Dak Prescott's injury hurts Cowboys, but they are forced to confront tougher reality

With quarterback Dak Prescott suffering a hamstring injury in the 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, hopes for the remainder of this season got even worse for the already struggling Dallas Cowboys (3-5). Head coach Mike McCarthy ruled Prescott out for this week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys’ quarterback is expected to miss multiple games.

It’s never encouraging for a fan base when a backup is called into duty for a franchise quarterback, but Cooper Rush has earned the benefit of a pause. His presence in the starting lineup has created some fond memories for Cowboys fans, whether it was his one-start Halloween thriller in 2021 in Minnesota, or his 4-1 stretch early in the 2022 season.

“It goes well beyond (Rush’s) 5-1 (record),” McCarthy said. “Cooper Rush is respected as a backup quarterback, I would say, since Rich Gannon, when I was with Rich in the 90s with the Kansas City Chiefs. He carries that type of credibility. He’s a great teammate. He’s someone you can see the young guys lean on. He’s wicked smart, instinctive. Does a great job when he runs the scout team. He just does everything the right way. He’s an excellent pro. There will be plenty of confidence in him.”

As much as Rush is going to be presented as the focal point in this situation, this stretch is not about what he’s capable of doing. The doom-and-gloom feelings have little to do with him. Those negative vibes pre-date him being a substantial part of this season’s equation.

Rush’s five starts from 2022 will be brought up often by the Cowboys’ front office, coaches and players but it’s really an unfair comparison. As we broke down last week, there’s a legitimate argument to be made that the 2022 Cowboys were the best team of McCarthy era. This year’s team has an argument to be the most disappointing.

That’s not to say that Rush doesn’t have a chance to be successful, but it depends on one’s definition of “success” during this time. Many would say success would be keeping the Cowboys afloat until Prescott is ready to return.

Are the Cowboys — the team with the third-worst point differential in the NFC — floating right now?

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That’s the issue. The Cowboys were already sinking with a healthy Prescott at the helm. Prescott was not having a good season by any standard, let alone the lofty one he has for himself or his contract imposes on him from the masses. But Prescott’s struggles are down the list of Cowboys’ issues this season.

Will the 31st-ranked rush offense suddenly start running wild? When Rush went 4-1 in 2022, the Cowboys averaged 128.4 rushing yards per game during that five-game stretch. Up until Sunday’s 137-yard rushing total, the Cowboys hadn’t rushed for 128 yards in a single game this season. Sunday’s performance helped get them out of the NFL’s basement in the rushing yards department, boosting their average to 82 yards per game.

This year, the Cowboys’ defensive EPA of -42.34 ranks 30th — only the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers are worse. During Rush’s five starts in 2022, the Cowboys’ defensive EPA was 34.32, which was top-five in the league in that stretch. Even if the Cowboys get Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland back soon, the defense is in no shape to carry the load. In those five games in 2022, the defense was giving up 21.4 points per game. This season, the Cowboys are giving up 28.1 points per game. Even before the rash of key injuries hit in Weeks 4 and 5, the Cowboys were giving up 26 points per game through their first four games.

The support of a running game and a sound defense are best friends of any quarterback — but especially a backup quarterback. The Cowboys aren’t just bad in those departments — they are among the worst in the league. That’s before you begin on the cast around Rush, which includes a shoddy offensive line, a No. 2 receiver (Brandin Cooks) who is on injured reserve, a No. 1 receiver in CeeDee Lamb who is playing through a shoulder injury. There is not much behind Lamb, in terms of standout talent in the passing game.

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McCarthy has been through this a few times.

In 2013 in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers missed seven games. The Packers went 2-4-1, with Rodgers returning in the regular-season finale and the team sneaking into the playoffs. Of course, when Rodgers went out, the Packers were 5-3. In 2017, McCarthy’s last full season in Green Bay, Rodgers again missed seven games, this time after the Packers began 4-2. Green Bay went 3-4 with Brett Hundley and the season was over by the time Rodgers returned.

In Dallas, the 2022 stretch from Weeks 2 through 6 get a lot of attention because it was Rush who came in during that time, too. But in 2020, the Cowboys also had to play an extended stretch without Prescott, and it was a mess. McCarthy doesn’t put much stock into what happened in 2020, and understandably so, given the other factors such as COVID-19 and it being his first year in Dallas.

But in 2020, the Cowboys went 1-3 with Prescott in the first four games. Even with all of the unique external factors, that team just wasn’t very good. At this juncture, this year’s team feels closer to that version than the resilient bunch in 2022. Unless McCarthy can hit a jackpot — whether it be scheme adjustment, getting creative with Trey Lance, or something else — the quarterback won’t be in a position to succeed, no matter who it is.

The biggest problem right now isn’t that Rush is now the quarterback for the Cowboys. It’s that the Cowboys are simply a bad football team. Prescott’s injury only makes them worse.

(Top phot of Prescott: Brett Davis / Imagn Images)