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

Cowboys Dud: Offensive Line

While they wound up performing better as the game went along, the Dallas offensive line was a mess early on against the Rams. Dak Prescott was sacked on the first play and then they got to him again on third-and-11.

CeeDee Lamb drew a penalty for illegal contact which gave them a fresh set of downs but also negated that sack. It didn't take long for another though, as Aaron Donald got his first of the day on the following snap.

Donald added a second in the first quarter when he got to Prescott on a third down to end a promising drive. The good news there was that it led to Brandon Aubrey nailing a 58-yard field goal to set a new career-high, but it was still a letdown from the line.

In addition to the problems they had in pass protection, the offensive line didn't do much to help the ground game. Dallas was dominant in every phase but running was a problem. They went into the first half with 48 yards on 11 attempts but nine of those yards (and two attempts) came from Prescott when he took off. They also had 15 yards on two receiver reverses.

That means on run plays with their backs, they had seven rushes for just 24 yards. Again, they improved in the second half but they were still the weak link during an otherwise impressive offensive outing.