The first loss for Cooper Rush came last night against the Eagles, 26-17, and yet the Cowboys found a way to keep afloat in the NFC despite Philadelphia’s victory.
The Cowboys sit 4-2, and Dak Prescott looks like he will be ready to go next week against the Detroit Lions, marking his first return to action since he fractured his right thumb in week one. Let’s not kid ourselves; the Cowboys are sitting pretty with 11 games remaining on the schedule.
Did I think they would be 4-2 when Prescott was ready to return to action? No, I didn’t, but guess what? Rush found a way not to make any mistakes like he did early in last night’s game and put the team into a hole.
When you look at the NFC playoff picture, Dallas currently holds the six seed with wins over the Rams (7 seed) and the Giants (5 seed). Cooper Rush did exactly what he needed to do, have the Cowboys sitting in the playoff picture when Prescott returned.
Best records in the NFC through six weeks:
Eagles: 6-0
Vikings: 5-1
Giants: 5-1
Cowboys: 4-2— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 17, 2022
This post isn’t to pick one or the other; it’s to give kudos to Rush for holding Dallas above water and not talk about some quarterback controversy everyone thought was brewing.
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott said he plans to play vs. Lions on Sunday pic.twitter.com/wrVkEwmD19
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) October 17, 2022
The NFC is weird right now. On the outside looking in are the Packers, who hold a 3-3 record with the loss to the Jets yesterday. The Giants are 5-1, but the one loss came from a Rush-led Cowboys team which will loom large.
Only one game separates the Cowboys from jumping to the five seed. Let’s give this team a lot of credit for not throwing in the towel when the media and everyone else buried them.
This is Dak Prescott Team but let’s not disrespect Cooper Rush.. we wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for him… Coop got my respect! let’s be grateful
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) October 17, 2022
They rode the running game and the defense. The team looked better in the second half of the game yesterday. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for another 125 yards, and it was effective in the second half when the game got close.
The Cowboys have a favorable schedule, with Prescott on track to return this week. They travel back home for the next two games to play host to the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, then have a bye week.
No reason this team shouldn’t be sitting 6-2 as they roll into the bye in week nine.
The two games on the other side of the bye could impact their playoff seeding significantly. They travel to Lambo to take on a declining Packers team and then to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to take on a Vikings team currently leading the NFC North.
The Cowboys are comfortable after six weeks of the season; this team deserves a lot of credit for staying together after being written off after ONE week of the season.
This team just seems different, they have leaders all over the place, and they don’t care about the outside noise. They could have been run out of the stadium last night, yet they clawed back into it and gave it a shot.
They have lost two games after six weeks; let’s appreciate the players, coaching staff, and others for holding it together and being right in the thick of the playoff picture when getting QB1 back.
Thank you, Cooper Rush, for doing what was asked. Now, let’s get back to work.
Great article.
Rush luck is awesome and held long enough to float the boat. The team rallied and fought and is now better for the experience.
I find the FIRST sentence in the article very interesting. It was CR’s first “LOSS”, but the “COWBOYS” somehow kept “afloat”. So, in other words, emphasizing the LOSS, well that’s on CR, but in the other FOUR WINS, it turns into the “Cowboys”. Hmm.
Yep, it was CR that led the team to wins over some tough teams, Bengals, Rams, Giants, in his 4-1 record this year. Now DP gets two soft team games (predictable for his return), after his poor 3-point offensive effort in the season opener vs the Bucs (now 3-3 after losing to the previous 1-win Steelers this weekend).
Curious to see how DP does against two of the perineal NFC East “slug” teams he feasted on annually, that are much improved (especially the Eagles). Those six cake walk wins he got almost every year, where he was able to pad his stats.
IMO, they need to draft a QB EARLY next year and start the grooming. DP is not getting us to the big game and if he is “better” than CR, as many think, than…
Question for anyone; who honestly thought they would be 4-2 after the losing season opener?
You certainly sound like #TeamRush. He did a great job, much better than we all thought he would do. But let’s be honest, he is a game manager, not a game changer. Where was this running game when Dak was at the helm? Our offensive coordinators game plan was run once, pass 2-3 times each series. Completely different game plan than the one implemented for Cooper Rush. Whether you want to believe it or not, we win that game against The Eagles if Dak was playing
Whether I believe DP would have beat the Eagles is irrelevant, b/c no one will ever know. As far as being “TeamRush” it’s about seeing a QB2 coming in and winning four games out of five. Beating the Super Bowl champs and AFC champs from last year and handing the now 5-1 Giants their only loss. I give him a lot of credit for that especially when many thought the season was over. And if he is labeled a “game manager” as he does that, then give me a “game manager”.
That said, is he the long term answer, I can’t say for sure,. However, as a starter he is 5-1, but that’s a small sample size and would need to see more, maybe a year. But that won’t happen with the Cowboys as there are not benching a $40 million a year player.
Conversely, we have a near SEVEN year track record with DP. And as I have commented numerous times before here, he has ONE PLAYOFF WIN in those almost seven years now. And these constant EXCUSES for DP are really getting silly. If it’s not one thing, it’s something else. It’s really ridiculous. Real simple, he stupidly got paid like an elite QB, but the results are just average. Last year, his QBR ranking was 17th before that final game of the year, where Philly basically forfeited, and he padded his stats big time against 2nd and 3rd stringers. 17th; Is that a game changer?
My two cents suggestion to maybe get them back in the hunt, is to draft a big school, highly rated QB EARLY next year to start the grooming, b/c IMO DP is not going to get better and is now missing quite a few games from injuries that seem to be piling up.