Dallas City News

The Dallas Cowboys walked away with a loss in their first preseason game this year against the Los Angeles Rams. Due to an unfortunate touchdown with just seconds left on the clock, the Rams were able to walk away with the 13-12 victory on a game-clinching extra point.

Wins and losses in the preseason mean next to nothing in the grander scheme of thing. These contests are merely another tool to assist teams in the roster-building process for the upcoming regular season. And even though they lost, the Cowboys put a lot of good things on film Sunday afternoon in L.A.

It would be too much to ask if everything turned up sunshine and rainbows in the preseason opener for the Cowboys. That’s almost asking the impossible considering the majority of the players on the field Sunday are currently fighting for their NFL life in both Dallas and elsewhere. Because of that there was quite a bit ugly and maybe a little bad as well.

Good – Defensive INT’s

If the Cowboys defensive performance Sunday afternoon against the LA Rams was any indication of the impact Mike Zimmer will make in 2024, things are certainly looking up. It was feared that Dan Quinn moving on would mean Dallas’ interception totals would take a significant dip, but that wasn’t the case at all in Week 1 of the preseason. The Cowboys had a total of five INT’s Sunday afternoon, although one was negated by a penalty. That’s pretty impressive for a bunch of backups/roster bubble players.

Bad – Chuma Edoga’s injury

Unfortunately, the Cowboys didn’t escape unscathed from this Week 1 preseason matchup with the Rams. Chuma Edoga exited the game early on and later to return to the sideline with what is being diagnosed right now as a foot injury. This is could be a significant loss depending on the severity of his injury. He was Dallas’ backup utility lineman as both a tackle and guard last year, even starting a few games for them, and was expected to reprise that role in 2024. Hopefully this isn’t something that lingers.

Ugly – Trey Lance

There are a lot of fans around Cowboys Nation who would’ve loved to see Trey Lance’s debut in a Dallas Cowboys uniform be completely dominant against the Rams in this Week 1 preseason matchup. Sadly, that didn’t happen. While he certainly put some good things on film by moving the offense up and down the field pretty much at ease with both his arm and legs, he also proved he’s far from ready to be a starting QB in the league. He showed some timing/accuracy issues that will need to be addressed.