Offensive Review: Early mistakes buried the Cowboys from the jump

Leading into the game against the Eagles (and every game with Cooper Rush), the goals were to take care of the ball and stay ahead of the chains. The Dallas offense didn’t do much of either of those things, and it created an uphill battle all night.

Three turnovers (four if you count the turnover on downs) is not a recipe for success on the road against a quality opponent (let alone with a backup QB). The key to success for the Cowboys over their four-game winning streak with Rush at the helm was due to other-worldly defense and an offense that didn’t turn the ball over and got to play with the lead. None of that happened Sunday.

Rush was admirable in his five-week run as Dallas’ QB. He, in fact, helped save the season. This is not to take away from him. But the magic appeared to run out and his limitations finally caught up with him. Putting Rush into obvious passing situations in which he was playing from behind was indeed a recipe for disaster. It wasn’t just Rush that struggled Sunday by any means, but the turnovers are what buried the Cowboys right away.

Cooper Rush: 18/38, 181 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT

The Eagles clearly picked up on Dallas’s tendencies with Rush under center: early down passing out of play action and run looks. This was precisely the look Dallas gave on Rush’s first interception. The Eagles responded with a two-high safety look, and Rush, instead of checking it down and living to fight another down, forced a terrible ball into coverage that was picked off.

Rush’s other two interceptions were also poor. On the second pick, it was third and long (not ideal in the first place) and Rush forced a ball to a blanketed Michael Gallup, and the awesome Darius Slay ran the route for Gallup and picked it off.