Sean McVay has faced the Cowboys twice since he took over as head coach of the Rams, and each time, the game was close and competitive. The Rams beat Dallas 30-22 in the divisional round last year, and in 2017, they won 35-30 at AT&T Stadium.
He knows what a handful Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper can be for a defense, and on Sunday, he’ll get another taste of that. There have been some changes on the Cowboys’ offense over the years, but for the most part, it’s the same unit Los Angeles faced in the playoffs.
Despite struggling in recent weeks, the Cowboys are ninth in scoring, first in yards, first in passing and 10th in rushing. In other words, it’s a well-balanced and effective attack.
To McVay, the Cowboys are a “nightmare” and a “real problem” to defend.
“I think Amari Cooper’s having a great year,” McVay said. “You look at just some of the improvements of their receivers as a whole – they’ve got three legitimate receivers. I think Dak’s making great decisions, they’ve always had a great O-line and Zeke’s résumé speaks for himself. Offensively, they’re a nightmare, they’re a real problem to deal with.”
One of the biggest changes the Cowboys made since last time these two teams played was replacing Scott Linehan with Kellen Moore as the team’s offensive coordinator. That’s led to more creativity and better play calling for the Cowboys, which has helped elevate the play of Prescott and Cooper, in particular.
Moore has left McVay impressed so far, and even a bit jealous of the success he’s had in his first season calling plays.
“It’s been impressive. You look at his first year doing it, the success that they’ve had. I wish I had that kind of success that early, it was impressive,” McVay said. “What he’s done, he’s done a good job putting the players in good spots. I think there’s a comfort level. They’ve got an identity, I think that’s as important as anything. The plays are one thing, but when you put your players in position to make plays, that’s the most important. It seems like he’s had a great feel for the game. I’ve been really impressed with him.”
The Rams are facing a lot of pressure this week, needing a win to keep pace in the NFC playoff hunt. A loss and a win by the Vikings over the Chargers would all but end any chance of the Rams making the postseason, facing a two-game deficit with only two to play.
McVay doesn’t see it as pressure, but he and the Rams know the urgency level has been taken up a notch.
“I think every single week, we don’t necessarily look at it as pressure, but it’s an opportunity for us,” McVay said. “It’s a great opportunity to go to Dallas, it’s going to be a great environment, great atmosphere. It’s a very good football team – they’ve got great coaches, great players. We know what the challenge is and we’ve got to have a great week of preparation to see if we can build on a little bit of the momentum that we do have. But, knowing that it’s one game at a time and what we did in the previous weeks won’t help us. We’ve got to be ready to show up when kickoff comes on Sunday.”
With their last three games being decided by eight points or fewer, this matchup is likely to come down to the wire, too.