FRISCO, Texas – Let's go play ball.
To win.
Enough of this foolish thinking of tanking for the sake of a better 2026 draft position.
Now get it, if the Eagles beat the Commanders on Saturday before the Cowboys even step onto the field at noon Sunday against the 10-4 Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium, they clinch the NFC East title. That would eliminate the second-place Cowboys from catching them with Philadelphia becoming the first team to win the division in consecutive seasons since they did so from 2001-04.
And as for the Cowboys potentially claiming one of three NFC wild-card berths, they at least must win out over the final three games to reach nine wins. But then, they would need a whole lot of help. Already there are four teams with a least 10 unattainable wins the Cowboys can't match, though two of those are division leaders. Problem here is another four NFC teams currently have better records with two of those having already beaten the Cowboys, meaning a whole lot of losing needs to take place for Dallas to squeeze in as the third wild-card team if they should win out. The percentages are highly stacked against them.
Mission pretty much impossible.
But to me, there is no tanking in football. You do your very best to win at all costs, no matter what. How hypocritical would that be to intentionally try to lose when first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer all season long has passed out athletic wear with the inscription "Compete Every Day"? Brian Schottenheimer has worked daily to improve the culture on this team, and if he intentionally starts playing a bunch of backups, giving no care to winning, don't you think the other players having to play would start rolling their eyes?
Like, what the what?
The message must stay constant.
Now, none of this nonsense erupts from inside the walls here at The Star. And certainly not from above me on the second floor, either.
"A win is very, very important in the NFL. And a win is important to me. And a win does a lot of positive things. I don't care when it happens."
That from the boss, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Now then, let him continue.
"We owe it to that mirror, and we owe it certainly to our fans that we want to walk out there and be competitive. We will not try for draft position. We won't be looking at anything like that. We'll be out there playing football, and we'll bring them to play. So that's a long-winded way of saying we'll play football under whatever the circumstances are."
Hey, no one wants to pay good dollar to essentially watch three more preseason games.
And I find this also hypocritical for those subscribing to the theory of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus being on the hot seat, that how the Cowboys' highly ineffective defense plays in these final three games will be part of his evaluation for the future, a thought being hailed by many.
But on the other hand, those subscribing to that thought want the Cowboys to play a whole bunch of the younger players, these last three games serving as tryouts for the future, clouding that supposed evaluation of Flus. Can't talk out of both sides of your mouth. How fair would that be?
Plus, do you realize how many young players the Cowboys already are playing on a regular basis? And let me start here: Over eight of the past nine games, backup quarterback Joe Milton is the only player on the game-day 48-man roster not to play. And in the one game he did play, he came in to mop up that horrendous 44-24 loss to Denver.
Then this: In this past loss to Minnesota, nine of the listed 22 starters are in no more than their third season with the Cowboys. Young at more than heart.
And then this, which very well might not seem very important to the franchise's legacy to some: Should the Cowboys lose at least two of their next three games, finishing no better than 7-9-1, this would be the first time since 2000-02 the team will have suffered back-to-back losing seasons. Remember, the Cowboys finished the 2024 season at 7-10, the very reason head coach Mike McCarthy was not retained.
Furthermore, before that the franchise only suffered consecutive losing seasons in the first two years of the Jones-Johnson regime, gong 1-15 in 1989 and 7-9 in 1990. But then that was a continuation of the three consecutive losing seasons in the final three years of Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry's 29-year reign with the Cowboys. In all, those five consecutive losing seasons marked the longest string of ineptitude since the franchise's first five seasons (1960-64).
Not sure anyone wants any more of that on their watch.
Now, get it, there might be some exceptions to looking at a few young guys out of necessity. Take cornerback. Cornerback DaRon Bland will need season-ending foot surgery, though he's still a seeking a second opinion, certainly finishing out the season on injured reserve.
And unless the Cowboys are moving veteran corner Trevon Diggs off IR-return by Saturday at the end of his 21-day practice window, he would remain on IR for the rest of the season – potentially the rest of his Cowboys career. If Diggs isn't activated to the 53-man roster, that leaves the Cowboys with only five cornerbacks – if Josh Butler (questionable) is moved off IR-return – in no more than their second NFL seasons: Butler, rookie Shavon Revel, Caelen Carson, Reddy Stewart and rookie Trikweze Bridges. And for insurance purposes, if no corners are elevated off the practice squad, the Cowboys would need to get veteran special teams player C.J. Goodwin ready for backup duty at cornerback. Talking paper thin here.
Then there is running back. Starter Javonte Williams has been limited in practice this week after suffering the "stinger" that limited his snaps in the Minnesota game, and fullback Hunter Luepke (questionable) has spent this week in concussion protocol. For depth purposes, the Cowboys might need either rookie Jaydon Blue, designated a game-day inactive for the past six games, and/or rookie Phil Mafah, who has just been moved to IR-return practice this week, to be active Sunday against the Chargers.
Then there is a quandary at left offensive tackle. Second-year starter Tyler Guyton (ankle) will miss his fourth consecutive game. And while second-year tackle Nate Thomas has started in his place, he left the Minnesota game with a should injury, though has been taken off the injury report. And if Dak Prescott is playing – everyone including himself says he is – then the next guy up would be Hakeem Adeniji, who struggled coming into the Minnesota game. Might need some shifting to go on there. Taking a look at second-year backup T.J. Bass would become a possibility out of necessity.
Defensively, young linebackers DeMarvion Overshown and Marist Liufau already are playing, though rookie Shemar James could get a few more snaps. And up front, seemingly the only guy of interest would be Perrion Winfrey, who has yet to play a snap this season being either a game-day inactive or serving time on injured reserve.
And that brings us then to the elephant in the room: Do the Cowboys continue to play Prescott or take a look at the second-year backup Milton? He has played just one full NFL game, that being with the Patriots last year before the Cowboys traded for him this season. Now, Dak said he's absolutely playing. So has Schottenheimer. At least for this game. The Cowboys have precedent for starting a young backup toward the end of a losing season.
But most were injury complicated. Rookie Reggie Collier was given the start in the final games of the 1986 season after the Cowboys struggled with backup Steve Pelluer replacing starter Danny White, who was lost for the season in Game 9 with a serious wrist injury. And Collier, in what turned out to be his only NFL start, was totally lost after only previously playing mop-up duty in three other games. He completed four of nine passes for 44 yards, two interceptions and three sacks in his final appearance with the Cowboys.
There was 2010 when the Cowboys lost Tony Romo for the season, deciding to give 2009 fourth-round draft choice Stephen McGee a chance to start the only NFL game of his three-game career in place of veteran backup Jon Kitna. That produced a 14-13 Game 16 win over Philadelphia as McGee completed 11 of 27 passes for 127 yards and a 68.0 QB rating. The Cowboys would release McGee after not playing in 2011.
Then there was Kellen Moore interviewing for the Cowboys' backup quarterback spot in 2015 after the team lost Tony Romo and then went through the likes of failing veterans Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel as backups. Moore played well enough in the final two games, his only NFL starts in three career appearances, to give the Cowboys hope he could serve as Romo's backup in 2016. Moore completed 61 of 104 passes for 779 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions, and the plan was to become Romo's backup until Moore suffered a broken right fibula in training camp.
But then you know the rest of the story with Romo suffering a preseason game injury, elevating the rookie Prescott to the team's starter for the entire season.
Now then, while Dak would be totally against not starting, Thursday saying, "Being a professional, this is my job, this is what I love to do. Sitting out last year and the times before, you don't take getting to play this game for granted. You play every game to win. You play every game to get a chance to go to the playoffs or play in the Super Bowl, and unfortunately that's not always the case."
There also is a pride factor for Dak, knowing the Cowboys only losing seasons during his 10-year career have occurred when he was lost for the season with injuries in 2020 (6-10) and 2024 (7-10).
But deep down, certainly, if and when the Cowboys have nothing to play for – a division title, wild-card playoff berth or winning season – Dak would understand giving Milton a chance to start in at least the last game on the schedule, if not the final two.
However 2025 turns out, Dak the competitor is hurt by sitting here 6-7-1 heading into Sunday's final home game against a Chargers team with several scenarios potentially playing out to clinch a playoff berth if they beat the Cowboys.
"This one stinks for sure," Dak said of the season, going on to point out, "and I know not only me personally but for a lot of guys, this is a feeling that they'll carry into the offseason, and we'll do our damnedest to make sure that this doesn't happen again."
Not this foolish thinking of tanking taking place.
