Cowboys will continue to sit Trey Lance despite being eliminated

Despite being eliminated from the NFL Playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys are reportedly sticking with Cooper Rush over Trey Lance as their starter. Dallas even started Rush Sunday night knowing they couldn't do anything to make the playoffs.

It seems Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is trying to get as many wins as possible from this season. McCarthy is in the final year of his contract with Dallas, and with Rush winning four of the last five games for the Cowboys, McCarthy will stick with him as Dallas attempts to secure its fourth straight winning season. It would need to win the final two games of the season to do so, however, and those games are against the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.

Rush took over for Dak Prescott after Prescott suffered a season-ending injury to his hamstring in the Cowboys' Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Dallas is 4-3 since Prescott's injury.

In just 13 NFL starts, Cooper Rush of the @dallascowboys has already beaten:

Joe Burrow (9/18/2022)
Jayden Daniels (11/24/2024)
Bryce Young (12/15/2024)
Baker Mayfield (tonight)

No other QB has beaten 4 Heisman-winning opposing starting QBs within his first 13 career starts. pic.twitter.com/rmAFSVL5SE
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) December 23, 2024

In these seven games, Rush has thrown for 1,697 yards, 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Some fans, though, would rather see what Lance can do now that the Cowboys can't make the playoffs.

"Me wanting Trey Lance ……Cooper rush playing like Tom Brady," one fan posted on X.

"Hey Jerry Jones," another fan wrote. "It's time for Trey Lance."

"FREE TREY LANCE!! ... Mike McCarthy your job safe Jerry ain't got no other options .. so let Trey Play," a third fan wrote.

McCarthy, however, has other ideas. The last two games for Dallas are against divisional opponents and he wants to win them.

"The mindset is to win. We're going to Philadelphia to win the game," McCarthy said on Monday. "It's exciting to go up there. The crowd is going to welcome us with open arms like they always do. So we're fired up about that, too. We're going there to win. That's something that I think is clear to everybody... We're playing this game to win."

Both Lance and Rush will be unrestricted free agents this offseason, so one would think seeing what Lance can do would be beneficial to the Cowboys.

"I think it's a very fair question, playing in games, but we feel really good about what we do every day, how we train, those things go into it," McCarthy said. "But right now we're game planning."

The Cowboys won just their second game at home Sunday night, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24. Dallas likes what it sees in Cooper Rush, and they'll be sticking with him to end the season. As far as next year goes, it's still unclear who will be Dak Prescott's backup.