INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Asked about the value of going through a game like Sunday's 13-12 win over the Cowboys, Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett paused for a moment in the middle of his response the question, aware of how the explanation of his goal would sound.
"I don't know," Bennett said. "I think it's really good to have, you know – that was probably the weirdest game that I've ever been a part of. Yeah, I don't know. But I told myself today, we're gonna roll with the punches. My goal was to not make any mental errors, which I know the – it was basically to run the offense correctly. And I know the interceptions are different, but like to run in and out of the huddle, execute. And I thought we did that for the majority of the day. There were some lapses, obviously, but in the end, it was get the ball in the endzone or you lose, and I think everybody kind of helped to do it."
In his first live game action since the 2023 preseason finale against the Broncos, Bennett overcame throwing four interceptions to toss the game-winning touchdown in the 2024 preseason opener. He completed 24 of 38 pass attempts for 224 yards in the victory.
The former Georgia standout said he thought he played well, "and then just made a bunch of bad decisions, if that's possible, right, if you can play well." Los Angeles did have long drives at times Sunday afternoon with Bennett leading the offense, and Bennett acknowledged that "it seemed like it was me, pretty much, who stopped us today."
To his credit, two of the Rams' first three offensive series ended in points – a pair of field goals by kicker Joshua Karty. On the first drive especially, Bennett showed the comfort and confidence he sought when operating the offense: He went 4 for 5 for 46 yards leading Los Angeles to the Dallas 9-yard line to set up Karty's 28-yard field goal.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Bennett's first two picks were "tough, because those are kind of occupational hazards," and that he "has to be able to make better decisions" on the second two, but can learn from all of them.
"On his third one, our 'X' (receiver) fell, so that safety didn't have any work, he ended up coming off, we had a play that we really liked there," McVay said. "And then the last one, he's got a high cross, he's got to just change the way he's laying that ball. But he is a resilient guy, and all of them are ones he can learn from."
Bennett almost didn't have a chance to show that resilience, though perhaps this moment only further illustrated it. A pass deep left intended for wide receiver Drake Stoops was intercepted for what would've been Bennett's fifth pick, but the play was negated by a defensive holding penalty against the Cowboys. Seven players later, Bennett connected with tight end Miller Forristall on 4th and goal from the Dallas 6-yard line for the game-winning score, with Karty's extra point clinching the victory.
"Just always keeping him up," said rookie wide receiver Jordan Whittington, who saw a team-high nine targets from Bennett and caught six for 74 yards. "The game comes with adversity and stuff like that, so you always just want somebody to tell you to keep on going. And quarterback is a really tough position to play, so you always want to make sure that they know that you got their back throughout it all."
Like McVay, Bennett was proud of the resilience L.A.'s offense as a whole had in being able to mount that game-winning drive.
After Bennett threw that touchdown, he kept walking and locked eyes with McVay, then the rest of the Rams' sideline.
"You just look and everything's like, I don't know, you're kind of floatin'," Bennett said. "That was... that was pretty cool."
