Rush job: QB gets it done for Cowboys
FRISCO, Texas — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hyped a nonexistent quarterback controversy after Cooper Rush won filling in for the injured Dak Prescott last week.
Even though Rush did it again in the first NFC East game for the defending division champs, Jones had come back to his senses.
“He’s doing a great job and I know there isn’t anybody that’s supporting him more than Dak,” Jones said on his radio show Tuesday morning after a 23-16 road win over the Giants on Monday night.
“Because when Dak does get back, if we have a chance to have a record that lets us be in the hunt and be viable, considering the loss of time we had with Dak, then that’s what a quarterback is about. I think we got a good one in Cooper.”
By “good one,” Jones meant a backup. His tone was different last week after a victory over the defending AFC champion Bengals, when Jones, with that mischievous smile, said he would welcome a QB controversy because that would mean the Cowboys were winning.
After coach Mike McCarthy, star running back Ezekiel Elliott and even Rush himself shot that down, the undrafted sixth-year player went out and did it again.
Rush is the only quarterback since the 1970 merger to lead game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime of his first three career starts.
The first was a 20-16 road win against the Vikings when Prescott was sidelined by a calf strain. Rush knew it would be multiple starts this time after Prescott fractured his right thumb in a season-opening loss to the Buccaneers.
Now the question is how many more. Jones said Prescott will be “able to play within a week or two.”
Logic says two weeks, when the Cowboys (2-1) visit the defending Super Bowl champion Rams in Los Angeles. The Cowboys are at home against the Commanders on Sunday.
“Want to keep winning,” Rush said after improving his career record to 3-0. “As long as I’m in there, let’s just keep winning. Playing smart, trusting each other ... and we’ll be all right.”
What’s working
The running back tandem of Elliott and Tony Pollard looked as good as it ever has. Pollard broke the longest Cowboys run of the season at 46 yards to set up a field goal in his fourth career 100-yard game (105). Elliott had a season-best 27-yarder and finished with 73 while scoring a tying touchdown in the third quarter.
What needs help
Penalties are still a problem. A holding call derailed a promising game-opening drive. Cornerback Jourdan Lewis made unnecessary contact with a receiver on an incompletion on third-and-14, and the Giants drove to a tying field goal. Cornerback Kelvin Joseph grabbed a receiver’s facemask to negate a sack with the Cowboys trying to protect a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Next steps
If Prescott doesn’t play against the Commanders, he’ll miss an NFC East reunion with fellow 2016 draft pick Carson Wentz, who went No. 2 overall to the Eagles while the Cowboys took Prescott in the fourth round.
After Prescott won NFL offensive rookie of the year, they figured to be division rivals for years.
But Wentz’s career with the Eagles went south, then he spent last season with the Colts before a season-ending loss to the last-place Jaguars kept them out of the playoffs and soured that relationship.