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COWBOYS DOMINATE RAMS IN ALL 3 PHASES, IMPROVE TO 5-2 - Mario Herrera Jr, Inside The Star
It was a complete effort by everyone involved. The result was a 23-point win.
SUMMARY
The Dallas Cowboys dominated in their first game after the bye week, demolishing the Los Angeles Rams by the score of 43-20.
Dallas used an uber-efficient game by Dak Prescott to secure the victory.
Prescott finished the game 25/31 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns, his best outing of the season.
His primary target was CeeDee Lamb, who hauled in 12 receptions for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The defense and special teams did their part, and the Cowboys move on to 5-2 on the season after a 43-20 beat down of the Los Angeles Rams.
Next up is a huge matchup for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Instant Analysis: Cowboys dismantle Rams in every way, win 43-20 - K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire
A blocked punt, a pick-six, and four touchdown passes. This game had it all.
Game Ball No. 1: QB Dak Prescott
Prescott was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, after a job well done.
He finished the game completing 25 of his 31 attempts, breaking the 300-yard barrier (304) for the first time in the 2023 season. His four touchdowns came with the smallest of blemishes, a red-zone interception that came after a defensive lineman tipped a pass that went off the hands of TE Sean McKeon.
Other than that, Prescott was dealing. It was his seventh game with at least 300 passing yards and four passing touchdown, a team record.
Game Ball No. 2: WR CeeDee Lamb
Lamb has been frustrated with his involvement in the offense and the last two games has proven he’s been more than right. Lamb caught all seven of his targets in the 20-17 win before the break, but his involvement was true No. 1 receiver level in this game.
Lamb caught 12 receptions, a career high, on 14 targets, going for 158 yards and two scores. He even checked in with a 12-yard carry to give him 170 total yards on the day.
Game Recap: Handing out treats in 43-20 win - Kurt Daniels, DallasCowboys.com
A quick summary of how this dismantling unfolded.
Second Quarter
So why not get special teams involved? First, with the Rams punting from their own 12-yard line, Sam Williams broke through the line and blocked the attempted boot, the ball bouncing out of the end zone for a safety.
That was soon followed by KaVontae Turpin returning the ensuing punt 63 yards to the Los Angeles 13-yard line. Two plays later, Prescott threw a strike to Lamb in the back of the end zone for 26-3 lead, the game already well in hand.
Unfortunately, not all would be perfect. The Cowboys were on the move again thanks in part to a pair of completions to Ferguson for 24 yards as well as a 21- and 13-yarders to Lamb and Turpin, respectively. But on first-and-goal at the Rams’ 9-yard line, a Prescott pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and tipped again by tight end Sean McKeon before falling into the arms of safety Jordan Fuller, threat ended.
There would be no such bad luck on the next drive, however. Taking over at its own 37-yard line, the Cowboys offense needed only five plays to get across the goal line, the score coming when Prescott rolled out of the pocket to his right before finding Lamb in the end zone.
5 Cowboys-Rams takeaways: Dallas dominates all three phases early in blowout victory - Michael Gehlken, DMN
What is your takeaway from Sunday’s victory?
The one penalty that changed everything
Whatever game the Cowboys and Rams were set to have Sunday became splintered from the timeline on the third snap from scrimmage. A 5-yard penalty introduced a new sequence of events on the football continuum, turning a sputtering Dallas start into a sizzling one.
Dak Prescott was dropped on the first play when left tackle Chuma Edoga, Tyron Smith’s replacement, ceded a sack to defensive end Michael Hoecht. Two plays later, Prescott was sacked again.
But on the latter, Rams safety Quentin Lake was flagged for illegal contact.
“Thank God for that,” Prescott said.
Prescott responded to go 6-of-7 for 77 yards, punctuated with an 18-yard touchdown in traffic to tight end Jake Ferguson. The Cowboys jumped to a 33-3 lead by the late second quarter and barely looked back in an onslaught that featured scores for the offense, defense and special teams.
Cornerback DaRon Bland recorded his third pick-six of 2023 before any other NFL player recorded a second. Defensive end Sam Williams blocked a punt that resulted in a safety.
Cowboys trade deadline plans should be obvious after injury in Week 8 win - Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Despite what Jerry might say, there is one glaring hole this team now needs to fill.
Injuries to Tyron Smith, Chuma Edoga should make Cowboys trade deadline plans obvious
Smith’s neck injury doesn’t appear long-term, but Edoga doesn’t share that optimism. Edoga walked off the field but he needed assistance from Cowboys head athletic trainer Jim Maurer and director of rehabilitation Britt Brown to make it to the sideline.
Replay showed Edoga’s ankle get twisted up under his body as he was barreled into by a falling lineman. Holding his own block, Edoga was blindsided by the hit and couldn’t brace himself. These injuries occur every week in the NFL and they seldom have positive outcomes.
Even if Edoga avoided a serious injury, the sheer uncertainty at left tackle should incentive the Cowboys to buy before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. EST trade deadline.
Tyron Smith has performed at a Pro Bowl level when healthy, but he’s now missed three of seven games this season ... after he played 4 of 17 games last season, 11 of 17 the year before and just 2 of 16 the year before that in 2020. He simply isn’t reliable and the same can be said for Edoga at this point in the calendar.
Dak Prescott: ‘Pour Honey on Me!’ as Dallas Cowboys Ready to ‘Poke the Bear’ at Eagles - Mike Fisher, Sports Illustrated
It is officially Philly week.
Following Dallas’ lopsided 43-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams on NFL Sunday Week 8, Prescott - who’d already spent a good portion of his postgame presser here at AT&T Stadium talking about Week 9 at Philly - was informed that Jones had moments before carefully stated that he doesn’t want to “poke the bear” when it comes to talking about the powerhouse Eagles.
Prescott’s response to the poke-the-bear analogy was ... unusual.
Pour some honey on Dak?!
“Pour honey on me!’’ Dak said. “I always say that. If you see me and a bear in a fight, pour honey on me.’’
Wait ... what? Dak “always says this’’? We’ve been breathlessly chronicling the exploits of the Cowboys’ headline-grabbing QB for eight years now ... and we are not familiar with him ... or with anybody else ... ever saying any such thing.
“Pour honey on me!’’? What does that mean? That Prescott and the 5-2 Cowboys are ready for the fight against the 7-1 Eagles? So it seems ...
“You can poke it,’’ Dak continued. “Whether we talk or not, we know what’s ahead of us. (The Eagles are a ) great opponent.’’
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