Rams Defeat Cowboys With Game-Winning Touchdown in Preseason Opener

Despite a sloppy offensive game, quarterback Stetson Bennett and the Rams score a last-second touchdown to start the 2024 preseason with a victory.

By Austin Gage | Contributing Sports Writer

Despite a sloppy offensive game, quarterback Stetson Bennett and the Rams score a last-second touchdown to start the 2024 preseason with a victory.

While it was not the cleanest of efforts, the Los Angeles Rams were able to defeat the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon 13-12 to kick their preseason off with a high-energy win.

Although most of the Ram participants in the opener were not classified or seen as starters for the regular season, opportunities were present and taken by some to show Ram’s coach Sean McVay and others that they belonged on the 52-man roster. Los Angeles, a team that ended the 2023 season with a Wild Card round loss to the Detroit Lions, enters 2024 with much higher expectations and a real goal of once again reaching the Super Bowl.

Highly touted rookies in outside linebacker Jared Verse, defensive tackle Braden Fiske and running back Blake Corum did not see any action, but plenty of first-year players made their names known.

On the offensive side of the ball, rookie wide receiver Jordan Whittington had a day. Finishing with six catches for 74 yards, the Texas product started the game with a bang and never looked back. On the first drive alone, Whittington caught a 13-yard pass and then produced a highlight-worthy catch and run that included a broken tackle for 30 yards to set the Rams up in the redzone.

“He’s just a mature rookie. He’s so conscientious. The look in his eyes, he’s a grown man and he played like a grown man with the ball in his hands. I just really like him, he’s going to be a factor for us. Today was a good start for him and he’s the type of guy that’s only going to continue to grow from that,” said McVay.

Whittington, the 213th pick in this year’s NFL Draft, is looking to become yet another late-round gem for Los Angeles, a team that has relied on middle-to-late-round draft choices for production in recent years. The team’s leading receiver last season Puka Nacua, who set all types of NFL rookie receiving records, was a fifth-round pick himself.

However, the Rams failed to find the endzone on the first drive, and this proved to be the pattern for the rest of the game along with messy turnovers. 

Second-year quarterback Stetson Bennett, a two-time national champion while at the University of Georgia, played in his first game in almost a year due to a lengthy absence in the 2023 season credited to mental health. Whether it could be credited to rust or anything else, Bennett had a rough day turnover-wise, as he threw four interceptions that almost included a fifth if not for a Dallas defensive penalty that nullified the misthrow.

“That was probably the weirdest game that I’ve ever been a part of,” Bennett said.

Despite the misfires, Bennett did share some shining moments and even had his moment of redemption at the end of the game. Some of his highlights included an accurate throw from the wide side of the field to Whittington that was threaded in between two Cowboy defenders just before the two-minute warning in the second quarter and of course, the game-winning drive. 

In a game that was marked by all field goal scores up to that point, the Rams stared at a 12-6 deficit with 2:52 left in the fourth quarter. Just the offensive drive before for the Rams, Bennett had thrown his fourth interception of the game and was uncertain that he would even have a chance to get the ball back to solve all his mistakes on the day. However, a stand by the defense that included an athletic screen snuff by rookie linebacker Omar Speights out of LSU forced Dallas to settle for a long field goal and give the ball back to Los Angeles for a potential game-winning drive.

Thanks to a defensive holding on fourth down early in the drive, Bennett and the Rams were able to overcome a Cowboy sack and prolong the drive. With completions to veteran running back Boston Scott and rookie wide receiver Drake Stoops, Bennett marched the Rams into the redzone with under a minute remaining. 

Momentum seemed shot, however, as Los Angeles soon saw themselves in a fourth down at the Dallas six-yard line after three straight failures to find the endzone. 

The ball was snapped, and Bennett surveyed his options in the pocket. He did not seem to find anyone open and as the pocket collapsed, he scrambled to his left. While on the run, Bennett fired a sidearm rocket to second-year tight end Miller Forristall, who found a seam of open space in the endzone. The latter completed the catch on the ground and tied the game at 12 with four seconds remaining. Topped with a successful extra point from rookie kicker Joshua Karty, who played his college football at Stanford University, the Rams took a 13-12 lead that they would hold on to for the victory.

Bennett ended his day with 228 yards on 24 for 38 passing to go with the game-winning touchdown and those four interceptions.

“I thought I played well and then just made a bunch of bad decisions. Proud that we fought back and were resilient in the end to make that drive. Good things to learn from and things we can build on,” said Bennett.

Other bright spots for Los Angeles included rookie defensive lineman Tyler Davis from Clemson University. Tallying six tackles and one tackle for loss, Davis proved to be a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the Ram defensive line. Blowing up runs, living in the offensive backfield and even chasing down Cowboy running backs in the flat all proved to be markers of Davis’ success on the afternoon. 

“He was great, I thought he was really active. One of those things that you feel about him is when the games come on, he really shows up and that’s what the Clemson tape said. I thought it was a real positive step in the right direction for Tyler today,” McVay said.

Paired with proven studs in second-year players Kobie Turner and Byron Young along with the rookies in Verse and Fiske, Davis looks to be another valuable piece for a Rams defensive line that will share depth that matches up among the league’s best.

Up next for the Rams is a matchup against city rival Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, August 17th at Sofi Stadium. The Rams will look to grab their second straight victory to begin the 2024 preseason campaign as the Chargers look to get their first win.