The 3-6 Dallas Cowboys take on the 6-4 Houston Texans on Monday night. While Houston is still very much in the playoff hunt, it looks like 2024 is a lost season for Dallas.
A big reason for that? The loss of star quarterback Dak Prescott.
During Dallas' Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Prescott left the game with a hamstring injury. He missed Week 10's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, Dallas announced that Prescott had undergone season-ending surgery on his hamstring. During Prescott's absence, the Cowboys started back-up Cooper Rush against the Eagles, with third-string quarterback Trey Lance coming late during the 34-6 blowout loss.
For Monday night's game against Houston, Rush will once again be the starter, with Lance as quarterback No. 2.
Here's why the former No. 3 overall draft pick isn't starting.
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Why is Trey Lance not starting for Cowboys?
The obvious answer is that Rush has more experience and better overall numbers than Lance.
Rush, who signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2017, has significantly more playing time than Lance. Just look at the side-by-side comparison:
Lance started his career in San Francisco, where he was drafted third overall in 2021. He saw action in just six games as a rookie, serving as a backup to Jimmy Garoppolo. In 2022, he played in just two games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. San Francisco then traded Lance to the Cowboys for a 2024 fourth-round pick.
Rush, meanwhile, has played largely during seasons with Prescott injuries. Rush started five games for the Cowboys in 2022 following Prescott's thumb injury.
Against the Eagles last week, Rush finished with just 45 yards passing and two fumbles. Lance had four completions for 21 yards and an interception.
“We're not there yet. I mean, we had a package for him," Mike McCarthy said about Lance potentially starting for Dallas in the future. "We wanted to get him into the flow of the game was the thought process coming in here. Then to get him in when we did, then I took him out on the third down. I just believe in reps.
"I mean that third down segment there, not that he couldn't run the plays. I just didn't want to put him in there, something that he hadn't had a lot of reps in. I put Cooper back in for that play, for third down, we had the turnover there. Something I'll obviously discuss tomorrow.”
At 3-6 on the season, Dallas making the playoffs seems pretty unlikely. The Cowboys likely need to win every remaining game on their schedule to do so. That's pretty daunting without your starting quarterback, not to mention with a schedule that features games against Cincinnati, Tampa, Philadelphia again and Washington.
It doesn't make much sense for Dallas to turn to an unproven guy under center at this point.
Dallas Cowboys QB depth chart
| Rank | Player Name |
| 1. | Dak Prescott (injured) |
| 2. | Cooper Rush |
| 3. | Trey Lance |
Trey Lance contract details
Earlier this summer, the Cowboys declined to sign Lance's fifth-year option, so Lance will be a free agent after this season, as will Rush. Lance is on Dallas' books as a $5,310,714 cap hit.
Prescott signed a four-year $240 million extension with Dallas at the start of the 2024 season.
For now, it looks like Dallas will seek out new backups as the Cowboys move into 2025.
