The 3-6 Dallas Cowboys will face the 6-4 Houston Texans on Monday night, with Houston still in the playoff race while Dallas appears to be out of contention for 2024.
A major factor in Dallas’ struggles has been the loss of star quarterback Dak Prescott.
Prescott suffered a hamstring injury during the Cowboys’ Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, causing him to miss their Week 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. On November 12, Dallas confirmed that Prescott had undergone season-ending surgery on his hamstring. With Prescott sidelined, the Cowboys turned to backup Cooper Rush for the Eagles game, while third-string quarterback Trey Lance saw limited action in the 34-6 blowout loss.
For the upcoming game against Houston, Rush will once again start, with Lance serving as the backup quarterback.
The reason Lance isn’t starting is clear: Rush has more experience and better overall numbers than Lance.
Rush, who joined Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2017, has far more playing time than Lance. Comparing their careers
Why isn’t Trey Lance starting for the Cowboys?
| Player | Career | Pass Attempts | Pass Completions | Passing Yards | Passing TDS | Interceptions | Rushing Yards |
| Cooper Rush | 2017-2024 | 298 | 178 | 1,831 | 9 | 6 | 13 |
| Trey Lance | 2021-2024 | 108 | 60 | 818 | 5 | 4 |
Lance was drafted third overall by San Francisco in 2021 but only played in six games as a rookie, backing up Jimmy Garoppolo. In 2022, Lance played just two games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. He was then traded to Dallas for a 2024 fourth-round pick. In contrast, Rush has started several games during seasons when Prescott was injured, including five starts in 2022 after Prescott’s thumb injury.
In last week’s game against the Eagles, Rush threw for just 45 yards and had two fumbles. Lance, meanwhile, completed four passes for 21 yards and threw an interception.
“We’re not there yet. I mean, we had a package for him,” said head coach Mike McCarthy, referring to Lance potentially starting in the future. “We wanted to get him into the flow of the game was the thought process coming in here. Then to get him in when we did, then I took him out on the third down. I just believe in reps. I mean that third down segment there, not that he couldn’t run the plays. I just didn’t want to put him in there, something that he hadn’t had a lot of reps in. I put Cooper back in for that play, for third down, we had the turnover there. Something I’ll obviously discuss tomorrow.”
At 3-6, Dallas’ playoff hopes seem slim. The team likely needs to win every remaining game, which would be a tall order without Prescott, especially with tough matchups against teams like Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Washington.
Given the circumstances, it’s understandable why Dallas wouldn’t want to take a chance on an untested quarterback at this stage of the season.
Dallas Cowboys QB depth chart
| Rank | Player Name |
| 1. | Dak Prescott (injured) |
| 2. | Cooper Rush |
| 3. | Trey Lance |
Trey Lance’s contract details
Earlier this year, the Cowboys decided not to exercise Lance’s fifth-year option, meaning Lance will become a free agent after the season, as will Rush. Lance carries a $5,310,714 cap hit for Dallas this year.
Prescott, meanwhile, signed a four-year, $240 million extension with Dallas at the start of the 2024 season.
For now, it seems likely that the Cowboys will look for new backup quarterbacks as they prepare for 2025.
whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Stay up the great work! You realize, a lot of persons are hunting around for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Hey! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
Wyoming Valley Equipment LLC