By Alex Al-Kazzaz
The Dallas Cowboys will be in Los Angeles this Sunday to take on the defending Super Bowl Champions, the L.A. Rams. The Cowboys are 3-1 and the Rams are 2-2. Dallas is coming off a hard-fought home win against Washington while Los Angeles is coming off a bad Monday night game in San Francisco which finished with a 24-9 loss.
At the moment, the Rams don't look good at all! They're tied with Cincinatti and Chicago with the second-most sacks allowed with 16. The Rams average 294 total offensive yards per game, which makes them the fifth worse in the league. Although, Dallas is only two spots ahead in total offense yards per game with about 313 per game. Matthew Stafford has gone two games without a touchdown pass. Stafford has not looked good this season. Cooper Rush has done a good job for Dallas filling in for Dak Prescott and it looks as though Rush will start for Dallas this Sunday.
Trevon Diggs vs Cooper Kupp. CeeDee Lamb vs Jalen Ramsey. The Dallas defense looks very good, although their rushing defense is a problem as they allow an average of 138 rushing yards per game, which makes them the sixth worse in the league. It should be noted that Los Angeles' running game averages 69 yards on the ground per game which lists them as the third worse in the league. Perhaps, it's crystal clear that the Rams' offensive line issues are well-documented. On a positive note, the Rams' running defense allows an average of 92 rushing yards per game.
An effective running game is always an objective to winning for the Cowboys. Last week, the running game for Dallas was ineffective against Washington, so they'll have to find a way to do it this week despite LA being good against the running game. Dallas is going to have to excel in the passing and running game on offense. The most important offensive key to victory is to SCORE TOUCHDOWNS. Last week, Dallas' offense sputtered a few times ONLY to be bailed out by the defense. This week, Dallas cannot afford to allow promising offensive drives to be wasted.
The Dallas defense excels at sacking the quarterback as well as inflicting pressure. Last week, they were only able to sack Carson Wentz twice. This week, they can't allow Stafford to evade them. They're going to have to inflict a tremendous and overwhelming amount of pressure on Stafford to prevent any damage. Forcing turnovers is another vital key to victory, and scoring points off turnovers will be useful.
Months ago, this game looked as though there was no way Dallas would have a chance. But as it stands now, Dallas has a very good chance of pulling off the win. Regardless of LA's situation, the Cowboys face a challenging task. This week and next week's game at Philadelphia are crucial, so Dallas must avoid an 0-2 run at all costs.