C.J. Anderson ran for 123 yards, including two 1-yard touchdowns, and Todd Gurley ran for 115 yards and a score as the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 30-22, Saturday evening in an NFL divisional playoff game.
Greg Zuerlein kicked three field goals to help the Rams to their first postseason victory since the 2004 season, advancing them to the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2001 season.
The second-seeded Rams will face the winner of Sunday’s game between the top-seeded New Orleans Saints and sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship on Jan. 20.
The Rams would travel to New Orleans and would be the home team against the Eagles. The Rams lost to both the Saints and Philadelphia during the regular season.
The Rams outgained the Cowboys, 459 yards to 308, led 30-19 in first downs and 36:13-23:47 in time of possession before a crowd at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum announced at 77,187.
Neither team committed a turnover.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff completed 15 of 28 passes for 186 yards.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott completed 20 of 32 passes for 266 yards, including a 44-yard completion to rookie Michael Gallup that advanced the ball to the Rams 2-yard line. Ezekiel Elliott ran 1 yard for a touchdown two plays later.
Prescott’s two-point conversion pass to Amari Cooper cut the deficit to 23-15 with five minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys forced the Rams to punt on the ensuing possession. Dallas then drove to Rams 35-yard line, but Elliott was stopped for no gain one fourth-and-one.
The Rams responded with a 12-play, 65-yard drive, consuming 7:36, with Anderson running the final yard to give the Rams a 30-15 lead with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys again cut the lead eight on Prescott’s 1-yard touchdown run with 2:11 to play.
Dallas kicked deep to the Rams after Prescott’s touchdown. The Rams picked up two touchdowns and ran out the final clock to seal the Cowboys sixth consecutive loss in the divisional playoffs dating back to the 1996 season. Their last victory in the round was in the 1995 season when they won their most recent Super Bowl.
Dallas has also lost eight consecutive road playoff games, dating back to the 1996 season. Its last road playoff victory was in the 1992 season, when it defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park.
After driving inside the Cowboys 10-yard line on each of their first two possessions, but having to settle for 25- and 23-yard field goals by Zuerlein, the Rams took the lead for good with Anderson’s 1-yard touchdown run with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
The Rams increased their lead to 20-7 on their next possession with Gurley running 35 yards for a touchdown 3:27 before halftime.
Zuerlein kicked a 44-yard field goal on the Rams first possession of the third quarter.
This was the ninth time the Rams met the Cowboys in the playoffs, with the Rams taking a 5-4 lead in the series. The most recent playoff meeting before Saturday was a divisional playoff game in the 1985 season, won by the Rams 20-0 at the then-Anaheim Stadium.
This was the third official head coaching matchup between the McVay and Garrett families. McVay coached the Rams to a 35-30 victory over Jason Garrett and the Cowboys on Oct. 1, 2017.
McVay’s grandfather, John McVay, coached the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League to a 45-0 victory over the Houston Texans, who were coached by Jim Garrett, Jason’s father, on Sept. 7, 1974.