Eagles will see a different Cooper Rush in critical Cowboys rematch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The last time the Eagles saw Cooper Rush, he was a mess.
In his first start after Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending torn hamstring, Rush managed just 45 passing yards in the Cowboys’ 34-6 loss to the Eagles at AT&T Stadium.
Rush completed 13 of 23 passes, but his average of just 1.96 yards per pass attempt is the second-worst ever against the Eagles, behind 1.44 by another Cowboys quarterback, Anthony Wright, in 2001.
And his average of 3.46 yards per pass attempt is the lowest recorded against the Eagles, breaking Wright’s “record” of 4.7 yards.
The Cowboys got a pair of early field goals in that game, but finished with 146 net yards, and by the time it was over, Trey Lance had replaced the beleaguered Rush.
Things have changed.
In six games since that disaster against the Eagles, Rush is 4-2 with 10 touchdown passes, two interceptions and 248 passing yards per game. In his last five games, he has thrown 163 passes and one interception with a passer rating of 100.5.
The Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason when the Commanders beat the Eagles on Sunday, but they are still one of the hottest teams in the league, winning four of their last five games after a 3-7 start. Over the past five weeks, only the Chiefs and Vikings have a better record.
And it’s Rush and the Cowboys who stand between the Eagles and their 11th division title in the last 24 years.
The Eagles and Cowboys meet at the Linc at 1 pm Sunday in a game with huge playoff implications for the Eagles and no implications for the Cowboys.
The Eagles will try to beat the Rush for the third straight time this weekend after blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead against the Commanders last Sunday.
Rush doesn’t have the athletic dimension of Jayden Daniels (he has 16 rushing yards all year), but he is one of the best third-down passers in the NFL (103.9 passer rating in the last five games), he has the eighth highest number of completed passes all time. 20 yards or more since Week 12 and has the fourth-best interception rate among all QBs who have thrown at least 200 passes (one INT every 93 passes).
He’s been playing at a high level since the Eagles’ first game, and the Eagles’ pass defense will have to bounce back in a big way to get the win they so desperately need.
And Rush has had success distributing the ball during this hot streak. CeeDee Lamb, of course, has been their top target — he’s 42-for-513 with two TDs in these last six games alone — but return specialist and receiver KaVontae Turpin (10-for-170, 1), tight end Luke Schoonmaker (17 – 169, 1), receiver Jalen Tolbert (9-115, 3), tight end Jake Ferguson (12-105), receiver Brandin Cooks (10-101, 2) and running back Rico Dowdle (12-67) have been an important part of a varied passing attack since the week after the Eagles game.
The Eagles lost the No. 1 pass defense ranking after the Washington loss (they’ve now allowed eight more yards than the Titans) and after allowing five touchdown passes to Jayden Daniels, this is a big game for the Eagles’ secondary. Eagles.
The Eagles will clinch the NFC East and the No. 2 seed with a win over the Cowboys (or Giants) and a Washington loss to the Falcons (or Cowboys).
They haven’t swept the Cowboys since 2011.
Rush is 9-4 in 13 career starts: 0-2 against the Eagles and 9-2 against everyone else.
In his two starts against the Eagles, he was 31 of 61 (51 percent) for 113 yards per game with one touchdown, three interceptions and a 44.8 passer rating.
In 11 career starts against all other teams, he is 226-for-363 (62 percent) for 256 yards per game and a 97.5 passer rating.
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