Cowboys actually need to start Trey Lance now more than ever

False hope is all that the Dallas Cowboys can really hang their hat on this year. Despite winning their last two games, Dallas is only 5-7 on the season. That mark has them five games back of the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East race, and three back of the 8-5 Washington Commanders. If the season ended today, Washington would be the third wild card team coming out of the NFC this year.

What I am getting at is the Cowboys have virtually no chance at making the playoffs now. They pretty much need to win out to finish with a 10-7 mark to have any real shot in. Even if they were to get close, the Cowboys do not have the head-to-head tiebreaker over a reeling team who did beat them previously in the Atlanta Falcons. Cooper Rush has been great for them, but now is Trey Lance's turn.

This is not about shopping Rush or keeping him on ice to prevent further damage to their backup quarterback asset. It is all about two things with the Cowboys right now. Can Lance even play? If he can, then Rush is now expendable. If he cannot, well, at least the Cowboys will be in a far better position to draft a player inside of the top 10 or so to give Dak Prescott the best shot at success.

Unfortunately, since Jerry Jones loves attention as much as being so mediocre, this will not happen.

Dallas Cowboys need to think about their future instead of false hope

It does not matter what happens the next several weeks, this year has been a complete and utter failure for the Cowboys. Dallas should be achieving as close to the same amount of success as Washington is right now. There is no reason to celebrate a win over a cratering New York Giants team. At least the IBM of the NFL is starting to recognize how abysmally they have been run in recent years.

Self-awareness is not in Jones' dictionary, so Cowboys fans pay the price for it annually. What I would hope would happen in Dallas is for the Cowboys to better position themselves to be something like a 7-10 team. In my Falcons fandom experience, that gets you pick No. 8 overall. Trust me when I say this, you can get quality players within that range (Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Michael Penix Jr.)

Even though Lance may go down as one of the greatest NFL Draft busts in recent memory, Dallas employs him for a reason. There is some belief that the player who was so good for North Dakota State that one season before COVID could actually amount to something in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker. Dallas can still reap the benefits from him.

Starting Lance is not panacea, but it could be a means to an end for the Cowboys to stop being mid.