Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Minnesota Vikings

Hulk SMASH!: Cowboys’ new 7-OL package shows big creativity, offers jumbo versatility

Putting Connor McGovern and La’el Collins in the backfield came from a bye week brainstorm in Dallas; the Hulk package could return. | From @ToddBrock24f7

There were times during the 2020 season when Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott had no idea who was going to be on the injury-riddled offensive line blocking for him. But for a handful of plays in Sunday night’s game at Minnesota, it seemed like they were all out there at the same time.

Already fielding an offense with backup quarterback Cooper Rush under center, coordinator Kellen Moore and the Cowboys unveiled a brand-new personnel package early in the Week 8 contest, using a total of seven offensive linemen: five in their usual spots up front, and two more in the backfield with Elliott in an inverted wishbone, or diamond, formation.

The result: 2,187 pounds of run-blocking in front of Elliott or pass-blocking in front of Rush.

“A lot of beef on the field,” guard Zack Martin commented after the Cowboys’ 20-16 win before revealing the grouping’s instant-hit code name. “‘Hulk package’ is what we call it. It’s great to get those big guys on the field, and we had some good plays out of it tonight.”

Dallas used the Hulk package just four times Sunday night, and while the team ultimately went with more of a pass-heavy attack against the Vikings, the look will certainly give opposing defenses a new wrinkle to prepare for in the weeks to come.

The Cowboys had already employed versatile backup lineman Connor McGovern, 308 pounds, as a backfield blocker for Elliott in a few situations this season. With La’el Collins, 320 pounds, returning to active duty but not starting, the Dallas coaching staff came up with the Hulk package as a way to add both big men and their combined 628 pounds to the “best five” already playing up front.

“We have a ton of talent on the offensive line,” Moore told reporters on Monday. “Like all the other positions, you’re trying to find opportunities to get guys involved in the game plan. L.C. was coming back: obviously, he hadn’t been a part of it for a number of weeks. So we felt like if he wasn’t going to be the right tackle, that’s a guy you still want on the field. So it kind of turned into a brainstorm opportunity there. Mac’s been doing a phenomenal job in the backfield- McGovern, that is; why not throw another guy back there?”

It’s a credit to the confidence the staff had in Rush that, instead of spending the bye week having to rewrite an offensive game plan for his first NFL start, the coaches had the luxury of sitting around inventing all-new formations to put on the field.

“I think we were just brainstorming,” Moore explained. “Jeff [Blasko, assistant offensive line coach], Joe [Philbin, offensive line coach], Mike [McCarthy, head coach], the whole offensive staff, just going through the process of how can we put our guys in, maybe, a different position, something that they haven’t seen coming off the bye week. Certainly, Mike ran that formation a number of times back in the Green Bay days with their fullbacks. Something that all those guys obviously had a lot of comfort level with, so we wanted to go down that road. And there’s more things coming off of it.”

Imagine the possibilities as the Cowboys continue to experiment with over an actual ton of in-the-box blocking. Plowing a road for Elliott or Tony Pollard. Giving Prescott enough time to take a nap in the pocket. Forcing one-on-one mismatches in coverage for any of the team’s outside receivers. Maybe even, if everything goes perfectly, the most fun play in football: the offensive-lineman touchdown.

“Always looking for different ways to get guys involved,” Moore said, “and we’ll continue to do that.”

Moore said that, besides adding a new tool to the offense’s arsenal- a tool that can certainly be tweaked and developed even further- the Hulk package also helped Collins get re-acclimated to the flow of the game after five weeks away.

“Certainly,” Moore confirmed. “The more guys you get involved in packages and roles and different things, that helps the individual but also helps the entire offense, just being able to play a number of guys in that game. Receivers are a part of packages, tight ends, running backs. I think we’ve got a lot of guys that we can utilize, and we want to try to use as many of them as we can.”

It was perhaps poetic justice that the new personnel grouping that featured offensive linemen disguised as backfield blockers, the package named after a comic-book superhero, made its debut on Halloween night, right about the time there were countless other Hulks running door-to-door in neighborhoods across America.

But who in Dallas came up with the name?

“I don’t know,” Moore laughed. “I don’t even know who named it.”

Whatever it’s called, expect to see it again. Because head coach Mike McCarthy- no small guy himself- copped to being a big fan of the Hulk.

“Utilizing your personnel,” the coach explained Monday. “I loved it. It’s the biggest inverted bone formation I’ve ever seen in my life. We’re trying to break records around here.”

[vertical-gallery id=684617]

[listicle id=684763]

[listicle id=684597]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys News: Rush’s start caught Vikings off-guard, Prescott could be ‘full-go,’ Tyron Smith day-to-day

Former Cowboys safety Xavier Woods says Minnesota spent the whole week prepping to play Prescott; Dak could be a full-go by Thursday. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys fans spent the whole week unsure of what to expect regarding Dallas’s starting quarterback situation. Turns out, the Vikings defense did, too. A former Cowboys defender who now wears purple says the unit had fully prepped to see No. 4 behind center. Cooper Rush says his storybook first NFL start was just as good as he’d dreamed it would be, and the stats put his Sunday night at the top of a very special list. And Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy had an update on the plan for Prescott this week.

Elsewhere, a few injury notes from Week 8, including a season-ending blow to a promising young rookie. Wideout Amari Cooper shares what went down with his juggling catch, hamstring maintenance break, and game-winning catch. Micah Parsons put in the extra work, and it paid off with a monster game, Dan Quinn reaches out to a former teammate, and the Cowboys will dodge a bullet named Von Miller when the Broncos come to town next week. All that, plus Damontae Kazee speaks after his bye week arrest. Here’s the News and Notes.

LB Jabril Cox to miss remainder of Cowboys’ season with ACL tear

Cox was injured on a third-quarter play while in punt coverage; he had been a heavy special teams contributor in his rookie season. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The injury bug has bitten the Cowboys repeatedly over the team’s first seven games, though most of the cases have been relatively minor, with the affected players missing just sporadic or limited time.

But now a promising young playmaker has been lost for the season.

As Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News is reporting, rookie linebacker Jabril Cox suffered an ACL tear in Sunday night’s win over Minnesota and is out for the remainder of the 2021 campaign.

The injury occurred during the third quarter of the Week 8 win; Cox was injured on punt coverage. Unable to put pressure on his right leg after the play was over, he was helped to the sideline medical tent and then carted from to the locker room.

He left the Vikings’ stadium on crutches and received an MRI on Monday, confirming the tear.

Cox himself posted a message to Twitter shortly after news of the severity of his injury went public.

A fourth-round draft pick out of LSU, Cox had been a heavy contributor on special teams, logging over 55% of the unit’s snaps in each of the Cowboys’ previous six games. He had seen just nine game snaps thus far with the regular defense, but it had been thought that the recent departure of Jaylon Smith might result in more time at linebacker for the 23-year-old Cox.

[listicle id=684692]

[vertical-gallery id=684617]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys WR Amari Cooper battles hamstring and teammate for game-winning play: ‘He tried to steal my touchdown’

Amari Cooper nursed his own hamstring back to playing shape. but says CeeDee Lamb “tried to steal my touchdown” on the game’s biggest play. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The clock was ticking steadily toward zeroes. The Cowboys were on the move, trailing by three points under the command of a backup quarterback making his very first NFL start. A field goal might only prolong play into overtime, extending a road game in which Dallas hadn’t led for a second to that point; a touchdown might let Dallas sneak out of Minneapolis with an improbable win no one expected under the circumstances.

And the team’s leading wide receiver was down on the sideline turf, wriggling around on a softball.

“I tweaked my hamstring, and that was so frustrating, as you can imagine on a drive like that,” Amari Cooper told reporters after the Week 8 game had gone final. “I can’t say I knew I was going back in because I was trying to do everything possible to alleviate it a little bit.”

And while there was another Cowboys receiver waiting in the wings- and even lobbying to play the hero- Cooper desperately wanted to come up big in crunch time.

The offense’s final drive had indeed already seen its share of drama. On a 2nd-and-10 from their own 25, Cooper made a crazy juggling reception for a 33-yard pickup down the side stripe.

Cooper Rush’s throw first made contact with Vikings defender Bashaud Breeland, slicing through Cooper’s open arms and hitting the cornerback square in the chest. Breeland’s hands went up instinctually. His right hand knocked the ball upward, then the left tipped it out into midair. That’s where Cooper got in on the act, tapping the ball once himself- and even having it hit his facemask- before hauling it in for the circus grab.

“The bobbled catch just wasn’t really a great route by me, but I wanted- I needed– to catch the ball,” Cooper recalled later. “So I fought, scratched, clawed, concentrated, and I was able to come up with the catch.”

The play took the Cowboys offense across midfield. An 18-yard catch by Cooper on the next snap advanced the ball to the Minnesota 24. An incomplete pass to tight end Dalton Schultz followed, and the next time TV cameras showed Cooper, he was using a massage gun on his right hamstring. Rolling over the back of his leg for a few minutes with a softball came next as he tried to loosen the muscle flare-up.

He first tweaked the hamstring in Week 4 against Carolina but played through it as he has several other injuries already this season, including a cracked rib in Week 1 versus Tampa Bay. But now hampered once again with the Week 8 game on the line, Cooper was determined to make it back onto the field.

“Once I got up, the clock was moving fast,” Cooper explained. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to go back in. They need me.’ Once I got up and started running a little bit, I was like, ‘This is all I need to do, be able to run a little bit. I’ll take care of the rest.'”

When he re-entered the game, though, his hamstring was enough of a hindrance that the four-time Pro Bowler had to dig into his bag of tricks just to run an effective route on the short fade rout that ultimately sealed the 20-16 win.

“As far as the fade,” Cooper recalled, “that was after I kind of had my hamstring. Couldn’t really give him the release I really wanted to; I think I could have killed him on the release and made the catch a bit easier. But didn’t really want to risk hurting it even more, so I just said to myself that if he throws it to me, I’m just going to have to go up and get it. And that’s what I did.”

But the game-winning catch might have gone to CeeDee Lamb if the second-year phenom had gotten his way on the 1st-and-5 play call.

In the huddle, Rush gave the offensive alignment as “double-left,” which puts Cooper on the left, in better one-on-one coverage.

But Lamb, according to Cooper,”wanted the ball really bad.”

So the younger receiver angled with his quarterback to make himself the better option once the play unfolded. He confirmed “double-right,” as if that had been the proper call all along.

“And Coop was like, ‘Nah, it’s double-left, bro,'” Cooper revealed with a grin to media members.

But Lamb wasn’t done lobbying, playing on Cooper’s aggravated hamstring with the man himself.

“And then he was like, ‘Coop, you want to let me get it?’ I said, ‘Hell no!'” Cooper laughed. “That’s how much pride I take in wanting the ball in those pivotal moments, because I know I can go up and make the play.”

As it turned out, both receivers ended the night with very similar stat lines. Cooper had eight receptions for 122 yards and that game-winning score; Lamb recorded six catches for 112 yards. Both rank within the league’s top 25 in terms of receiving yardage after eight weeks of play. The two top pass-catching threats on the Dallas roster, Cooper and Lamb have a combined nine receiving touchdowns, the same number as the rest of the team has collectively.

“He tried to steal my touchdown,” Cooper joked of his teammate before continuing, admitting that it’s a good problem for the Cowboys to have.

“That says a lot about us, the confidence that we have, that we want the ball in those important situations because we know we can win the game for the team.”

[listicle id=684692]

[vertical-gallery id=684617]

[lawrence-newsletter]

‘Just as good as the dream:’ Cooper Rush waited a long time for his magic moment with Cowboys

Rush guesses he’s dressed for ‘around 50’ games he didn’t play in; so he made the most of his first NFL start with a fairytale showing. | From @ToddBrock24f7

As a backup quarterback for four seasons, Cooper Rush had gone through the motions more times than he could count. Except, he actually had counted.

“I’ve counted the games where I’ve dressed and prepared and didn’t get in,” Rush told reporters after Sunday night’s 20-16 Dallas win. “It was up around 50, I think. You just knew it was coming; had to be patient. I think all that preparation, being in it still- even though you haven’t started- really helped, came through tonight, making plays and stuff like that.”

Making plays and stuff like that.

Rush did plenty of “stuff like that” at U.S. Bank Stadium, throwing for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns- including the game-winner with under a minute to play- on the road in a challenging environment and in front of a primetime audience.

The Central Michigan product made his first start as a late-replacement for Dak Prescott, but it was practically Rush’s first everything. Despite a career stat line of just 1-of-3 for 2 yards coming into the Week 8 tilt, the 27-year-old looked like anything but a wide-eyed newbie as he led the 6-1 Cowboys against a stout Minnesota defense.

“I felt like I belonged out there,” Rush said. “You’re in the huddle, breaking huddle, getting to the line, going through your processes, it didn’t feel overwhelming at all. I haven’t played a lot, but being around the NFL, you’re practicing everyday against those guys- and our defense is pretty good; real good players- you’re going against those guys every day. It’s not like you’re not seeing things. So it never felt too big in terms of speed. I felt, like, in command. Playing with those guys I get to play with out there, just go down the list: O-line, running back, receiver. It makes my job a lot easier.”

It wasn’t easy, to be sure. Rush struggled at times with accuracy, and he threw two interceptions. As a team, the Cowboys found themselves trailing or tied for the first 59 minutes of regulation. But through it all, Rush never seemed shaken, said the man he was filling in for.

“I don’t think there was ever a moment, necessarily, I felt like he was too high or nervous or rattled,” said Prescott, who was ruled inactive just before kickoff in order to give his strained calf more time to heal. “That’s Coop. He’s very mild tempered and just always that way – never too high, never too low. It showed tonight; just allowed him to be able to stay in there, stick to it, stick through some bad plays and come out and make some great plays to win the game that we needed down there in the fourth quarter.”

“It was obviously special,” Rush said of Prescott’s encouragement and support, especially late in the game. “We’ve been together for a long time. A lot of games where it was the other way around: he’s making plays at the end, and I get to watch those. It was fun for me to get a chance to go do it and have his full support.”

The Cowboys’ final drive indeed proved to be Rush’s Cinderella moment. The former Chippewa went to wideout Amari Cooper three times on the eight-play series for 56 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown in the back corner of the end zone.

“Coop has an arm,” Cooper the receiver said of Cooper the quarterback after the game. “The thing about Coop, he’s going to give you a chance. He’s always going to give you a chance. That’s why I was rushing back in on when I knew we were, like, five yards away from the end zone. I figured we would be throwing some type of fade. So I was rushing back in there, because I know the thing about Coop, he’s going to throw it.”

Cooper admitted that he doesn’t normally get many practice reps with Rush.

“Not a lot,” he laughed. “Not a lot at all.”

It sure didn’t look like there was any unfamiliarity between the two. The Cooper-to-Cooper combo connected eight times on the night for 122 yards, the wideout’s highest yardage total since Week 4 last season.

That very same day in October 2020, Rush was literally watching games on his couch, having just been released by the Giants. After three seasons in Dallas, Rush had been let go with the signing of Andy Dalton. He spent the first three weeks of the season on the New York practice squad before being cut.

He was re-signed to the Cowboys practice squad as a insurance policy for Prescott on Halloween of 2020. And exactly one year later, he’d make his first start for Dallas against the Vikings.

But the fairy tale has a happy ending because it ended with a real-life game-winning touchdown tossed by the guy who’d only ever imagined it a million times.

“A lot of mental reps,” Rush recounted. “They always talk about mental reps, and they came through. We’re doing it in preseason, we’re doing it in camps, and those come through. You watch a lot of ball; I think that helped a lot… been in a league a little bit, around it. To get to go out there with that group… Trust in those guys, run the system, play within the system, trust [offensive coordinator] Kellen [Moore], and it usually works out.”

Rush’s storybook night may not get a sequel. But even if Prescott’s calf allows him to resume his spot on the field and relegates Rush back to the headset, the backup will never again have to dress out for a game and merely wonder if he’d have the stuff to go in and win one.

“It’s just as good as the dream. It’s pretty awesome to be able to share that with everyone and be able to win like that.”

[listicle id=684692]

[vertical-gallery id=684617]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Good, Bad, Ugly: Penalties, early pass defense can’t mar Cowboys’ gutshot straight

The Cowboys were betting on a gutshot straight draw with key pieces missing from their normal path to victory, but a win was in the cards after all. Here’s the GBU from the Week 8 victory. | From @BenGrimaldi

The deck was stacked against the Dallas Cowboys, who went into U.S. Bank Stadium short-handed to play the Minnesota Vikings without starting quarterback Dak Prescott. There wasn’t any flinch in these Cowboys though, as they walked away with an exhilarating 20-16 win with backup quarterback Cooper Rush pulling a couple of aces out from his sleeve in the second half.

It wasn’t a perfect game, but when a team wins without their MVP candidate, on the road, it certainly can feel like, borrowing a poker term, hitting a gutshot straight on the river. With no franchise QB, losing their franchise left tackle and a banged up wide receiver, the implied odds weren’t the best. Didn’t matter. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly for the Cowboys in their last-minute victory over the Vikings in Week 8.

No Dak, no problem as Cooper Rush, defense leads Cowboys to 20-16 win over Vikings

The Cowboys overcame a halftime deficit to win their sixth game in a row, and did so without their franchise quarterback. A look at how.

The Dallas Cowboys gambled and won on Sunday Night Football. All week long, the biggest question on every fan and reporter’s mind was whether or not franchise QB Dak Prescott was going to be able to play. A calf injury sustained on the game-winning throw against New England in Week 6 would’ve definitely kept him out if there was a game in Week 7. A bye week made things interesting as he rehabbed throughout practice, ramping up as the week went along.

While he worked with trainer Britt Brown, backup QB Cooper Rush was taking all of the first-string snaps. The words were coy, but it appeared Dallas’ coaching staff was prepared for the inevitable while trying to leave some intrigue to keep the Minnesota Vikings guessing. Then Prescott worked out for the pre-game and by most accounts looked capable of playing. But he didn’t. And then all Rush did in his first career start was go out and throw a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter to lead the Cowboys to their sixth straight win, 20-16.

Rush passed for 325 yards on the game, tossing two scores against one interception and a lost fumble. Unlike the previous six games this year and last four of 2020, the defense didn’t force two turnovers ending a streak. They didn’t force a single one, but had perhaps their most impressive performance of the season, locking down Kirk Cousins and the Vikings offense after an opening drive put the Cowboys in a 7-0 hole.

Dallas shut down the run game of the Vikings and limited Cousins, despite only sacking him once, to just 184 passing yards. When the Cowboys held the Vikings to a field goal despite several questionable penalties escorted them down the field late in the game, Rush was able to answer by igniting his connection with WR Amari Cooper. The pair connected three times on the drive, including a fade to the back left corner of the end zone with under a minute remaining.

The Cowboys’ defense stopped Minnesota on their last 12 third-down attempts, finishing 1-for-13 on the evening. They got that 12th stop and then followed with their first fourth-down stop of the game as time expired to move their record to 6-1 on the season.

Top Passer: Rush 24-40, 325 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 INT, 92.2 rating
Top Rusher: Ezekiel Elliott 16 rushes, 50 yards, 4 receptions, 23 yards
Top Receiver: Cooper 8 receptions 122 yards, 1 touchdown
Top Defender: Micah Parsons, 10 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 QB Hit, 4 TFLs

Next Game: November 7, vs Denver Broncos, Noon CT

WATCH: Cooper to Cooper connection gives Cowboys late lead

With their backs against the wall, Cooper Rush and Amari Cooper combined on the late drive for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Cowboys’ defense saw the yellow laundry on three personal fouls late in the fourth quarter, two being on defensive end Randy Gregory and the other on defensive end Tarell Basham. The questionable penalties helped the Vikings make it within the Dallas 5-yard line but the defense got stingy, forcing them to make a field goal for a 16-13 lead with under three minutes left.

On the second play of the ensuing Cowboys drive, wide receiver Amari Cooper juggled a pass off of Minnesota defenders for a 33-yard catch before ripping off an 18-yard gain on the next play to get Dallas into opposing territory.

The Cowboys’ biggest drive of the game was frozen at the Vikings 20-yard line for a long third down. That was before running back Ezekiel Elliott barreled through defenders for a first down. The next play?

Quarterback Cooper Rush’s best throw of the night was also the biggest one, giving Dallas a 20-13 lead with 51 seconds remaining.

Cowboys rookie LB Jabril Cox exits game with knee injury

Rookie linebacker Jabril Cox is out for the rest of the game after injuring his right knee on a Vikings punt in the third quarter. | From @CDBurnett7

The Dallas Cowboys are slugging it out with the Vikings and linebacker Jabril Cox injured his ankle during a Minnesota punt. The rookie from LSU has been a special teams piece in his young career, a unit that has been much improved from the 2020 blunders.

Since the release of Jaylon Smith, Cox has seen a jump in snaps. The rookie made his presence felt with a huge hit on Daniel Jones at the goal line in Week 5 and has trended upward for Dallas.

Cox’s status is another blow for a Cowboys’ defense that has seen its fair share of injuries in 2021.

WATCH: Cowboys’ Rush finds Wilson, WR puts safety in spin cycle for TD

Following a sluggish first half, Cooper Rush and Cedrick Wilson broke it open with a 73-yard touchdown to start the second half.

The Cowboys’ offense looked all but dead in the first half. Quarterback Cooper Rush was thrust into a big moment as the starter in primetime and had a tough miss on an interception in a first half where he totaled just 110 passing yards.

The first drive of the second half was all offensive coordinator Kellen Moore could ask for. 73 yards and a score for wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, whose legend continues to build as a clutch performer in Dallas. Wilson put Vikings safety in a spin cycle after the catch, on his way to a game-tying score.

Rush and Wilson are familiar with each other as they spent plenty of time together on the scout team for the Cowboys and they were perfectly in sync on the score. Dallas has tied the game up at 10-10 and it’s back to square one in Minnesota.