Bennett leads Rams over Cowboys

Inglewood, CA (News4usOnline) – Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV got the start against the Dallas Cowboys for the Los Angeles Rams in their first preseason game of 2025. It was a pretty good debut for Stetson. He looked poised. He executed the offense with precision. 

His stat sheet by the end of the night complimented his play on the field in the Rams’ 31-21 win at SoFi Stadium. Bennett went 16 of 24 for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He also engineered two scoring drives for the Rams in the opening period. 

All in all, it was a good night for the former University of Georgia star. 

“I thought it played pretty well. We’ll go see some stuff. I was glad that I didn’t try to force it on two throwaways. Sometimes you have to throw the ball away and end the drive with a kick or punt. I thought it went pretty well but obviously, there’s going to be things to clean up,” Bennett said after the game.  

Whether he was driving the team down the field for a score or completing passes in the endzone, Bennett had a hand in all four touchdowns the Rams scored against Dallas. He started strong and he finished that way. 

“Stetson was awesome and I think the amount of reps that he’s been able to get, whether you go through the spring or especially in training camp, if there is one positive from Matthew not being there, it’s that both [Quarterback] Jimmy [Garappolo] and Stetson have been able to get some reps now,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “We’re really glad that Matthew’s going to be back doing his thing. But the overall command, I thought he got through some progressions really well today.”  

Both early scores by the Rams took place in the first quarter. On the game’s opening series, Bennett connected with Xavier Smith on two big plays that eventually led to a Blake Corum scoring run. He hit Smith for 15 yards to keep the drive alive on that opening segment. 

Then on a fourth-and six, Bennett went deep to Smith for a 39-yard strike down the Rams sideline that put Los Angeles inside of the red zone. Corum tumbled into the endzone on a 2-yard run shortly after that. 

That pass to Smith was a momentum-builder, Bennett said. 

“Yeah, it was, for sure,” Bennett remarked. “What a heck of a catch. I mean, tough and he can roll. [Wide Receiver Xavier Smith] ‘X’ is the man. He comes to work every day. There’s another guy… you want to talk about just chopping wood and going at it every single day. [It was] for sure huge. Instead of having to give the ball up from midfield, going down there and scoring touchdown is a huge momentum builder.”

Corum scored on a 4-yard scoring run on the next series. Bennett, even with a dropped open pass and an overthrow to a wide open Konata Mumpfield on a streak pattern, impressed nonetheless. He wound up completing 9 of his 13 passes in the first quarter for 114 yards. He finished the period with a 96.3 rating. 

As the half moved along, Bennett’s numbers cooled down a bit as he wrapped up his first-half performance completing 10 of 16 passes for 115 yards and a 84.1 rating. Bennett distributed the ball evenly, allowing seven different receivers to catch passes. 

McVay was impressed with what he saw from his wide receivers and the way they performed overall. 

“I thought they did a great job. [Wide Receivers Coach] Coach [Eric Yarber] ‘Yarbs’, [Pass Game Coordinator] Nate Scheelhaase and [Offensive Assistant] Rob Calabrese, they do such a good job of getting these guys ready to go,” McVay said. “I love the catch that [Konata] Mumpfield made before we brought him out on the tip ball in the seam. It was a great throw and great play by him. I thought Brennan Presley made some plays. I thought that guys blocked. It was cool to see [Britain] Covey catch the corner out. I was really pleased with the receivers overall. They did a nice job.”

Bennett is listed as the No. 3 quarterback on the Rams’ depth chart, sitting behind starter Matthew Stafford and backup Jimmy Garoppolo. With Stafford ruled out for the preseason, Bennett has a golden opportunity to showcase his skillset. 

With a lackluster third quarter that saw him throw an errant ball that turned into an interception, Bennett regrouped in the fourth quarter. Bennett hit Cody Schrader for a 9-yard touchdown pass at the beginning of the final period to give the Rams a 24-6 advantage over the Cowboys. 

Bennett’s 5-yard scoring toss to Brennan Pressley wrapped up the scoring for the Rams. While the play of Bennett stood out, McVay liked the collective effort his team put forth against the Cowboys. 

“I thought it was really good to be able to see so many guys get involved,” quipped McVay. “I liked the way we started out and then I liked the way we finished the game. Being able to run the football the way that the guys did, I thought Stetson had great command. I thought our defense made plays early.” 

The Rams go up against the Los Angeles Chargers next before traveling to Cleveland to wrap up their preseason schedule against the Browns before opening the regular season at home   against the Houston Texans on Sept. 7.