After a rough loss to the division rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 4 to fall to 2-2, the Los Angeles Rams will look to bounce back when they host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5.
The Rams have had the Cowboys’ number in recent years, but beating this team will be no easy task as Dallas has won three straight since quarterback Dak Prescott went down. Additionally, the Rams are expected to go with a silent count at SoFi Stadium with a large contingent of Cowboys fans likely to be in attendance.
While Prescott was targeting a Week 5 return against the Rams, he is not quite at 100% yet so the Rams will be going up against Cooper Rush.
That should make for a low-scoring game, which means the Rams offense has its work cut out for them against a tough Cowboys defense.
It’s no secret that the Rams have struggled to protect Matthew Stafford due to injuries on the offensive line. Their task gets no easier this week as Dallas has the third-best scoring defense in the league at just 15.5 points per game.
Micah Parson and DeMarcus Lawrence will be looking to make life hell for Stafford all day and they will be doing it against a starting offensive line that will be – from left to right – Joe Noteboom, David Edwards, Jeremiah Kolone, Alaric Jackson and Rob Havenstein.
Look for the Rams to get Allen Robinson more involved in their offense, although Stafford will need to have time in the pocket to make that happen. Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee have gotten a lion’s share of the targets to this point as the first and second reads for Stafford, but that is not sustainable for L.A. as Robinson and others will need to make an impact for this offense to get going.
On defense, the Rams continue to be banged up in the secondary with Cobie Durant and Jordan Fuller both ruled out for this game. The Cowboys welcomed wide receiver Michael Gallup back last week, which gives them another legit threat opposite of CeeDee Lamb.
Dallas also has a two-headed monster at running back in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. L.A. has struggled to tackle defensively, so look for that to be a focus of Raheem Morris’ unit this week.
Although things haven’t gone as planned for the Rams through four weeks, this serves as a prime opportunity for them to get back on track against a quality opponent and then hopefully build from there.
