Dallas Cowboys show up in a big way against Los Angeles Rams

The Dallas Cowboys technically didn’t have to beat the Rams on Sunday, but winning was preferable. They did just that and rather impressively to boot.

The Dallas Cowboys were able to accomplish something on Sunday that they haven’t been able to accomplish all season. They finally beat a team with a record above .500.

Although the Los Angeles Rams have struggled a bit themselves this season, they have played really well across their last two games. The Rams won both contests while also looking like the far superior team against a really good Seattle Seahawks in Week 14.

Either way, you couldn’t tell on Sunday as the Cowboys defense refused to let them get anything going on offense, while never letting off the gas themselves on offense.

In a previous post, I mentioned three things at the forefront of thought heading into this game. These three things were quarterback Dak Prescott‘s finger, whispers of balance surrounding the offensive approach, and the team playing like they wanted it. All three were addressed in Sunday’s win.

Prescott was his usual self, and it didn’t seem as though the finger was a huge issue. The offensive approach was as good as it’s been this season, mixing in good amounts of passes, runs, and gadget plays.

The entire team played like they wanted it, but the defense did especially. They were swarming, attacking the ball, and they even had the audacity to force a turnover on Sunday. Linebacker Sean Lee played especially well, coming up with a huge pick near the end of the first half that led to a Cowboys’ score.

Dallas didn’t really need this game, as to lose would have taken them to 6-8. In playing a 7-7 Philadelphia Eagles team on next week, a win there would have taken them both to records of  7-8, where the Cowboys would have owned the head to head tiebreaker.

This win against the Rams takes them both to records of 7-7 though, where the winner of next week’s game should win the NFC East Division. The Cowboys would win due to owning the head to head tiebreaker, but if they split the head to head matchups, the Eagles own the next tiebreaker. With all that in mind, if this version of America’s Team shows up next Sunday against the Eagles, they can beat anybody.

While again, this game essentially means nothing as far as the division goes, it meant everything as far as confidence, chemistry, and momentum. However you want to approach it, for the Dallas Cowboys to beat a quality opponent in the fashion that they did on Sunday was definitely a good thing for them. Let’s hope they take this same mentality and approach into next week’s division-deciding contest.