The Washington Commanders (11-5) face the Dallas Cowboys (7-9) on Sunday in the regular-season finale. Dallas won the first meeting, 34-26, after a wild finish in Week 12.
That’s the last time Washington lost. The Commanders have won four in a row, clinched a playoff berth, and are looking to lock up the NFC’s No. 6 seed with a win on Sunday in Jerry World.
The Cowboys have nothing to play for on Sunday and will be without star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That means quarterback Cooper Rush, who replaced the injured Dak Prescott back in Week 9, will be without one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.
What if Rush isn’t under center for Dallas on Sunday against the Commanders? According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, fourth-year quarterback Trey Lance is expected to play “significant snaps” against Washington.
From 2022 through 17 weeks of 2024, Trey Lance has thrown a grand total of 20 passes. He may eclipse that total on Sunday. Big opportunity for him on Sunday. https://t.co/6DcgzTv0Ak
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 4, 2025
It’s the right move for the Cowboys, and they probably should’ve done it two weeks ago when they were officially eliminated from playoff contention. That’s not a knock on Rush, who played well. Dallas actually had a better record with Rush under center this season than with Prescott.
A former top-five pick of the 49ers, the Cowboys made a questionable trade for Lance two years ago, paying his rookie contract and having him serve as the No. 3 quarterback.
Lance is an excellent runner with a strong arm, but he has a long way to go before he proves he is an NFL starting quarterback. The 49ers gave up on Lance after eight games and four starts despite moving up in the draft for him in 2021.
While seeing what Lance can do is the right move, it sounds more like the Cowboys want to avoid paying Rush a $500,000 bonus for participating in 55% of Dallas’ offensive snaps in 2024. Rush earned $250K of that bonus for playing 45% of the offensive snaps. He’s currently at 52.3% for the season.
Some things will never change.
Meanwhile, the Commanders have several players looking to earn achievable incentives in Sunday’s game. Do you think owner Josh Harris would tell coach Dan Quinn to bench Dante Fowler, Zach Ertz, or Frankie Luvu? Of course not. The former owner would have, you know, Jerry Jones’ buddy.