Cowboys at Rams: Dallas wastes rare opportunity with playoff loss

The Dallas Cowboys fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs, wasting a rare opportunity to advance to the NFC championship game.

Riding high off a playoff victory in the Wild Card round against the Seattle Seahawks last weekend, the Dallas Cowboys traveled to California hoping to steal a road victory away from a Los Angeles Rams’ team that lost only a single game at home in the regular season.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys’ strengths became their weaknesses against the Rams Saturday night, allowing Los Angeles to advance to the NFC championship game as they defeated Dallas, 30-22.

Coming into the postseason battle, the Cowboys strengths were their defense and their running game. Unfortunately, Dallas allowed the Rams’ high-octane offense to score 20 points by halftime and 30 total, far over their 20.3 points allowed average to opponents during the regular season.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott was essentially removed from the game, rushing for just 47 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Zeke’s average of 2.7 yards per carry was his lowest since the team’s Week Seven loss to the Washington Redskins and tied for his second-lowest average of the season.

With both the Cowboys defense and running game struggling, quarterback Dak Prescott‘s play helped to keep Dallas in the game. The third-year passer completed 20 of his 32 passes for 266 yards and a score. Prescott also rushed for a touchdown.

Rookie wide receiver Michael Gallup had a breakout performance recording six catches for 119 yards. Number one receiver Amari Cooper finished the game posting six receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, linebacker Jaylon Smith posted a team-high nine total tackles. Safeties Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods posted seven combined tackles each. The Dallas’ defense was unable to record a single sack in the game. They also allowed the Rams to have two 100-yard rushers in running backs Todd Gurley (116 yards) and C.J. Anderson (123 yards). The duo scored a combined three touchdowns on the ground as well.

The Los Angeles Rams will now advance in the playoffs to face the winner of the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles matchup on Sunday. As for the Dallas Cowboys, their season is over. They’ll spend the next few months trying to figure out what changes to make in order to get them the same opportunity they just squandered.