Without quarterback Dak Prescott and left tackle Tyron Smith for the second half, the Dallas Cowboys offense came up big in a 20-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings for their sixth straight. Making his first start quarterback Cooper Rush came up big in the clutch driving 75 yards in eight plays hitting Amari Cooper for a touchdown taking the lead with 51 seconds. Defensively the Cowboys were stout after surrendering an opening drive touchdown despite star cornerback Trevon Diggs having a bad game allowing just 278 yards. Below are the four takeaways from tonight’s game.
Cooper Rush
Despite being in the league for four years, Rush had only thrown four passes before making his first career start. Overall he showed why the organization has so much faith in him rebounding from an early interception throwing for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second-most passing yards in a first start in team history. He did a good job of taking what the defense gave him, moving in the pocket and showing great chemistry with top wide receivers Cooper and CeeDee Lamb. With Prescott still being week to week Rush proved he’s more than capable of running the offense.
Cedrick Wilson
Perhaps nobody besides running back Tony Pollard does a better job of getting the most out of their limited snaps than Wilson. Before the bye week against New England, he had a big catch keeping the game-tying drive alive. Tonight he not only has a huge 73-yard catch and run touchdown to open the second half but threw a 35-yard dart on the run to Lamb. He caught all three of his targets for 83 yards. Once looked upon as a fringe roster play he has become a valuable part of the offense and is in line to perhaps earn a new contract in the offseason.
Micah Parsons
The rookie end/linebacker has made an impact all season making it impressive by saying tonight might have been his best. Parsons flew all over the field making 11 tackles with 4 for loss. That doesn’t account for the pass rush teaming with Carlos Watkins, Randy Gregory, and Dorrance Armstrong making life tough for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. For Gregory, his stat line of one tackle and one quarterback hit does not tell the full story. He lived in the backfield and nearly had multiple sacks. It might have taken a while but he’s finally showing the potential he flashed at Nebraska.
Secondary
While Diggs didn’t have his best outing fellow corner Anthony Brown had his best game of the season notching five tackles and two deflections. However, his last tackle on Vikings’ tight end Jack Concklin was the biggest keeping him in bounds with 12 seconds left forcing a last-second Hail Mary that fell short. Fellow defensive backs Jayron Kearse and Jourdan Lewis had textbook tackling games totaling a combined seven tackles. It’s a promising sign to see the unit step up when their star is unable to.