Cowboys, Ravens fight for their playoff lives on Yahoo Sports app
This isn’t how this season was supposed to go.
Not for the Baltimore Ravens. Not for the Dallas Cowboys.
In what was billed as a potential Super Bowl preview when the NFL schedule landed, the Cowboys and Ravens will meet in Week 13 with a dramatically different set of stakes attached to a game that can be live-streamed on the Yahoo Sports app.
For the Ravens, it’s a chance to right a season that has gone wrong since a 5-1 start. For the Cowboys, they’ll play to keep their comically vital playoff hopes alive in a season that went off the rails almost as soon as it started.
Adding to the unexpected nature of the matchup is a Tuesday night kickoff. Thanks to COVID-19 infecting the Ravens and initiating a slew of schedule changes, a planned Thursday night matchup will instead close the Week 13 schedule on Tuesday. That is, assuming no further COVID delays.
Playoffs stakes for both teams
Neither team would be in the playoffs if they started today. But both are very much alive for the postseason.
The 6-5 Ravens have no chance at catching the 11-1 Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. Any slim hope that remained was extinguished in last week’s loss to the Steelers, capping a season sweep at the hands of their bitter rivals.
In an expanded playoff field that now includes seven teams in each conference, the Ravens are in the wild-card hunt alongside the Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. And good news could be on the way.
Lamar Jackson activated from COVID-19 list
Starting quarterback Lamar Jackson missed last week’s loss to the Steelers after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but the Ravens activated him on Monday, meaning he’s eligible to return after missing one game.
Even with Jackson back, expect the Ravens to pound the run game with J.K. Dobbins, Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards as well as Jackson against the Cowboys’ league-worst rushing defense.
Cowboys can still win NFC East
Despite having the worst record in the NFC, the 3-8 Cowboys are still alive for the playoffs courtesy of the dreadful NFC East. Though their hopes took a hit with the New York Giants’ unexpected win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to improve to 5-7 to maintain control of the division.
If the Cowboys win on Sunday, they would trail a Giants team they already beat once by one game in the standings with a Week 17 rematch still on the schedule.
That’s a big if, of course. The Cowboys have done little to show they can compete against a team like the Ravens. Quarterback Andy Dalton returned two weeks ago from a bout with COVID-19 and concussion protocol to lead Dallas to an upset of the Minnesota Vikings. Dallas looked inept a week later in a Thanksgiving drubbing at the hands of the Washington Football Team for its fifth loss in six games.
That their paltry run defense is taking on the league’s third-ranked rushing attack doesn’t bode well for the Cowboys.
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