ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy waxed poetic about backup-turned-starter Cooper Rush and he will take over for the injured Dak Prescott.
In the lead-up to their Week 10 home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a 34-6 loss, McCarthy compared Rush to 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon. Rush made history Sunday, teaming up with another NFL MVP quarterback, Peyton Manning, but in disastrous fashion. He completed 13 of his 23 passes for 45 yards and lost two fumbles, one on a bobbled snap and another on a sack. According to CBS Sports Research, Rush’s performance on Sunday made him the third player in the last 20 years with more than 20 pass attempts and fewer than 50 passing yards in a game.
Rush joined the worn-out, broken-down 2015 version of Manning, who threw for 35 yards on 20 passes in Week 10 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Bengals backup quarterback Brandon Allen, who threw for 48 yards. in 21 attempts. in Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals of the 2020 season, in this notorious club.
“I just didn’t play well enough,” Rush said after Sunday’s game. … “We just didn’t take advantage of some moments in the red zone. [We had a] A couple of good, long drives, the defense loses the ball and we don’t take advantage. It can snowball quickly if you don’t take care of it too. …We already saw them at the beginning of the first quarter and then [another one] going to the end zone. Turnovers always kill you and we had the opportunity, with the defense playing well, to outplay those coming out of halftime. “We just didn’t do it.”
McCarthy also went out of his way during the week to call Sunday “Cooper’s opportunity” when asked about finding ways to get 2021 third overall pick quarterback Trey Lance into the game. In the end, he knew Rush didn’t have it and put Lance in for good at the start of the fourth quarter. It’s unclear who the Cowboys will start in Prescott’s absence going forward.
“We’re not there yet. I mean, we had a package for him,” McCarthy said after Sunday’s game when asked about Lance’s potential to be a starter. We wanted it to get into the flow of the game, that was the thought process coming in here. Then to get it in when we did it, then I took it out [one] the third below. I only believe in repetitions. I’m talking about that third down segment, not about him not being able to execute the plays. I just didn’t want to put it out there, something I hadn’t had a lot of reps on. I put Cooper back in for that play, for third down, we had the turnover there. Something [starting Lance] Obviously I’ll discuss it tomorrow.”
