The Dallas Cowboys had the Baltimore Ravens right where they wanted them. With the game hanging in the balance and the finish line just a few yards away, Dallas suddenly found itself scrambling to save a game that was slipping away. 

Trailing 31-28 in Brazil, Dallas had a first down at the Ravens' 2-yard line with 23 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, a false start and a Dak Prescott scramble, Dallas used its final timeout and settled for Brandon Aubrey's tying field goal. Lamar Jackson then hit Zay Flowers for 27 yards, and Tyler Loop's 56-yarder won it 34-31. 

"I didn’t do very good in the last 28 seconds," Schottenheimer said as he took the blame during his Tuesday news conference as reported by NFL. 

He didn't shy away from addressing what went wrong, offering a candid assessment of the closing stretch of the game. 

"I’ll take accountability for it. ... I hurt our chance to win that game. I’ll be better, and I’m better than that. I’m better than I performed in the last 28 seconds." 

Brian Schottenheimer said he overcoached Prescott on third down, which affected the next play.

"Third down is where I overcoached Dak and put him in a mindset that he normally doesn’t play with," Schottenheimer further said during the interview. "So that’s where I made the mistake. Like I said, at the end of the day, when that happens you have to move on. At that point, I’m no longer the play-caller, I’m the head coach."

 The sequence also raised questions about how things were communicated on the sideline, something Schottenheimer addressed directly.

"The communication with [special teams coordinator] Nick [Sorensen] and [game management coordinator Ryan] Feeder wasn’t good enough, so that starts with me. Take responsibility for it, take accountability for it. Those things will not happen again." 

However, Brian Schottenheimer wasn't the only one in Dallas addressing the ending, and his boss had already weighed in. 

Jerry Jones weighs in on the Cowboys' costly final seconds 

Earlier Tuesday, owner Jerry Jones spoke on 105.3 The Fan, making clear he holds the coaching staff responsible for the way the game ended. 

He was asked what explanation the staff had for leaving enough time after the tying field goal for Baltimore to get in range; Jones was blunt. 

"There is no explanation you're satisfied with. None," Jones said during the radio program as reported by NFL on their website. "Let's be sure that we all understand that."

Rather than dwell on the outcome, Jerry Jones pointed to the lessons the coaching staff can take from the sequence

"They (coaches) don't have one that they're satisfied with. 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."

The comments add to the scrutiny on second-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer and first-time defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who will face questions going forward.

Dallas (1-2) visits winless Houston on Sunday. Jones says the Cowboys are still in the hunt in the NFC East, where the Giants and Eagles are tied atop the division at 2-1.

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco