The Cowboys returned from their bye week with a vengeance, defeating the Rams by a score of 43-20. This game quickly became out of hand, but these five moves were critical in building such a massive lead.
The Cowboys’ opening drive is saved thanks to illegal contact.
It’s difficult to believe now, but the Cowboys started the game poorly. Dak Prescott was sacked on the first play, which was followed by a four-yard run. Prescott was sacked again on third down with 11 yards to go.
In the secondary, however, a flag had been thrown. Early in the game, Quentin Lake was penalized for unlawful contact, which sparked considerable disagreement among the broadcast crew. In either case, the penalty resulted in an automatic first down.
That was critical for the Cowboys. Those first three plays had been about as bad as a game can get, but the penalty gave them a second opportunity. They didn’t squander that opportunity, either, but it was a three-and-out to begin this one.
CeeDee Lamb’s yards after catch cancel out the sack.
The Cowboys were not yet out of the woods. The unlawful contact penalty had given them new life, but Prescott was sacked again on the very next play, this time by Aaron Donald. The Cowboys faced second and 17 after three sacks in four plays.
Prescott dropped back and hit CeeDee Lamb on a short curl route in the center of the field, and the receiver took care of the rest. Lamb immediately shook his opponent and then took off, sprinting through traffic for 17 yards and a first down.
After the sack on first down, it appeared that the offense would have a hard day, and picking up 17 yards seemed impossible. But Lamb did it in one play, and the floodgates opened for him and the rest of this attack when Dallas scored a few plays later.
DaRon Bland’s pick six gets things started.
On their second drive, the Cowboys were forced to settle for a long field goal, extending their advantage to 10-3. The Dallas defense struggled on their opening drive before tightening up near the endzone, but they were certain they could do better.
Better came on the first play of the Rams’ next drive, when DaRon Bland did what DaRon Bland does best:
This was Bland’s third pick six of the season, the most for any Cowboy in a single season and the most by any NFL player since 2019. More importantly, it swiftly put the Cowboys up 17-3 and signaled the start of the Rams’ “this is getting ugly” phase.
A blocked punt leads to a safety.
The Rams were eager to get back on the field after the pick six and get things back on track. That didn’t happen, as their first down play was a three-yard loss, and Matthew Stafford was sacked two plays later on a third-and-short. The Rams were on the verge of punting.
Then things got worse when Sam Williams blocked the punt and it bounced out of the endzone for a safety.
In the blink of an eye, the Cowboys were ahead by two points and on their way to regaining possession of the ball. The Rams’ season had taken a terrible turn, and there was no end in sight.
The tremendous return by KaVontae Turpin sets up an easy touchdown.
The Cowboys kept putting pressure on at that point. Following the safety, KaVontae Turpin received the punt and cut up the field, displaying his incredible speed.
Turpin’s return covered 63 yards and put the Cowboys offense on the Los Angeles 13-yard line. Prescott needed precisely two plays to strike Lamb wide open in the endzone for a touchdown, bringing the score to 26-3. With the way the offense was moving in this game, they could have scored even without the big return, but Turpin made things a lot easier for them.
The Cowboys scored a total of 16 points on eight consecutive plays, increasing their win probability by 15 percentage points. Despite the fact that the second quarter had only begun, the game was basically over at this moment. Plays like these are what give a team a win so early in the day, and the Cowboys had an avalanche of them on Sunday.
