Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys savor statement win over Rams, ready for Eagles showdown
An elated Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was literally beside himself following Sunday’s 22-10 statement-making victory against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
Never mind that the Rams dropped to 2-3 on the season and lost for the second time in six days (they lost 24-9 to the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 3).
This was about the Cowboys and who they know they are and what they showed the world on Sunday: winning for a fourth straight time without quarterback Dak Prescott thanks to another superb effort from one of the league’s best defenses.
Jones couldn’t wait to greet the media after the game, walking up to them before he talked to the players in the locker room.
“Well I’ve had people walk up to me and say ‘Jerry, I want me some jewelries.’ What it means is diamonds and things like that,” Jones explained. “Well there was more than a win to get to come in here and beat the Rams — there was more. There was a lot of glitz and intangibles that’s a plus to come out here with this win. Our team will take advantage of that.
“To come in here with this situation and know we can get better and are getting better, there’s some glitz and glamour. My old saying ‘this isn’t one and one is two here for this win. This is one and one makes three. ‘ ”
What does that mean?
All the negativity from that came after the disappointing season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has turned into an exclamation point inside their locker room. With their fourth straight win with backup quarterback Cooper Rush and the knowledge that Prescott could be back as soon as next Sunday’s showdown at the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles (5-0) for first place in the NFC East, there’s reason for excitement.
Jones said he was not alone in his satisfaction about the Cowboys’ statement win.
Coach Mike McCarthy took offense with the notion that his team was a 5 1/2-point underdog to the Rams. He savored the atmosphere at SoFi Stadium that featured a majority pro-Cowboys crowd.
“I think just like anything winning gives you confidence,” McCarthy said “And you get confidence every time you win but when you win one game like today, especially beating the defending champion, the confidence, there’s a little more that goes with that. The reality is that it’s still one win. We’re in tune with that but yeah definitely, this is something … these are games you look forward to playing in in the regular season but the end of the day you have to keep just stacking success and keep making it about yourself and I think our locker room does a really good job of that.”
Prescott will start throwing this week with the hope of playing against the Eagles.
And Jones made it clear Prescott is the starter whenever he returns, despite his comments a few weeks ago about wanting a quarterback controversy if Rush continued to win.
“Dak is the No. 1 quarterback, Dak is our guy,” Jones said. “But isn’t it great that somebody came in and played well enough so that we can ask that question? That’s my point.”
“This is all that you could possibly ask,” Jones continued. “It gives us great, great quarterbacking. And what’s inspirational here is that we’ve got a lot of good players here that didn’t play today that we’ve got help on the way with. Cooper Rush and the Dak Prescott syndrome, so to speak, is a fingerprint of this team. We’re out here playing pretty short-handed ourselves, and we have been over the last month. Everybody is just playing at a little higher level, and that will be there for us.”
If truth be told, the Cowboys always believed, especially in their physical style of play and defense that is playing well as any in the NFL and rivaling some of the great defenses in franchise history.
The Cowboys have held their last two opponents to 10 points or less. They have not allowed more than one touchdown a game through the first five games.
It’s the first time since 1972 that the Cowboys have held their first five opponents under 20 points.
The Cowboys recorded five sacks against Rams, including two strip sacks and fumbles. The first one by defensive end Dorance Amstrong on the opening drive of the game was returned 19 yards for a touchdown by defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
The Cowboys now have 20 sacks on the season.
This marks the first time since 1987 that Dallas has recorded at least 20 sacks through the first five games of a season and it ties the third-highest five-game total in franchise history.
And the offense under Rush is powered by the running game. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 102 yards.
But the Cowboys rushed for 163 yards on 34 carries.
“I’m just really proud of our football team, “ McCarthy said. “We’re staying true to our formula. You want to start fast, it’s refreshing as a coach when you have a really good week of preparation. You feel strongly going into the game and then your team goes out and performs the way they do. A good chunk of confidence comes with this win. We’re going to have a great plane ride home. We’ve got a big one obviously in Philadelphia Sunday night.”
The Cowboys are definitely going to enjoy the ride open. Jones could likely power the trip with own excitement.
How charged was he Sunday night?
“I stay fired up. You mean plugged into 220 (volts) rather than 150,” Jones said with a laugh.
Now they are on Philadelphia for the showdown against the Eagles on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
Jones and the Cowboys couldn’t have dreamed of a more important start, statement win and hope for things to come.
“We know we haven’t played our best game yet this year, but it’s exciting to be 4-1 and in this position,” McCarthy said. “I thought we played the way we needed to play to beat this team, a team we had a tremendous amount of respect coming into. This is an excellent win for us.”
