How using Trey Lance could help save the Cowboys’ season

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FRISCO, Texas — When it rains, it pours. Already struggling to score touchdowns in 2024 and owners of a 3-5 record, the Dallas Cowboys face the reality that All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott will likely miss significant time going forward with a serious hamstring injury – which pushes Cooper Rush and Trey Lance onto the stage.

And possibly for much longer than four weeks.

This is a team that averages only 21.4 points per game. game (20th in the NFL), and some of that belongs to All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey, not the offense itself. Adding insult to injury is the fact that CeeDee Lamb is now trying to manage what is being described as a sprained AC joint in his shoulder going forward, meaning one of the best in the league at his position is less than 100 percentage.

Now that the Philadelphia Eagles are battling the Cowboys with the goal of breaking their will permanently, it’s time for Dallas to batten down the hatches.

But what exactly does that mean?

In my opinion, that means it’s time to let Lance loose in this offense.

Hear me on this if you will.

Rush has proven more than capable of keeping the Cowboys in games, as evidenced by his 5-1 record over the previous two stretches when Prescott was sidelined by injury. Hell, his 2022 stretch was so impressive in proving people wrong and helping keep the season on track that it made me dedicate an entire Science Lab column to him as a “thank you” for his service.

You can read that by pressing this blue line.

So when it comes to my faith in Rush, just know that it’s stratospherically high. And yet, that being said, I’m having a hard time – almost impossible, in fact – to fathom that his ability alone is enough to carry the Cowboys out of their tails in the back half of this season, because things are markedly different in 2024 than they were in 2022.

Two seasons ago, Rush didn’t have to take a lot of risks with his arm because he had an offensive line in front of him that didn’t consistently allow a lot of pressure and a defensive counterpart that led the league in takeaways and pass rush interference.

None of those things are true through eight games this season.

Even when Prescott and Lamb were fully healthy, present and accounted for, it’s an offense that has ranked at or near the bottom of the league’s running backs in several key categories and consistently struggled to produce touchdowns in the red zone. The offense also ranks 32nd in the league in rushing yards (656) and 31st in rushing yards per game. experiment (3,8).

Do you know who can help in this regard?

Say it with me: Trey Lance.

To that point, Lance has more rushing yards in his three preseason outings than every running back on the roster has through eight regular-season games, except for Rico Dowdle, who has been the one beacon in an otherwise dark storm of unproductiveness. Operating behind a struggling offensive line could spell disaster for the Rush, as it often did for Prescott, who had been sacked a total of 21 times through Week 9.

In contrast, Prescott was only sacked 20 times throughout the 2022 seasonand Rush was sacked just seven times in his five games that year — an average of 1.4 times per game. competition.

As it stands, the Cowboys’ offensive line is allowing nearly three sacks per game. match.

Using Lance in certain packages will ensure that the Eagles’ defensive front, one of the most visceral in the NFL and that excels at getting pressure from every spot on their defensive line, avoids pinning its ears back to punt in every other game for killshot. Visions of Lance in read options to be respected because of his quick dance in my head and along with some designed runs could send a surge of electricity into the Cowboys offense.

This will especially be the case in the red zone, where the disorders are many.

Give me the canvas and the brushes for a moment and let me paint a picture for you.

Imagine a red zone play where Lance gets the opportunity to play on one visit, causing the linebacker (Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean) to grace him with indecision, and in that split second, a first down or touchdown is delivered.

Now imagine a subsequent visit with an election game, but this time Lance sticks it and runs himself; or he tucks it, and when the linebackers and defensive backs rush down to stop him, Lance throws it to a wide-open Jake Ferguson (or any of his likely options in that scenario).

Do you lllllllll smell what The Rock is doing?

Granted, what you gain with those packages, you lose in terms of downfield accuracy and the “I’ve seen it all before” veteran IQ that Rush possesses, but that’s football. And going exclusively with Rush, with zero packages for Lance, also carries an insanely high level of risk – eg, less mobile in a pocket that has been a danger zone when Prescott was in it.

It’s risk versus reward, at all times.

Mitigating the risk by combining the talents of both Rush and Lance feels like the perfect medicine here to try to climb to a 4-5 record and maybe, just maybe, give themselves a fighting chance to back their way into the playoffs, where, maybe, just maybe, Prescott will be available, and (even then) I’d say keep the Lance variable alive and well.

And need I remind you that the Cowboys are eating a $5.3 million cap hit for Lance ($311,764 per game in 2024) and still have no idea if he’s a viable QB2 candidate in Dallas for the 2025 season ? If you don’t forget, they also gave up a fourth-round pick for him, one that could have turned into a rookie if it was still in their pocket last April.

Playing him now, when the opportunity has finally presented itself, feels like a no-brainer for as many reasons as you and I could possibly conjure up.

Finally, McCarthy goes on to say that reps are what he needs to take the next step in his development.

Well, give him some and before it’s too late – by all means.