The
Cowboys claimed the NFC East Championship during the 2018-19 season
after a 3-5 start to the season. Newly acquired star receiver
Amani Cooper from the Raiders helped open up the passing game for Dak
Prescott, and the running game with Zeke Elliott was amazing with
Elliott claiming the rushing title again. The Cowboys beat the
Seahawks during the Wild Card game to advance to the NFC Divisional
Game. Since the Cowboys had a 50-50 shot at that point to play
the next round in Los Angeles, I booked a ticket with my Southwest
Rapid Rewards points after the game to hold a ticket for me in case I
could have the chance to go and watch the game down in LA. As
soon as the Bears missed their field goal in their Wild Card game the
next day, I knew the Cowboys had punched their ticket to LA so I
immediately got one of one of those resale ticket apps on my iPhone to
buy a ticket for the game. The prices for the tickets had jumped
dramatically as soon as Bears Kicker Parkay missed his kick. So,
I was all set to attend the game in LA!
I flew down to Long Beach on the following
Saturday morning for the game. After arriving into the "throw
back" airport, I got upgraded to a Chevy Camaro since I was a valued
Fast Break member with Budget. I put my Cowboys car flag on the
powerful Camaro, and I headed out for lunch with some buddies at
Porto's Cafe & Bakery in Downey en route to the LA Memorial
Coliseum.
Since parking is an issue, I bought a parking
spot by a LA Metro Station to take the train to USC for the game.
Getting into the Coliseum took a long time. However, once I got
in, it was cool to check out this iconic stadium. Since I just
went for the first available ticket, I was up in the nose bleed
section, but it was still cool to be at a playoff game!
The pregame ceremonies were cool including the
lighting of the torch above the Coliseum. I got to see the
Cowboys warm up as well. There seemed to be at least half if not
more Cowboys fans there. The Rams scored first with a field goal,
but the Cowboys got the first touchdown. Who caught the TD
pass? Who else but Amani Cooper!
However, it was pretty much all Rams after
that. Both Rams running backs ran for over a 100 yards. The
Cowboys did get two more touchdowns on the ground including one from
Zeke and one from Dak. The Cowboys tried to come back, but the
Rams edged us out 30-22. I was still proud of the effort the
Cowboys put together this season after starting out slow and having
some issues with our offense line. The Cowboys D was great for
the most part during the regular season and the Wild Card game.
I spent the night in LA before flying home on
Sunday afternoon. On the way back to the airport, I was able to
meet up with my good friends from Orange County for brunch in Long
Beach. I loved driving that Camaro rental car too!