Five silver linings in Cowboys season-opening loss to Rams
By Matt Aaron
The first game of the Dallas Cowboys 2020 season is in the bag with a loss. Nevertheless, five bright spots shine through.
It’s never fun to watch your hometown team lose a game. It’s particularly hard when it’s the first game of the season, and you’ve been stuck at home for months with nothing to do but dream about football season.
I would have vastly preferred for the Dallas Cowboys to win on Sunday. But even though they lost, there were some positives in their performance. Let’s take a look.
1. The Cowboys still almost won
The Rams played tough, sharp football on Sunday. Very sharp. All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald was dominant. Their offensive line was dominant. Quarterback Jared Goff threw well, spreading the ball out to eight different receivers.
Together, they averaged 13.8 yards per catch, according to ESPN. Ram’s running back, Malcolm Brown, averaged 4.4 yards a carry, the same figure as Cowboy All-Pro running back Ezekiel Elliot.
Despite all this, and despite the Cowboys’ offensive line and defense playing poorly for much of the game, they were still within a couple controversial moments of winning on Sunday. Had head coach Mike McCarthy called for a field goal instead of a pass with 11:46 to go in the fourth quarter, the game might have ended differently.
If the official hadn’t called offensive pass interference on Michael Gallup with 31 seconds remaining in the game, nullifying a 47-yard gain, we might be looking at a very different outcome. Considering the Rams held the ball for 35:28 minutes to the Cowboys’ 24:22, it’s pretty amazing Dallas came as close as they did to winning.