Cooper Rush goes from Cinderella Story to three interception night vs. Eagles

Before Sunday night’s battle against the Philadelphia Eagles, people were legitimately wondering if the Dallas Cowboys were going to have a real quarterback controversy between Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush.

Before Sunday night, Rush had gone 5-0 as a starter for the Cowboys. He was never perfect, but he kept America’s Team alive during a tough stretch without their QB1 and several other hurt players. The backup even broke a franchise record for the most wins in a QB’s first four starts as a Cowboy.

After Sunday night’s game… the narrative has seriously changed and people should feel grateful that Prescott is likely going to return next Sunday.

The first half was abysmal for Rush. After going the first four games of this season without a pick, the backup threw two bad picks in the first two quarters of Sunday Night Football. He completed just five passes for only 36 yards, and his quarterback rating through the first half was an unimaginable 1.0. Yikes.

Cowboys backup Cooper Rush’s Cinderella Story ends after a brutal performance against the Eagles in Week 6

Let’s be clear. Rush deserves a ton of credit for what he did in Weeks 2-5. All hope was lost for this franchise after an abysmal showing in Week 1 to the Tampa Bay Bucs. He was able to lead an injury-riddled team to four straight wins that nobody expected them to win before Week 2 came along.

However, tonight showed why he is a backup, albeit a great one. In a high-pressure rivalry game, things just seemed too much for Rush. He finished the night with a meager 47.4 completion percentage, 181 passing yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a 37.3 QB rating. He wasn’t a QB1 in this game.

Rush couldn’t build any kind of momentum, and even passes that were caught seemed to be great catches rather than good throws. Plus, the Eagles deflected a whopping 11 of Rush’s passes in the matchup that helped them earn their three picks.

The first interception came at the beginning of the second quarter and was a huge momentum shift in the game. When the Cowboys got the ball back after going down 7-0, Rush passed to a well-protected Michael Gallup. The ball was deflected by an Eagles defender and ultimately intercepted.

Pick No. 2 came just eight minutes later. He threw a poor pass to Gallup that looked like it was meant for the hands of Darius Slay.

The last one marked CJ Gardner-Johnson’s second of the night.

This was perhaps the worst one. Rush completely underthrew a wide-open Lamb, which left Gardner-Johnson available for a pick.

Again, Rush deserves a ton of credit for what he’s done. However, in a primetime game with immense pressure, the Cinderella magic seemed to run out. We don’t have confirmation that Prescott is medically cleared for Week 7 vs. the Detroit Lions, but he was seen throwing passes with his right hand during warmups in Philly.

It appears the “QB controversy” started by Jerry Jones has come to a disappointing end with a 26-17 Cowboys loss to the Eagles. Rush is a great backup. He is not, however, a QB1. Bring on Prescott.

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