Cowboys 4 winners (and 1 loser) in Week 8 beatdown of the Rams

With an extra week to prepare, the Dallas Cowboys started out on fire against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. They scored on their opening drive and put up 17 in the first quarter alone.

They didn't let up from there and even pulled their starting quarterback in the fourth quarter as Cooper Rush closed this one out after Dak Prescott threw four touchdowns.

The defense had its share of impressive moments as well, pressuring the quarterback at ease. It all added up to a 43-20 win and now we look back at who stood out as studs and duds in their fifth win of the year.

Cowboys Stud: Micah Parsons, EDGE

There's no defender on the Dallas roster that can impact the game the way Micah Parsons does.

A former first-round pick, Parsons had 26.5 sacks in his first two seasons and has been on fire again in 2023. He came into this weekend with five sacks and added to that total with one more against the Rams.

That came in the second quarter with L.A. facing a third-and-tree from their own 32. Matthew Stafford dropped back to pass and Parsons pushed his blocker aside with ease and had an open path to the quarterback. Parsons then dropped Stafford for a nine-yard loss.

The Rams were forced to punt and that ended up being a huge swing for them. They were down 17-3 and trying to make it a game but that punt was blocked and went for a safety. Dallas then scored on a short drive to go up 26-3.

Parsons nearly had a turnover as well when he hit Stafford from behind on another third down and the ball came out. The officials took another look at it and decided it was an incomplete pass but Parsons still ended that drive with an exclamation point.

He finished with two tackles, both for a loss, and had the sack. Those numbers don't do justice to how well he played though because he was camping in the L.A. backfield all day.