Cowboys Week 8 Studs and Duds: CeeDee Lamb goes off against Rams

Cowboys Dud: Offensive Line

The offense started out on a bad foot as Dak Prescott was sacked his first two dropbacks, and it could have been three.

First, Michael Hoecht got through and sacked Prescott for a five-yard loss on the opening play of the game. A four-yard run from Tony Pollard made it third-and-11 on their first drive, and this time Byron Young took him down for a four-yard loss.

Dallas was bailed out on that one, however, since Quentin Lake was called for illegal contact on CeeDee Lamb down the field. The five-yard penalty gave the Cowboys a fresh set of downs and they started this one in a hole as well.

Prescott dropped back on first-and-10 from the 30 and was sacked by Aaron Donald for a seven-yard loss. Again, it was CeeDee Lamb who bailed them out when he got open for a short reception and then broke a tackle before fighting his way past the sticks for a 17-yard gain and another first down.

That opened the floodgates as they quickly marched down the field and scored on a touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson. Despite the finish, the start was marred by poor pass protection — and even on the plays where Prescott got the ball out, he was often moving around and avoiding pressure.

The issues continued later in the first quarter when Zack Martin was beaten by Donald, who sacked Prescott on third-and-four, forcing them to settle for a field goal on a promising drive.