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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

The Dallas Cowboys are very lucky to have Cooper Rush

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Things looked pretty bleak for the Dallas Cowboys after Dak Prescott fractured his right thumb during Week 1’s loss to the Bucs. Their franchise QB quickly underwent surgery and the team wondered how long it would be until he’d be back under center.

They – and many fans – also likely wondered if their season had come to an basically before it started.

Then Cooper Rush, who went undrafted in 2017, stepped in and beat the defending AFC-champion Bengals at home in Week 2, which was a pretty good win all things considered.

Then last night Rush led the Cowboys to a win on the road over the previously unbeaten Giants and he never seemed fazed all by the big state of MNF or the pressures of trying to beat division rival in front of a hostile crowd.

And you know what – the Dallas Cowboys are pretty darned luck to have this fella as their backup QB.

Prescott still could be a few weeks away from returning and he shouldn’t feel like he has to rush back now that they have, well, Cooper Rush. This dude, who played his college ball at Central Michigan University, is 3-0 filling in for Prescott over the past two years and has proven against some pretty good teams he can handle his own and then some.

Rush hasn’t lit up scoreboard in his two wins this season but he hasn’t thrown an interception, either. The turnover game, especially with a backup QB, is must-win if you want to win games and he’s doing just that. Rush has thrown a little over 200 yards in each of the past two games and has just a total of two TD passes but the Cowboys will take wins right now over anything.

The Giants know about Rush a little bit because he was on their team for a short stint in 2020. He was cut in late September and was out of football for a month until the Cowboys brought him back to their practice squad after Prescott fractured his ankle.

Now he’s their stud fill-in and has saved the Cowboys from what could have been a very ugly start to the season. You never know just how things are going to go with a backup – bad times sure seem to be more likely than good times – and it seems like the Cowboys have found a very capable one.

It’s a good time to be in the Cooper Rush business.

Quick hits: Santa Clara’s awesome cross-country photos… Max Homa’s perfect hungover tweet… Week 4 NFL Power Rankings… And more. 

– The Santa Clara men’s cross-country team photos are the best things in the internet today.

– Max Homa had the perfect 4-word tweet the morning after celebrating the U.S. team’s Presidents Cup win.

– Here are our latest NFL Power Rankings after Week 3.

– Manningcast was back last night and here are the best moments from it, including Peyton Manning yelling for time outs.

Zion Williamson looked awesome at yesterday’s media day in New Orleans.

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