By Alex Al-Kazzaz
It's official. Cooper Rush is 4-0 as a starting quarterback. He's the only quarterback in the history of the Dallas Cowboys to win his first four career starts. In addition, he's the 27th in NFL history. The Dallas Cowboys improve to 3-1 courtesy of a hard-fought 25-10 against the Washington Commanders. Dallas now has eight straight wins against NFC East teams.
The game between Dallas and Washington speaks for itself. In Washington's case, it was not so much a loss, but rather a LOSING EFFORT. For them to be able to stop the Dallas running game cannot go unnoticed. Quite frankly, Dallas' defense was simply too much for Washington's offense, but give credit to the Washington defense for doing their job to the best of their ability. In addition, there's no denying Washington's defense made a strong effort to keep their team in the game. Preventing Dallas from reaching the endzone several times certainly shows Washington's defensive strength, but offensive woes could not provide much out of it.
Dallas had to rely on the passing game to make it through. Rush finished 15-for-27 for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Rush finished with a 55.6 percent completion rate, which is his worst so far this season. CeeDee Lamb caught six passes for 97 yards and scored one touchdown. Noah Brown emerged once again with three catches for 61 yards, including a 45-yard catch. Michael Gallup made his season debut but was held to just two catches for 24 yards with one touchdown. A combined 27 carries for Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard for a total of 55 yards combined!
Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore again had a few moments with questionable and controversial play-calling. Amassing LESS than 280 total offensive yards isn't a good look on Dallas' part. While Washington's defense did show up for this one, Dallas' offense could have certainly worked right through them. In the second half, Dallas settled for two field goals when they could have reached the endzone for six points. Missed opportunities on offense are never a good thing.
For the third straight game, the Cowboys' defense has held the opposing quarterback to under 200 passing yards. In addition, for the first time since 1973, the Cowboys have NOT allowed a team to score 20 points in a game this season.
Trevon Diggs' performance speaks for itself. Forcing incompletions TWICE on fourth down attempts is impressive. Despite getting two sacks, the defense forced two turnovers and did inflict pressure on Carson Wentz. Overall, the Cowboys defense has allowed only FOUR touchdowns so far this season, which is something the Cowboys have not done since 1972. The team also achieved this accolade in 1970.
The next two games are going to be tough for Dallas. Back-to-back road games in Los Angeles and Philadelphia for Dallas respectively are a test for Dallas to prove just how good they really are. Philadelphia is 4-0 for the first time since 2004.