Cowboys Meet Potential In Dominant 44-21 Victory Over Rams
ARLINGTON, Texas — Coming off a three-game losing streak, everything clicked for the Dallas Cowboys in their dominant 44-21 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Dallas finished with 475 total yards and had two, 100-yard rushers with the duo of Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. The pair had great vision in finding lanes and maneuvering around tackles to gain yards per carry. Both rushers made an impact in moving the chains for Dallas and opening up opportunities in the passing game. The offensive line had a tremendous performance against a tough Wade Phillips defense, with a 4-3 scheme that uses 3-4 looks. The o-line did a good job blocking up front to open up holes and did not allow a sack on Dak Prescott. That is a huge feat going up against Aaron Donald, who has 11 sacks in 2019.
The biggest difference maker in the ballgame was the defense. After several weeks of tackling woes, the unit finally meshed on the field in all three levels. The team’s run defense has struggled in recent weeks moving to 19th in the league coming into the week-15 matchup, but today the defense held Todd Gurley to just 20 rushing yards and the Rams’ offense to an average of 1.6 yards-per-carry. The effectiveness began up front with the defensive line. Antwaun Woods was back in the interior after being sidelined with a knee injury for two weeks, and he made a big difference holding the line of scrimmage and clogging holes.
I spoke with Sean Lee following the game on the team’s effectiveness against the run. He told me, “ I think our d-line was unbelievable. I think if you look at the linebackers, I don’t know if we had a lot of hits. At least, we were close but the d-line ate up most of that. Having Antwaun back, having the d-line play like they played today, that’s a big step for us. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to play behind.”
Lee had a big game himself racking up a sack on Jared Goff and an interception. He missed the full week of practice dealing with a pectoral and thigh injury, and his production in the game is a testament to his film study throughout the week. The way he was able to diagnose and read Sean McVay’s high-tempo offense was elite, but even more impressive was the time-spent off the field throughout the last week. He played like his usual self and helped build the momentum in the game.
In the backfield, Chidobe Awuzie had tight press coverage recording two pass deflections. Jourdan Lewis had a stellar game with a sack on Goff, a pass deflection, and a quarterback hit. Both limited the Rams’ offense with big stops on third down to force L.A punts.
Overall a performance everyone has been waiting for. The team played to their potential, but the question is, can the team be consistent and string wins together? The team now has a win against a team with a winning record under their belt to match their high ranking in the league, both offensively and defensively.
