It is not how you start, but how you finish.
At least, that is what Stetson Bennett will be telling himself this Monday morning.
The second-year quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams had what you might call an “interesting” game Sunday in his 2024 NFL preseason debut against the Dallas Cowboys. Bennett threw four interceptions against Dallas on Sunday — really five, as we will see in a moment — but managed to lead the Rams on the game-winning drive, capping that possession off with an impressive sidearm throw while rolling to his left for a touchdown.
First, we can look at the four interceptions, with each one seemingly worse than the one before. Bennett’s first interception came on a 3rd and 6 play late in the first quarter. With the Cowboys dropping into Cover 4, Bennett tries to hit the in-breaking route in front of the safeties. The throwing lane is there for him and the ball is released on time, but the throw is simply high, leading to the turnover:
he second interception is more than anything else a heads-up play by Dallas cornerback Eric Scott Jr. With the Rams facing a 2nd and 10 at the Cowboys’ 19-yard line, Bennett tries to connect with rookie WR
Sam Wiglusz on the deep sit route over the middle. Scott is aligned to the boundary side of the field — at the bottom of the screen — and with the Cowboys in Cover 1 he is responsible for wide receiver Jordan Whittington, who is running a shallow route.
But when Whittington sits down his route, allowing the underneath hole defender to pick him up, Scott peels off Whittington and reads Bennett’s eyes. When the throw goes to Wiglusz, Scott is there for the interception:
On the third interception Bennett gets tripped up, so to speak. He initially opens to the left side of the formation, looking to hit JJ Laap on a vertical route. But the rookie WR slips and crashes to the turf, so Bennett then works his eyes to the middle of the field where Wiglusz is running the inside dig route on a “double dig” concept. With Dallas in Cover 4, that dig route is in front of both safeties, but ideally, the throw gets to the dig route as quickly as possible.
However, the time it takes for Bennett to come off Laap’s vertical route, and work to the middle of the field, gives rookie safety Julius Wood time to read the concept and break on the route. He beats Wiglusz to the football, for the Cowboys’ third interception of Bennett:
On the fourth interception, Bennett tries to connect with Wiglusz again on an over route, but simply misses the underneath defender and throws it right to linebacker Brock Mogensen:
However, the Rams were still locked in a one-score game with the Cowboys when they got the football back with just under three minutes to go. A Dallas field goal had given the Cowboys a 12-6 lead, but Bennett had a chance at redemption.
He almost gave that away.
With the Rams facing a do-or-die fourth down early on that drive, Bennett tried to hit Drake Stoops on a dig route to the left side of the field. After climbing the pocket the second-year passer rips in a throw to Stoops that is high and slightly behind the receiver. The ball gets deflected into the air and intercepted, seemingly ending the contest:
But, there is a flag. A defensive holding penalty on Dallas cornerback Josh Butler — who was in the slot covering the vertical route in the middle of the field — gives the Rams new life.
Los Angeles then managed to drive down to the Cowboys’ 6-yard line, where they faced a fourth-and-goal situation with just four seconds left.
Finally for Bennett, some redemption:
The initial protection is good, but so too is the coverage, and Bennett is running out of options. With the left edge of the pocket starting to soften Bennett spins away from pressure, rolling to his left. He keeps his eyes downfield, and spots tight end Miller Forristall. Forristall had initially run a corner route to the back of the end zone, but as Bennett started to roll the tight end worked away from coverage, finding some space between defenders.
It was enough for Bennett, who rips in a sidearm throw to win the game.
The second-year passer finished the day having completed 24-of-38 passes for 224 yards and the touchdown, along with the 4 interceptions. That added up to an NFL Passer Rating of 48.5.
As well as a perfect example of how it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
