DALLAS, TEXAS – The Dallas Cowboys (3-1) will head to Los Angeles to take on the Rams (2-2) on Sunday at 3:30 PM CST. The Cowboys have won three straight after losing to the Bucs in Week 1 and L.A. is coming off of an ugly loss to San Fran on Monday Night.
Things to look out for in Week 5:
Quarterback:
Cooper Rush will lead Dallas again this week as getting QB1 Dak Prescott back in the action is still time sensitive. Prescott was with the rehab group at practice on Wednesday and Thursday working on hand strength. Mike McCarthy said that he did see the doctor on Tuesday and had a good visit. McCarthy said at this stage of the game it’s all about getting strength back in that right hand so he can throw the ball smoothly and with force.
Rush is 4-0 in career starts and is the first Cowboys QB ever to start their career at 4-0. He’s looking for his fifth win after leading Dallas last week to a victory over the Commanders. He threw 15-of-27 for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
Rams QB Matthew Stafford has been struggling coming off of a Super Bowl victory last year. Stafford finished Monday night’s game throwing 32-of-48 for 254 yards for 0 touchdowns and one interception.
The Rams O-line struggled on Monday against the 49’ers, giving up seven sacks and 11 hits on Stafford. The 49’ers pass rush did a great job giving pressure to Stafford and his offense.
Wide Receiver:
CeeDee Lamb is WR1 in Dallas and sees most of the targets for the Cowboys. So far this season he has been targeted 33.1 percent of the time, that’s the third highest in the NFL. The current WR that leads the NFL in targets is Rams Cooper Kupp with 36.2 percent.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey will most likely be guarding Lamb. Ramsey wasn’t targeted at all against San Fran but still managed to break up a pass. It will be interesting to see how Lamb plays against Ramsey’s coverage.
The Rams offense consists of two people; WR Cooper Kupp and WR Tyler Higbee. Both are targeted most of the game, giving the rest of the offense nothing to really look forward to. Kupp was targeted 19 times against San Fran and Higbee was targeted 14 times.
Rams Head Coach Sean McVay said the game plan is to spread the ball around more (yes, including WR Allen Robinson.)
“A lot of it is out of his [Robinson] control.”
McVay added it’s based on the different coverages they see defensively, where he’s lined up, etc.
Run Game:
The Cowboys run game was lacking in Week 4 and didn’t put up as many numbers up as they did in Week 3. In Week 4 Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for 29 carries for 62 total yards and 0 touchdowns. In Week 3 they both combined for 30 carries for 176 total yards for 1 touchdown.
Elliott said, “Last week we didn’t execute very well.”
Elliott told the media that they need to be more disciplined so that they can be more effective in the run game. When asked how they can be more disciplined he said with penalties. He said they need to reduce pre-snap penalties as well as holding penalties.
Pass Rush:
The Cowboys pass rush has been phenomenal from the very beginning. In the first four games of the season they have given up just 19 points or less to their opponent. A big part of that comes from the dominant play from Micah Parsons.
Rams Coach Sean McVay said about Parsons, “The versatility, the explosiveness, the complete player. Can play the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage..a playmaker in its purest form. He’s a guy that can affect the game in a lot of different ways.”
“He’s special.”, McVay said.
Parsons hasn’t had a sack in the last two games but he has four so far this season.
These two teams will go head-to-head in Los Angeles on Sunday at 3:30 PM.
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