The Dallas Cowboys revamped defense faced its first test on Tuesday in a scrimmage against the Los Angeles Rams. Despite keeping it a vanilla, close-to-the-vest scrimmage, the Cowboys seemed to win the day against Matthew Stafford and the Rams.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean the Cowboys will be heading to the NFC Championship game tomorrow. A scrimmage like this is just one piece of the pie with three preseason games, another scrimmage against the New Orleans Saints, and the rest of training camp left to go.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s encouraging to see the defensive messaging from Christian Parker start to take shape, especially since last year\u2019s scrimmage against the Rams didn\u2019t go so well. The defense was manhandled all day by what would turn into one of the NFL\u2019s top offenses. It would be a sign of things to come for what would become a historically bad defense.<\/p>\n
Most of the starters on offense for the Rams returned from their NFC Championship runner-up squad, headlined by Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Kyren Williams. Reports from the joint practice showed the Cowboys defense had the L.A. offense all out of sorts, headlined by Justin Barron\u2019s three interceptions against Stafford and then the second-team offense.<\/p>\n
The pass rush seemed to come alive as well, with Donovan Ezeiruaku and Quinnen Williams each recording a would-be sack if it were a live game. Ezeiruaku has had a quiet training camp thus far, so to see him step up in a big moment is encouraging. Even Marist Liufau and Isaiah Land recorded a pair of sacks against the second-team offense.<\/p>\n