Rams headed to NFC Championship Game for first time since 2001

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See C.J. run. Run, C.J., run.

See Todd run. Run, Todd, run.

C.J. Anderson and Todd Gurley both rushed for more than 100 yards in leading the Rams to a 30-22 victory over the Cowboys that didn’t feel that close.

The Rams ran for 273 yards, gained 459 total yards and punted only once. They scored on six of nine possessions, missing a 63-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, punting on their seventh possession and kneeling in victory formation to end the game.

Anderson’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 7:16 remaining gave the Rams a 15-point lead. The Cowboys got it back within a one-possession game with 2:11 left on a 1-yard Dak Prescott run, but with the Rams facing a third-and-seven, Jared Goff ran for 11 yards to ice it.

It sends the Rams to their first NFC Championship Game since 2001. They will either travel to New Orleans next weekend or play host to the Eagles.

Anderson had 23 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and Gurley 115 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in his return from left knee inflammation that kept him out the final two regular-season games.

Goff’s run, though, was as big as any in the game, ending the Cowboys’ chance at a comeback. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 186 yards.

The Cowboys ranked third against the run this season, had allowed only three 100-yard rushers and held the Seahawks, the top-ranked rushing offense, to 73 rushing yards last week. They had not allowed two backs in the same game to rush for 100 yards since Dec. 20, 2008, in the final game at Texas Stadium when La’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee did it for Baltimore.

The Cowboys ran for only 50 yards, as Ezekiel Elliott had 20 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown and Prescott two carries for 3 yards and a touchdown. Dallas had 308 total yards.

The Cowboys went 1-for-10 on third down and 3-for-4 on fourth down.

Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh had perhaps his best game of the season, with four tackles, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss, and Aaron Donald was dominant, with two tackles and a tackle for loss.

100 responses to “Rams headed to NFC Championship Game for first time since 2001

  1. BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The World Champion Philadelphia Eagles are the last team standing in the NFC East. Don’t worry Cowboys “fans”, you still have your Lakers/Yankees/Clemson/Alabama, etc., etc. Bandwagon jumpers. Haha. Pound sand.

  2. Did you see Jeff Heath on that 3rd down and 7, when Goff ran for the first down at the end of the game. That’s one Guy they need to replace!

  3. How ’bout ‘dem Cowboys!!!!!!!!!! Yipppppeeeee!!! Lost another playoff game under Jerruh Jones!!!! Great job, Jerruh!! And go ahead and give your yes-man loser coach another extension!!!!!

    Too bad Fox didn’t show Jones up in his box crying!!! We Cowboys haters always love seeing that!!!!!!

  4. Hopefully Garrett’s extension was signed in pencil………..

    Romo is looking pretty good right now……..

    There is always the 1990’s to look back on…….

    The cheerleaders are great………

  5. I was disappointed that both divisional matchups today weren’t more competitive. Hopefully, tomorrow’s contests will be more exciting. I’d like to see the winner of Chargers-Patriots upset the Chiefs in the AFC title game. Indeed, if the Pats fall, then I’d like to see Philip Rivers get a Super Bowl ring.

  6. Cowboys got lucky last week against a much better team and played back down to their norm today. Rams lose by 3 TD’s to Saints or Eagles next week.

  7. This game shouldn’t have even been close. The Cowboys got worked the whole time. Lmao.. too funny. Now the Cowboy fans can do what they do best.. Disappear.

  8. Rams really kicked the Cowgirls around. Boy that Amari Cooper is really a poor sport. Trying to start fights with Peters after the game was over really showed him to be a loser.

  9. Great game congrats to the Rams. Better team won today. Cowboys just dug themselves too big of a hole in the first half. With that said, the future looks bright for my Cowboys.

  10. I got a Rams vs. Patriots super bowl. It all comes down to what the league wants. A Saints vs. Patriots super bowl is another option.

  11. Eagles fan here. Dallas has nothing to hang there head about. Played a strong game. Bring the old tough back to NFC East.

  12. This fan of the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles looks forward to a return trip to L.A.

    Dallas = not ready for prime time. 23 years and counting since they were last relevant.
    Dak is an inaccurate, check down artist, and the soon to be extended clapper is not a factor.

  13. Interesting twist to end the cowboys season. Week after week it was the defense keeping the team in it while the offense sputtered. Only this time it was the defense that couldn’t buy a punt, while the offense kept them in it. It would have been nice to see what happened if they made that last third down stop, just wasn’t in the cards. They’re a very young team, but it’s very difficult to made it this far year after year, especially playing in the NFC East. Good to see that home crowd too for the Cowboys in LA. Still America’s Team. See you next year.

  14. Honestly I think the two best teams won today. I admire the Colts’ run but the Chiefs’ offense is just better. And their defense showed up today big time.

    Rams? With Gurley they are different so I don’t care about December. But it was an easy game plan. Still have to execute it but stop Zeke (47 yds on 20 carries?) and make Dak beat you. Your odds go up 5x. He is a mediocre QB at best. They have a lot to build on but I think they need a better answer at QB.

    Congrats to both teams. Waiting for tomorrow to see how it pairs up. My bet….Chargers and Eagles.And no Iggles I am not a fan. I just think Foles has some really odd post-season magic even if he can’t carry a team for 16 games.

  15. Nothing but props for my cowboys. Youngest team in league. Lots of cap space and hell of a turnaround after 3 and 5 start. 3 division titles in 5 years. Future is BRIGHT. Hate all you want doubters.

  16. Cowboys the biggest frauds in the league. What an absolute embarrasment of a franchise the past 20+ years. And y’all are gonna have the clapping ginger muppet back until jerry jones goes the way of mcnair!

  17. Still can’t believe C.J. Anderson ran all over the Cowboys. He looked like he gained weight during the game.

  18. I still insist Tony Romo as head coach. Jerry loves Tony and frankly I do not believe an elite defense was prepared in allowing two 100 yard plus rushers. Tony Romo would find 100 percent support replacing Garrett

  19. All things considered, the Cowboys had a good season. Remember, they started 3-5, then ended up 10-6.
    The reason the Rams won is because the Cowboys defense didn’t show up and the Rams controlled the line of scrimmage.
    Time for some changes in Dallas, mainly get rid of Scott Linehan.

  20. Were there so few Rams fans in the seats that the club had to crank the P.A. Announcer and the Music to 11 to make it sound like a raucous crowd?

    You’d think a 13-3 team headed to the NFC Championship game would be enough.

  21. Cowboys fans all week going into the game… “Ezekiel Elliot is going to run all over this Rams defense” and “the Cowboys have a great defense, they’re going to shut down Todd Gurley”.

    Ezekiel Elliot then went on to run for 47 yards while averaging 2.3 ypc.

    Todd Gurley went on to run for 115 yards while averaging 7.2 ypc, and oh wait C.J Anderson also went on to run for 124 yards while averaging 5.3 ypc.

  22. Rams had nearly 500 yards of offense and 300 on the ground, and yet still needed a Goff scramble to put game away.

    Saints will blow them out, Eagles will win a one score game. Either way there is nothing left for this team.

  23. Saints gonna handle them boys with ease. Not gonna miss hearing a rap song in between plays or after every first down. Get a life LA.

  24. No way CJ Anderson is 220lbs anymore, he is a wrecking ball out there. It looks like Jerome Bettis is back playing for the LA Rams.

  25. See the Rams Oline open big holes.
    See the Rams RBs run through them.

    CJ Anderson is not some great RB, but he can run if there is no one in front of him.

    And the Cowboys run game was shut down.
    The dominant Rams Oline and the dominant Rams run defense were the big stories.

  26. When Talib was out for his injury assessment, I got very nervous. Without him, our defensive backfield is just Swiss cheese. I’m very happy that Suh finally showed up and played well. Goff showed poise and leadership. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a win.

    Allowing two hundred yard rushers must be painful for Cowboys fans to have to stomach. Weren’t you going to stuff the run and crush the Rams? Remember how loud your fans would be in our stadium? I’m just playing with ya – when you talk trash in the playoffs you’re gonna get it thrown back at you when your team loses.

    I don’t have a preference in Eagles vs. Saints, but I think it’s a huge mistake to underestimate Nick Foles.

    Cheering for the Chargers over the Pats!

  27. Cowboy fans bragged how they beat an injured eagles team twice and won the division… yet cowboys are going home and eagles are still alive.

  28. CJ was a great pickup, dude still has some juice not sure why he wasn’t signed before. Eagles could definitely have used that kind of production once Ajayi went down.

  29. Congrats to the Rams for beating the Boys but, the Rams didn’t look like they did earlier in the year. I believe the winner of the Eagles / Saints game goes to the big show. Hate to say it but it’s true the Cowboys and the Eagles are the two teams that we’re playing better then everyone else the last 5 games or so.

  30. That is weird because the Cowpies bottled up Seattle’s running game pretty well last week. I am glad they did, and beat Seattle. The LAmb defense has been pretty awful lately but it was good last night.

  31. The rookie scale wage portion of Amari Cooper’s contract is now complete. He has a 5th yr option guaranteed for injury at $13.9 million that becomes fully guaranteed in April and will be expecting a massive extension.

    His final numbers for the season are 75 catches (27th), 1,005 yds (21st), 7td (tied-16th) with a 70.1% catch rate (76th). He averaged 43 yards/game on the road and 109/game at home for Dallas after the trade.

    The salary cap strapped Cowboys do not know if Travis Frederick will ever play again, Tyron Smith has a chronic back injury, DeMarcus Lawrence is a free agent, and Byron Jones, Dak Prescott, and Jaylen Smith are due extensions.

    Due to the Amari Cooper trade, the Cowboys do not posses a 1st round pick this year. It’s believed the Eagles may have been willing to part with a 2nd, but instead chose to trade a 3rd for Golden Tate. Nobody else offered anything remotely as high.

    Was it really worth it?

  32. In the words of Michael Irvin following the 95-96 NFC Championship Game, “It’s midnight. Cinderella can go home now.”

    Neither of these teams drums up ANY likeability. Cowboys are, well … the Cowboys and the Rams, a bought and paid for contender. I think Philly is defeated by the Saints and KC’s offense outscores their own defense against NE (because the Chargers are the Chargers) … pretty mind numbing — Saints v. Chiefs in S.B.? Another year of rooting for the commercials.

  33. Could Jason Garrett look any happier after the game. I guess he’s relieved he won’t have to come up with a game pan for the next game if he had won. That along with putting up with another week of Jerry.

  34. Life-long Cowboys fan here since 1960 . The stage was too big for Dak, but neither he or Zeke mattered much. You can’t overcome predictable, non-aggressive play calling when the playoffs roll around. The Rams D has been downright horrific against deep balls all year, but Dallas plodded and plodded, trying to score by making 8 1st downs, instead of punishing their weaknesses. This was a Jason Garrett time capsule if there ever was one. Determined not to do a run blitz EVER on defense. Just sad. Cooper was a non-factor, and with no 1st round pick we have Jackson Cornwhistle from Central Valley A&T Junior Prep Topeka to look forward to. At 67 years of age, I’m not optimistic it’s going to change while I’m still around to see it. So I guess go Chiefs (former Dallas Texans).

  35. No dog in this fight but it’s interesting to see the return of the running attack in an era of passing. Not just up the middle but going to the edge. Seems that a lot of teams aren’t equipped very well to stop it.

  36. Edward Halverson says:
    January 12, 2019 at 11:25 pm
    CJ Anderson MVP!
    ++++++++++++
    CJ Anderson PEDs.

  37. Look at the bright side now jerrah can spend extra time in his super yacht because cowgirls season is over

  38. Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina, or anywhere else for that matter, and watch Zeke run for a mighty seven yards in the second half. How ’bout them Cowboys !

  39. Sunday Scripture Today..

    “And on the seventh day The Lord rested…and the Cowboys were laid to rest.”

  40. Thank you rams for bouncing these clowns and their obnoxious, deluded fan base and owner out of the playoffs. With Dak and Cooper coming off their cheap rookie deals soon this team is burnt toast. Jerry Jones has no idea what he’s doing so it will be fun to see him and his giant sized ego make a horse race out of it.

  41. Mr. Baseball and Aiekman sure hated the outcome of this game. Rams won is all they said. Also as they showed Jones, box they had then to show the Rams owners, when was the last time they were ever shown on Tv. Fox coverage when it is Cowboys is sinful to the other fans whom they played.

  42. Usually, I would root for the team that eliminated my favorite team, but gosh it was fun rooting against the Cowboys and watching them lose. Their fans are the 3rd worst, after the Patriots and Vikings fans. Who’s 4th worst? Sadly, it’s probably fans of the Seahawks.

  43. QB Jared Goff played like crap again and really struggled completing just 53% of his passes w/ 0TDs-0INTs & a QB passer rating of just 74.4, his poor play is going to come back to haunt them & bite them in the rear here real soon.

    The Rams need to win it all now because it is now or never for the Rams. If the Rams dont get to the Big Game this year it’s going to be a good while before they find themselves in this situation again. The Rams are fixing to lose a ton of players especially defensively, LT Andrew Whitworth is going to be 38-39yrs old next season & starting to decline really slowing down over the last 6wks of the season, Center John Sullivan badly struggled all season heavily declining reanking 33rd of all Centers w/ a grade of 51.9 & turns 34yrs old this summer. LG Rodger Saffold is a free-agent and will be gone as he is going to paid & w/ all the contracts coming due for LA they cannot afford to pay him but will need to look to draft his replacement. Jared Goff is terrible once he’s under pressure & easily rattled once guys start hitting him & laying hands on him. With the OL set to take a sizable step back Jared Goff & the offense as a whole is set to a sizable step back next season.
    Then the Rams have an even bigger problem w/ so many critical players looking to get paid w/ contracts set to expire like Suh, RB Malcom Brown & RB CJ Anderson, Joyner, Talib, Saffold, Fowler, Longacre, Easley, Westbrooks, Shields, Mannion, B. Hager, C. Littleton & Ramik Wilson are ALL hitting the open market. Young players are coming due soon and looking to negotiate this off season like Jared Goff, Brockers, Greg the Leg, Markus Peters, Blythe, John Johnson, Cooper Kupp, Higbee & Everett. All these guys are coming due and they cannot pay even half of those guys with the contracts currently on the roster. The Rams have a lot issues waiting for them in the very near future, given the way Les Snead has constructed this roster they’ve built to win it all now, they didnt design the roster & their cap for sustained success long term.

  44. Outside of the contractual issues & cap problems w/ all the players coming due who need new deals the Rams face there is also things out of their control like the division dramatically improving going forward & the Rams wont be spotted 4-5 wins per year in the NFC-W. The 49ers will be better next season w/ Jimmy G coming back if he can actually stay on the field & they have a lot of cap space & high draft picks. Arizona will be much improved going back to a 3-4 defense which their defense was built to run & their offense will tremendously improve w/ the staff they brought in , Josh Rosen set to take a big leap forward in year 2 building the offense around him & his strengths with $70M-$80M in cap space to spend picking 1st in each round of the draft with 11 total picks.. David Johnson & Larry Fitzgerald wont be criminally misused any longer as Johnson will go back to being used properly as an inside/outside zone back & will be a huge part of the passing game out of the slot. Arizona’s offense will be much better. The SEA Seahawks defense is another year further along in their rebuild and they’ll be able to re-sign Frank Clark, Jarran Reed & add more pass rushers to their front 7 thru the draft & F/A. The NFC west is going to seriously tighten up next year & will only get better going into the future going past 2019 & beyond. If the Rams dont win it all this year they wont find themselves in this position again for a while.

  45. I’m not a big conspiracy guy, but seems strange both LA teams got good as soon as they went to LA. The Rams hadn’t won in 12 years. The Chargers were forever mediocre.

  46. Thanks for coming Cowboys fans. That ref who gave you a lucky win over the Seahawks didn’t do you any favors in the end. Your “great” linebackers got run over like speed bumps. Pick up your participation trophies at the door on the way out.

  47. Deric Gregory says:

    I’m not a big conspiracy guy, but seems strange both LA teams got good as soon as they went to LA. The Rams hadn’t won in 12 years. The Chargers were forever mediocre.
    ******************
    Couldn’t agree more! The NFL is a business and they have a vested interest in making sure that the LA market is successful. If you watched more than one LA game, the lopsided officiating was comically obvious. There will be at least ONE of the LA teams in the Super Bowl and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see both.

  48. Dallas fans were SO confident they were gonna walk all over the Rams. They were so arrogant and entitled. Glad they got a nice glass of shut the hell up!

  49. vikesr4reel says:
    January 13, 2019 at 7:56 am
    Goff is an awful about qb as well
    If they couldn’t run the ball they would be 4-12
    ———-
    The same could be said about Dak. Without Ezekiel Elliott’s positive ground game Dak is nothing.

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