Cooper Rush dragged the Dallas Cowboys back over .500 last week in a gritty win over the New York Giants. On Sunday, he'll return to Jerry World to take on another NFC East rival, the Washington Commanders. Washington has lost each of its last two games after opening the season with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the offense was stumped by the Philadelphia Eagles for just eight points last week. That's good news for a Cowboys defense that has been the heart and soul of the team so far in 2022. However, there's more to this Week 4 matchup than meets the eye, so let's make some bold Cowboys predictions for this Commanders game.
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Carson Wentz will look to get out of the pocket and run
The Dallas defense has been outstanding so far this year, but even the best defenses have weaknesses. On Monday, as the Cowboys' pass rushers were making life miserable for Daniel Jones and the Giants, Jones might have unearthed one of Dallas' warts.
Jones ran for 79 yards on just nine carries in the Giants' Week 3 loss to the Cowboys. 62 of those yards came on scrambles, when Jones got flushed out of the pocket by Dan Quinn's aggressive play calls. The Cowboys' ability to generate pressure is what has made them so successful early on this season. It might also be opening up opportunities for mobile quarterbacks to escape and pick up yards on the ground.
Rushing hasn't been a huge part of Wentz's game so far this season, but he's certainly capable of tucking and running when he has to do so. Wentz scrambled three times for 22 yards against the Eagles last week. If Dallas' defense is going to be as aggressive as they have been, the Commanders might look for ways to exploit that aggressiveness and get Wentz out into space for some easy yardage on the ground.
Trevon Diggs will get a pick for second straight Cowboys game
Trevon Diggs was great in two contests against the Commanders a season ago. Across two matchups with Washington, Diggs allowed just four catches. He recorded three PBUs and nabbed a pick in those games as well. That was against a different quarterback, but Wentz has thrown seven picks in his last 10 games dating back to last season. He threw a pair to the Jaguars in Week 1.
Matchups aside, Diggs just has the look of a player getting antsy for the football. Through three weeks, it appears Diggs has taken note of some of his critics about how aggressive he can be in pursuit of the football. The longest completion Diggs has allowed so far this season is 20 yards, but he's starting to play more aggressively. Diggs almost nabbed his first interception of the season during the first quarter Monday night on a pass over the middle intended for Kenny Golladay. Diggs jumped another route early in the third quarter but let another would-be pick pass through his hands for a completion to Sterling Shepard.
Diggs wound up sealing the game with his first interception of 2022 Monday night. That could be a sign of things to come against Washington. The league's leading interception artist from a season ago looks like he's itching to make a play.
A healthy helping of Jason Peters at left guard for Cowboys
There was a lot of panic around the Cowboys' fan base after Tyron Smith went down for the season at the end of training camp. Since then, Tyler Smith has begun to prove himself as the future at left tackle for America's team. That left the Cowboys with a decision to make over where they would play their newly acquired future Hall of Fame left tackle, Jason Peters. After Monday night, the answer is apparently just to slide him over to left guard.
Peters' first career snaps at left guard couldn't have gone much better. Immediately after bringing him into the game, Tony Pollard sprung a huge 46-yard run through the left side. Peters is still on a pitch count, but it's safe to say that Dallas' experiment with him at left guard has been an early success. With Tyler Smith playing so well at left tackle and Peters taking to his new position, don't expect the Cowboys to fix something that isn't broken.
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