 rallied from 11 points down late in the first half and matched their start from a year ago, when they went 1-11 the rest of the way as No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff was sitting and later lost the first seven starts of his career. Goff showed more poise in first-year coach Sean McVay's offense, throwing for 255 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He has seven TD passes and one interception this season. The Cowboys (2-2) are already a loss shy of their total from last season when Dak Prescott was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and Elliott led the league in rushing, also as a rookie. Terrance Williams dropped a potential tying 2-point conversion pass on the third try midway through the fourth quarter after Prescott's 28-yard scoring toss to James Hanna. Center Travis Frederick was called for holding when Prescott ran in the first attempt. Dallas got another shot after a defensive holding call. Gurley had a 12-yard catch on third-and-5 to help the Rams get to the two-minute warning before Zuerlein's seventh field goal, a 33-yarder with 1:55 remaining. Gurley had 30 touches - 23 carries and a team-high seven catches. The Cowboys reached midfield in the final minute, but Elliott's catch inside the Rams 40 on fourth-and-10 was about a yard short of the first down, clinching LA's win. Zuerlein's previous career high was five field goals in a 22-7 win over Denver in November 2014. He had a 44-yarder on the final play of the first half, and the long was from 49. The Cowboys held the Rams to 131 yards in the first half, but the absence of All-Pro linebacker Sean Lee because of a hamstring injury showed up after halftime. After punting on their first possession of the second half, the Rams scored five straight times. Elliott had 85 yards on 21 carries and backup Alfred Morris finished with 76 - 70 coming on his career-long run to set up Elliott's second TD. The 1-yard plunge came after a review overturned a touchdown. Both times, Elliott took the ball to his mom in a field-level suite behind the end zone. Prescott was 20 of 36 for 252 yards with three touchdowns. AWKWARD CELEBRATIONSRams receiver Robert Woods ran off to celebrate what he thought was a touchdown in the first half, not realizing officials had ruled the play in the back of the end zone incomplete. The call was held up on review and was the second of coach Sean McVay's two failed challenges in the first half, resulting in him being unable to challenge the rest of the game. Brice Butler of the Cowboys immediately turned to Dez Bryant to start a celebration and didn't see an official calling his toe-dragging catch in the end zone incomplete. Tight end Jason Witten had to interrupt the celebration, but that was about the time officials changed the call. The ruling of a TD was confirmed after a review. Both plays were in the second quarter. ANTHEM WATCHThe Cowboys stood on their sideline for the national anthem, as they had done every week before the Monday night game in Arizona. Bryant said Friday that was the plan because their decision to kneel before then anthem and stand during the singing in Arizona was their response to President Donald Trump's comments in Alabama the previous Friday. Rams outside linebacker Robert Quinn stood holding his right fist over his head while punter Johnny Hekker put his arm around Quinn. UP NEXT:Rams: First meeting next Sunday with Seattle, winner of three NFC West titles in the past four seasons. Cowboys: Green Bay returns to Arlington next Sunday after beating the top-seeded Cowboys on their home field in a divisional playoff last January. ---More NFL: www. pro32. ap. org and http://twitter. com/-NFL)
Sep 27, 2017 The Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys enter their Week 4 contest with matching records and a similar objective: show the flashes of success so far this season are actually a trend. But a winning trend would mean different things for the two organizations as the 2017 campaign settles in for the long haul and Los Angeles visits Dallas. The Rams lost 11 of their last 12 games a year ago, so their 2-1 start under first-year coach Sean McVay already feels like a move in the right direction. Another positive for Los Angeles has been the quarterback play of 2016 No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff. He threw seven interceptions to just five touchdowns while starting the final seven games last season but is flipping the script the last three weeks as he enters Sunday's game with 817 passing yards and five TDs to one interception. "Really pleased with Jared tonight," McVay said after the Rams' 41-39 victory over San Francisco on Thursday. "I thought he made great decisions with the football. I thought Jared managed the game extremely well, distributed to his playmakers, gave guys a chance down the field -- you look at Sammy (Watkins) and Robert (Woods) coming away with over 100 (yards) apiece. And, really, those are the kinds of things we expect from him. " However, Goff will face new challenges this week in Dallas. For starters, receivers Watkins and Tavon Austin are in the concussion protocol and their availability for Sunday is unknown. And then there's the Dallas defense, spearheaded by NFL sacks leader DeMarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys made life miserable for Giants quarterback Eli Manning in the season-opener in Dallas. "They're an excellent defense," said McVay, who was the Redskins offensive coordinator the last three seasons. "(Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod) Marinelli has those guys playing really hard. Just being in that division the last couple of years, a lot of respect for them. " One variable factor will be the availability of Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee, who suffered a hamstring injury versus Arizona on Monday night. Lee was listed as questionable on Wednesday. While the Rams hope to keep breathing new life into the organization, Dallas is attempting to find the same rhythm it used to win 11 straight through the heart of the 2016 season. The Broncos thumped the Cowboys in Week 2, but Dallas recovered from a slow start against the Cardinals and edged Arizona 28-17 on Monday. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the charge. Dallas coach Jason Garrett said his team didn't get rattled after the Cardinals controlled the early stages of the Monday night game. "The big thing you have to do in that situation is just kind of stay locked in on what you need to do individually, what your job is on your play," Garrett said. "If everybody does that, you're going to start executing ball plays on both sides, and we were able to do that. " The Cowboys are still sweating whether or not star running back Ezekiel Elliott will have to serve a six-game suspension this season, but Prescott's play against the Cardinals gave Cowboys fans hope their team can stay on track either way. Elliott will be available on Sunday and it could be a big show at AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys offense clicked at times versus the Giants, Broncos and Cardinals, and each of those opponents appear to be stronger on defense than the Rams. Los Angeles surrendered 421 yards of total offense against San Francisco. Even so, McVay looked at the glass as half full after the victory. "The one thing that we were most proud of is that in crunch time, when you have to be your best, Troy Hill makes a huge play on the two-point to stop them," McVay said. "Aaron (Donald) finishes off the game with a sack to close it out. They were their best when they had to be. "
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