NFL Dodges Worst-Case Scenario With Brazil Field

The NFL played its game as scheduled and as promised Sunday in Brazil. And it turned out to be mostly about the football acumen of the Cowboys and Ravens and about the league's bid to expand its global appeal, not about the field conditions at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The Ravens beat the Cowboys, 34—31, on a 56-yard field goal by kicker Tyler Loop as time expired in the second of the nine international games on the NFL's docket this season. The nearly constant conversation over the past week about the state of the playing surface continued through Sunday's pregame activities.