OXNARD, Calif. – The Cowboys kicked off the preseason on Saturday at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, where the Los Angeles Rams handed them a 31-21 loss.
In Brian Schottenheimer's first game as an NFL head coach, the Cowboys had highs and lows on both sides of the ball. Schottenheimer credited his team for playing much better in the second half, but they ultimately couldn't overcome the deficit as the Rams led the entire game.
"It's definitely not a storybook beginning, that's for sure," Schottenheimer said. "We just struggled. I think it was 25 plays to six at one point, and that's obviously not a great way to start. They converted some fourth downs and they controlled the ball."
Here's a numerical look at some key points from Saturday's opener:
1
In the first quarter, the Cowboys offense was able to muster just one yard on offense. They had two offensive possessions, going three and out both times and running six passing plays with no rushes.
3
Rookie undrafted free agent Rivaldo Fairweather led the team in receptions with three, and caught Joe Milton's first touchdown pass as a Cowboy. After struggling to get into a rhythm for most of the game, Milton led a nine-play, 73 yard drive capped off by finding Fairweather in the corner of the end zone from seven yards out.
4
Israel Mukuamu's incredible athletic interception in the third quarter was the fourth interception for Mukuamu in his preseason career with the Cowboys. It was his first in the preseason since 2022. Mukuamu has also added three interceptions in the regular season, including a career high two last season for the Cowboys.
5
There were five different Cowboys defenders that finished the game with five tackles: Alijah Clark, Zion Childress, Darius Harris, Tyrus Wheat and Shemar James. Mike Smith led the team with six tackles on the day. As a bonus addition to the number five, Wheat led the team in pressures with five as well.
11
The Cowboys tallied eleven penalties yesterday for a total of 83 yards off of it. Schottenheimer said that he's okay with combative penalties, but the Cowboys had one too many procedural penalties including back-to-back illegal formation penalties on Asim Richards. Maybe the most shocking penalty came when CeeDee Lamb got pummeled by an official on the sideline when he came too far out on the sideline, and was assessed a 15-yard penalty because of it.
19
It wasn't the best day for the Cowboys defense in terms of bringing the ballcarrier down, as the team missed a total of 19 tackles. It's one of the areas that Schottenheimer mentioned he wanted to see improvement in come next week against the Ravens.
28
On Friday morning, the Cowboys decided to bring back running back Malik Davis to the team, who spent the last two years on the practice squad before being released earlier this offseason. 28 hours later, Davis suited up for the Cowboys' preseason opener and went on to lead the team in rushing yards with 63 on seven carries, good for nine yards a carry.
35
Undrafted rookie free agent Traeshon Holden shined in his NFL debut, hauling in the longest catch of the day on a 35-yard pass from Joe Milton up the sideline. Holden has been productive in training camp practices and is pushing to try and make the roster.
37
A grand total of 37 players did not play for the Cowboys on Saturday, including most of the starting offensive line which included first-round pick Tyler Booker. While some were taken by surprise at Booker not taking the field, Schottenheimer explained that he and his staff have constructed a plan for who will play in the preseason and more players will be active next week against the Ravens.
50-50
Every offense wants to be balanced, and Schottenheimer's was in his first game as a head coach and playcaller. Their 297 yards of offense were split nearly right down the middle, with 148 yards coming on 27 rushes and 149 yards on 32 passing attempts.
95
Overall, the Cowboys struggled to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback throughout the game. Defensive tackle Denzel Daxon was the only Cowboys player to record a sack on the night.
98.4%
On all but one play, which was good for 98.4% of the time, the Cowboys defense played in nickel formation with five defensive backs, four down defensive linemen and two linebackers. It's been a lot of what they've run in practice with several players rotating at outside and slot corner, and we'll likely see a lot of it during the season as well.
