Cowboys roundtable: Discussing the Eagles performance, Trey Lance, and positions of need
Our writers provide their opinions on the latest Dallas Cowboys news during our weekly review on the Roundtable.
Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have Brian Martin, Tom Ryle, and RJ Ochoa, David Howman and Jess Haynie.
What do we make of last week’s performance against the Eagles?
In the team's penultimate game of 2024 season, the Dallas Cowboys struggled on both offense and defense against the Philadelphia Eagles. The game ended with Egles’ third-string quarterback, Tanner McKee. taking over and making three completions for 54 yards and two touchdowns. The only boast the Cowboys can make in the embarrassing 41-7 defeat is Rico Dowdle went for 100 yards rushing and became the first undrafted running back to go over 1,000-yards in a season for Dallas.
Jess: The Cowboys are who we thought they were, at least offensively. It was no surprise to see the offense flounder without CeeDee Lamb, but Mike McCarthy certainly didn’t help with poor situational decisions and his trademark unimaginative play designs. The defense was hurt by not having much film of Kenny Pickett running things, but of course the bigger issue was the chronic lack of run defense that Saquon Barkley exploited. The blowout was a natural product of facing a superior team, both in its talent and coaching staff.
RJ: I’m never going to accuse an NFL team of tanking, but Sunday’s performance looked an awful lot like the Cowboys were very fine with not winning. This felt obvious given that they shut down CeeDee Lamb what with how they were mathematically eliminated in Week 16. All told it just seemed like a team resigned to going through the necessary motions.
Howman: I disagree with RJ on this (a rare thing to happen, honestly). The Cowboys were right in it in the first quarter, despite a terrible pick-six from Cooper Rush. The offense was moving the ball, the defense was getting stops, things were going their way. But the Eagles did what they’ve done to so many teams this year: stack a couple plays in their favor and then squeeze the life out of you. Once they were up multiple scores, it was the Saquon Barkley show, and nobody has been able to stop that this year. I think this is simply a case of getting beat by a significantly better team.
Brian: Last week’s performance against the Eagles was pretty much as expected. The Cowboys play pretty well against bad teams, but against playoff-caliber opponents they pull a disappearing act this year. Thankfully the season is almost over and we can start focusing on how this team can get better instead of wallowing in how disastrous Dallas has been this year.
Tom: To me, this was a case of the reality of elimination catching up with the team and slapping them in the face. With Lamb out, they probably knew just how remote their chances were, and the turnovers by Rush probably sapped the rest of their fight. It really wasn’t a huge surprise.
Should the Cowboys play Trey Lance in the final game of the season, or keep Cooper Rush in to make the game more competitive?
Cooper Rush threw a pick-six on the opening drive last week against the Eagles and really proved to people why he’s a backup quarterback. He finished the game with 147 passing yards and one touchdown, and two interceptions, and a passer rating of 50.7. With the season over plenty of talk is on the card of seeing what Trey Lance can do against Washington in the final game of the season. Whispers are even emerging from with Frisco that the team may start Lance this week.
Jess: Who says Lance wouldn’t make the game more competitive? He’s a great option against an aggressive Dan Quinn defense. His athleticism is much more likely to give them problems than anything Rush can do. And if nothing else, now that having a winning season is out the window, at least make things interesting.
RJ: Ultimately I think the best approach here is to treat the game like a glorified preseason contest. If the Cowboys want to get Rush involved to some degree that’s fine, but there should absolutely be some utilization of Trey Lance as well. More than anything the Cowboys should prioritize getting playing time for players who haven’t had any and do what they can to help players reach incentives. This is a meaningless game in every sense.
Howman: I really have no opinion on this. Cooper Rush is absolutely the better quarterback, and there’s not much of an argument against that if you’ve been paying attention the past two months. One game from Trey Lance against a Commanders team that might be resting their starters anyway is not going to tell us anything valuable about him. Would it be cool to see him play a full game? Sure. But we already know who the starter is going to be next year, and Rush is pretty much guaranteed to be brought back as QB2 barring an aggressive offer in free agency, so there’s not really much to be gained aside from enhancing the debate about whether or not the trade made sense.
Brian: I have wanted to see more of Trey Lance ever since Dak Prescott was lost for the season, so yes I’d love to see him play and even start in the regular-season finale. Even if the Cowboys brass has already decided he doesn’t have a future in Dallas, playing him at the very least makes the game more entertaining.
Tom: This is a free opportunity to get some developmental time for Lance. It could also give some indication whether he is capable of getting better. Both are valuable things. And the chance to protect Rush against a team whose head coach would just love to embarrass his former employer is nothing to sneeze at.
What are the three biggest weaknesses on this Cowboys roster the team needs to address this offseason?
With the season coming to a close it’s time to begin reviewing the roster and the needs for the 2025 NFL Draft. The BTB Roundtable will still be here getting the opinions and information from all our writers and even getting you, the readers, your thoughts in the comments section.
Jess: General manager, head coach, and offensive coordinator. Oh, you said, “roster.” Well, in that case, offensive line, defensive tackle, and wide receiver. Even if Guyton and Beebe take the next step, you still need to upgrade from Steele and probably replace Martin. Even if they re-sign Odighizuwa at DT, they have to add more depth and rotation pieces for run defense. And if you go into next year with Cooks and Tolbert or Turpin in your top three receivers, especially if you don’t change coaches, then the offense won’t be able to compete.
RJ: It is difficult to narrow it down to just three. If I am forced to choose I suppose that I’ll say offensive line, wide receiver and arguably corner. I agree with Jess in that the Cowboys still need improvement at right tackle, but I can’t place anything there above wideout since Dallas only has CeeDee Lamb as far as legitimate options. I included corner obviously, but a lot of my trepidation is based around Trevon Diggs and not knowing his full status for 2025 so that will impact how I feel as the offseason goes on.
Howman: There are questions on the offensive line, but I believe the answers are already there: move Tyler Guyton to right tackle, Terence Steele to right guard, Tyler Smith to left tackle, and have a competition between Brock Hoffman and TJ Bass for left guard. The Cowboys desperately need another receiving option behind CeeDee Lamb, and that should be priority one. Beyond that, bodies will be needed on the defensive line depending on how the team handles several expiring contracts. Ditto for linebacker, with Eric Kendricks a free agent and DeMarvion Overshown likely not playing next year. Find some receivers first, and then give Mike Zimmer whoever his heart desires.
Brian: For me, the three biggest roster “needs” for the Dallas Cowboys are defensive tackle, running back, and offensive line. The Cowboys have little to no depth at all three of these positions and might need to replace two starters on their OL for the second consecutive season a row depending on what they do with Terence Steele and their need to replace Zack Martin. Those would be my top priorities in both free agency and the draft.
Tom: WR, DT, and LB are my top three. Given how they lean on the draft, that means their first three picks. Go best available when they get on the clock, but try to hit all of them before the fourth round. You know, the pick they traded away. Then keep an eye out for a nice backup to Rico Dowdle in the late rounds. Usually I lean to OL, but the patchwork line showed enough to think they don’t need to invest a lot of capital there. It is a foolish hope, but I wish they would consider investing in a capable body to add to the OL in free agency. Experience is so valuable there.
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