Biggest Takeaways from Dallas Cowboys' Preseason Week 1 Loss

For the second straight season, the Dallas Cowboys traveled to California to take on the Los Angeles Rams in the first week of the preseason. And for the second straight season, the Cowboys were defeated by the home team. The final outcome doesn't matter in these games, but the performances of the players are what make these games useful.

While there aren't the storylines coming out of this contest that there was last year with quarterback Dak Prescott, there were quite a few interesting notes and performances from Saturday's game.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Cowboys' second preseason game of the year.

Xavier Woods Is a Lock to Make the Roster

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Safety Xavier Woods was recently highlighted on B/R as a player to watch during the team's preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams. Woods didn't play much in the team's first preseason matchup, and there wasn't much talk about him out of the Dallas camp. That made you wonder whether the team was trying to hide him during the preseason so it can stash him on the practice squad in 2017.

Not only did Woods play a lot of snaps against the Rams, but he was also phenomenal. According to Pro Football Focus, Woods graded out at 89.9 overall, the highest on the team. The Louisiana Tech product made eight total tackles, including six stops. He also forced a fumble on a massive hit that was later overruled after it was determined that the receiver did not have possession of the ball long enough.

Woods was all over the field and played numerous positions on defense. He also contributed on special teams, which is where he will likely play early in his NFL career. He may not be a starter for the Cowboys defense in 2017, but expect Woods to have an impact.

Rico Gathers Continues to Dominate

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Through two preseason games, no player has been as impressive as tight end Rico Gathers. For the second straight week, Gathers was able to score a touchdown on an impressive play. Not only is he producing in the red zone, but he's also been the team's most reliable receiving weapon.

Quarterbacks have a perfect passer rating (158.3) when targeting Gathers. His only failed reception came late in the fourth quarter on a pass that was far too low for him to grab. Gathers is still the fourth tight end on the depth chart, but his performances will have opened eyes across the league. He is forcing his way on to the roster and potentially up the depth chart sooner than anyone could have thought.

He will still need to drastically improve his blocking and his route-running ability before he can become a full-time player in the NFL. However, that doesn't seem as far away as it did a few weeks ago.

Byron Bell Struggles in His 1st Outing

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Not everything was positive coming from the Cowboys on Saturday night. One of the players who struggled the most was veteran Byron Bell. He started at left guard because Chaz Green wasn't ready to return to action as a result of a muscle strain. Bell struggled mightily, committing two holding penalties that negated two nice runs by Darren McFadden. 

To compound matters, Bell was continually beaten by lesser players and had issues staying on his feet. That is concerning for the Cowboys, who are searching to find an adequate guard to replace Ronald Leary.

In Bell's defense, this was his first game action since 2015, as he missed all of the 2016 season through injury. According to the team's official site, he weighs around 310 pounds. When he signed with the team in March, he weighed around 360 pounds. That massive weight loss could be the reason he's struggling with balance as he's adjusting to his new playing weight.

Bell is a veteran and should be able to bounce back if he's given another opportunity to start at left guard. But his performance against the Rams is worrisome because it shows the left guard position may be the team's biggest weakness.

Cooper Rush Impresses

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If you were to just look at the raw stats, you would come to the conclusion that undrafted rookie Cooper Rush is having a nice preseason. He's thrown for a total of 191 yards on 18 of 29 passes, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. That's good enough for a passer rating of 104.2. However, raw stats don't tell the entire story. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Rush would have had a perfect completion percentage if it were not for two well-thrown balls that were dropped. He's not flawless by any means, and he's always going to be somewhat limited by his physical talent, but the quarterback is making a strong case to not only be on the team's practice squad going forward but to fight Kellen Moore for a backup spot on this roster. 

Rush should see plenty of snaps in the team's next three preseason games, and that will likely determine his fate for this season. He's clearly been more impressive than Luke McCown and could be an interesting project for the team in the upcoming seasons.

Kellen Moore Was Awful

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While Rush thrived on Saturday night, primary backup Moore did not. Outside of completing just eight of 17 passes for only 69 yards, the Dallas offense had three straight three-and-outs to open the game. Moore and the Cowboys managed just three points on six possessions in the first half.

Dallas struggled to move the ball under Moore, with the offense totaling only 81 yards in the first half and holding the ball for just over 12 minutes.

But what was more concerning was Moore's lack of arm strength. He struggled to drive the ball to the sideline, and nearly every throw came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. If the former Detroit Lion were asked to play in a regular-season game, the offense would be severely limited in the type of routes they could run on passing downs.

Moore isn't going to lose his backup job anytime soon, as he's too valuable off the field and in the meeting rooms to be let go. But his ineffective play over the past few weeks is concerning, as the Cowboys would be in serious trouble if Prescott were to go down.

Taco Charlton Bounces Back

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In the first game of his NFL career, Taco Charlton failed to record a pressure on seven pass-rush attempts. That led to defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli criticizing the rookie, telling the media Charlton "wasn't good enough." But in his second game, the first-round pick clearly got the message he needed to play better and proceeded to record his first sack in the NFL.

Charlton played 25 snaps on Saturday night and was much better than he was in the previous week. Pro Football Focus awarded him an overall grade of 80, a step up from his 75.3 grade from his first outing. 

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done with Charlton's game, but it's encouraging to see him improve. With a number of injuries and suspensions on Dallas' defensive line, the team is going to rely on him to play a lot of snaps early in the season. The Michigan product may never be a superstar, but he's proving he may be able to help this defensive line sooner rather than later.

Anthony Hitchens Isn't Going Away

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Maybe the most impressive defensive player from the game was linebacker Anthony Hitchens. While he only played a few series, he was all over the field.

His best play came on 3rd-and-6 from the nine-yard line. He drilled a receiver after the catch and forced a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Cooper Kupp. Nevertheless, it was an impressive play by the fourth-year linebacker from Iowa.

Hitchens has been the forgotten man in the linebacker group. Jaylon Smith is expected to make his NFL debut Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, but the team's middle linebacker is still Hitchens. He's had a fantastic training camp, so don't expect him to lose his job anytime soon. In fact, he's only strengthened his grip on the starting role this preseason—he's been that good.

Impressive Defensive Speed and Physicality

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While the Cowboys offense struggled (only 248 total yards of offense), the defense played well. Dallas held the Rams to just 271 yards on 61 plays and only 13 points. The defense restricted L.A. to just 12 first downs and 4.4 yards per play. 

What was more impressive was the speed and physicality the defense played with, especially in the first half. The defense forced five fumbles in the first half and another in the second half that was ruled an incomplete pass. It was one of the team's more physical preseason defensive performances of the past several years.

Even though the defense was missing numerous starters such as Demarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford and Sean Lee, the level of play was impressive. The talent of the defense may not be on par with some of the top defenses in the league, but the effort will always be there with Marinelli as the defensive coordinator. Despite the loss, it was an admirable performance.