The Cowboys were better on offense. They were better on defense. They were better on special teams.
Dallas’ 43-20 victory over the Rams was a thorough annihilation from start to finish. The Cowboys are 5-2, with a first-place NFC East showdown with the Eagles looming next week. The Rams fell to 3-5.
Worse still for Los Angeles, it lost quarterback Matthew Stafford to a right thumb injury. The Rams listed him as questionable to return, but with the score what it was, he didn’t.
Stafford stood on the sideline with his hand heavily wrapped.
His last play was a reception on a two-point conversion with 11:29 left in the third quarter after throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ben Skowronek. Stafford twice hit his thumb on Cowboys players in the second quarter.
The Cowboys had 387 yards to 280 for the Rams.
Dak Prescott went 25-of-31 for 304 yards with four touchdowns and an interception, and CeeDee Lamb caught 12 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, taking up the slack for injured star cornerback Trevon Diggs, had his third pick-six of the season. He went 30 yards to the end zone with a Stafford pass. The NFL record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in a single season is four.
The Cowboys special teams contributed a safety on Sam Williams’ blocked punt that went out of the end zone and then set up a 13-yard touchdown drive on KaVontae Turpin’s 63-yard return on the ensuing free kick. Turpin also had an 87-yard kickoff return negated by a holding penalty on Nahshon Wright.
Stafford went 13-of-22 for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Puka Nachua and Cooper Kupp combined for only seven catches for 64 yards. Aaron Donald made two sacks.