Pa David Helman
FOX Sports Dallas Cowboys writer
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Dan Quinn broke through the crowd of reporters and security guards stationed outside the visitors’ locker room at SoFi Stadium, pausing to let out a victory yell.
After Dallas Cowboys‘ 22-10 bonding with Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, their defensive coordinator wanted to make sure he was able to greet and congratulate each member of his winning defense.
How could not? For a defense that has already made a big statement this season, Week 5 was another feather in the cap for the Cowboys, who have a monstrous pass rush that has been one of the most popular teams in the NFL.
The Cowboys defense is dominating
Dallas forced two fumbles, a blocked punt and an interception in a 22-10 win at Los Angeles. The Rams were held to just 38 yards.
Consider how Quinn and his pass rush started this game in which the Cowboys trailed for a total of 92 seconds. Dorrance Armstrong started things off on the Rams’ first possession of the afternoon, a layup Matthew Stafford and allowing DeMarcus Lawrence to recover for landing.
Three hours later, Stafford was sacked again, this time Micah Parsonswhich allowed the Cowboys to kneel down after a victory that was nothing short of dominant.
“We really are,” Parsons said afterward. “I don’t care what people have had in the pre-season, what people have said about us or how they don’t talk about us. We’re going to keep proving that every week.”
Without a doubt, this is the loudest statement of the four-game winning streak. With all due respect to of Bengal, Giants and Commanders — while also acknowledging that this battered Rams team has now fallen to 2-3 — there’s something to be said for walking into a defending champion’s house and kicking it.
It was enough to make you wonder why the Cowboys were 5.5-point underdogs in the first place — again, another fact they haven’t forgotten.
“Sometimes you want to bet in Vegas,” Lawrence said. “When mommies throw you a no-ouch, you don’t want to miss it.”
Stafford was sacked five times on the day, had two fumbles and a goal-line interception Malik Hooker for good measure. Except for one failed play – a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown Cooper Kupp — The Rams failed to drive the ball more than 50 yards on nine of their 11 possessions.
“I just can’t be refused”
Micah Parsons stops by to talk with Tom Rinaldi about the elite defense and tight end of this Cowboys team.
The goal is simple – to hear it from the guys who play.
“[To prove] that we are the best defense in the league, period, point blank,” Lawrence said. – Go out every week and set the tone, be able to instill fear in the attackers and come out with speed and intensity. This is what we are all about.”
That’s been the formula for the month, and never has it been more evident than here in Los Angeles. The Cowboys did rush for 160 yards on the day, emphasis added Tony Pollard a nice 57-yard scramble. But it was not a day for grudges after all. The Cowboys’ offensive line was completely stymied Aaron Donald from spoiling the game, and Cooper Rush – drops from both did not help Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb — finished with just 102 passing yards.
The beauty of it, though, is that it doesn’t matter yet. As simple as that final result looked on paper, it was a total of points that would have won them all five matches. Through five weeks of the 2022 season, it’s not just that the Cowboys haven’t scored 20 points in a game — they haven’t even allowed opponents to score multiple touchdowns in a single contest.
“It’s very satisfying to know that you’re holding teams to a minimum of points and your offense can rely on you,” Parsons said.
It’s almost enough to make you forget about it Duck PrescottA final comeback from a broken thumb hovers in the background — “almost” being the key word. No one in the organization would give a definitive timetable for Prescott’s return, though Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones admitted his star quarterback intends to “throw a lot” in practice this week as the team prepares for Sunday night’s game at Philadelphia.
As for the idea of a quarterback dispute, Jones didn’t want to add fuel to that fire — not right now, anyway.
“Dak is the No. 1 quarterback. Dak is our guy,” he said. “But isn’t it great that someone came along and played well enough for us to ask that question?”
It’s undeniable that the league left this Cowboys team for dead when Rush took over. A month later, they climbed to the top of the NFC.
And while there are other aspects at work in this series, it’s hard to deny the central theme: a defense that gives them a chance every game.
“I think we all realized we’re tougher and better than we thought we were,” Parsons said. “That says a lot. We thought we were going to be really good, but it’s one thing to talk about it. It’s another thing.”
David Helman covers the Dallas Cowboys for FOX Sports. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in the production of Doc Prescott: Family Reunion, about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @davidhelman_.
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