LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Rams played in a new stadium, in new uniforms with a new defensive coordinator.
And plenty of new players made big plays Sunday night in the Rams' 20-17 season-opening victory over the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
On a night when veteran running back Malcolm Brown rushed for two touchdowns, rookie kicker Samuel Sloman kicked two field goals and other rookies _ running back Cam Akers, receiver Van Jefferson and safety Jordan Fuller _ made big plays as the Rams kept fourth-year coach Sean McVay unbeaten in openers.
Quarterback Jared Goff and the offense had some moments, but it was a defense directed by Brandon Staley that kept coming up with key stops.
Veteran defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers had sacks and nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day tipped a pass. Fuller, a sixth-round draft pick, made a key fourth-down stop and star cornerback Jalen Ramsey thwarted another late third-down pass. And new edge rusher Leonard Floyd also had a sack late in the game.
It was a big win for a Rams team attempting to bounce back from last season's 9-7 finish, which left them out of the playoffs for the first time under McVay.
And it gave them momentum heading into next week at Philadelphia, which lost its opener against Washington.
The Rams trailed, 14-13, at halftime after scoring only one touchdown in four trips inside the 20-yard line.
Brockers gave the Rams momentum when he sacked Dak Prescott on the first series of the second half.
Goff completed passes of 30 yards to Robert Woods and 17 yards to Josh Reynolds to set up Brown's second short touchdown run for a 20-14 lead.
Joseph-Day tipped a third-down pass that forced another Cowboys punt, but Cowboys cornerback Chidobe Awuzie intercepted a Goff pass that gave Prescott the ball at the Rams' 39.
The Cowboys drove to the Rams' 14, but Prescott's third-down pass fell incomplete, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal that cut the Rams' lead to 20-17.
The Cowboys appeared poised to tie the score with a field goal when they faced a fourth-and-three situation at the Rams' 11. But Prescott took a snap and completed a pass to receiver CeeDee Lamb, who was stopped short by Fuller.
The Rams, however, could not convert the big play into points.
They ate up five minutes of the clock before they were forced to punt, giving the Cowboys another chance to take the lead. Ramsey, though, ended that threat when he knocked a third-down pass out of receiver Amari Cooper's grasp.
The Rams defense got a final test when the Cowboys got the ball back with 2:28 left in the game.
Floyd had a second-down sack, but the victory was not ensured until Prescott's pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-20 play with six seconds left.
Goff completed 20 of 31 passes for 275 yards, with an interception.
Robert Woods had six catches for 105 yards. Cooper Kupp caught four passes for 40 yards.
Brown rushed for 79 yards in 18 carries. Akers rushed for 39 yards and 14 carries.
Prescott completed 25 of 39 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown in 22 carries.
The Rams impressed on their first drive, Goff connecting with Woods three times for 60 yards during a seven-play, 75-yard drive that Brown capped with a two-yard touchdown run.
Donald sacked Prescott on the ensuing possession and the Rams forced a punt.
The Rams put together a long drive, with Akers, Brown and Darrell Henderson picking up first downs. But Sloman's first field-goal attempt, from 29 yards, bounced off the upright.
Prescott took advantage, connecting with rookie Lamb for 33 yards to set up a 19-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Elliott that tied the score, 7-7, early in the second quarter.
Sloman's 35-yard field goal _ his first in the NFL _ put the Rams ahead by three points midway through the second quarter.
The Rams got a break when Greg Zuerlein, the Rams' kicker from 2012 to 2019, missed a 53-yard field-goal attempt. The Rams took over at their 43-yard line, and Goff's 31-yard completion to rookie receiver Van Jefferson set up another Sloman field goal, increasing the lead to 13-7.
Prescott completed passes on six of the next seven plays, and then scrambled for 12 yards to set up Elliott's one-yard touchdown run for a 14-13 lead.
