Dak Prescott, Mike McCarthy praises Cooper Rush following Sunday night performnce

The Dallas Cowboys continue to roll on after defeating the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night. But that victory is a special one as it came with starting quarterback Dak Prescott sidelined for the game. In his place backup Cooper Rush took over the playcalling responsibilities and the Cowboys’ offense didn’t miss a beat. On Monday, head coach Mike McCarthy praised the play of his backup quarterback.

“I was glad everybody got to see that because that’s Cooper Rush. He plays the quarterback position like a seasoned veteran,” said McCarthy. “Dak was his biggest supporter, cheerleader all the way through.”

Rush delivered a solid performance in his spell of Prescott and even outplayed Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. Rush went 24-40 passing on the game for 325 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Meanwhile, Cousins was 23-35 or 184 yards and a touchdown. And although he was injured, Prescott was highly involved on the sideline cheering on his understudy.

“There wasn’t a moment I thought he was too high or nervous or rattled,” said Prescott. “That’s Coop. He’s very mild-tempered and always that way — never too high or too low. It showed tonight.”

Cooper makes history with win

If getting the win wasn’t enough, Rush was also a part of history for the Cowboys. In the fourth quarter, the former Central Michigan signal caller connected with Amari Cooper for a touchdown, which proved to be the game-winner, while making odd history along the way. Rush, who had not thrown an NFL pass since 2017, stepped up and delivered. The Cowboys advanced to 6-1 on the season despite missing Prescott for the entire game.

The Cooper-Rush-to-Amari-Cooper touchdown is the first in NFL history where the passer’s first name and receiver’s last name are an exact match according to NFL Research. Cooper finished the game with eight catches for 122 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Incredibly, the Cowboys are also the only team to throw a touchdown pass where the quarterback’s last name and the receiver’s first name, were the exact same name. 

As NFL research noted on Sunday, former Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton connected with tight end Dalton Schultz on a touchdown just one season ago. The opponent? Also the Minnesota Vikings.

Next up for the Cowboys is a Sunday noon game at home against the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are 4-4 on the season and in prime position to keep the Cowboys’ winning ways going.