Brett's Cowboys Corner

The Cowboys are set to play in their final game of the season. While being eliminated from playoffs, there is not much use in cheering for a Cowboys victory this week, and if anything it just messes up draft position.

Sure, games are important to players who are playing for new contracts next year and they want every opportunity to earn a roster spot. As for the coaching staff, their contracts expire on January 8th, and a decision will be made there.

But in a very Jerry way, Cowboys GM said that this Sunday does not have much meaning, if at all, toward the future of this staff.

A win for Dallas could push them as far back as 17 in the draft order. A loss paired with a Colts and 9ers win could jump the Cowboys to the 11th pick.

I still need to tell you the keys to victory, but we are redefining what a victory is this week.

• Ferguson has gone 355 days without a touchdown. While he has dealt with injuries, it has been an underwhelming season for him. The connection with Rush never developed, but this a chance to end the year on a good note.
• Lance has been confirmed to be receiving ‘significant snaps’ this week. While no confirmation has been made of him starting. It is likely that he will play at least half the game. This will be important for lance to showcase is worth for 2025.
• Mazi just needs good reps. The 2023 first round pick hasn’t played up to that standard. He needs some good snaps and provide anything on tape.

• Daniels will look to cap off his rookie campaign with a final statement game Sunday. He is the favorite for Rookie of the Year. He will also try to get this game over as quickly as possible, so he can take the 4th quarter off.
• Ertz needs 9 catches, 90 yards, 2 touchdowns to make a total 750,000 bonus on Sunday. He doesn’t need them all to hit, each category would be worth 250,000.
• Former Cowboy, Dante Fowler just needs a .5 sack to maximize his 1.5 million incentive bonus.

1 – Leave AT&T Stadium In One Piece.

Seems like an easy one. But this game isn’t worth any torn ligaments or broken bones.

The Cowboys have already shutdown Ceedee Lamb for the season, and while they haven’t announced a complete benching of their starters. You would have to imagine that some of the veterans and guys who will be here next season will be on limited snap counts.

Plus it is more beneficial to get a good rotation on younger players on the field. As the Commanders are playing their starters for playoff seeding. This is the best competition, some of the back of depth chart guys will ever see.

2 – Sack City.

Mike Zimmer has gotten the front seven figured out in Dallas. Now that definitely happened too late into the season, but it still can be great momentum going into next year.

The Cowboys have blitzed opposing passers on 32.0% of their dropbacks this season, the 10th-highest rate in the league. The Cowboys sacked Jayden Daniels 4 times in their last game.

The Cowboys are bringing the heat, and have seen late year step ups from Carl Lawson and Osa Odighizuwa, who is playing for a new contract. But of course the main leader of the Dallas D is Micah Parsons.

Micah Parsons has generated 50 pressures since returning from injury in Week 10, 11 more than any other player, and leads the league with 8.5 sacks during that span.

Micah currently stands with 9.5 sacks. He just needs .5 sack to get to double digits, if he gets that mark he will be the 4th player ever to get double digit sacks in his first four seasons.

3 – Lets See What Weapons We Have.

Lastly, this kind of games feel like a preseason game. So we might as well treat it as such. I want to see our younger receivers, Jalen Brooks and Ryan Flournoy with plenty of targets this game. Johnathan Mingo who we traded for earlier in the year as well.

Other guys like Deuce Vaughn who has been on the inactive list for a majority of the season. I want to see if there is anything valuable there. This may be someone who is fighting for a roster spot in Oxnard.

On the offensive line, T.J. Bass is returning and needs some more reps at RG. With the uncertainty of veteran Zack Martin’s future, Dallas needs to start planning ahead. Asim Richards has had some playing time when injuries start to become a problem.

And what about Trey Lance? The Cowboys only have 1 QB on the roster going into 2025, we know who Cooper Rush is. But the Cowboys have refused to give Trey Lance any playing time. Even in running QB situations, they’ve made Rush run with it… It is confusing what the plan is currently, unless they are not playing him to keep his price down?