Duds

Jared Goff

Goff’s stat line doesn’t seem all that bad (284 yards, two touchdowns, one interception), but he was not very good. He missed Brandin Cooks, who was open on an out route on the first drive, and also underthrew receivers over the middle. His interception to Sean Lee was especially bad, and was a turning point in the game.

Todd Gurley

Gurley carried it 11 times for 20 yards, and although he had two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, he appeared to lack explosiveness out of the backfield and was indecisive in the hole. He was running with two hands on the ball often, too, which was surprising. He didn’t get any help from his offensive line, but Gurley didn’t make anyone miss, either.

Sean McVay

Ultimately, part of this loss falls on the coaches – beginning with McVay. The Rams looked unprepared, slow out of the gate and lacked effort on both sides of the ball, which typically falls on the coach. McVay has never had trouble getting his players ready, but that seemed like an issue on Sunday.

Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews

The Rams never got very close to Dak Prescott. Fowler had six tackles, but he never hit Prescott once and didn’t record any stops behind the line. Matthews also had six tackles and one for a loss, but as a pass rusher, he did very little. Overall, the pass rush was underwhelming and did nothing to help the rest of the defense.

Defensive line

When an opponent rushes for 267 yards, the defensive line deserves a lot of the blame. The defensive front was pushed off the line regularly and got no penetration against the Cowboys’ offensive line, which gave Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard big running lanes. Aaron Donald was even held in check as a pass rusher, while Sebastian Joseph-Day and Michael Brockers did very little against the run or pass, either.