Week 11 ended with a frustrating loss that dropped the Dallas Cowboys to 3-7 on the season. It’s far from the result Jerry Jones and the front office expected. Of course, this implosion was always possible with the way Jones made Mike McCarthy a lame-duck head coach, but that doesn’t make it any easier to witness.
Another failure that just about everyone predicted was the addition of Trey Lance in 2023. Lance, the third overall pick out of North Dakota State in 2021, lost his starting job to Brock Purdy. The San Francisco 49ers were ready to move on and Dallas thought it was a good idea to send a fourth-round pick to San Francisco for Lance.
He sat on the bench as the inactive third quarterback all year before finally making his preseason debut this summer. That resulted in plenty of interceptions and allowed Cooper Rush to keep his job as QB2.
Rush has started the past two games with Dak Prescott out and the Cowboys have scored 16 points. Rush has thrown an interception and has five fumbles on the season already. Despite his struggles, McCarthy says Rush will remain the starter and Lance will be his backup.
At this point, it would make sense to put Lance on the field just to see if the offense can come alive. He’s far from a finished product but he’s going to push the ball downfield more than Rush. It will result in more turnovers but there’s also a chance for more than eight points per game. Throw in his rushing ability (and the Cowboys’ inability to run) and it would make even more sense to give him an opportunity.
That’s not the plan, however, which makes it seem as though Dallas is admiting what everyone else has been saying — the trade for Lance was a mistake.
