“It was a great evening.” said Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher addressing reporters after the game.
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Whitehead ran back the opening kickoff on the first play of the game to give Dallas a 7-0 lead with just seconds ticked off the clock. Each of his 12 passes were decisive, accurate and right on target; his 10 completions included six different receivers, including the Cowboys’ top three wideouts; and his only two incompletions were flat-out drops by Geoff Swaim. The main attraction was No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, whose National Football League career didn’t get off to the best start. It was second-and-9 when he lofted the pass to McEvoy, who was waiting in the end zone for the ball.
Prescott and third quarterback Jameill Showers impressed Jones in the preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday.
“I have to come up with that ball”, Cooper said later.
“One of the things we knew about him when we evaluated him was that everyone around him was so impressed with his leadership, his poise and his composure”, Garrett said.
The Cowboys played neither quarterback Tony Romo nor star rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, but rookie quarterback Dak Prescott carved the Rams’ secondary and completed 10 of 12 attempts for 139 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Nzeocha took advantage of poor decision making by the Rams and made an awesome interception. The tight end from Western Michigan was equally effective whether working split out wide, where he broke a tackle on a 14-yard reception from Goff, or on the line of scrimmage.
Garrett said Prescott wasn’t flawless, pointed out a messed-up play call and saying the rookie might have made some better decisions.
Mannion threw three touchdown passes in the second half to rally the Rams. An interception was the result of Goff’s second pass, but he did rebound nicely going 4-7 for 38 yards after his pick.
The ultra-cool, rookie quarterback completed two passes to Bryant, one a back-shoulder fade that Bryant turned into a fantastic catch.
The second half was all Sean Mannion, and he took this opportunity and ran (more so passed) with it.
Asked if a young player had impressed him, Johnson picked out Spruce, saying “he made some tremendous catches on third and fourth down”.
In an offense where the tight ends see the field a lot, Higbee would be a flawless fit alongside Lance Kendricks to help block for running back Todd Gurley.
One preseason game doesn’t have to mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but Prescott didn’t just play good Saturday night. We wanted to get some work, but keep it simple and that was the case with the Cowboys as well. “As far as the first game of the season, we’re going to rock”.
Signs of the Rams return to Los Angeles were everywhere.
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 Rams then defeated the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in road playoff games to reach Super Bowl XIV, which they lost to Pittsburgh in their only Super Bowl appearance during their initial time in Southern California.
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Russel Nadel and his wife came to Rams games in the Coliseum in the 1970s, and to the teams’ games in Anaheim in the 80s and early 90s.
