It’s an old axiom in the NFL not to put too much stock in preseason games, good or bad. Especially when it comes to the first preseason game of the season.
That advice rings particularly true for the Dallas Cowboys after Saturday night’s 31-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in both teams’ preseason opener.
Because, truth be told, the words that would best describe the Cowboys’ first game under Brian Schottenheimer would be as follows:
- Horrid
- Putrid
- Pathetic
- Terrible
- Hot Garbage
Those would be the nicer terms to use at that. The good news, such as there was, was that the kicking game is in good shape.
Overall, that isn’t good news for Dallas.
The excuses we’ll hear for the upcoming week are predictable.
Dallas deliberately kept their offense “vanilla”, not wanting to tip their hand for the regular season. Most of the starters didn’t play, etc. etc.
All of those excuses will not erase what we all witnessed on Saturday night.
What Running Game?
The Cowboys have said they want to run the ball more. They will certainly do that in their next game.
On Saturday, the first six offensive plays were pass plays that resulted in two three-and-out-and-a-punt for Dallas’ first two possessions.
A Joe Milton scramble was the first “run” on the opening play of the third drive. Deuce Vaughn carried on the next play for the first run play by a running back.
Phil Mafah looked good with 10 carries for 36 yards.
He had a few carries wiped out by bad penalties though.
Malik Davis had seven carries late for 63 yards against Rams players that won’t be in the NFL in three weeks. That helped Dallas finish with 148 yards on 27 carries.
Will Grier scored the lone rushing touchdown near the end of the game.
Milton, who was 17-of-29 for 143 yards and a touchdown, had four carries for 22 yards. But he had several overthrows and was late on a few other passes.
Dumb Mistakes
CeeDee Lamb did not suit up for the game. He still managed to draw a 15-yard penalty that derailed a drive.
On a deep pass from Milton to Jonathan Mingo, that drew a defensive interference flag, Lamb decided to showboat on the sideline.
He stepped right in front of the official running down the sideline following the play as it unfolded. The official ran right into Lamb’s back, knocking them both down.
Lamb was flagged for a 15-yard penalty against the Cowboys for making contact with an official and turned a first-and-10 at the Rams’ 23 after the PI call into a first-and-25 at the Rams’ 38 instead.
In all likelihood, Lamb took a touchdown off the board and made Dallas settle for a field goal instead.
So instead of being down 14-10 at halftime, Dallas was down 14-6. Milton threw a pick on a bomb on the first drive of the third quarter and that was pretty much that.
What Defense?
The Cowboys’ defense got run over by the Rams’ rushing attack for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Future Hall of Famer (*/sarc off) Stetson Bennett was 16-of-24 for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
In short, the Cowboys’ defense on Saturday looked very much like the Cowboys’ defenses of the last 28 years.
Can’t stop the run. Can’t stop the pass.
Can’t get off the field on third and/or fourth downs.
If what happened on Saturday continues into the regular season, the 2025 campaign isn’t going to be pretty.
