Cowboys trailing Rams in the stats department, except for the one that matters most
After one quarter of play, Sunday’s season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles looked like it had the makings of a blowout.
The Rams led 7-0 after opening the game with a 75-yard scoring drive, capped by a 1-yard run from former Texas star Malcolm Brown.
The Rams got as close as 11 on their ensuing drive before the Cowboys held. Samuel Sloman then missed a 29-yard field goal.
The stats were ugly though.
The Rams led in yardage 137-23 and in first downs 9-2 after one quarter.
But then quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense woke up and the defense became bend-but-don’t-break.
The Rams drove to the Cowboys 17 and 13 in the second quarter but settled for field goals of 35 and 31 yards.
In between Prescott led the Cowboys on a 80-yard scoring drive, finishing with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ezekiel Elliott to make the score 10-7 early in the second quarter.
A missed 53-yard field goal by Greg Zeurlein was the only setback of the quarter.
Prescott put the Cowboys in front with a perfect 73-yard touchdown drive right before the half, sparked by throws to Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Blake Jarwin and Michael Gallup.
Prescott nearly scored on a 13-yard run but he was down at the 1.
Elliott got the score to make it 14-13 at halftime.
Prescott was quietly absurd in the first half, 15 of 18 passing for 187 yards and touchdown. Ran for two first downs and nearly ran for a score. His quarterback rating was 128.5.
