Tag: 2024 Week 16

Cowboys schedule: Is Dallas playing today?

Are the Cowboys playing today? Here’s a look at the 2024 schedule; results and the games to come.

Week 16 of the NFL football schedule is underway, with every NFL team taking the field this weekend. Sunday and Monday are going to have a decidely NFC feel, however, as three games are already in the books and they were all AFC matchups.

The early and late windows are highlighted by NFC on NFC violence and both night games feature two NFC teams as well. Will the Dallas Cowboys be in one of those matchups today?

The Cowboys’ last-ditch effort to turn around is still on life support after a win over the Carolina Panthers, 30-14. The team’s negative magic number is now one, a loss or a victory by Washington officially ends Dallas’ campaign. And they will find out early on Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles will look to clinch the division with a win over Washington. If they can’t, and the Commanders win, Dallas will be officially eliminated before they take the field for Sunday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here’s a look at Dallas’ schedule so far this year.

TEAM 2024 schedule

Week Date Opponent Time (CT) Result
1 Sep. 8 @ Cleveland Browns 3:25 p.m. W, 33-17
2 Sep. 15 vs New Orleans Saints Noon L, 44–19
3 Sep. 22 vs Baltimore Ravens 3:25 p.m. L, 28-25
4 Sep. 26 @ New York Giants (TNF) 7:15 p.m. W, 20-15
5 Oct. 6 @ Pittsburgh Steelers (SNF) 7:20 p.m. W, 20-17
6 Oct. 13 vs Detroit Lions 3:25 p.m. L, 47-9
7 BYE WEEK
8 Oct. 27 @ San Francisco 49ers (SNF) 7:20 p.m. L, 30-24
9 Nov. 3 @ Atlanta Falcons Noon L, 27-21
10 Nov. 10 vs Philadelphia Eagles 3:25 p.m. L, 34-6
11 Nov. 18 vs Houston Texans (MNF) 7:15 p.m. L, 34-10
12 Nov. 24 @ Washington Commanders Noon W, 34-26
13 Nov. 28 vs New York Giants (Thanksgiving) 3:30 p.m. W, 27-20
14 Dec. 9 vs Cincinnati Bengals (MNF) 7:15 p.m. L, 27-20
15 Dec. 15 @ Carolina Panthers Noon W,  30-14
16 Dec. 22 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (SNF) 7:20 p.m. TBD
17 Dec. 29 @ Philadelphia Eagles 3:25 p.m. TBD
18 Jan. 5 vs Washington Commanders TBD TBD

*prime-time game

Time for Cowboys to test WRs Jalen Brooks and Jonathan Mingo

It’s time for the Cowboys to see what they have in Jonathan Mingo and Jalen Brooks

The 2024 postseason is still technically in play but for all intents and purposes the Cowboys seem to understand their fate. With less than a one percent chance of advancing, the Cowboys front office knows it’s more about next season than this season.

The team is nobly taking it each game at a time. Players and coaches don’t have the luxury of shifting focus onto next year because for them there might not be a next year.  It’s why talks of tanking earlier in the year were shot down the moment they began percolating.

But there’s a difference between winning at all costs and losing on purpose and that’s an area the Cowboys should be residing in today. With just three games remaining on Dallas’ schedule, it’s important the Cowboys learn what they can about a few young players who, up to this point, look like major question marks heading into the offseason.

Receivers Jalen Brooks and Jonathan Mingo are two of such players who deserve an extra look these last three games. As things stand now, WR is one of the Cowboys biggest needs heading into 2025. Brandin Cooks is set to leave in free agency and Jalen Tolbert has been too inconsistent to be responsibly trusted as a top option.

It’s safe to say the Cowboys need two WRs this offseason to fill top four spots on the depth chart, and one of those spots needs to be WR2. Based on what we’ve seen (and haven’t seen) of Brooks and Mingo, it’s unlikely either are the No. 2 option Dallas so desperately needs. But maybe one can be a WR3 or WR4?

Tolbert, fresh off possibly the best catch of career in Week 15, is a player fans have been excited about for some time. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound pass catcher from South Carolina flashed potential since joining the Cowboys as a draft pick in 2023. He’s a top special teams player with a killer instinct and someone who can handle the physical demands of playing the x spot on offense.

Mingo, acquired in a midseason trade this season, is another player with the ability to play snaps as an x. At 6-foot-2, 220-pounds he has the size the Cowboys love, but with only two catches for a total of 10 yards since joining Dallas, he’s extremely green and unproven.

Either player has the potential to be that WR3 or WR4 the Cowboys need, just like either player could bust out and never break the top four on the depth chart at all. The point is the Cowboys don’t know either way and it would go a long way in their planning for 2025 if they had an idea which direction these two are trending.

Mike McCarthy and staff are clearly playing for wins each and every week. With expiring deals, they have no interest in the long-term health of the team. Therefore, this is not something the front office could push if McCarthy thought it would be detrimental to winning.

Though if all things are equal, making a concentrated effort to get answers from a couple of the Cowboys’ biggest question marks is something the front office would seemingly appreciate.

At this point Tolbert probably is what he is. He’s a shifty playmaker who’s good for a nice play or two each week but also someone who’s going to get bullied off the ball and who’s liable to disappear for long stretches. Handing some of his snaps to Brooks and/or Mingo wouldn’t exactly be seppuku to the offense. It could be win-win.

Related articles

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]