The Dallas Cowboys campaign this season has been an unfettered disaster. You can read it in the creased lines of Jerry Jones‘ face as clearly as you can in their scorecards. They stand 3-7 after a 5-game losing streak, unlikely to end next week in their game against the Commanders. And in the middle of all that, they’ve only gone and lost Dak Prescott with a hamstring injury. The season’s a wash, but they’ll have to hope to have some dignity in defeat. Will they find it?

Well, the odds aren’t exactly overwhelmingly in their favor at the moment. Plus, Jerry Jones made it clear head coach Mike McCarthy‘s gonna be around till at least end of season. The passivity in his approach and desire to stick to what works is part of what doomed the Cowboys’ run. They built so much of their hopes around the tried and tested Prescott-Lamb duo. Well, now that Prescott’s out of the way, what’s next? McCarthy’s announced that it’ll be Cooper Rush starting against the Commanders again next week. And apparently Trey Lance will be able to secure some game time too.

The decision has invited some backlash from Cowboys fans, of course. Rush has always been a backup, and he hasn’t earned a lot of goodwill so far this season. In the two games he started in since Prescott’s injury, the Cowboys have scored only 16 points combined, and conceded 68. It makes you wonder how bad Trey Lance could be if they’re still hesitant to give him a chance. The man was a no. 3 pick at the 2021 NFL Draft, it’s not unprecedented for talent like that to fizzle out, but he must have had potential.

McCarthy himself admitted after the Texans game (10-34 defeat, btw) that he regretted not putting Trey Lance in. In the 4 games he started in for the 49ers (who drafted him), he threw for 797 yards and 5 touchdowns, with one rushing touchdown too. That’s not a quarterback who can’t play. Plus there’s the fact he went undefeated in the 17 games he started in back in college for the North Dakota State Bisons. It really makes you wonder what McCarthy’s seen in practice that the public hasn’t heard about.

Can the Cowboys overcome the hurdles of their own making?

The Cowboys sleeping on Trey Lance is all the more baffling when you consider what they gave up for him. They traded the 49ers a 4th round draft pick for him back then, and then they’ve hardly used him. Granted, Prescott was on fire all of last year, but what excuse do they have now? They’re paying the guy $5.3 million this year just to warm the bench. And speaking of bad trades, the Cowboys made another one just a couple weeks ago. The controversial 4th round pick traded to the Panthers in exchange for WR Jonathon Mingo had fans scratching their heads.

But what can you do? It’s Jerry Jones’ world, and Cowboys fans have the misfortune of living in it. The Cowboys are giving up valuable draft capital, and getting sweet nothing for it. Mingo’s been unimpressive with the Panthers, and the Cowboys need rescuing from every angle. Their defense is statistically one of the worst in the league, they need a reliable backup QB, their offensive line’s not been good at protecting the QB, I mean, where do you start to fix things? Even their billion dollar stadium’s collapsing around their ears. A 2025 Cowboys recovery seems unlikely, unless Precott-Lamb have a second phenomenal year. There simply hasn’t been enough investment in alternatives, and nor can there be, the way things have panned out.