact.

Jerry and I had a very good conversation. He understands that there was mistakes that I made. He was terrific with sound advice. He and I are aligned very closely.— Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys head coach

Jones echoed that tone — frustrated but not reaching for the fire alarm. He said the loss should serve as a learning experience rather than a reason for personnel changes.

We made mistakes during that time. There's no question about it, so there is no explanation, but there's an evaluation of how not to make the same mistakes again, which is what you should be doing. You can't get that back.— Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner

Schottenheimer is not the only member of the staff drawing scrutiny. Defensive coordinator Christian Parker, 34 years old and making his debut in that role, oversaw the defense that allowed Jackson's game-winning drive.

The Cowboys face the Houston Texans, who are 0-3, on the road in Week 4. In the NFC East, the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles are both 2-1, though the Giants will be without quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the regular season due to a knee injury, and Philadelphia lost to the Chicago Bears and backup quarterback Case Keenum on Monday night. Dallas is tied for last in the division with the Washington Commanders at 1-2.

We are very much in the hunt, and I say that principally based upon the way I feel about our team, as much or more than what's happening with the other teams. Philadelphia has things that they want to work on just as the Giants do, just as we do. It makes you see how health is a factor. Availability is a factor. And we're just getting started.— Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner

Why it matters — The public rebuke from Jones puts Schottenheimer's clock-management judgment under a microscope heading into a must-not-lose Week 4 game against a winless Houston team, with Dallas already a game behind in a tight NFC East race.

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