Cowboys at Rams in Hawaii: Stars up and stars down for the preseason game

HONOLULU - Cowboys 14, Rams 10 in Hawaii: ... and we've got Stars up and Stars down for the preseason game

STAR UP 1) Kellen Moore's first-team offense - The Cowboys don't score a lot of preseason touchdowns. But they opened this game with a solid drive that had everything: Pre-snap motion. Explosive backfield. Downfield throws. Overcome a sack. Everything you want from Dak Prescott and Company, you got it there.

Overall the Cowboys gained 97 yards on their opening drive, with rookie running back Tony Pollard featured as the reason for 52 of them -- including the 14-yard TD run to cap the possession. He's not Ezekiel Elliott. But Pollard obviously belongs.

.@Tp__5 takes in for 6️⃣!

The @dallascowboys are on the board.

📺: #DALvsLA on NFL Network (or check local listings) pic.twitter.com/SRMiooQENF
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 18, 2019

Michael Gallup got downfield for a key 31-yard catch, and Dak completed all of his throws -- as he did last week at the Niners, making him 9-of-9 on the year.

Said the un-retired Jason Witten, who caught a key pass on the drive: “I thought Dak was in total command. We were backed up on our 3-yard line ... It was a mixture of the pass game and the run game. I thought Tony Pollard did a good job hitting the hole.”

STAR UP 2) Jourdan Lewis is somewhat of a forgotten man what with Dallas' depth at corner. But once again, he demonstrated why he deserves snaps -- and why, if Byron Jones (hip) is slow to heal, the Cowboys might be able to survive that.

Lewis is considered by some to not "fit the mold'' of what Kris Richard (and Will McClay) want from their corners. It's true he's not freakishly long or large. But Lewis can play.

STAR UP 3) On a team that doesn't have enough special-team aces, one guy with a rep for that -- C.J. Goodwin -- showed up. He was Johnny-on-the-spot to recover an early Rams muffed punt, tracing the ball and tracing the returner and never giving up on the possibility ... and then capitalizing by recovering the loose ball.

STAR DOWN 1) Brett Maher had a good week in Oxnard with a pair of 6-for-6 days. Here, he earned the wrong sort of attention by missing a 52-yard field goal in the first half, making meaning he'd missed two of his first five FG attempts in the preseason.

Said coach Jason Garrett: “I just wanted to see what he can do. He has been such a good kicker for us from that distance. With the conditions, with the wind, outdoors, all that, I just wanted to put him in that situation, and he will grow from that experience.”

STAR DOWN 2) Receiver Reggie Davis continued the process of Dallas' young backup receivers "cutting themselves.'' He muffed a punt early, in a way following in the footsteps of Jon'Vea Johnson, who last week in the loss at the Niners had a case of the dropsies.

Now, young Devin Smith, a 2015 second-round pick who busted with the Jets, caught a TD pass from QB Cooper Rush. (Who continues to separate himself from third-stringer Mike White.)

That continues a good week of work for Devin. Maybe he's a 53-man finalist. But ultimately?

Hands ✅
Feet ✅

What a TD catch by @dallascowboys WR @dsmithosu 👀

📺: #DALvsLA on NFL Network (or check local listings) pic.twitter.com/XQFlWYFoRS
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 18, 2019

Dallas has Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb and Gallup as the top three guys. None of these kids have shown -- on a consistent basis -- that they deserve to be considered at the next tier.

STAR DOWN 3) The Cowboys are two preseason games in and are still waiting for defensive tackle Trysten Hill, their second-round pick, to assert himself. He doesn't need to be Maliek Collins (though that is kind of the original idea) but we should be at least noticing him. He seemed to hustle, but also seemed reliant on an ineffective spin move and ended up on the ground too often.

Early in camp, Rod Marinelli said Hill was "on the caboose'' of the train. "The Caboose'' would be an unflattering nickname for the kid. He's got two more preseason games to try to shake it.