ARLINGTON, Texas – If he said it once, he said it 10 times in his postgame press conference.
Apparently, Micah Parsons really connected with the phrase "be the light" that was shared during one of the team's pregame speeches. Basically, the reference was for anyone to pick up the slack to offset other areas of darkness.
But whether it's a light bulb, a tiki torch, a cigarette lighter, a bonfire or the Olympic flame, all lights eventually go out.
In this case, the well-lit defense, which was keeping the Cowboys in the game, ran out of gas. And when that happened, it was like a wet grocery sack filled with canned goods – the bottom dropped out fast, and it was all over.
Yes, I give the defense credit for the way it played in the first half, but it still wasn't good enough. The brightest of lights couldn't have helped carry this offense on Sunday. Sure, we knew playing without Dak Prescott would be a struggle, but we've seen Cooper Rush have success before. I know I wasn't alone in having a little bit of faith that he could move the ball.
Man, we were all wrong on that one. I guess in the past, Cooper played on teams that could carry him a little bit. Not only a strong defense on one side, but an offense that had more playmakers and definitely a more competent offensive line.
He had no help on this day. And to be honest, he didn't help himself either.
I've said many times in the past that I thought Rush was the deep-ball passer on the team, just with his soft-touch and ability to drop it in the basket. But we saw none of that on Sunday in the few attempts they tried to go deep.
Jalen Hurts had no problems connecting on his long passes, but you knew it would be a tough day if that pass wasn't working for Rush. We already know he's not going to take off on the run. He's not an on-the-move passer either. But what has worked for him in the past is standing in the pocket, throwing the ball to the right spot and getting the ball out quickly, whether it's down the field or through his reads.
Honestly, this looked like Cooper's first career start, not his seventh. And again, I'm not putting all the blame on him. The Cowboys haven't done him any favors with his supporting cast.
Honestly, in the second quarter of the game, the Cowboys are down just 7-3 and they're driving. I looked at the huddle, and maybe it's because CeeDee Lamb was currently out of the game for a play, but just scanning the players, I see Rush, Asim Richards, Rico Dowdle, Jalen Brooks, Jalen Tolbert, Luke Schoonmaker and Cooper Beebe. Sure, guys like Zack Martin and Tyler Smith were on the field, too, but the other guys stood out first.
And I thought to myself, This looks like the second quarter of a preseason game. But it wasn't – at all. It's the ninth game of the season and one the Cowboys desperately needed to win in order to stay somewhat alive in a playoff race that has left this team in the dust.
But just looking at the guys on the field, it's hard to think Cooper Rush, or Trey Lance, or any quarterback for that matter has a shot to compete.
Some of this comes down to injuries, but also just not having the backups ready enough to compete at this level.
And this is one of the downfalls of the "running back by committee" approach. When your franchise quarterback goes down, there's really nothing to lean on, especially when you're asking an offensive line to learn on the run with young players. Add in the fact that Lamb doesn't have a lot of help in the receiving corps, and it's probably not a shocker that this team once again couldn't get more than two field goals.
Of course, they had chances to get more than that. Ezekiel Elliott picked the worst time to have his first-career fumble in the red zone, resulting in a touchback. And then on the next possession, they get a gift – provided by Parsons – and still can't score from the 6-yard line.
I love how everyone wants to blame the sun or lack of curtains, but no one asked the Cowboys to call a pass right there. The field is 53 yards wide – find another spot. Still, they've got to overcome all obstacles and figure out how to score when you get a fumble inside the 10-yard line.
But the reality of it all – that play or even a handful of others – wouldn't have changed the outcome in this one. The Eagles might have started slow, but when you stretch a game out to four quarters and 60 minutes, we saw two major differences. One team is filled with playmakers on offense, and the other one barely has more than one.
You can't win games like that, regardless who the quarterback is.
