Dallas Cowboys enter dream phase with shocking 44-21 beatdown of the Los Angeles Rams
From seemingly complete disarray, utter despair and no hope to simply amazing — at least for one game.
But what a game it was.
Raise your hand if you saw the Dallas Cowboys rising up from the grave everyone had them buried in and putting a 44-15 beatdown on the Los Angeles Rams before 90,436 equally vexed but giddy fans at AT&T Stadium.
What it all means remains to be seen, considering the inconsistent and streaky play from the Cowboys through their first 14 games, which included losing the previous three games, four of the past five and seven of 10 since starting the season 3-0.
What’s known for sure is the Cowboys (7-7) remain tied with the Philadelphia Eagles in first place atop the NFC East and now face a showdown for the division title next Sunday in Philadelphia.
And since they beat the Eagles 37-10 in an earlier meeting and are undefeated in the division, there is legitimate reason for renewed optimism that they can finish this off and make the playoffs.
“Well, of course, that’s just what the doctor ordered to get you out of the, whatever you’re in,” a jubilant owner Jerry Jones said. “So it was richly deserved and came along at a good time for us. I just know that I’m buoyed by the fact that they’re going to get this shot of inspiration, shot of confidence in what their hard work can do when it pays off. I think everybody has soul-searched, as you should be. Hopefully we’ll see that as we go forward into our really second season here.”
Whatever the Cowboys do going forward will be born out of the dream performance against the Rams (8-6) on Sunday in what was the Cowboys’ first win against a team with a winning record all season after going 0-6 coming in.
That they did it against an equally desperate Rams team, riding a two-game winning streak, playing it’s best football of the season and hoping to keep it’s own playoff hopes alive made it even more legitmate and special for a Cowboys team seeking a signature win. The Rams, last year’s Super Bowl runner up, is now in the brink of playoff elimination. They are two games behind the Minnesota Vikings (10-4) for the final NFC wild-card spot with two games to go.
It was the most points for the Cowboys since a 44-17 win at the Washington Redskins in 2014, as they unleashed some pent-up frustration on the Rams.
“We know that the team’s been criticized for not having really substantive victories by sometimes the record of the teams we’ve played,” Jones said. “This is a team that’s got a good record. This is certainly a team that is the kind of win you want to have before you get ready to go play what is the biggest game this year against Philadelphia in Philadelphia.”
And following a seemingly nightmarish start, which had quarterback Dak Prescott appearing to mess up the opening coin toss by choosing to kick to start the game and the third quarter, and newly signed kicker Kai Forbath then kicking the ball out of bounds and giving the Rams the ball at the 40, the Rams game was a rout from start to finish.
And it came in the way everyone thought the Cowboys would play from the start of season: dominating the ground game on offense and a stingy defense.
Finally turning it around?
The Cowboys scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives in the first half to lead 28-7 at halftime and blow the game open.
Quarterback Dak Prescott got things started with touchdown passes of 19 yards to tight end Jason Witten, who made a miraculous one-handed catch, and 59 yards to a wide-open Tavon Austin.
But this game was about the Cowboys getting back to their true identity with running back Ezekiel Elliott leading way on the ground behind the league’s best offensive line. Elliott rushed 24 times for 117 yards, including two second-quarter touchdowns of 1 and 3 yards. The second one was set up by an interception and 25-yard return from veteran linebacker Sean Lee.
Elliott was part of a 264-yard effort on the ground that included rookie Tony Pollard rushing for 131 yards on 12 carries as the Cowboys offensive line was more physical than the highly-touted Rams front. Pollard put an exclamation point on the victory with a 44-yard touchdown run with 3:00 left in the game to make the score 44-15.
“We know what type of men we have in this room,” Elliott said. “We know how good our offensive line in. When we go out there and handle our business, when we go out there and execute, we’re hard to stop. We want to keep this thing rolling. We want to ride this momentum.”
Prescott complemented the run game with an efficient outing, completing 15 of 23 passes for 212 yards as the Cowboys had their way with a Rams defense that had been playing its best football of the season.
The Rams gave up just one touchdown in wins the previous two games against the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
Even more impressive than the Cowboys’ offense was their dominating play on defense. Their ability to stop the Rams on the ground was shocking when you think about them giving up 273 yards in a divisional playoff loss to the Rams last January, and their woeful play in losses the past two games against the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears. The Cowboys missed a league-high 19 tackles against the Bears.
The Cowboys held running back Todd Gurley to 20 yards on 11 carries and then harassed quarterback Jared Goff into completing just 33 of 51 passes for 284 yards and two meaningless touchdowns in the fourth quarter, after the score was 37-7.
“We’ve done it at times this year. We have played good defense,” Lee said. “But we haven’t been as consistent. We know if we want to win games and get in the playoffs we have to be the defense that plays like that. It was great to show it. But we have to do it week in and week out. We have a big one next week we have to do it in.”
Forbath, who replaced the shaky Brett Maher on Monday, was perfect after the early botched kickoff. He nailed field goals of 50, 42 and 42 yards.
Was this a sign of things to come? Or just a one-game dream?
Jones admitted he is as surprised by the Cowboys’ performance against the Rams as he was disappointed in their 31-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills in their last outing when he was as low as can be.
But now he believes again.
“Yes, I think we can live a dream here and have some good things happen,” Jones said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 6:52 PM.
