Clarence Hill: What the Dallas Cowboys need to do beat the Washington Commanders
As starting quarterback Dak Prescott inches closer toward a return to the lineup, owner Jerry Jones has backed off his claim of wanting a controversy with backup Cooper Rush, who has led the Dallas Cowboys two straight wins.
Asked on his radio show if Rush keeps winning if it makes Jones still think about sticking with Rush even when Prescott is healthy, Jones said “No, all it does is tell me that we’re in great shape at the quarterback position.”
“That bothered me when we lost Dak so early. When it first happened, I thought, ‘What do we got here?’” Jones said on his radio show Friday. “But we went within. We called on Cooper. It turned out we’re at pretty good shape at backup quarterback.”
There is a slight chance Prescott, who still has swelling in his surgically repaired right thumb, could return Oct. 9 at Los Angeles Rams. But the most likely target is Oct. 16 at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Until then it will be Rush, who represents more than having the Cowboys in good shape at the quarterback position. He is on the door step of history against the Washington Commanders Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Rush is the third quarterback in Cowboys team history win his first three career starts, joining Roger Staubach and Jason Garrett.
With a win against Washington, he would become the first quarterback of the Cowboys to win his first four starts.
“It means I’m just in a good situation,” Rush said. “We have a great defense, we run the rock. Our defense, I think every game I’ve played, they’ve let up less than 20 points. They make playing QB easy. Rely on those guys on offense to run the ball, protection, making plays for me. That’s what I think about.”
Jones is no longer thinking quarterback controversy but is a firm believer in Rush.
“He’s certainly playing as well as anybody could have expected,” Jones said. “He has got the makeup for a top quarterback, and I underline the word ‘makeup’ for a top quarterback. We’re very fortunate. The purpose of the backup quarterback in the NFL is to be able to step in and have your team function on all the cylinders without having to give up some of your offense that the starter usually takes with him when he leaves.
“And we’re seeing that he will do that under pressure. He’ll do that when the chips are down. He’ll do that when the play isn’t exactly happening the way it’s designed to be.
“I think we’ve got a good one in Cooper.”
Rush has particularly excelled in late in games. All three victories, including a 20-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and a 23-16 win over the New York Giants the past two weeks to go along with a 20-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings last season, featured Rush directing game-winning drives in the fourth quarter.
Rush has completed 23 of 34 passes for 249 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 108.6 passer rating in those three games combined.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott, courtesy of defensive tackle Quentin Bohanna, has dubbed him “Cooper Clutch!”
The Cowboys are hoping he continues those clutch performances against Washington.
Clarence Hill’s 5 Things the Dallas Cowboys must do to beat Washington Commanders:
Keep running Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard
That the Washington Commanders allowed 191 yards rushing and gave up eight yards per carry against the Detroit Lions two weeks is not lost on the Cowboys heading into to Sunday’s game.
They want to run the ball with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard and they have similar run plays as the Lions in their offensive play book.
It’s certainly they plan to exploit, especially with the run game being the focal point of the offense, while opening up the play action passing game for quarterback Cooper Rush.
The Cowboys rushed for season-high 176 yards against Giants last Monday.
Elliott, a two-time NFL rushing champion, said the Cowboys are better in the run game than they have been in a long time.
Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore says the offense is simply in a groove with run after getting off to poor start in the season-opening loss to the Buccaneers.
“I think as the season progresses usually your run game get a little better as they go and I think our guys have done a nice job of finding their groove,” Moore said. “Certainly it’s something we want to utilize. First game, kinda got a little goofy. Weren’t able to do as much as we could and looking back on it you certainly would like to. But it’s certainly a big piece of us.
Let Micah Parsons, Cowboys rush attack Carson Wentz
Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz has been sacked 15 times this season, tied for the most in the NFL with Joe Burrow of the Bengals.
Wentz is coming off a game when he was sacked nine times by the Philadelphia and now he faces the league’s best pass rush in the Cowboys, who have 13 sacks on the season, including 6 against Burrow in a Week 2 victory.
Even scarier for Wentz is that Cowboys sack leader Micah Parsons is healthy again and properly motivated, after getting no sacks against the Giants last Monday while dealing with flu-like symptoms and being teased all week by his teammates. Parsons has second in the NFL with four sacks in three games.
“Aw man, it’s night and day. I’m definitely back to myself feeling 100%. I’m ready,” Parsons said. He also added, “Physically this is the best I’ve felt since college. I feel great.
“I am definitely trying to get back in the sack column I have been made fun of all week” Parsons added. “I’ll take the high expectations.
Big-play Michael Gallup to complement WR CeeDee Lamb
Receiver Michael Gallup is expected to make his season debut against Washington after missing the first three games rehabbing from a torn ACL.
No one is happier about it than No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb, who believes it cause team’s to change the way they have played him.
“If not, then [Gallup] is going to have a day. That’s just what it is,” Lamb said. “I can’t wait. You can never really just leave a wolf alone. Just seeing him out there I know it’s going to be very exciting.”
Gallup is the team’s best downfield big-play threat. He will not get a full load against Washington in his first game out.
But his presence will have impact on the coverages that have been focused on Lamb.
Continue to play Jason Peters at left guard next to rookie tackle Tyron Smith
The Cowboys don’t know how much Jason Peters will play this will week. But he will get an increased load in the rotation at left guard with Matt Farniok next to rookie left tackle Tyler Smith.
Peters played just 14 snaps in the second quarter against the Giants and resulted in the two longest runs of the season, a 46-yarder by Tony Pollard and a 27-yarder by Ezekiel Elliott.
Peters, 40, in his 19th year, will get a few more reps against Washington as the Cowboys are ramping him up slowly after joining the team just two weeks before the start of the season and having no training camp off season.
His impact is already huge dividends as a mentor and molder of Smith. The two of them together on field also presents a formidable left side of the line.”
“Jason has helped me so much in my progression,” Smith said. “He has molded me a lot in the short time that he has been here. He has helped my game that I feel is light years from where it was, not in just what I am doing but my mindset and how I think about what I am doing. He has been at it so long. He knows how to explain it in such a way that makes it pretty simple. It limits my job responsibility. It helps me play faster.”
A prime example was on Elliott’s 27-yard run against the Giants with Smith as the lead blocker on a toss sweep. He runs 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash at 325 pounds and was moving down the field as he mowed down two defenders and then got up and finished all the pile.
“We harp on covering and finishing, playing hard until the whistle blows,” Smith said. “That’s who I try to be, play hard and physical to the whistle.”
Guard against false confidence
The Cowboys (2-1) coming into Sunday’s game in a roll, winners of two straight and with budding confidence. Contrast that to the Washington Commanders, riding a two game losing steak and coming off a 24-8 setback to Philadelphia Eagles that featured them giving up nine sacks and initially falling behind 24-0.
Many think this should be an easy win for the Cowboys against what appears to be a struggling Washington team.
Coach Mike McCarthy says the Cowboys need to beware of false confidence and understand that what happens one week has no bearing on the next week’s game.
That most certainly true with division games. That is not even considering that the Cowboys are playing on a short week after a road game on Monday night
“I saw the score and I was watching the game on TV, 24-0, it didn’t feel that way to me, watching it live,” McCarthy said. “Then when we watched on the coaches tape, it definitely didn’t look that way. I’m a big believer you’ve got to guard against false confidence. I’m not one to say, ‘Hey, they gave up nine, we’re going to get 12.’ To me, it’s what happened last week has no difference in how you want to play. Because it’s so hard, it’s so difficult to win a game week in and week out.Every game is a new game. They’ve had a full week of preparation.
“It’s a challenge, No. 1, anytime you play a division game.”
Said Ezekiel Elliott: “You got to guard against the over confidence. But with the crew of guys we have, we got a lot of backups in place right now and guys with a lot of stuff to prove. Our seasons isn’t made with being 2-1. We are hungry. We know what the main objective is. That is what we are shooting for.”
