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Cowboys empowered Cooper Rush to attack — and he attacked downfield: Decoding Kellen Moore
By Bob Sturm
The Cowboys’ surprise victory Sunday was a rarity in that they were a 7-point underdog and won. It was the first such win since they beat the Vikings in 2020 in Minneapolis in a game that featured Andy Dalton and CeeDee Lamb’s ridiculous end zone catch. Amazingly, in Cooper Rush’s other big career moment, Dallas was only a smaller underdog of 3.5 points at Minnesota at kickoff.
This one was certainly considered a pretty big upset to knock down and knock out the AFC champions in a real street fight. The crazy part of this street fight is how well the Cowboys stood up in the trenches. I don’t think I will dive as deep here on the offensive line evaluation, but the film study revealed a very good day for almost everyone. Left guard Matt Farniok was still a real issue with substantial problems in pass protection, but otherwise, all four other players received at worst, a passing grade and in several cases they were strong and positive performances.
Without the offensive line doing its thing often in pass protection and even in the game, they gave Rush a chance to make plays and to move the team.
And that is exactly what Rush did.
It all probably comes down to that fourth-and-2 to start the game. The cojones to decide you are going for it on the game’s first drive and potentially risk a massive backlash rests with Mike McCarthy. I love that because I want him to do what he has always done which is to never coach scared. He trusted his guys, he told Kellen Moore to pick a play that Rush loves and trust the guys to get two yards.
But, between calling it and seeing it, there must have been some blood-pressure spikes.
Fourth-and-2, Dallas 44 – 1Q – 12:33 – C.Rush pass short middle to N.Brown to CIN 39 for 17 yards.
Trips right in a 3×1 with Dalton Schultz on the weak side. The play will have a mesh concept in front of Rush at the sticks. This should open up Schultz to sit down at the first down line and Dallas only needs the 46-yard line.
A few things to see:
• All the Bengals linebackers will click and close on Schultz, but the pass looks there.
• Farniok takes a big loss here and DJ Reader is about to ear-hole Rush.
• Then spy Noah Brown running what appears to be a DIG behind that level of linebackers and is wide open above the Star.
This third frame is the catch-point where Brown adjusts on the ball. Was the Schultz play easier? Would we be on Rush if he didn’t complete this for turning down the easier throw on fourth down to try the riskier one? It doesn’t matter — but wow, what a moment.
It set the tone for the entire game and it confirms that the Cowboys really did trust Rush and for that reason made a fine decision to keep him as their backup. Games like this are the true lie detectors. You can say you trust a guy, but do you?
We have grown to expect the Cowboys to not trust their backup QBs in situations like this, but I suppose it is time to update our notes. For all of the things that Moore can be blamed for, putting handcuffs on Rush is not one of them. For Rush to go find two wins in underdog situations against two playoff-level opponents that have their pieces, he had to be aggressive.
In contrast, allow me to roll back the clock to 2015. It was Week 3 and the Cowboys had just lost Tony Romo the week before for several months with a broken clavicle, thanks to Jordan Hicks. Now the Cowboys have Brandon Weeden to step in and handle the team for a few months, perhaps. Could he hold the fort until November when Romo could return to save the season?
That was answered loud and clear when early in that week, the Cowboys traded for Matt Cassel. It seemed an ominous sign that they had Weeden and Kellen Moore in the queue but quickly traded for another QB, suggesting that they didn’t have what they thought they needed.
But, it was all revealed that day against Atlanta in Week 3. The Falcons were not sure what Weeden would do, but he had some weapons and it would be interesting to see if Scott Linehan and Jason Garrett would attack.
Instead, it was checkdown after checkdown — a passing game that almost required nothing but underhand throws.
Here was the PFF throw chart from that day that revealed only five throws of more than 10 yards and two throws of more than 15 yards were attempted and both were incomplete with one being intercepted.
Week 3, 2015. Brandon Weeden vs. Atlanta
The Cowboys had no courage in their game plan, so while they broke some big running plays early, the Falcons slowly took them apart and won by 11 points. Weeden attempted 26 passes that day and 21 of them were short and very frustrating. It was as if they told him, whatever you do, do not look downfield.
So, forgive us if that was the kind of attack we might have been on watch for happening again Sunday vs. Cincinnati.
But, to the credit of all involved, Dallas empowered Rush to be aggressive and fire the ball down the field. Yes, he was going to take some short pieces, but there were nine attempts at down-the-field throws with eight of them beyond 15 yards. What is better? Rush hit almost every single one of them.
Next Gen numbers for Cooper Rush, Week 2 vs. Cincinnati
Look at that. Consider the perfect 158.3 passer rating for the 10-19 passes. He was nearly 40 percent above expectations on his completions, which is why we should celebrate this performance and not expect it to be the new normal. It would be impossible to continue this pace, but it was sure fun.
Cooper Rush Next Gen throw chart
This is why we love sports. Look how the Cowboys did not ask him to drive the bus. They asked him to step up and make a play and he did it. They said: Let’s try it again. He did it again. It was not that different than the win at Minnesota where he also went down the field on several occasions and found plays. Rush has the trust of his coaching staff which speaks highly to how he performs in practices and meetings and yes, in games against playoff teams.
You already know what the film study is going to be. More on that in a moment.
Weekly data box: Week 2
The numbers were up across the board and Dallas did a nice job in most everything. If we may nitpick with some red ink, it would probably be not really having the ball at all in the second half and perhaps trying to protect the lead a bit too much.
But, again, from Brown to Tony Pollard to Tyler Smith to Terence Steele — this offense stepped up and did its part.
Cowboys personnel grouping
The 33 plays with multiple tight ends in Week 2 tell us 12 personnel is cranking up and the objective. The issue might be the status of Schultz’s knee. There is no doubt that more Schultz and Jake Ferguson will do many things including having better run-blocking possibilities and forcing opponents to stay in base defenses more.
The amount of chaos this offense will have to deal with in New York is going to be immense. It is one thing to perform at your place, but facing a Wink Martindale defense on the road on Monday night is going to test everything about this offense to do it again. The Cowboys have a week to be ready, but they better prepare to see every blitz in the book.
Let’s wrap this up with a few more Rush throws in the film study.
Film study
2nd and 7 – CIN 9 – 1Q – 8:41 – C.Rush pass short right to N.Brown for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Here is that 12 personnel from inside the 10. Yes, Dallas had some red zone action in Week 2, a massive improvement from Week 1. With 3×1 left with the nub to the right. This is a classic play-action boot to the right with levels.
First, the Cowboys sell the run hard left. Lamb (88) and Brown (85) carry out the fakes by looking like they are going to block and Rush has the ball out wide to show he is setting up a run play. This is one of the most frequently run plays in the NFL. The biggest key is getting defensive end Sam Hubbard (94) up top to not crash on Rush — Rush has to get outside him to make this play work.
The defense immediately gets on Schultz as the shallow threat. This is the QB’s first option if he sees Schultz is alone. But, again, Rush uses Schultz as the decoy and the actual target will be Brown coming all the way across as the back of the end zone threat in the Dwight Clark position (sorry).
This frame is awesome. Brown adjusts on the ball and makes the catch and Rush is feeling it so much he is celebrating before the ball is caught. Touchdown. The Cowboys are already on the front foot in the first quarter.
They ran that play again later and had a similar big gain.
First-and-10 – 4th – 3:45 C.Rush pass deep right to C.Lamb to DAL 49 for 24 yards.
Let’s move to the fourth quarter and this is the type of drive starter that makes you think they were in attack mode Sunday. Again, Dallas has 12 personnel and is telling the Bengals it is going to be ready to run the ball. But my point with 12 personnel is that you make throwing the ball easier. Part of the reason is that on first-and-10 you will probably get Cover 3 out of that look.
Right after the snap, Dallas shows play action. Honestly, it doesn’t totally look like the Bengals are too concerned about a run as they are getting their zone depths. Dallas will have two threats attacking the outside third to the top of the screen.
This shot shows that if the outside vertical can hold that defender, once Lamb clears the linebacker level, there will be a hole as his outbreaking route has great leverage on the single-high safety Vonn Bell (24). Rush knows exactly what he wants and is sending it before Lamb looks.
The throw is on the money and the Cowboys have their fourth-biggest pass play of the day. That is right, this 24-yard completion was only the fourth biggest pass of the day.
Make sure you check the banana stand in the first and second half because they are worth seeing. Again, a lot went right Sunday, but now that the Giants know that Rush is comfortable and confident in his reads and throws, they will have a lot more to worry about Monday night than your average backup QB.
Rush can run this offense pretty well and the Giants will acknowledge that all week, I am sure. This is no Brandon Weeden.
By Bob Sturm
The Cowboys’ surprise victory Sunday was a rarity in that they were a 7-point underdog and won. It was the first such win since they beat the Vikings in 2020 in Minneapolis in a game that featured Andy Dalton and CeeDee Lamb’s ridiculous end zone catch. Amazingly, in Cooper Rush’s other big career moment, Dallas was only a smaller underdog of 3.5 points at Minnesota at kickoff.
This one was certainly considered a pretty big upset to knock down and knock out the AFC champions in a real street fight. The crazy part of this street fight is how well the Cowboys stood up in the trenches. I don’t think I will dive as deep here on the offensive line evaluation, but the film study revealed a very good day for almost everyone. Left guard Matt Farniok was still a real issue with substantial problems in pass protection, but otherwise, all four other players received at worst, a passing grade and in several cases they were strong and positive performances.
Without the offensive line doing its thing often in pass protection and even in the game, they gave Rush a chance to make plays and to move the team.
And that is exactly what Rush did.
It all probably comes down to that fourth-and-2 to start the game. The cojones to decide you are going for it on the game’s first drive and potentially risk a massive backlash rests with Mike McCarthy. I love that because I want him to do what he has always done which is to never coach scared. He trusted his guys, he told Kellen Moore to pick a play that Rush loves and trust the guys to get two yards.
But, between calling it and seeing it, there must have been some blood-pressure spikes.
Fourth-and-2, Dallas 44 – 1Q – 12:33 – C.Rush pass short middle to N.Brown to CIN 39 for 17 yards.
Trips right in a 3×1 with Dalton Schultz on the weak side. The play will have a mesh concept in front of Rush at the sticks. This should open up Schultz to sit down at the first down line and Dallas only needs the 46-yard line.
A few things to see:
• All the Bengals linebackers will click and close on Schultz, but the pass looks there.
• Farniok takes a big loss here and DJ Reader is about to ear-hole Rush.
• Then spy Noah Brown running what appears to be a DIG behind that level of linebackers and is wide open above the Star.
This third frame is the catch-point where Brown adjusts on the ball. Was the Schultz play easier? Would we be on Rush if he didn’t complete this for turning down the easier throw on fourth down to try the riskier one? It doesn’t matter — but wow, what a moment.
It set the tone for the entire game and it confirms that the Cowboys really did trust Rush and for that reason made a fine decision to keep him as their backup. Games like this are the true lie detectors. You can say you trust a guy, but do you?
We have grown to expect the Cowboys to not trust their backup QBs in situations like this, but I suppose it is time to update our notes. For all of the things that Moore can be blamed for, putting handcuffs on Rush is not one of them. For Rush to go find two wins in underdog situations against two playoff-level opponents that have their pieces, he had to be aggressive.
In contrast, allow me to roll back the clock to 2015. It was Week 3 and the Cowboys had just lost Tony Romo the week before for several months with a broken clavicle, thanks to Jordan Hicks. Now the Cowboys have Brandon Weeden to step in and handle the team for a few months, perhaps. Could he hold the fort until November when Romo could return to save the season?
That was answered loud and clear when early in that week, the Cowboys traded for Matt Cassel. It seemed an ominous sign that they had Weeden and Kellen Moore in the queue but quickly traded for another QB, suggesting that they didn’t have what they thought they needed.
But, it was all revealed that day against Atlanta in Week 3. The Falcons were not sure what Weeden would do, but he had some weapons and it would be interesting to see if Scott Linehan and Jason Garrett would attack.
Instead, it was checkdown after checkdown — a passing game that almost required nothing but underhand throws.
Here was the PFF throw chart from that day that revealed only five throws of more than 10 yards and two throws of more than 15 yards were attempted and both were incomplete with one being intercepted.
Week 3, 2015. Brandon Weeden vs. Atlanta
The Cowboys had no courage in their game plan, so while they broke some big running plays early, the Falcons slowly took them apart and won by 11 points. Weeden attempted 26 passes that day and 21 of them were short and very frustrating. It was as if they told him, whatever you do, do not look downfield.
So, forgive us if that was the kind of attack we might have been on watch for happening again Sunday vs. Cincinnati.
But, to the credit of all involved, Dallas empowered Rush to be aggressive and fire the ball down the field. Yes, he was going to take some short pieces, but there were nine attempts at down-the-field throws with eight of them beyond 15 yards. What is better? Rush hit almost every single one of them.
Next Gen numbers for Cooper Rush, Week 2 vs. Cincinnati
Look at that. Consider the perfect 158.3 passer rating for the 10-19 passes. He was nearly 40 percent above expectations on his completions, which is why we should celebrate this performance and not expect it to be the new normal. It would be impossible to continue this pace, but it was sure fun.
Cooper Rush Next Gen throw chart
This is why we love sports. Look how the Cowboys did not ask him to drive the bus. They asked him to step up and make a play and he did it. They said: Let’s try it again. He did it again. It was not that different than the win at Minnesota where he also went down the field on several occasions and found plays. Rush has the trust of his coaching staff which speaks highly to how he performs in practices and meetings and yes, in games against playoff teams.
You already know what the film study is going to be. More on that in a moment.
Weekly data box: Week 2
The numbers were up across the board and Dallas did a nice job in most everything. If we may nitpick with some red ink, it would probably be not really having the ball at all in the second half and perhaps trying to protect the lead a bit too much.
But, again, from Brown to Tony Pollard to Tyler Smith to Terence Steele — this offense stepped up and did its part.
Cowboys personnel grouping
The 33 plays with multiple tight ends in Week 2 tell us 12 personnel is cranking up and the objective. The issue might be the status of Schultz’s knee. There is no doubt that more Schultz and Jake Ferguson will do many things including having better run-blocking possibilities and forcing opponents to stay in base defenses more.
The amount of chaos this offense will have to deal with in New York is going to be immense. It is one thing to perform at your place, but facing a Wink Martindale defense on the road on Monday night is going to test everything about this offense to do it again. The Cowboys have a week to be ready, but they better prepare to see every blitz in the book.
Let’s wrap this up with a few more Rush throws in the film study.
Film study
2nd and 7 – CIN 9 – 1Q – 8:41 – C.Rush pass short right to N.Brown for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Here is that 12 personnel from inside the 10. Yes, Dallas had some red zone action in Week 2, a massive improvement from Week 1. With 3×1 left with the nub to the right. This is a classic play-action boot to the right with levels.
First, the Cowboys sell the run hard left. Lamb (88) and Brown (85) carry out the fakes by looking like they are going to block and Rush has the ball out wide to show he is setting up a run play. This is one of the most frequently run plays in the NFL. The biggest key is getting defensive end Sam Hubbard (94) up top to not crash on Rush — Rush has to get outside him to make this play work.
The defense immediately gets on Schultz as the shallow threat. This is the QB’s first option if he sees Schultz is alone. But, again, Rush uses Schultz as the decoy and the actual target will be Brown coming all the way across as the back of the end zone threat in the Dwight Clark position (sorry).
This frame is awesome. Brown adjusts on the ball and makes the catch and Rush is feeling it so much he is celebrating before the ball is caught. Touchdown. The Cowboys are already on the front foot in the first quarter.
They ran that play again later and had a similar big gain.
First-and-10 – 4th – 3:45 C.Rush pass deep right to C.Lamb to DAL 49 for 24 yards.
Let’s move to the fourth quarter and this is the type of drive starter that makes you think they were in attack mode Sunday. Again, Dallas has 12 personnel and is telling the Bengals it is going to be ready to run the ball. But my point with 12 personnel is that you make throwing the ball easier. Part of the reason is that on first-and-10 you will probably get Cover 3 out of that look.
Right after the snap, Dallas shows play action. Honestly, it doesn’t totally look like the Bengals are too concerned about a run as they are getting their zone depths. Dallas will have two threats attacking the outside third to the top of the screen.
This shot shows that if the outside vertical can hold that defender, once Lamb clears the linebacker level, there will be a hole as his outbreaking route has great leverage on the single-high safety Vonn Bell (24). Rush knows exactly what he wants and is sending it before Lamb looks.
The throw is on the money and the Cowboys have their fourth-biggest pass play of the day. That is right, this 24-yard completion was only the fourth biggest pass of the day.
Make sure you check the banana stand in the first and second half because they are worth seeing. Again, a lot went right Sunday, but now that the Giants know that Rush is comfortable and confident in his reads and throws, they will have a lot more to worry about Monday night than your average backup QB.
Rush can run this offense pretty well and the Giants will acknowledge that all week, I am sure. This is no Brandon Weeden.
