A crowd of 89,140, many of them Cowboys fans, made it the largest attendance in the history of the National Football League for a preseason game. He also did not settle for short passes like many rookie quarterbacks do.
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When backup quarterback Kellen Moore broke his ankle a few weeks ago, the Cowboys were looking for a veteran signal caller to play behind Romo; most notably, Nick Foles.
Bryant also took advantage of a postgame opportunity, exchanging jerseys with Rams running back Todd Gurley. Then in a desperate measure, the Cowboys tried unsuccessfully to trade for Cleveland QB Josh McCown. Goff was sacked on the next play to end the second quarter.
Mannion, a third-round pick a year ago, completed 18-of-25 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Two passes were dropped.
Bryant had two receptions for 28 yards, including a leaping catch on the sideline against cornerback Coty Sensabaugh for 18 yards. He did, however, do one thing he hasn’t done in camp: fail to pull in one pass. Despite three bogeys on the windy back nine, the 52-year-old Spaniard finished as one of just four players under par for the day.
Prescott threw the ball perfectly, where only Bryant could catch it. Mannion threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back Aaron Green with 1:54 remaining for the winning points.
Prescott was allowed more time to carve up the secondary due to the lack of pressure.
Not the way the Rams and rookie quarterback Jared Goff envisioned his debut. His eyes were in the right position as he displayed total command of the offense.
Two hours before the game, Irsay announced on his Twitter account that the Colts would wait until next week for Luck to make his first preseason start. The fact Prescott attempted these types of throws in this game is impressive, but watching him put this one where only Williams could get it – textbook on a fade route (this one on a double move by Williams) – was beyond impressive.
“Prescott”s start was delayed by receiver Lucky Whitehead”s electrifying 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game. That helped Dallas jump out to a 24-7 lead. Second-round pick Jaylon Smith is recovering from a serious knee injury the linebacker suffered in the Fiesta Bowl. It was second-and-9 when he lofted the pass to McEvoy, who was waiting in the end zone for the ball.
The Cowboys young pass rushers will have a lot to prove this preseason, as they look to silence the critics and build some momentum going into the regular season. The Rams continued their woes through out the first half as they quickly fell behind 21-7 to the Cowboys going into halftime.
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But Goff played only two second-quarter series, while Sean Mannion passed for three second-half touchdowns to lead the Rams to a 28-24 victory. He didn’t panic under pressure, didn’t telegraph his throws and didn’t have blinders on that we saw from Brandon Weeden a year ago that drove Cowboys fans nuts.
