New players make big contributions in Rams' season-opening win over Cowboys https://t.co/TwnYFI93G3

— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) September 14, 2020

from NFL Week 1 grades: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-2-early-odds-seahawks-favored-over-patriots-chiefs-looking-to-continue-wild-run-vs-afc-west-teams/

…

L.A. Rams 20-17 over Dallas

B- Cowboys
Dak Prescott was really good. Ezekiel Elliott was really good. Aldon Smith was surprisingly really good. Unfortunately, Mike McCarthy was not, at least when it mattered most, preferring to play it safe despite an envious array of weapons. It didn’t help that the defense couldn’t stop the Rams pretty much all night. Still, this team had the looks of one that can be dangerous when everything is clicking.

A+ Rams
Yes, they were at home, but everything else about this game suggested they would be Week 1 fodder for the high-powered Cowboys. Not so. Sean McVay had a pitch-perfect script to keep Jared Goff comfortable. The O-line handled Dallas with relative ease. Malcolm Brown was a revelation as the unofficial RB1. And both Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey proved that all you need is a few play-makers to swing things on “D.” Huge win for this club.

wv wrote:

I especially love the fact that the refs decided another game in favor of the Rams.

Well they did and they didn’t. Goff’s INT came from him being hit in the head as he threw. That wasn’t called. As soon as I find a pic I’ll post it. It was flagrant.

aeneas1: just 3 of 12 (25%) third down conversions allowed, that’s a 2nd ranking in 2019 numbers.

BTHRams: keys to win [includes] 3rd down success on offense

On offense, Rams converted 9 of 17 third downs, or 53%, which last year would have ranked 1st, with the second being the Ravens at 48.3%.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
the roar of the cardboard cutouts on that 4th down stop will give you chills.

Johnny Hekker@JHekker
Thats how you break in a new stadium!!!! 1-0 is the nice but the best win is always the next one. What an awesome birthday present for my nephew, Elisha!

Cooper Kupp@CooperKupp
1-0! Had to get that first one in SoFi. #RamsHouse

12 hours to enjoy it, then on to Philly!

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
The Rams’ defense wasn’t perfect tonight, but it’s impossible to not see the potential of Brandon Staley’s group

==

69RamFan
The big stat in the game, was the RAMs 3rd conversion 9 out of 17 at 53%

Have to give credit to the OL,,, especial when Brown was in there at RB they were playing power line blocking to give Brown some good chunk yardage

Giving up 14 pts in the first half,,, and only 3pts in the second… Outstanding…

AD was a monster,,, only one sack,,,, but he made Dak hurried in several throws with four QB Hits and 1 TFL…

==

aeneas1

what a helluva defensive effort!

– just 17 offensive points allowed to last year’s #4 scoring offense, that’s a 3rd ranking in 2019 numbers.
– just 5.1 yards per play allowed, that’s a 7th ranking in 2019 numbers.
– just 3 of 12 (25%) third down conversions allowed, that’s a 2nd ranking in 2019 numbers.

from NFL Week 1 PFF ReFocused: Los Angeles Rams 20, Dallas Cowboys 17

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-1-pff-refocused-los-angeles-rams-20-dallas-cowboys-17

Los Angeles Rams • Dallas Cowboys

The first Sunday Night Football contest of the year could have gone either way, with multiple controversial calls and missed opportunities on both sides. But in the end, it was the Los Angeles Rams who took home the 20-17 victory.

Editor’s note: All of PFF’s grades and advanced stats from this game will be finalized and made available to ELITE subscribers within 24 hours of the final whistle.

STORY OF THE GAME

The Rams came out firing on all cylinders, orchestrating a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive within the first 4 minutes of the game. The Dallas Cowboys were unable to reply on the following series, running five plays before opting to punt on fourth down.

The Cowboys lost star linebacker Leighton Vander-Esch to a broken collarbone early in the game, leaving a critical hole in the middle of the defense that the Rams would ultimately take advantage of. Making matters worse for the Cowboys, Vander-Esch is now headed to injured reserve and will miss a significant portion of the season.

Los Angeles ran the ball a total of 25 times, with the majority of their attempts going up the middle. Second-round running back Cam Akers started the game and received 14 carries, though he was only able to gain just under 40 yards on the ground. The real star of the Rams’ backfield was Malcolm Brown, who carried the rock 18 times for 79 yards and two scores, punishing the Dallas defense.

The Cowboys’ run game was a one-man show tonight, with Ezekiel Elliott responsible for 22 of the team’s 27 attempts and 60 of their 70 snaps. He gained nearly 100 rushing yards and came away with two scores — one on the ground and one through the air.

Jared Goff was dinking and dunking for the majority of the contest, generating an average depth of target of just 4.9 yards, the second-lowest mark of the week behind Jaguars’ Gardner Minshew. Over 70% of his passing yards were gained after the catch, highlighting the Rams’ game plan against Dallas’ vaunted defensive line.

Goff did throw an interception — which was sill an ill-advised throw — though there was a missed penalty on Aldon Smith, who hit Goff’s facemask as the ball was released. Speaking of Smith, he was on a tear in his first NFL action since 2015 and led his teammates in total pressures.

The quick passing game resulted in the Rams allowing a pressure rate of just 8.8% while the Cowboys gave up a horrendous 33.3%. The constant pressure affected Dak Prescott, who struggled to get much going through the air in his first game with new head coach Mike McCarthy. His receivers’ production also suffered, as Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb were all held below 100 yards, and all failed to find the end zone. Gallup had a late fourth-quarter deep catch called back for offensive pass interference, which effectively sealed the Cowboys’ fate.

Though the Rams had contributions from Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee in the reiving game, Robert Woods was the star of the offense. He hauled in all six of his targets for over 100 yards and even received a handoff for another 14 yards.

Aaron Donald was as monstrous as ever, generating an NFL-leading 10 total QB pressures, though that figure could change upon review. He also had help from the recently added Leonard Floyd and the veteran Michael Brockers, who both accumulated a handful of pressures.

The Dallas defense did their best to contain the Rams offense, but no secondary member was able to get their hands on the football outside of the aforementioned interception.

Despite the strong stop by Trevon Diggs that forced a fourth-and-1 punt, the Cowboys were unable to capitalize offensively with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

ROOKIE WATCH

Three Rams rookies received playing time tonight: second-round picks Cam Akers and Van Jefferson and sixth-round defensive back Jordan Fuller. Akers received the second-most touches out of the backfield and remained in the rotation even as Brown was getting into a rhythm.

Jefferson only hauled in one catch, but it was a great snag deep down the sideline that gained 31 yards. Meanwhile, Fuller was targeted six times, allowing four catches and three first downs. It was not all bad, though, as he came up with a key tackle that forced a turnover on downs early in the fourth quarter.

7 takeaways from Rams’ season-opening win over Cowboys

Cameron DaSilva

link https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-cowboys-week-1-takeaways-recap/

There’s no better way to start a season in Week 1 than with a victory. The Rams welcomed the Cowboys to their new home on Sunday night and sent them home packing with an 0-1 record.

Los Angeles held on to beat the Cowboys 20-17, starting 1-0 for the fourth consecutive season. It wasn’t the easiest win, but it was an important one – especially for a team that has had lower expectations set upon it all offseason.

Here are seven key takeaways from the Rams’ win over Dallas.

1 Tackling was a huge issue

After a summer without preseason games, it was expected that tackling might suffer. It was true for the Rams, who missed tackles left and right. Granted, they were trying to bring down Ezekiel Elliott, but they missed way too many tackles that led to big yardage.

On Elliott’s touchdown catch, he faked out four defenders along the sideline, leading to this shot that made its rounds on Twitter.

It wasn’t any one group, either. The defensive line missed tackles, Micah Kiser missed some, and even John Johnson was out of position on a few attempts. This part of their defense should improve, mostly because it has to.

2 The running back rotation is real

Fantasy players had both eyes on the Rams’ backfield Sunday night, watching closely to see which running backs would get the bulk of the carries. Malcolm Brown wound up emerging as the top guy in Week 1, but only by four carries over Cam Akers. Brown rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries, scoring two touchdowns and adding 31 yards receiving.

Akers carried it 14 times for 39 yards, making a few nice moves at the line of scrimmage to make defenders miss. His longest run was only 6 yards, though.

As for Darrell Henderson, his playing time was limited. He carried it three times for 6 yards and wasn’t targeted on a pass. We’ll see if his workload grows next week as his hamstring continues to improve.

3 Jordan Fuller is ahead of Taylor Rapp … for now

One of the biggest surprises was how much Jordan Fuller played on defense. The sixth-round rookie was on the field early and often for the Rams, doing everything from playing the deep post to covering in intermediate coverage. His best play came on fourth down in the fourth quarter, hitting CeeDee Lamb short of the sticks in the red zone.

He did miss a tackle on Tony Pollard that led to some extra yardage, but overall, it wasn’t a bad showing by the young safety. He seems to be ahead of Taylor Rapp at least for now, as Rapp continues to get up to speed on Brandon Staley’s scheme. He missed most of camp with a knee injury, which set him back.

This was about as good of a debut as a sixth-round pick could’ve asked for, even without creating a turnover. He led the team with eight tackles, none bigger than the one on Lamb.

4 Red zone woes stymie offense

The Rams were awful in the red zone in 2018, scoring touchdowns on 56.8% of their trips inside the 20 (19th in the NFL). They seemed to solve those issues last year by ranking sixth in that department, but they reared their ugly head on Sunday night.

The Rams scored touchdowns on only two of their five red zone trips, and missed a 29-yard field goal on one of those. They really could’ve taken a commanding lead early if not for issues inside the 20-yard line.

Even Sean McVay’s decision to run it on third-and-4 before attempting a field goal was questionable. Execution and play calling just have to be better.

5 Kicker is still a question mark

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

In no way should the Rams feel completely comfortable with their kicker situation. Sam Sloman missed his first career FG attempt, which can probably be chalked up to rookie jitters, clanking his kick off the left upright from 29 yards out.

His next kick was dangerously low from 35 yards, even though it was good, and his next 31-yarder improved in the height department – also a successful kick.

Hopefully he can shake off the rookie nerves and become a reliable kicker, but it wasn’t exactly a great start for Sloman. His kickoff depth wasn’t impressive, either, routinely booting it to about the 5-yard line instead of into the end zone. Maybe that’s by design, but the Cowboys got some good gains out of it. He did have a few touchbacks, but the short kicks were somewhat concerning.

6 Offensive line held up – largely thanks to McVay and Goff

The Rams offensive line got a lot of help from Sean McVay and Jared Goff against Dallas. Sure, Goff was only sacked once and hit three total times, but it was a great game plan by McVay that helped the line immensely.

In the first half, Goff’s average depth of target was only 2.2 yards. It was a whole bunch of screens, short out routes and checkdowns, which the Cowboys couldn’t stop. And so McVay kept calling them.

Those quick passes prevented the rush from getting home, and kept Goff upright for much of the game.

7 Balance returns to the offense

Last season, the Rams were completely unbalanced on offense – especially to start the year. They had the third-most pass attempts in the NFL (Jared Goff led the league individually), while they only had the 18th-most rush attempts.

Far too often, Goff was asked to throw the ball more than he should have had to. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. The Rams handed the ball off to their running backs 35 times and Goff attempted 31 passes.

That’s the balance the Rams want to see from the offense, taking pressure off of Goff.

Context Matters@dwainmcfarland
The Rams utilized 12 personnel on 20 snaps tonight.

Kupp was on the field for 12 of those – much better than last year.

Played 61 of 72 snaps overall. He should be just fine, that was a concern before tonight.

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
You want balance? You got balance.

31 pass attempts by Goff, 35 rush attempts by RBs.

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
The @Rams averaged 25 rush attempts per game last year, trying to work around Todd Gurley situation. They ran it 40 times tonight – 36 if you take out Goff’s scambles. I’d imagine 28 will be the target this year

Todd Archer@toddarcher
Aldon Smith with his first sack since Noiv. 15, 2015 when he was with the Oakland Raiders. An incredible comeback. He doesn’t look like a guy who has missed so much time because of an indefinite suspension.

TurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
In his Rams debut, Brandon Staley’s defense allowed fewer yards than in any game by LA last season. 244 against an offense projected to be among the league’s elite

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Sean McVay, relatable with no context: “I think I’ll remember the silence, too.”

Sean McVay indicates that Taylor Rapp is healthy and Jordan Fuller played his way into his role – while emphasizing that Rapp continues to be a huge part of what they want to do on defense.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Jalen Ramsey on rookie safety Jordan Fuller, who had an impactful performance in his first NFL game. “Jordan has been balling all camp.”

McVay called Fuller’s fourth-down stop on Ceedee Lamb an “unbelievable play… That was the play of the game arguably.”

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Aaron Donald on Jordan Fuller’s late 4th and 3 stop: “That was huge. He’s a young guy that stepped up and made a play. … He’s out there for a reason.”

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
Rams head coach Sean McVay on his team’s season-opening 20-17 win over Dallas on Sunday night, “I thought our offense slowed up in the second half, but the defense picked up in the slack. That’s what team football is all about.”

Also mentioned he liked how PK Sam Sloman responded to missing his first NFL field goal attempt and P Johnny Hekker flipped the field with some timely punts

Los Angeles Rams UK@LARams_UK
Brian Hill, the Rams scout that was banging the table for Jordan Fuller to be drafted, deserves a pat on the back after his extremely encouraging debut.

He gave Fuller a grade that he had only given to handful of players previously. Good to have these people in the building.

Rams defeat the Cowboys 20-17 in SNF home opener https://t.co/8slL6co27t

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 14, 2020

How?? 😂😂😂😂😂 come on man pic.twitter.com/gTxGpkM8av

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) September 14, 2020

Jared Goff and the #Rams offense used play action to delay the Cowboys pass rush and create separation:

Play Action (8/12, 112 yards)
➤ +0.29 EPA/DB, 5.4 avg separation

No Play Action (12/19, 163 yards, INT)
➤ +0.07 EPA/DB, 3.0 avg separation#DALvsLAR | #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/Jd3HaEVQmE

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 14, 2020

==

The #Cowboys pass rush was unable to get the same jump off the line of scrimmage against play action according our Team Average Pass Rush Get-Off* metric:

➤ Play Action: 1.43 seconds
➤ No Play Action: 0.96 seconds

*Time to cross LOS

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 14, 2020

J.B. Long@JB_Long
Rams don’t punt in the first half, but settle for 3 FG attempts and miss one of them.

End up trailing 14-13, and the Cowboys will receive the 3Q kick.

Interesting to see Fuller playing for Rapp in the back end. Terrific start for the offensive line. Dak very sharp.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
-Jared Goff is 12 of 19 for 168 yards
-Malcom Brown has 72 yards from scrimmage and a TD on 10 carries and two catches.
-Robert Woods has 79 yards from scrimmage on four receptions and a carry.
-Rams were outgained 255 to 241.

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
#Rams trail the #Cowboys at the half 14-13. Bizarre to be losing a game you feel they have controlled.

Sosa K@QBsMVP
The Rams didn’t invest nothing at ILB and it showed in that half. The issue was the remainder of the defense didn’t step up one bit. The missed tackles were brutal from all three levels.

WE SEE YA, ROOK!

Not too shabby for your first NFL catch, @VanJefferson12!🤩 pic.twitter.com/MXoq5iN1TV

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 14, 2020