The Cowboys had plenty to sort through after their Week 3 loss to the Ravens in Rio, but the play that may have hurt them most never got the same attention as the late-game management issues. Dallas had a real chance to seize control early in the second half, and then one snap from Jake Ferguson wiped out the momentum.
The sequence started with the Cowboys trailing 17-13 and putting together a strong opening drive of the third quarter. They covered 40 yards in nine plays and even converted a big fourth-and-three along the way. But when Dallas got to the Baltimore 23, Ferguson took a shovel pass on first down and lost the ball while being tackled.
Baltimore didn’t score on the next possession, which helped push the fumble out of the spotlight. Still, the advanced numbers paint it as the most damaging offensive mistake of the game. Dyllan Rivers of Blogging the Boys shared the EPA data and said the play checked in at -5.62 EPA.
“Remove the Ferguson fumble and Dallas jumps to +0.17 EPA/play (finished at +0.09 vs Ravens +0.13). That turnover was -5.62 EPA by itself,” Rivers said. “This was the worst offensive play call on the day.”
The fumble itself came quickly, and there was at least some brief hope it might be overturned and ruled an interception. After review, though, the call stood, and the Cowboys came away empty on a drive that looked ready to give them the lead.
For Ferguson, the turnover fit an issue that has been hanging around for a while. He fumbled four times in 2024 and already has three fumbles in 2025.
Brian Schottenheimer addressed the problem last year by pointing to fundamentals and saying Ferguson needed to do a better job protecting the ball. That didn’t happen Sunday, and the result was a costly miss in a game Dallas let slip away.
Ferguson has still opened the season with three touchdowns in the first three games, but the rest of the numbers are modest: nine catches and an eight-yard average per reception. The production is there in flashes. The ball security, though, remains the bigger issue.
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