INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Cooper Rush Show came to Tinsel Town and kept rolling to conquer the defending Super Bowl champions.
Rush remained perfect as the fill-in replacement for the injured Dak Prescott, helping the Dallas Cowboys topple the Los Angeles Rams 22-10. Dallas (4-1) won for the fourth consecutive game as Prescott rehabs from surgery for a broken thumb.
And for the fourth consecutive game, Rush didn’t commit a turnover – the minimal-mistake flow essential to the plan for winning without Prescott.
No, Rush didn’t have monster numbers – he completed 10 of 16 passes for 102 yards, with zero TDs.
NFL NEWSLETTER:Sign up now for exclusive content sent to your inbox
Follow every game: Live NFL Scores
STAYING UNBEATEN:Philadelphia Eagles defeat Arizona Cardinals to improve to 5-0
NO CHANCE:Josh Allen decimates Steelers defense with four touchdowns in Buffalo’s rout
Yet he had plenty of help: A fumble returned 19 yards for a touchdown by defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and a blocked punt by defensive end Dorance Armstrong that led to a field goal gave the Cowboys an early 9-0 lead. Running back Tony Pollard ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run. Brett Maher booted three field goals. And Dallas’ defense kept quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense in check, including an interception by safety Malik Hooker and sack-strip by linebacker Micah Parsons to seal the game.
The Rams (2-3) lost for the second time in six days as their Super Bowl hangover continues.
Three other things we learned from Dallas-LA:
Having the top performing Cooper wasn’t enough.
Reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp was undoubtedly the “best available Cooper” on the field at SoFi Stadium. Kupp caught seven passes for 125 yards – the huge chunk coming on his 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Typical stuff. After posting a “Triple Crown” receiving season in 2021, Kupp is off to another potentially phenomenal season. Yet it’s too bad for the Rams – without two key wideouts from last year, Odell Beckham, Jr. and Robert Woods, and with O-line woes and running game issues – that there isn’t much more than Kupp to spark the LA offense.
Patchwork is a way of life for the Rams offensive line.
An unrelenting rash of injuries has forced LA to roll with a different starting O-line combination in each of its five games this season. On Sunday, that meant first-year pro Jeremiah Kolone got the nod at center as Coleman Shelton was placed on IR. This constant shuffling was undoubtedly one factor in the duress quarterback Matthew Stafford often found himself facing and in the assortment of negative-yardage rushing plays that plagued running back Cam Akers. Then again, Dallas’ deep D-line was another factor.
Aaron Donald, Micah Parsons or Dorance Armstrong?
In a game that featured two of the NFL’s most dominating defensive players in Donald (three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year) and Parsons (reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year), Armstrong, a fifth-year pro with a decidedly lower profile, proved to be quite the scene-stealer with a pair of huge big plays in the first quarter that helped Dallas set the pace early. Armstrong beat guard David Edwards with an inside swim move to sack Stafford and force the fumble that Tank Lawrence returned 19 yards for Dallas’ first touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Armstrong barreled up the middle to block Riley Dixon’s punt, which led to the Brett Maher field goal that made it 9-zip, less than 7 minutes into the game.
