Rams at Dallas: can they win?

they played washington at home. they’re going to dallas to play the cowboys. they beat 2 sorry teams. they lost to a good team.

i’m curious to see how much they’ve learned.

also. they have to learn to take care of the ball.

They need to help Havenstein. I see he’ll struggle blocking DeMarcus Lawrence by himself. We need to contain the Zeke and the rest of their run game.

The Rams need to figure out a way to contain the Cowboys’ running game.

That’s a tall order for any defense, let alone one that hasn’t been able to stop anyone’s running game.

If the Rams were still in STL it would be time for old hacker to start burning sage. But now they’re in LA.

Maybe Grits can burn some organically grown kale.

Rams get 10 days rest

Dallas has 6

I know everyone has concerns about the Rams defense, but ST got a free pass last Thursday in SF and put the defense in some tough situations.

1) Off sides on a punt that gave SF a fresh set of downs
2) Tavon muffed a punt, (almost muffed 2 punts)
3) Pharoh Cooper fumbled a KO return
4) SF recovered the OSK

= 17 points

The Rams offense is very functional, it actually looks pretty good. Not only does McVay call a nice game (misdirection, rolling passes) the Rams can execute McVay’s game plan….

I think that the Rams can win this game.

Well teams have now seen the ram-McV offense for three games now….I’m thinking the Rams will look bad in this one. I dont see any way they stop that Dallas Oline with their Giunta-Defense. I figure Dallas will run and pass for a million yards.

Dallas 35
Rams 23

The team will continue to grow and gel, but its too soon, and Goff is too green, for them to beat teams like Dallas on the road.

They’ll be a handful next year if Snead can make a few more good personnel decisions and they can hang on to Watkns.

w
v

I feel like they can win. They have already showed me enough in the first three games to show that they aren’t just getting lucky.

A note about the defense: I hear the players talking about “maintaining gap integrity” and “trusting the system instead of just falling on old habits”.

I remember some of the same things being said when Spags first implemented his system and GW implemented his. I feel like it’s just a system change thing. It isn’t muscle memory yet. The defense should get better, especially in the last half of the season.

I am very optimistic about this team. My biggest concern is giving games away. They make too many mistakes, and you can’t do that against a Dallas team or a Washington team.

If they continue to give possessions away, than it’s going to be another long season.

Herzog wrote:

I feel like they can win. They have already showed me enough in the first three games to show that they aren’t just getting lucky.

A note about the defense: I hear the players talking about “maintaining gap integrity” and “trusting the system instead of just falling on old habits”.

I remember some of the same things being said when Spags first implemented his system and GW implemented his. I feel like it’s just a system change thing. It isn’t muscle memory yet. The defense should get better, especially in the last half of the season.

I am very optimistic about this team. My biggest concern is giving games away. They make too many mistakes, and you can’t do that against a Dallas team or a Washington team.

If they continue to give possessions away, than it’s going to be another long season.

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Hmmmm. I dunno. I suspect the D wont get fixed this year, and i am skeptical they are even gonna get much better at all this year.

Somethin just looks ‘seriously’ wrong to me.

w
v

Zooey wrote:

wv wrote:

Hmmmm. I dunno. I suspect the D wont get fixed this year, and i am skeptical they are even gonna get much better at all this year.

Somethin just looks ‘seriously’ wrong to me.

I have that fear, too.

I sure hope I’m wrong.

But it looks like Giunta. Big holes, and sloppy tackling.

Ouch. Giunta bad?

I wish the NFL would flex this game to Sunday night. This looks like a good one.

Limit the turnovers and the Rams can take this game. And that be a statement. What concerns me is that Oline against the Rams struggling 3-4. Phillips needs to come up with gameplan of his life…

No official prediction. My crystal ball is too cloudy.

with sean mcvay as washington’s offensive coordinator, they went a combined 1-3 from 2015 to 2016 against dallas. he’s gotta be very familiar with that team although i don’t know how much their defensive personnel has changed.

cousins did well. he had a passer rating over 100 in 3 of the 4 games.

I see Dallas as the more talented team. And where the Rams do have talented players, Donald for example, the Cowboys are seemingly strong enough to counter. Their interior o-line is still a force despite Elliot’s tough game two weeks ago. I would expect Havenstein to struggle with Demarcus Lawrence. So far I’ve seen nothing from the Rams defense that suggests that they can contain Elliot so once that running game gets going I expect Dez Bryant and Witten to cause some problems as well.

The Rams will have to score a lot of points if they are to pull out this win. At least the Cowboys are coming off of a short week.

Dallas finished 13-3 last year.

2 losses vs NYG and 1 vs Philly (3 divisional losses) the other Philly game went to OT.

Against McVay’s Washington offense, Dallas went 2-0….

Week II 2016 in DC: 27 23:
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2016091807/2016/REG2/cowboys@redskins#menu=gameinfo%7CcontentId%3A0ap3000000704769&tab=recap

LANDOVER, Md. — Alfred Morris scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with under five minutes left Sunday, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a 27-23 victory over his former team, the Redskins, after Washington’s Kirk Cousins threw an end-zone interception .

With rookie quarterback Dak Prescott looking poised throughout and scrambling for a 6-yard TD run in the second half, Dallas (1-1) won for only the second time in its past 16 games without the injured Tony Romo – and both of those victories came at Washington (0-2).

Prescott finished 22 for 30 for 292 yards.

Morris was drafted by Washington in 2012 and played his first four seasons there. But his role was reduced last year and he was allowed to leave as a free agent. His first TD in a Cowboys uniform capped an 80-yard drive that started when Barry Church picked off a pass from Cousins intended for Pierre Garcon.

Cousins went 28 for 46 for 364 yards, with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder in the third quarter that gave Washington its first lead, 17-13 in the third quarter.

But Cousins and the defending NFC East champion Redskins will rue the second-half chances they wasted. They got the ball inside Dallas’ 40 on consecutive possessions – once because of a failed onside kick and once because cornerback Josh Norman caused a fumble by Dallas rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott – but settled for a field goal each time.

Still, Washington led 23-20 and appeared on its way to adding to the margin after Cousins began a drive by completing a 57-yard pass to rookie Josh Doctson. But on third-and-goal at the 6 with 10 1/2 minutes left, Cousins put the ball right in Church’s gut.

Garcon stomped his foot coming off the field. Redskins right tackle Morgan Moses threw his helmet on the sideline.

Prescott then took the Cowboys on a 10-play drive that culminated in Morris’ score.

Week XII 2016 at Dallas 31-26

Washington had no running game that day, went pass happy, had to rally for 20 in the 4th to make it close….

http://www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400874499

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott keep winning for the Dallas Cowboys, even with Kirk Cousins setting records for the Washington Redskins.

Prescott accounted for two touchdowns , Elliott ran for a pair of scores and the Cowboys extended their franchise regular-season record with a 10th straight victory, beating the Redskins 31-26 on Thursday.

Prescott tied Don Meredith’s club quarterback record from 50 years ago with his fifth rushing TD and the NFL-leading Cowboys (10-1) won despite 449 yards passing and three touchdowns from Cousins, the first Redskins quarterback with two 400-yard games in a season.

“You know you’re talking to someone who knows how hard this is to win 10 games in a row, and I do,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “I know how we’re getting it done, and we’re getting done by hard work and Dak’s a great example.”

The Redskins (6-4-1) got swept by their NFC East rival, and the defending division champions fell 3 1/2 games behind Dallas with five games left. It was their seventh loss in eight tries on Thanksgiving against Cowboys, who had never won more than eight straight in the regular season.

“We’ve been in third place for a while, so we have to understand where we are what it’s going to take to get an opportunity to come back here in the future,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said. “The last five games of the year are critical.”

Elliott, the NFL rushing leader, had the fourth score on five straight second-half touchdown drives between the two teams with a 1-yard run for a 31-19 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The 21-year-old had 97 yards to give him 1,199 for the season.

After getting 43 yards on the first Dallas possession, Elliott had just 13 yards before a 21-yarder to start Dallas’ last TD drive. It was the second straight week he finished with 97 yards after some difficulty in the first half.

“Over time, you keep running the football, you’re going to wear them down,” Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. “He made some big runs late that were critical. It really broke their back.”

The Cowboys had an eight-game streak with at least 400 yards snapped, finishing with 353. But Dallas answered with touchdowns each time the Redskins got within a score on Cousins’ passes of 5 yards to Jordan Reed and 67 yards to DeSean Jackson , who had 118 yards receiving.

After Cousins’ second scoring toss to Reed, an 8-yarder with 1:53 remaining, Dustin Hopkins’ onside kick went out of bounds. The Cowboys ran out the clock.

“The way Dallas was able to come back and put points on the board in those situations is part of the reason why they are such a good football team,” said Cousins , who was 41 of 53 and finished 8 yards shy of his career high.

“As an offense, whenever we got the football, it was pretty much the same. Move the football, put points on the board, make good decisions and manage it well.”

Cousins took the Washington career lead with his third 400-yard game and became the first Redskins quarterback with consecutive 350-yard games since Jay Schroeder in 1986. He had 375 last week against Green Bay.

Reed had 10 catches for 95 yards after missing most of the first half when he injured his left shoulder leaping for a pass over his head in the end zone.

Prescott was 17 of 24 for a season-low 195 yards and one touchdown, a toe-tapper to Terrance Williams . He had eight carries for 39 yards, including a career-long 18-yarder. Dez Bryant led Dallas with 72 yards on five catches.

BACK TO THE PACK

Undrafted rookie running back Robert Kelley of the Redskins was held to 37 yards on 14 carries a week after getting a career-high 137 yards with three touchdowns against the Packers. He was averaging more than 100 yards per game the previous three.

SUN FIELD

The late-afternoon sun shining through the glass doors on the west side of the stadium was an issue in the opener when Dallas tight end Jason Witten admitted that the glare contributed to a pass he dropped in the New York Giants’ 20-19 win.

Cousins had to battle it during a second-quarter drive that ended in the second of Dustin Hopkins’ two missed field goals: a 55-yarder.

Prescott threw away from the sun to Williams for the touchdown on the subsequent possession, and the glare wasn’t a factor after that.

UP NEXT

Redskins: Washington gets the 10-day break before the second of three straight road games in Arizona on Dec. 4. The trip ends with another crucial NFC East game at Philadelphia on Dec. 11.

Cowboys: It’ll be a “regular” seven-day week with a visit to Minnesota next Thursday. Then Dallas gets the longer break before a Dec. 11 visit to the New York Giants that is likely to be a battle of the top two teams in the division.

I did the same and I would agree but add, They just seem better in the 2nd half. They haven’t scored a td in the first quarter so far. They start slow and make good adjustments at the half.If the Rams jump on them early they have a great shot at taking this one. Keep them guessing and don’t let up.