Most of Sunday afternoon was rough for Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett, as he threw four interceptions in the Rams’ preseason opener against the Cowboys.
But when it mattered down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Bennett led Los Angeles on a 13-play drive that ended with a fourth-down, 6-yard touchdown pass to give his club a 13-12 win.
Bennett, who played the whole game, finished the day 24-of-38 passing for 224 yards with one touchdown and four picks.
He nearly threw a fifth interception on Los Angeles’ final drive, but it was nullified by a Cowboys defensive holding penalty.
After the game, head coach Sean McVay complimented Bennett for his ability to respond.
“The first two [interceptions] were tough because those are kind of occupational hazards. He will be able to learn from them,” McVay said in his press conference. “The second two, we have to be able to make better decisions. … [H]e is a resilient guy. All of them are ones that he can learn from, and I thought he did a really good job of being able to keep us ahead of the sticks [and] really moving us down the field. We obviously kind of petered out in the red zone, but I thought he did a great job getting us in and out of the huddle.
“I want to be able to learn from those plays, but for him to be able to just stay together [and] make some of the plays — I thought the fourth down, where we ended up drawing the penalty to be able to advance the drive and then for him to create off-schedule on fourth-and-6 was big time.”
McVay noted that Bennett did well throughout the game to orchestrate long drives and made some plays with his legs, particularly in the first quarter when he converted a fourth down.
“[I] was pleased with him,” McVay said. “Yeah, obviously, those plays will stand out but I think it’s just about how do you stay together? How do you respond in the midst of it? How do you know that all I can do is the next right thing? That’s exactly what he did on that last drive.”
Bennett is likely to get plenty more playing time when the Rams play the Chargers on Saturday. It’s an important time for Bennett to show what he can do, as backup Jimmy Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the regular season.
