The Dallas Cowboys\u2019 defense dominated the headlines coming out of Tuesday\u2019s joint practice with the Rams. Justin Barron intercepted three passes, Dallas generated consistent pressure, and some of the early reviews from the Dallas side were understandably enthusiastic.<\/p>\n
But what did the other side see?<\/p>\n
I went through coverage from the The Athletic, ESPN\u2019s Rams coverage, Rams on SI and the Rams\u2019 own website to see what the other side made of Tuesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
And the picture is more nuanced than some of the Dallas headlines suggest: the Cowboys\u2019 defense made a real impression, but the Rams\u2019 defense won plenty of important battles, too.<\/p>\n
1. The Rams\u2019 secondary mostly won the day<\/p>\n
Nate Atkins of The Athletic explicitly says the Rams\u2019 secondary \u201cmostly won the day,<\/a>\u201d helped by the pass rush. His focus was on how Los Angeles dealt with a Dallas offense loaded with talent at quarterback, running back, receiver and tight end.<\/p>\n Los Angeles lived in lots of dime personnel, something it led the league in last season, but it can get more creative and versatile with McDuffie\u2019s ability to play inside and outside, in addition to the growing versatility of Curl and Quentin Lake. McDuffie often slid inside in these settings, offering a second nickel cornerback of sorts to Lake, which threw off the matchups the Cowboys were hunting for by motioning Pickens and Lamb into the slot, or a normal method to expose the lacking coverage of most teams they face.<\/p>\n The result was that Dallas didn\u2019t generate many explosive plays.<\/p>\n They did generate a couple of yards-after-catch opportunities with dumpoffs to running backs and tight ends in the flat or on play-action leak patterns that tapped into Prescott\u2019s ability to extend the play with his legs. The only time the Cowboys came close to scoring a touchdown was in the red zone period, where Prescott\u2019s dual-threat abilities manipulated the numbers so much that it\u2019s that much harder to get a stop when he can find Ferguson in the back of the end zone, which happened a couple of times.<\/p>\n That\u2019s an important counterweight to the Dallas-side narrative. The Cowboys didn\u2019t simply spend the afternoon throwing at an overmatched Rams secondary.<\/p>\n 2. Byron Young gave the Cowboys\u2019 tackles problems<\/p>\n If there was one Rams defender who consistently caused problems for Dallas, it was Byron Young. Atkins describes Young repeatedly winning against Terence Steele with both speed and power<\/a>.<\/p>\n Byron Young had a field day against Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele. He won with speed around the edge, one time so freely that he actually overran a sack that Prescott turned into a short scramble by dipping around his speeding body. He won with the bull rush at times, including one rep where he drove the pocket back so deep into Prescott that the Cowboys quarterback was left chucking the ball over McDuffie\u2019s tight coverage on the outside just to get it away.<\/p>\n He had another rep where he lined up on the left side and threw Guyton into the running back for a quick run stop.<\/p>\n The observations from the Rams\u2019 official website similarly highlighted Young\u2019s pressure against Steele<\/a> and his impact against the run.<\/p>\n The fourth-year outside linebacker made it a long morning for Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele. There was one two-play sequence where he led the pass rush generating pressure that collapsed the pocket so fast, it forced Prescott to scramble out of bounds, then Young won so quickly again on the next series he would\u2019ve had a sack if not for the red non-contact jerseys worn by quarterbacks.<\/p>\n And all of this happened without Myles Garrett on the field.<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Dallas forced the Rams to get creative against Pickens and Lamb<\/p>\n The Rams weren\u2019t just sitting in their preferred coverage and hoping it would work against Dallas. They were actively adjusting to what the Cowboys were doing with their receivers.<\/p>\n Atkins specifically points to Dallas moving CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens into the slot to hunt for favorable matchups. The Rams responded by moving Trent McDuffie inside and using Quentin Lake and Kamren Curl in increasingly versatile roles.<\/p>\n In other words, Dallas\u2019 personnel and alignment were forcing the Rams to get creative.<\/p>\n The Rams\u2019 own reporting<\/a> confirms that McDuffie was frequently moved inside during the practice, while Lake operated in a more flexible role. And the day\u2019s biggest Rams coverage play<\/a> came against Pickens:<\/p>\n The Cowboys tried to throw a quick shot to Pickens from the slot, but Lake was all over it, running the route for Pickens and stabbing the ball out of the air before running with it until he was tackled.<\/p>\n From the Rams\u2019 perspective, Lake recognized what was coming and made a play.<\/p>\n From the Cowboys\u2019 perspective, however, the play confirms that Pickens was being used as a movable piece to stress the Rams\u2019 coverage, rather than simply lining up outside and running routes from the same spot all afternoon.<\/p>\n That is probably something worth watching as Dallas continues to develop its offensive identity.<\/p>\n 4. Dak\u2019s mobility still gave the Rams problems<\/p>\n The Rams\u2019 secondary may have limited the Cowboys\u2019 explosive passing plays, but Atkins repeatedly points to Prescott\u2019s ability to extend plays<\/a> as a source of success.<\/p>\n Dallas created some yards-after-catch opportunities with checkdowns and play-action leaks, but Prescott\u2019s legs were also a factor. And in the red zone, his mobility became particularly difficult for the Rams to account for.<\/p>\n Prescott\u2019s dual-threat abilities manipulated the numbers so much that it\u2019s that much harder to get a stop when he can find Ferguson in the back of the end zone, which happened a couple of times.<\/p>\n That\u2019s an encouraging detail for Dallas. The Rams could win individual coverage battles and still have a problem because Prescott can turn a broken pocket into a positive play.<\/p>\n The L.A. perspective suggests that Dak\u2019s mobility remains a genuine structural problem for opposing defenses.<\/p>\n 5. Dallas\u2019 defense genuinely disrupted the Rams\u2019 second-team offense<\/p>\n The Cowboys\u2019 three interceptions are the obvious headline, but the L.A. reporting gives us another reason to take the defensive performance seriously.<\/p>\n The Rams\u2019 website noted that Dallas\u2019 defensive front consistently generated pressure<\/a>, particularly against the second-team offense.<\/p>\n [Bennett] often received pressure from the Cowboys\u2019 defensive front, but was still able to make plays down the field with a pair of interceptions mixed in by Barron over the middle.<\/p>\n The Cowboys\u2019 defense was actually affecting the Rams\u2019 quarterbacks.<\/p>\n So what did Los Angeles actually see?<\/p>\n The Cowboys did not simply dominate the Rams. But the Rams didn\u2019t dominate Dallas either.<\/p>\n