Brent Maher drove the stake through the Falcons’ heart on Sunday.

He made a 42-yard field goal at the buzzer to lift the Cowboys to a 22-19 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Falcons have backed themselves into a corner.

If they are going to make it to the playoffs for a third consecutive season, they’ll likely need to win all of their remaining games.

The Falcons dropped to 4-6 on the season, while the Cowboys improved to 5-5.

The Falcons moved the ball, but had to settle for four field goals, while the Cowboys score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take control of the game.

The Falcons rallied back to tie the game, but the defense could keep the Cowboys out of field goal range.

The Cowboys overcome a dropped touchdown pass and miss extra point attempt by Maher to get the victory.

Here are the five things we learned from the loss: 

1. Cowboys attacked Ryan. The Falcons were able to build a 6-3 halftime lead behind some fine passing from Matt Ryan.

However, the Cowboys were able to shut down the rushing attack and got some heat on Ryan.

Right tackle Ryan Schraeder had a difficult time with Demarcus Lawrence, who had one sack and shared half of another sack with Tyrone Crawford. Randy Gregory also had a sack. Ryan was hit nine times in the first half.

Rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley had a costly bobbled pass in the fourth quarter. The hot Ryan pass popped up off Ridley’s hands and was interception by Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch.

Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott added a 23-yard touchown run through the middle of the Falcons defense to give them a 19-9 lead with 12:26 to play.

Cowboy fans were upset when the team drafted Vander Esch. They wanted them to draft Ridley.

The Falcons rallied with a field goal and a 34-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones with 1:52 left to play.

2. Beasley gets loose. Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley, who had just one sack on the season, had two against the Cowboys.

He sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on third-and-4 from Dallas 29 with 5:32 left in the second quarter. The sacked forced the Cowboys to punt.

The offense put together a 10-play, 33 yard drive. Matt Bryant made a 45-yard field goal to put up the Falcons up 6-3.

Beasley picked up his second sack in the third quarter, but Dallas made a field goal to tie the game 6-6.

Beasley’s sacks ended an six-game drought. He had one sack against the Saints on Sept. 23.

After his second sack, the elated Beasley did high-five jump with defensive tackle Terrell McClain.

3. Elliott has a big day. After Cleveland rushed for 211 yards against the Falcons, the run defense needed to rebound against Dallas and Elliott.

He had 23 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown. He also caught sevenpasses for 79 yards.

Elliott entered the game ranked second in the NFL in rushing with 831 yards.

4. Group of seven. Since 1990, there have been seven teams to start the season 4-5 and rebound to make the playoffs.

The 2013 San Diego Chargers were the last team to do when they 9-7 to make the playoffs.

The other six teams: 1992 Chargers (11-5), 2002 Jets (9-7) 2003 Packers (10-6), 2008 Chargers (8-8), 2009 Jets (9-7) and the 2011 Broncos (8-8).

5. Injury report. Linebacker Duke Riley (neck), free safety Damontae Kazee (shoulder/elbow) and cornerback Desmond Trufant (thigh/knee) all suffered injuries in the first half, but return to the game.

Cox Media Group