DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings 20-16 with backup quarterback Cooper Rush engineering a comeback while filling in for injured starter Dak Prescott. Beating a good team on the road without their MVP candidate quarterback is the type of win that legitimizes the Cowboys as Super Bowl contenders.
It wasn’t a pretty win, nor is it supposed to be when you play a backup quarterback, but the goal is always to find a way to get the ‘W.’ The Cowboys did that by making their biggest plays at key times to walk away with the victory. Dallas is now winners of six straight, are 6-1 on the season, and the 3.5 game lead in the NFC East was preserved.
Rush was getting his first NFL start and it wasn’t an easy task. Going on the road against a good team with a solid defense wasn’t ideal. Yet the Cowboys expressed confidence in Rush all week and put their money where their mouths were.
There wasn’t much scaling down of the playbook to hide Rush. The calls from offensive coordinator Kellen Moore might have been different than they would’ve been with Prescott, but the Cowboys weren’t conservative when they had the ball. Rush threw 40 times, totaled 325-yards, and tossed two scores in one of the better starting debuts in Cowboys history.
It took Rush a little time to get settled in after he learned of his starting role only after Prescott was ruled out just 90 minutes before kickoff. An interception early in the second quarter wasn’t a good decision, but Rush came out firing in the second half.
A 3rd down laser throw to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson was a pinpoint pass and Wilson did the rest on a 73-yard touchdown. Dallas trailed 10-3 before that big play but the TD loosened up Rush and the Vikings’ defense for the rest of the game.
Moore kept calling for the intermediate passing game in the last 30 minutes and the offense kept finding success. The Cowboys only ran the ball seven times in the second half, showing that they weren’t afraid to put the game in Rush’s hands.
The Cowboys also found creative ways to move the chains when they needed points. Wilson’s trick play throw to fellow receiver CeeDee Lamb gained 35 yards and got the team in position for the tying field goal in the third quarter.
The offense might not have been as crisp or as explosive as when Prescott is under center, but they ultimately didn’t look hamstrung by the backup.
On the biggest drive of the night, the offense came up clutch. With the Cowboys down three points and 2:45 left in the game, Rush went 6-for-8, throwing for 75 yards and the eventual game-winning touchdown.
The drive’s first big play came when wide receiver Amari Cooper snared a thrice juggled ball for a 33-yard catch. That superlative grab had the Cowboys knocking on field goal range but they still had time to try to get into the end zone.
The second key play, and essentially the play of the game, came on the third-and-11 conversion via running back Ezekiel Elliott. The dump off throw was designed to get a few yards closer for a game-tying field goal. Instead, Elliott split two defenders and carried two more past the first down marker to pick up 15 yards to keep the drive alive. Without this conversion, the best outcome for the Cowboys was a field goal and overtime and the uncertainty that comes with it.
The third key play was Rush’s perfect pass to the back corner of the end zone and Cooper’s ability to bring it in. The Cowboys could have played it more conservative, opting to run the ball on first-and-goal, but they elected to be aggressive and throw for the score. That’s a winning mindset.
Those were impact plays where the Cowboys were right on the money in the game’s waning moments after some miscues earlier in the game.
The defense also did their part. After a rough start, where they allowed a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, Dallas’ defense gave up just nine more points. Three field goals was all Dan Quinn’s unit would surrender the rest of the way under tough circumstances.
The Cowboys also held quarterback Kirk Cousins to his lowest output of the season, throwing for just 184 yards, and they held one of the best receivers in the league, Justin Jefferson, to only 21 yards on two catches.
Like the offense, the defense played their best in the biggest moments of the game.
After the two Cowboys turnovers, the defense stiffened and didn’t allow the Vikings to convert those giveaways into points. Giving up no points when your offense turns it over twice near midfield is winning football.
The Cowboys did have some rough penalties late in the game to allow the Vikings to go down the field to take the lead, but a red zone defensive stand was another key sequence for Dallas. Giving up just three points on a first-and-goal situation was one of the differences in the game.
The bye made it a long two weeks for the Cowboys to get ready to play the Vikings and the intrigue surrounding the game mostly centered around Dak Prescott and his calf injury. The Cowboys never wavered in their belief that they could win with Cooper Rush under center, however, and it paid off.
The Cowboys once again proved that you don’t have to play pretty football to win, you just have to make the biggest plays in the game’s biggest moments to earn a victory.
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