Cowboys coach, owner not talking desperately

Wait, aren't these the same Cowboys who have lost three of their last four games and are at the bottom of the NFC East?

"There were a lot of things to feel good about. There are no moral victories as we know," Garrett said Wednesday. "But there were some positive things we can build on and there were certainly a lot to correct as well."

The Cowboys (2-3) did pile up 481 total yards, their most in two years, and matched a franchise record with 79 offensive plays while holding the ball for 40 minutes at Baltimore. They had an 18-play drive of 110 yards, overcoming 30 yards in penalties, for a touchdown in the final minute. After missing a tying 2-point conversion try, they recovered an onside kick and had a chance at a winning field goal.

The bottom line, though, is Dallas lost to the Ravens and now has the same record it had at this point last season, when the Cowboys finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

"We need a victory, bad," fullback Lawrence Vickers said. "This is very critical to get this win."

Dallas plays Sunday at Carolina (1-4), the only NFC team other than the Cowboys that hasn't yet scored 100 points this season.

That 31-29 loss at Baltimore is eerily similar to what happened last October. Like this year, the Cowboys were coming off their bye week when they lost a close road game against one of the AFC's best teams (20-16 at New England) and then played a struggling team the next week.

After Carolina, the Cowboys play their only home game in a six-week stretch — a rematch against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who have won four of five since losing the season opener to Dallas.

During his appearance Tuesday on KRLD-FM, Jones said the Cowboys played physical at Baltimore and "did things that we can win with in the future."

The owner, who turned 70 on Saturday, also reiterated what he has said all year about the Giants becoming Super Bowl champions after winning only nine games in the regular season.