There was only going to be one outcome when the Dallas Cowboys kicked off against the Philadelphia Eagles. While Dallas had won four of five coming in, their roster is decimated and locked horns with arguably the best roster top-to-bottom in the NFL.
Even without Jalen Hurts, these teams didn't belong on the same field Sunday. Any hope the Cowboys had at upsetting their rival ended on the seventh play from scrimmage when C.J. Gardner Johnson took a telegraphed Cooper Rush pass 69 yards to the house.
The Cowboys needed a perfect game for Rush to have a chance and he had arguably his worst game to date in a Dallas uniform.
Despite Rush's struggles, it wasn't a banner day at the office for Mike McCarthy. Some of his play-calling left something to be desired and one KaVontae Turpin expressed frustration with it after the loss.
KaVontae Turpin all but calls out Mike McCarthy after Cowboys' loss to the Eagles
Turpin was not a fan of Dallas' offensive approach without superstar CeeDee Lamb, who was shut down for the final two games after aggravating his shoulder injury last week.
"Man, I just feel like, at the end of the day, with CeeDee gone, we weren't really calling no pass plays. We just run the ball, throwing checkdowns... We thought we're going to go out there and show people, it ain't all about CeeDee. At the end of the day, we wasn't getting no down the field routes being called..."KaVontae Turpin, via The Athletic
Turpin makes a great point. With no Lamb, many Cowboys fans pointed to Turpin as a potential sparkplug for the offense. It seemed like an obvious spot for McCarthy manufacture touches for one of the most dynamic players the NFL has to offer.
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While Turpin was targeted four times, he caught just one pass for 16 yards. He added two carries for 18 yards. Even with Lamb were in the lineup, one could argue that Turpin should touch the ball more than four times. That he only logged four touches without Lamb is baffling.
Brandin Cooks tried his best to provide a spark, but Rush couldn't get anything going after he piloted a touchdown drive on Dallas' second possession. Cooks and Tolbert combined for 82 receiving yards on seven catches. The rest of the team combined caught nine passes for 66 yards.
Again, there was not much McCarthy could do with Rush struggling, so we're hard-pressed to come down too hard on him. Overall, McCarthy has done a nice job keeping the offense functioning without Dak Prescott. He curled into a shell on Sunday, though, and frustrated Turpin in the process.
While a player of Lamb's caliber is supposed to make McCarthy's job easier, play-callers really show their chops when the cards are stacked against them.
Turpin's quote does not mean the locker room suddenly isn't behind McCarthy. Prescott himself said after Sunday's loss that he's going to lobby for McCarthy to keep his job. Regardless, Turpin's comments are a reminder of McCarthy's frustrating tendencies as a play-caller when things go haywire.
