Cowboys hold on to defeat Giants in NFL Thanksgiving Day game: Live reaction and updates

In a battle of backup quarterbacks, Cooper Rush outlasted Drew Lock on Thanksgiving. Rush didn’t have a spectacular game and was aided heavily by a strong running game but after a tough start filling in for Dak Prescott, Rush has started to look more comfortable the past couple of weeks, on the road against the Washington Commanders and Thursday at home against the Giants.

This version of Rush looks a lot more like the guy who helped the Cowboys to a 4-1 record in five games without Prescott in 2022. Rush doesn’t make many spectacular plays but he’s fairly efficient, doesn’t throw many dangerous passes and usually avoids the big mistake. His play was especially magnified on a day that Lock had a decent game but made a killer error by throwing a pick-six on a screen play in the first half.

Those are the types of plays Rush has done a good job of avoiding, at least in the passing game. On Thursday, he was also able to overcome some bad drops from his top target, CeeDee Lamb, and found Brandin Cooks in some big moments in the clutch.