The Ravens and Cowboys made history in their Rio de Janeiro matchup. Per a report by Jon Machota of The Athletic, the Cowboys-Ravens matchup on Sunday was the most-watched international game in NFL history, bringing in 24.9 million viewers.
The finish had plenty of drama that lead to high viewer intrigue. Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers for a 27-yard gain to put the offense in field-goal range, and Tyler Loop capped it off with a 56-yard kick to seal a 34-31 win. The thrilling finish happened as CBS was gearing up to air the 2026 Video Music Awards hosted by Snoop Dogg. After the game, CBS immediately began broadcasting the awards.
The game could have gone longer, as the Cowboys planned to play overtime, according to Coach Brian Schottenheimer in comments to the media on Tuesday.
“We felt like, let’s boom it through, put them out there, make them throw the ball short, and we’ll be fine,” Schottenheimer said. “Play for overtime. That’s what the plan was.”
But ultimately, Jackson and Flowers were able to make a play that set up the win, and Schottenheimer believes that the defensive play call was not a bad decision.
“I liked the [defensive] call. We wanted to stay sticky. But at the end of the day, they ran two ins. It’s actually a play we run quite a bit of. The bottom line is you’ve got to make the ball go to the first one, not the layer that they hit to Zay Flowers. That’s where we have to be better.”