Despite the absence of star quarterback Dak Prescott, the Minnesota Vikings lose against the Dallas Cowboys. The reason for this is the surprisingly strong performance of backup Cooper Rush, for whom the Vikings apparently did not prepare.

Munich – For a long time it was unclear whether the Dallas Cowboys would be able to fall back on their franchise quarterback Dak Prescott in the Sunday Night Game at the Minnesota Vikings.

About an hour before kickoff, the certainty followed: Prescott would have to take a break due to a calf injury, and backup quarterback Cooper Rush would take over for him. The 27-year-old had already trained with the first team in recent weeks.

Rush proved to be a worthy replacement and eventually led the Cowboys to a 20:16 away win. Already during the game, the Vikings defence gave the impression that they had not expected such a strong performance from Prescott’s replacement.

Vikings defence surprised by Rush

“We didn’t prepare for him,” Vikings cornerback Xavier Woods admitted: “We just focused on Dak Prescott. We thought they had the same offence they’ve always had on the field,” the 26-year-old explained.

Rush ended up with 325 passing yards and two touchdowns thrown. Time and again, the 2017 undrafted free agent surprised the Vikings secondary with deep passes to his receivers and showed no fear.

The late decision not to send Prescott back onto the field turned out to be an important move in retrospect: “We really didn’t know he was starting until warm-ups. We watched some video of Rush, but we were really focused on Prescott,” said Woods, a former Cowboys player.

Vikings game plan not working out

As head coach Mike Zimmer confirmed to “ESPN” after the game, the Vikings’ main goal was to take the Cowboys’ run game out of the game should Rush start. As the game progressed, it became increasingly clear that the Vikings clearly underestimated the Cowboys’ passing game.

Although the Cowboys only managed 76 rushing yards in the end, the defensive tactics of the hosts did not really work. The Vikings closed the middle on only 17% of the visitors’ running plays. Rush’s good form ensured that the opposing defence had to cover all parts of the field, resulting in some gaps.

Cedric Wilson’s furious 73-yard touchdown was obviously right up there in the Cowboys’ playbook: “We practised that play all week. They gave us the perfect formation,” Wilson said after the game.

Cedrick Wilson said 73-yard TD came on play Cowboys ran “all week.”

Ced: “They gave us the exact look. ..I got pushed right to the middle where I wanted to go. I don’t think the backer got back in cover-2. Coop threw a perfect ball & I just did the rest. “pic.twitter.com/A4Lp5mZho4

– Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) November 1, 2021

This also makes it clear that this loss could have been avoided for the Vikings if they hadn’t focused too much on Dak Prescott. If Rush has to step in next week as well, the Denver Broncos’ defence should be more than warned by now at the latest.