Michael Irvin grew up in a Dallas Cowboys era where the question wasn’t whether Dallas would win, but by how much. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Irvin set a standard that still haunts every team that wears the star. So when the current Cowboys came up short against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3, the legend didn’t reach for a polished soundbite.

“I don’t want to call it anger, I just felt depressed, like when the Cowboys are just depressed. I’m like, I want to get back up,” Irvin said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t want to feel like this. I want to be lifted. But I feel depressed. I used to remember watching Coach [Jimmy] Johnson and when we were losing in college or even in Dallas, I would be looking at him, man.

“I never saw a man hurt so much because we were losing. I mean, I swear, God knows I’m not lying. I’ve never seen a man hurt so much. That’s why he won so much, you know. That’s just that’s what it is. And and I want to see these guys hurt so much. Then we’ll get a chance to win so much.”

The Dallas Cowboys faced the Baltimore Ravens in this season’s second international game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 27.

The Cowboys initially jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Ravens fought back and took control. After a furious back-and-forth late in the game, the Cowboys found themselves at the Ravens’ 2-yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Instead of aggressively playing for a game-winning touchdown, head coach Brian Schottenheimer opted for a highly conservative approach. After a third-down incompletion, Dallas settled for a Brandon Aubrey field goal to tie the game at 31-31 with only 7 seconds left on the clock.

However, the “embarrassment” factor might stem entirely from how the coaching staff managed those final 7 seconds.

With only 7 seconds to defend, the Cowboys’ secondary played a soft coverage scheme. Lamar Jackson easily completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers, who slid down and called a timeout with 1 second remaining.

Following the loss, Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer even took full accountability for the late-game collapse.

“I didn’t do very good in the final 28 seconds,” Schottenheimer said. “When you talk about finishing the game – when you look at our two games that we’ve lost, we haven’t finished – that was a big part of this one.”

As for Michael Irvin, he was seemingly displeased with how the Cowboys lost against the Ravens because Baltimore holds an overwhelming historical dominance over Dallas, boasting a 7–1 all-time record.

Other than that, while the 1990s prime Cowboys yielded three Super Bowl titles in four years (1992, 1993, 1995), the decades since have been defined by an inability to win when it matters most.

Dallas have not returned to the Super Bowl or even reached the NFC Championship Game since winning Super Bowl XXX in January 1996.

However, heading into the 2026 season, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, HC Brian Schottenheimer, and even owner Jerry Jones have raised high expectations. But so far, the Cowboys stand with a 1-2 record, with their solo win coming against the Washington Commanders in Week 2.