Although there’s little hope that the Cowboys can improve their playoff seeding Jerry Jones says team’s starters will play in Week 18. | From @StarConscience
Week 17 wasn’t kind to the Dallas Cowboys. Not only did they suffer a loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals that dropped them from the two seed to the four seed in the NFC playoff picture, but they lost wide receiver Michael Gallup for the season to a torn ACL.
The Cowboys need a lot of things to go their way to improve their playoff seeding. However, they are coming off of a subpar performance against the Cardinals which isn’t ideal heading into the postseason. For some, it brings up the dilemma of whether a team should play their starters to get a rhythm, or rest them for the playoffs.
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, never at a loss for words, made it clear on Tuesday the Cowboys’ starters will play against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
“We plan to play. We plan to play to win,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan.
This NFC East battle was originally scheduled for a noon Central kickoff on Sunday but was flexed to Saturday night. Jones mentioned that having the game moved up a day gives the Cowboys more time to prepare for their playoff matchup the next week.
“Obviously, the debate over the two ways to go is pretty obvious, but I like to play,” Jones said. “In this particular case, we’re going to have an extra day’s rest between our last game and the first playoff game. I think we’re better served by going out there and executing and having our team out there really playing like it’s the playoff game we’ll be playing the next week.”
Cowboys’ Executive Vice President Stephen Jones made an appearance on The Fan on Monday and uttered something similar to what his Hall of Fame father said when he was asked about if the team’s starters would sit for Week 18.
“Not at this point,” said Jones. “I feel like we’ll be full-bore ready to go. …We need the momentum and to work on our execution.”
Offensively the Cowboys have struggled to consistently put good drives together as of late. Their first touchdown against the Cardinals on Sunday didn’t come until just before halftime, and they didn’t gain a rhythm after that until the fourth quarter when their deficit was too much to overcome.
The man that makes the Cowboys’ offense go, quarterback Dak Prescott, certainly needs to be playing his best football as the postseason draws near. Although he did throw for three touchdowns against the Cardinals he didn’t look as poised or accurate as he did in Week 16 against the Washington Football Team when he threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns in the first half during a 56-14 rout.
Prescott’s approach to the Cowboys’ season finale echoes the sentiments of the Jones’s as he said he’ll be on the field on Saturday night.
“I plan on playing. Period,” Prescott said.
It’s an understandable route that the Cowboys are choosing to take heading into the postseason. They are a serious contender in the conference and getting some fine-tuning before their tough journey makes a lot of sense.
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