Rams-Cowboys Preseason Game 1: Breakdown and Takeaways

Preseason NFL football is finally underway, but no other teams rolled out their debuts in such grandiose fashion as the St. Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium. Starters or not, the fans were just happy to see their guys take the field again. But the more committed onlookers were undoubtedly taking mental notes on their newly acquired players.

Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott didn’t take the field at all, as expected. Stafford is still recovering from back soreness. But even if there were no soreness, he wouldn’t have started the first preseason game. From a management standpoint these first games are primarily for seeing what they’ve got in their young players and whittling down the roster.

Backups Galore

There was crafty and stellar quarterback play by second-stringer Stetson Bennett. A fourth-round selection in 2023, Bennett was the only quarterback to have been selected by the Rams since Jared Goff. He was drafted 128th overall. Bennett threw for two touchdowns and had the best game of his young NFL career to date. His QB rating was 108.75 and he threw two TDs and had a pick.

The Cowboys tried out their new guy too, Joe Milton III. He’s the QB they received in a trade with the Patriots. Milton came out swinging. He may have missed a lot but at least he was swinging, or slinging, as it were. His rating was only 71.82 and it took him a while to settle in. Brian Schottenheimer suggested they’d run a vanilla offense—and it was. Milton threw for a TD and an interception before leaving in the fourth quarter with an elbow bruise. Regardless, Jerry Jones was elated. In fact, he’s so happy about acquiring Milton he’s been pinching himself.

Running back Blake Corum was the star of the show in the early goings. He was last year’s third-round draft pick for the Rams. Corum became opportunistic and mashed his way through the Cowboys’ defenders. He was trending on social media in the process. Corum twice found his way into the endzone with two touchdowns on the first two drives.

Rookie Power

During a broadcast interview with Sean McVay, Josaiah Stewart outmaneuvered Cowboys’ tackle Hakeem Adeniji, logging the Rams only sack. Stewart was a third-round selection in this year’s draft. He was supposed to fill a gaping hole on the edge. The rookie did enough to impress the coach with the sack. McVay certainly noticed him, stating the rookie made his presence felt.

Cowboys’ rookie undrafted free agent Rivaldo Fairweather was the team’s receptions leader. He roped in three catches, one of them being Milton’s first touchdown pass as a Cowboy. It was a seven-yard completion for the TD.

Rams’ undrafted free agent safety Nate Valcarce also made his presence felt. He led the team in total tackles with nine. He even had a pass defended. That alone is an impressive feat for a rookie defensive back playing in his first game.

The two teams shared a practice in the week leading up to the game. Perhaps it’s the beginning of a new tradition as the Cowboys and Rams have met up in L.A. for the preseason debut now two seasons in a row. Due to the proximity of Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, it’s also convenient. Both games so far have been won by the Rams.