Dallas Cowboys-Baltimore Ravens game postponed again to Dec. 8 amid COVID-19 outbreak
The Dallas Cowboys remain in limbo as they wait to play at the Baltimore Ravens in a game that has been postponed twice, with the latest delay pushing it back to Tuesday, Dec. 8.
The Cowboys got the extra time off after Thursday’s 41-16 loss to the Washington Football Team now that the Ravens-Steelers game scheduled for last Thursday has been postponed three times because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Baltimore organization.
The latest delay pushed that game from Tuesday to Wednesday, per an official NFL announcement on Monday.
The Cowboys were scheduled to play at the Ravens on Thursday, Dec. 3 before their game was moved to Monday, Dec. 7. On Monday, the NFL announced it has been rescheduled again to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8 because of the Ravens-Steelers delay.
The Ravens reportedly have more than 20 players on the Reserved/COVID-19 list, including at least 12 who have tested positive and four more who were placed on the list Monday.
Coach Mike McCarthy gave the team the weekend off and the Cowboys are conducting virtual meetings on Monday and Tuesday, per NFL updated mandated protocols.
McCarthy said he planned to watch the Ravens-Steelers game to get a sense of the Baltimore roster, including who will be playing and where.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” McCarthy said during an appearance Monday on 105.3 The Fan. “Hopefully, I never do see anything like this again. It’s just part of the times that we’re in.”
McCarthy also used his radio appearance to continue to defend the ill-fated fake punt that changed the momentum in the loss to Washington.
Down just 20-16 early in the fourth quarter, McCarthy called a fake punt on fourth-and-10 from Dallas’ 24-yard line.
Washington wasn’t fooled and receiver Cedrick Wilson was tackled for a 1-yard loss.
Running back Antoine Gibson scored on a 23-yard run on the ensuing play and then the bottom completely fell out. Gibson followed with a 37-yard touchdown run and Montez Sweat added a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown, turning a four-point lead into a 25-point blowout.
“I think it’s part of our game,” McCarthy said when asked about the criticism of the decision. “When it goes well there’s praise to be distributed. But when it doesn’t there’s blame to place. I think we all recognize that in professional sports. But I clearly understand the risk in the decision at the time, with all the factors and variables you look into, you calculate it.
“At the end of the day, you’re trying to give your players a chance for big-play opportunities. I get it. It’s part of it when you don’t win. It’s all about winning and we have to do more to win.”
Despite the down and distance, McCarthy and special teams coach John Fassel said it was a good call as they hoped to give the Cowboys’ injury-riddled offense a boost. They credited Washington for sniffing it out.
“It was a look we were looking for. They actually went to a zone look, which is the tougher of the two,” McCarthy said. “You definitely would have preferred the [man-to-man] look from the punt-return unit of Washington. Just an opportunity there to make the play. You have to call that in a certain region of field position to get the percentage of the defensive look you’re looking for.
“There are some other things going on in the game, we had some injuries and so forth. That was the opportunity to run the fake and we took a shot at it.”
Fassel said the play would have worked if it had been called earlier in the game as Washington had sent its cornerback to run with the gunner on the Cowboys’ previous punt.
The Cowboys thought they would do so again, which would have freed up punter Hunter Niswander for a wide-open pass from Wilson.
Washington switched things up and ran zone rather than man-to-man.
“They changed their play call from the first look to the next one,” Fassel said. ”They cut our gunner loose and the corner just sat there and zoned it where we were trying to throw the ball to.
“If we had run it the first time they wouldn’t have been able to stop it. But we didn’t call it [then.]”
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 5:24 PM.
