The Dallas Cowboys facing some challenges as they venture into the second half of their season without franchise quarterback Dak Prescott, who’s out with an injury. But, all is not lost. Fans should really give backup quarterback Cooper Rush a chance. He had a shaky first few games with the Cowboys, but he had one of his best games ever last Sunday, November 24, against the Washington Commanders, going 24 for 32 with 247 yards and two touchdowns.
So, this Thanksgiving, as fans gear up to watch the Cowboys take on the Giants, who are also without a franchise quarterback, I ask you to cut Rush some slack.
Dallas’ Cooper Rush is a ‘Big Reason’ the Cowboys Are Having Some Success
Looking at Cooper’s game against Washington, he performed well, but the offensive line should also get props, as the line protected him very well and didn’t allow for a pressure the entire game.
If the Cowboys are going to win against any of their upcoming opponents, they need to once again have their offensive line protect Rush with all they’ve got. Then, Rush has to do his job and get the ball into the hands of CeeDee Lamb, Luke Schoonmaker, Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert. Keep the momentum going and keep those plays happening.
NFL analyst and expert Matthew Holleran of Blogging the Boys gives Rush some praise in a November 25 feature, stating that “a big reason the Cowboys were able to have success on offense was the performance of quarterback Cooper Rush.”
“The veteran quarterback had really struggled in his first two starts of the season, but he completely flipped the script on Sunday,” he stated of Rush’s Commanders performance. “Rush put together the best overall performance of his NFL career, completing 24 of 32 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Rush’s 117.6 Passer Rating was a career-high, as was his 75% completion percentage.”
Rush ‘Looked Quite a Bit Like a Starter’
Over at SB Nation, Doug Farrar also gives Rush praise, stating, “A nice sub-story was the performance of Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush. The Cowboys promoted Rush to starter over Trey Lance following Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury in Week 9. Rush, a 2017 undrafted free agent from Central Michigan (go Chippewas), had never really resembled a starter in his NFL career, mostly bouncing from practice squads to active rosters.”
He added that in the Commanders game, “with a few bumbles aside, Rush looked quite a bit like a starter.”
Farrar added that Rush’s “passer rating of 117.6 was fifth-highest in the NFL in Week 12, and his EPA per Dropback of +0.20 also ranked fifth. And this wasn’t all dink-and-dunk – Rush was making some pro throws out there.”
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy also had some great things to say about Rush after the Washington win, stating that, “I thought Cooper did a great job managing the game.”
“I thought the run game teed up some completions for him,” he added. “I thought he was very decisive and was clean with that. We had some plays taken off us in the passing game because of penalties, but I thought he did a great job managing the game, and I think it was his best one so far.”