Will Cooper Rush win his fourth NFL start?

NFC East chase duel – here we go. With the Cowboys and the Commanders, two teams meet that started the season with completely different signs. For the Commanders it was all about stabilisation, for the Cowboys it was about hitting the big time.

But the Boys are currently a little further away from that, which is mainly due to the long-term absence of their quarterback Dak Prescott. Although backup Cooper Rush has cut a strong figure so far, they are still a long way from the best offence of the pre-season.

Washington, on the other hand, also has a new captain on the field in Carson Wentz, but the slightly weaker supporting cast from the ground up. Due to Dallas’ personnel problems (TE Dalton Schultz is also still out), they have a chance on Sunday.

So for Cowboys vs Commanders, our prediction is a close game that won’t see too many points. The Cowboys’ games are currently also among the lowest-scoring and the Commanders shouldn’t be able to change that either.

The start of the NFC East duel of NFL Game Week 4 is on Sunday at 7:00 pm in Dallas. The game can be watched live on DAZN’s ENDZN.

Dallas Cowboys – Statistics & current form

The Cowboys are muddling through the season so far. However, anyone who would have suggested a 2-1 record for them after three days of play following Prescott’s injury would have chimed in without blinking. Now, with a well-possible win against Washington, they’re even looking at a 3-1 record.

However, that is what it should be, as two tough away games at the Rams and the Eagles follow. The game against the Commanders is therefore of great importance for Dallas – and for their goal of reaching the playoffs again.

Cooper Rush still undefeated as a starter

The surprising thing about the season so far isn’t that they’re 2-1, but the way backup Rush is running the Cowboys’ offense quite confidently after all. Considering they lost one of their best wide receivers in Amari Cooper, and Dalton Schultz and Michael Gallup remain injured, he’s doing a really strong job.

With passer ratings of 95.5 and 98.2, he even puts up numbers that catapult him into the top 15 of all NFL quarterbacks. Currently, we can undoubtedly talk about him being the best backup in the entire league (together with Garoppolo). Luck of the draw, then, for the Cowboys.

Defense continues to be the gamechanger

As good as Rush plays, their defence was again the guarantor of victory for Dallas against New York. They had five sacks and an interception and put Daniel Jones under a lot of pressure with numerous other pressures in addition to the sacks.

If the defence manages to do the same against Carson Wentz and the Commanders offence, then another success should only be a formality. The fact that we still only recommend betting on them as a secondary recommendation is due to the personnel situation. In addition to Gallup and Schultz, McGovern, another important offensive player, is threatening to drop out.

Thus, for Dallas vs. Washington, a bet on subpar points or the fourth quarter as the highest-scoring quarter is more promising. Why? Because in an expected low-scoring game, a lot is then mostly decided in the fourth quarter, which often leads to an increased point output towards the end.

Key Players:
QB: Cooper Rush
RB: Ezekiel Elliott
WR: CeeDee Lamb
TE: Jake Ferguson
K: Brett Maher

Washington Commanders – stats & current form

That wasn’t much the Commanders put together there against Philly, especially in the first three quarters. They were already down 0-24 at the break and a win was out of the question. That should change against the struggling Cowboys.

For that to happen, however, their defence must finally wake up. With 27.3 points conceded per game, they are among the five weakest teams in the league. They shouldn’t concede that many against Dallas, but since they are only averaging 21.0 points offensively, it could still be difficult.

Who allows more mistakes?

It is quite possible that it will not be the offensive big plays that will decide on Sunday, but the avoidance of mistakes. With a rating of -4, the Commanders are second to last in turnover differential.

This means that they give away significantly more balls than they win. Only one interception has been caught so far, and they have not yet generated a fumble. Although the Cowboys are not outstanding with +/- 0, they are still better than Washington.

Without winning the ball, they will definitely lose the game on Sunday, we assume. However, if they can steal the ball from Dallas once or twice, we think they have a good chance to win away from home.

Low scoring game very likely

Both teams are having a lot of trouble scoring offensively. The Commanders scored 21.0 points to only 15.3 for the Cowboys. They have a much better defence. For this reason, we expect extremely few points on Sunday. The 40-point mark is unlikely to be surpassed.

It could be, however, that if the score is close in the fourth quarter, events will overturn and the score will increase, as was the case in both the Commanders’ game against the Jaguars and the Cowboys’ game against the Giants.

While subpar points are also a great option in this matchup, for Cowboys vs. Commanbders, the odds on the fourth quarter being the highest-scoring are so promising that we can’t pass up this bet.

Key Players:
QB: Carson Wentz
RB: Antonio Gibson
WR: Terry McLaurin
TE: Logan Thomas
K: Joey Slye

Dallas Cowboys – Washington Commanders Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

The Commanders have been very good to the Cowboys in recent years, with the Texans winning seven of the last ten duels. The only exception: In the year when Dak Prescott was completely out because of his broken ankle, both games went to Washington.

This is the case again now, but we still trust Cooper Rush a little more than we did with Andy Dalton back then. So the Cowboys are still considered the slight favourites. However, too little to really take bets on them as a main tip.

Much more we recommend a bet on a high-scoring fourth quarter or sub-par points overall on Dallas vs. Washington. That sounds contradictory, but it’s not, as we expect very few points, especially in half 1.

Dallas Cowboys – Washington Commanders Tip

Good backup against stumbling starting quarterback. That’s another way to title this duel. Therefore, we give a slight advantage to the backup in this duel. Nevertheless, this game should again be decided by the defenses, where Dallas also has the edge.

Due to some uncertainties (inexperience of Rush, failures of the Cowboys) we do not see betting on them as betting option No.1 . Rather, with Cowboys vs Commanders, it’s a prediction on the fourth quarter as the highest-scoring one that does it for us.

Alternatively, however, sub-point bets are playable. With under 41.5, the bookmakers are still betting so high here that we can consider these with a clear conscience.