Despite the relatively low score, this was a showdown between the two young gunslingers. The quarterbacks who have been permanently attached to the 2016 draft, the Los Angeles Rams ‘Jared Goff first picked overall and the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott were taken in the fourth round.
And both were impressive as Prescott completed a touchdown for a 64.1 percent pass for his 266 yards and a 92.5 pass rating. For his part, Goff was good at 275 yards and his 64.5 percent effort for an interception, the 79.4 mark.
However, both signal callers were helped to attack by running the stout. Ezekiel Elliott made his way to Dallas with 96 rush rushing yards, a total of 166 yards on the ground as a team of cowboys. Meanwhile, Rams, running back through the committee approach, chewed 153 rushing yards.
And if the damage itself wasn’t bad enough, there’s even more bad news for the night festivities. There were also concerns that injuries could be a problem, with sewerage workouts and preseason sports being rejected due to delays and potential changes due to the COVID-19 epidemic and training camp. And sure enough the Cowboys faced some significant difficulties.
Leighton Vander Esch, who missed six games last year due to a neck injury, is left early with this described as an injured collarbone. It was after the disappointing news that the tough end was made by Black Jarvin and the offensive face Cam Irving leaving in the second quarter, both with knee injuries.
But in terms of Rams ’offense, they made it look relatively easy outside the gate, reaching the red zone on the first five full assets of the game. They failed in the last second of the first half.
It all started when they took an early kickoff and marched 75 yards in seven plays for a quick seven points, with Colored Cam Acres getting the honor with his first NFL score. Three straight trips were then made to the field-goal range for the Rams. And when kicker Samuel Sloman kept the first attempt straight to the left, he followed suit, converting from 35 and 31 yards on the next two attempts.
The funny thing is, half the cowboys were actually ahead, 14-13.
No matter how the Cowboys defense could struggle for the first 30 minutes, Prescott was more than willing to go toe-to-toe with Goff. At the start of the second quarter, Prescott guided eight plays, an 80-yard drive, completing all five of his attempts for 67 yards. Elliott, however, will really provide the highlight of the drive after taking a swing pass on the right and managing his way through at least four LA defenders in the final zone.
While new kicker Greg Zurlin pushed the 50-yard field goal-scoring team to the right in the team’s next series, but no good, Prescott regained control as the second quarter approached. 1:52 Starting with the rest of his 27-yard line, the Cowboys advanced the distance with Elliott getting another touchdown of the night on a 1-yard bull-rush.
But it was Prescott who put the team in that position as he again went 5-for-5 on his pass attempts, this time for 56 yards, while meeting four different receivers. He then dropped a 12-yard run in the 1-yard line, which put Elliott’s score just under 20 seconds in half.
Although Dallas had momentum, and occupied possession to start in the third quarter, the team could not make money. The Cowboys captured their first series of the second half and then once again Ramos were unable to stop the offense, which had 11 plays and knocked 5:51 of the clock in a 90-yard trip to the final zone. On a 30-yard pass from Robert Woods, Goff completed a 17-yard Josh Reynolds lead with a caffeine, 20-14.
But Dallas took a break when Ziurlin got a 33-yard field goal to bring the Cowboys within three during an interception by Cornback K Chidobuz Juni. Then finally after pushing Ram to push, Dallas got a chance to build things up early in the fourth quarter.
Prescott led his team to the LA 11-yard line, but on the fourth-and-3, McCarthy decided he would be aggressive and move for it instead of settling for a field goal. And although Prescott was able to dump CD de Lamb from the middle side, but the colored paper was shortened with a marker, the cowboy was turning the ball down.
He never got a second chance. The Dallas fielded twice more in the offense, with the last game remaining at 2:28, and Prescott appeared to Michael Gallup for a huge completion of 47 yards that would have given the Cowboys the ball in the Rams 19-yard. Line. But the questionable pass on Gallup rejected the call for intervention.
And with that, the Cowboys’ hopes were dashed.
