Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Los Angeles Rams

Dak Prescott’s return to glory earns Week 8 Player of the Game

Prescott continued to take careful control of the ball, but the bye week seems to have brought the downfield element back to the offense. | From @TimLettiero

Expectations had been tempered as the Cowboys reached the unofficial midpoint of the season. Dallas has been excellent both at home and when coming off their bye recently, but they faced a fiery Los Angeles Rams team that doesn’t go down without a fight. Or so everyone thought.

Dallas struggled on their first few snaps, allowing a lot of pressure to get to quarterback Dak Prescott. Then a switch flipped and the offense clicked while the defense dominated, allowing the Cowboys to walk away victors in convincing fashion. A 43-20 victory improved Dallas to 5-2 on the season.

Prescott finished the contest with 304 yards passing and an over 80% completion percentage. His CPOE was +16.3 as he repeatedly pushed the ball downfield with precision passing. It was his signature game of the 2023 season thus far.

Lamb to slaughter: Cowboys find killer instinct by targeting top weapon

The Cowboys offense rises to a different level when they feed their star WR CeeDee Lamb. | From @ReidDHanson

Year 1 of the Mike McCarthy offense has had its fair share of bumps, earning criticism both externally and internally. The most public of internal criticisms came from CeeDee Lamb, amidst the Week 5 loss to San Francisco. The Dallas Cowboys’ star WR was frustrated by his role on the team and let his displeasure known rather publicly.

The Cowboys responded in Week 6, prior to their bye, feeding Lamb the ball to the tune of seven receptions for 117 yards in their 20-17 win over the Chargers. If Week 8 against the Rams is any indication, it’s a something that may be permanently ingrained in McCarthy’s mind. Lamb finished the 43-20 victory with 12 receptions for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

Behind the Lamb-led offense, the Cowboys took a 33-9 lead into the half. Even with Los Angeles’ ensuing third quarter touchdown, the game was well in hand and the Dak Prescott-to-Lamb connection was largely to credit.

Lamb averaged 0.89 EPA/play receiving on Sunday. His 12.5 total EPA earned was second only to Prescott. He even added a run that produced 0.79 EPA on its own.

It wasn’t a flawless effort but it was extremely efficient and opened opportunities up for others in the second half.

For the first time since a disastrous 2020 season in which Prescott was lost for the year, the Cowboys found themselves outside the top-10 in offensive rankings.

They went into their bye week with a renewed sense of confidence, though, following the win in L.A. Lamb proved to be their biggest playmaker on offense, and the key to unlocking McCarthy’s passing attack. But would their lessons learned in Los Angeles stay learned or was it destined to be forgotten?

The immediate results are certainly hope inspiring.

Over the past two games, Lamb has averaged 9.5 receptions, 137.5 yards and a touchdown. It’s a pace many would be thrilled to see continued and puts Lamb on level ground with the NFL’s top tier of pass catchers.

Great offenses find ways to get the ball to their best players. Motion, formations, and route combinations are all ways to free up players who have otherwise been locked down by the opposing defense. And make no mistake, opposing defenses will try to lock down Lamb.

Per Next Gen Stats, Lamb is one of just four WRs over the past two seasons with multiple receptions on five different routes. It speaks to his ability to run different routes and his ability to make plays. He has no obvious limitations.

Lamb’s growth in 2023 is proof the Cowboys offense is continuing to grow as well. While Lamb deserves credit for his performance, it’s the gameplan that’s ultimately responsible for giving him the opportunities.

Kudos all around.

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Instant Analysis: Cowboys dismantle Rams in every way, win 43-20

The Cowboys came out of the bye ready to excel on all cylinders and they used the Rams to prove their point. | From @KDDrummondNFL

It appears the Dallas Cowboys took their bye week very seriously. On first glance, the team needed a couple snaps to get themselves in rhythm. The Cowboys started with the ball and Dak Prescott was taken down on his first three dropbacks. However an illegal contact on the second sack gave the club a new set of downs and the next sack was not enough to derail the oncoming train.

Dallas finished that drive in the end zone and the rout was on. The Cowboys raced out to a 30-point first-half lead, the largest deficit of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay’s career. And while the Rams were able to score bookending the break, there was little doubt to this game as Dak Prescott painted a masterpiece with four passing touchdowns to augment the stellar effort by both the defense and special teams. Dallas opened the second half of their schedule with a decisive 43-20 victory.

Cowboys backup LT Chuma Edoga leave on cart after leg injury

The Cowboys lost their backup left tackle in the midst of a blowout win. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys started the week with their cleanest injury report of the entire season. On Wednesday, only backup safety Juanyeh Thomas was listed and even he was a full participant. Thursday though brought an unexpected listed, as Tyron Smith was limited with a neck injury, after suffering a stinger.

It was assumed he was going to play based on words from both head coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones, however Smith was among the seven inactives named over an hour before kickoff. Now, deep into the second half of a blowout victory, Dallas is down to their third-string left tackle.

Chuma Edoga, who has played in Smith’s absence throughout the season, had his right leg fallen on during a pass block on a huge play to Ceedee Lamb. Edoga laid stretched out on the field for a long time before the cart eventually took him into the locker room for futher evaluation.

Fifth-round rookie Asim Richards, who looked good during the preseason but has only seen 20 regular-season snaps entering the week, came in to replace him.

LOOK: DaRon Bland Pick-6 starts Cowboys’ defense, special teams ballistic run

A series of defensive and special teams plays put the game out of reach early for the Cowboys. | From @KDDrummondNFL

After the Cowboys’ opening touchdown, Dallas traded field goals with the Los Angeles Rams to keep their early lead at seven, 10-3. Then, Dan Quinn and John Fassel’s units decided they wanted to make an impression on the game.

In the blink of an eye, Dallas extended the lead to a whopping 23 points and the offense had very little to do with it.

 

Watch: Cowboys’ Prescott threads needle, TE actually catches the TD

The Cowboys started off shaky, but steadied themselves and took the early lead on the Rams. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys started the game off with the ball, and things were ugly. The rust was clearly in play for the offensive line, who lost left tackle Tyron Smith on Thursday to a neck stinger. On their first three dropbacks, Prescott was sacked three times, only one on third down was negated by an illegal contact penalty.

Dallas took full advantage of the extra chance, getting things together and marching down the field thanks to a renewed commitment to getting the ball to WR CeeDee Lamb. Lamb caught three passes on the drive, but the scoring play came courtesy of the tight end position.

From just inside the red zone, you read that right, Prescott floated a beautiful pass down the seam, over the defense into the outstretched arm of second-year tight end Jake Ferguson for the 18-yard score.

Tyron Smith headlines Cowboys-Rams inactives in Week 8

The Cowboys are without left tackle Tyron Smith for the third game in 2023, while the Rams are also shorthanded up front in Week 8. | From @cdburnett7

The Dallas Cowboys fielded their starting offensive line for the first time since 2021, but that didn’t last as left tackle Tyron Smith is out for the matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. Smith has a lengthy injury history, and it’s a neck injury that’s keeping him out of Week 8.

This is the third game of the season Smith has missed in 2023, and he hasn’t played in more than 13 games in a season since 2015. With his absence, Chuma Edoga is back into the lineup but Dallas will have to decide if they move Tyler Smith to left tackle.

Los Angeles is also shorthanded up front with starting right tackle Rob Havenstein out against the Cowboys. That’s the main casualties on both ends and here’s full inactives for Cowboys-Rams, kicking off at 12 p.m. on FOX.

TV coverage maps, how to stream Cowboys-Rams, plus 10 top prop bets

Dallas has won 4 of the last 5 home matchups vs the Rams, by an average score of 34.8 to 15.4. If you’re in red, you get to move ahead. If you’re in blue, here’s what you’ll need to do. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Cowboys are finally back to work today, on Sunday. The club has licked their wounds and prepared themselves for the meat of their 2023 schedule after a bye week allowed the club to get relatively healthy. The team made some bottom-of-the-roster moves to try and elevate the floor, and has just 72 hours to consider going out and trading for some additional talent to augment what’s already in house.

Sitting at 4-2 on the season, Dallas has seen the rest of the pack come back to them over the course of the last two weeks. Now just one game away from the top seed, it will make for an interesting middle of the schedule, especially with the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles next up on the schedule. First though, they have to get through a Rams team that is looking to find firm footing.

Want to catch all of the action? Here’s how, along with our favorite bets for the contest.

3 Cowboys keys to victory: Interior pressure, coverage and Cooks

The Cowboys look to come out of their bye week with a win, but to beat the Rams, they’ll need to win these three key matchups. | From @ReidDHanson

Coming off the bye week, the Cowboys have their work cut out for them. Their Week 8 opponent is in desperation mode at the moment. The Rams stand 3-4 and need to notch a win to stay in the NFC West playoff race.

Dallas also has that pesky Eagles game on the horizon which threatens to take focus from Los Angeles and open the Cowboys up to a dreaded “trap game” on Sunday.

The last time Dallas faced a trap game such as this was in Week 3 in Arizona. No one needs reminding how that turned out.

The Cowboys can’t roll into AT&T Stadium expecting to win the game just by showing up. They need to win a few key battles in order to escape victorious.

Here are the top-three keys to the game in Week 8.

Here’s how the Cowboys avoid a Rams’ upset in Week 8

The Cowboys and Rams both have paths to victory, sorting out which will be more dominant is the game. | From @cdpiglet

The last few weeks have shown everyone the NFL is a not-for-long league. The season seemed over for the Dallas Cowboys after a 42-10 beatdown by the San Francisco 49ers put them two games back in their division and with the fourth-best record in the NFC. Two weeks later, the Philadelphia Eagles lost a game, the Detroit Lions got blown out, and the 49ers lost two straight. The Cowboys are coming off a bye week at 4-2, and the NFC seems wide open.

Dallas is back home playing one of the nemeses of the Dak Prescott era, the Los Angeles Rams. This isn’t the Super Bowl contender Rams from a few years back. However, they still have an elite play-caller in Sean McVay, the best defensive player of this generation, Aaron Donald, one of the best receivers in the game in Cooper Kupp, and quarterback Matt Stafford.

The Cowboys might be more talented overall, but this matchup is no walk in the park. Los Angeles will scheme a great game plan for Dallas, and the top players on the Rams will show up big time with the spotlight of the Cowboys shining on the game. Here is a look at some of what Dallas needs to do and stop Los Angeles from doing to get a victory in Week 8.