Rams tandem runs through, over Cowboys

LOS ANGELES — The high-flying Los Angeles Rams kept the ball firmly on the ground, and they ran straight past the Dallas Cowboys for a breakthrough playoff victory.

C.J. Anderson rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and Todd Gurley ran for 115 yards and another TD in the Rams’ first postseason win in 14 years, 30-22 over the Cowboys in the divisional round Saturday night.

From the opening drive until the final first down, Gurley and Anderson methodically punished the Cowboys’ normally sturdy run defense and sent the second-seeded Rams (14-3) to the NFC championship game for the first time in 17 years.

Los Angeles racked up a franchise playoff-record 273 yards rushing. That’s also the most ever allowed in the postseason by the Cowboys, who were playing in their NFL-record 63rd postseason game.

“Feels great, just running the ball the way we did,” quarterback Jared Goff said after his first career playoff victory. “Two 100-yard rushers, that’s rare, and it starts with those five guys up front.”

The long-struggling Rams had won only one postseason game since their last trip to the Super Bowl in February 2002, but 32-year-old coach Sean McVay has added his first playoff victory to his spectacular two-season franchise turnaround.

“That’s a big-time win for us, and the key was being able to hold them to 50 yards (rushing) and to rush for 273,” McVay said.

Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a TD and Amari Cooper caught an early TD pass for the Cowboys (11-7), who still haven’t won a playoff game on the road in 26 years. After winning the NFC East and beating Seattle last week, Dallas lost in the divisional playoff round for the sixth consecutive time and fell short of its first trip to the NFC championship game since January 1996.

Next weekend, the Rams will face the winner of the other divisional playoff game in New Orleans between the Saints and the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.