IN ANOTHER world, Cooper Rush would be a British boy band or one of those American YouTube sensations making a mint from boxing bouts against washed-up stars. In the NFL, he is a blazing meteor flashing across the sky for the Dallas Cowboys, soon to disappear without a trace. Rush, in case you missed it, is the back-up quarterback who is suddenly the NFL’s newest star amid a perfect 3-0 record replacing injured Dallas starter Dak Prescott. His latest trick – a 25-10 victory over the Washington Commanders that means an unfancied Dallas team seemingly in turmoil after Prescott’s hand injury in a Week 1 loss is back in the playoff race.
There are times throughout the NFL season when you wonder if the 4am Monday alarm clock wakeup is worth it to watch a niche sport halfway across the world. After all, in some ways the season can follow predictable rhythms. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are still incredible as his catalogue of circus tricks and freakish throws grow by the week.
The Packers (3-1) are still logging wins despite their diminished arsenal at wide receiver, surviving an overtime win over New England amid the strong suspicion they aren’t nearly good enough to win Aaron Rogers another title.
And the plucky Detroit Lions (1-3) are still finding freakish ways to lose winnable games, this week in a 48-45 shootout to Seattle and its surprise packet quarterback Geno Smith.
Then you come across stories like Rush and you realise why you have fallen in love with this sport.
So combustible, so volatile, so capable of elevating a bit-parts player like loyal backup Rush for his 15 minutes of fame.
So ridiculous as you wait for the final play of Monday night football to decide your fantasy football game as Matt Stafford’s struggles elevate your team to 4-0.
Rush might not be the real deal, but he doesn’t have to be after a perfect 4-0 record in his starts across his career as an undrafted 28-year-old who has bounced around the league from Dallas to the New York Giants and back again. In three consecutive games he has game-managed low-scoring victories without any interceptions – albeit in a soft part of the draw – in a Dallas team that now has Michael Gallup back from an ACL tear and Prescott ready to roll next week.
Gallup caught the first touchdown of the game after last year’s week 17 ACL tear, and fellow wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is starting to get hot after an awful week 1 display. So while Rush might just rush back into football oblivion, his perfect record will at least be preserved until Prescott gets injured again.
The Cowboys have at least made the NFC East into a competitive race given the Philadelphia Eagles are the only unbeaten side in football with their 4-0 record. They rattled off 29 straight points to turn around a 14-0 deficit against a Jacksonville team which simply refused to hold onto the ball in a torrential downpour. Trevor Lawrence lost four fumbles – the most since 2000 – and threw a pick to let down his coach Doug Pederson in his rematch against the same Eagles he took to a Super Bowl victory not too long ago.
And while there are sexier teams in football – the Chiefs, the upstart Miami – the sum of the Eagles’ parts suddenly looks mighty impressive. Quarterback Jalen Hurts has a sneaky good arm and the discretion to know when to hurtle his powerful frame into the breach on judicious running plays.
Running back Miles Sanders is no one’s idea of a top-three running back but he peeled off two touchdowns and 134 yards, while wide receiver AJ Brown has made an excellent start after crossing from Tennessee. He was roasted after a non-competitive tackling effort as Jacksonville returned a Hurts interception for a touchdown, which immediately set the internet alight.
His explanation – I tried to strip the ball and was blocked – was feeble but he drew cover from a much better video clip that soon turned viral.
Seattle’s DK Metcalf was ferried to the locker room on a medi-cart during the victory over the Lions, seemingly with a worrying injury. The frantic sideline reporters quickly relayed the breaking development that he was actually off for a bathroom break. Metcalf’s explanation on Twitter post-game: “That clinch walk wouldn’t have made it”.
So in the weird and wonderful world of American sport Metcalf’s medical assistance when he was busting for number twos almost got as much press talk as the remarkable rise of Geno Smith.
Who?
The same Geno Smith who stunk it up in two torrid seasons with the underperforming New York Jets?
Smith’s first two years in the NFL produced 25 touchdowns and 34 interceptions for the Jets before a bizarre locker-room confrontation that summed up his stunted career. He was punched in the face by teammate IK Enemkpali over failing to stump up $600 for a plane ticket to football camp he eventually couldn’t attend due to a friend’s death. Smith broke his jaw, soon lost his job, tore his ACL and then eventually found his way to Pete Carroll’s Seattle after Russell Wilson fled for the Broncos.
Currently Wilson is just keeping his head above water under terrible head coaching at the Broncos and yet wash-up Smith is thriving under NFL veteran head coach Carroll’s tutelage. Promoted to the starter after backing up Wilson since 2019, he upset the Broncos in Week 1 and has shown the strong decision making and pin-point throwing that had made him a potential top-10 pick all those years back before slipping to the second round of the draft.
Smith has an elite coach, an emerging running back in Rashaad Penny, elite wide receivers in the aforementioned Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and a sound offensive line after the Seahawks turned their No.1 draft pick in the Wilson trade into left tackle Charles Cross. It was Cross who read the Detroit’s defence and altered the play that allowed Penny the clinching touchdown.
So like Rush’s Cowboys, Seattle is making a decent fist of a season despite being written off by many. Another bizarre week in the NFL where the real contenders are yet to emerge and yet there so much to shock, entertain and delight.