Dallas Cowboys let rare opportunity pass by in Week 17
Could Week 17 have been a rare instance where winning should not have been the priority for the Dallas Cowboys? Let’s discuss.
The Dallas Cowboys were wrapping up an extremely disappointing season this past Sunday in Philadelphia. This was a season where the Cowboys had big aspirations of contending for a Super Bowl after coming off a 13-3 season last year. The most encouraging part of last year was the amount of change the Cowboys were able to endure and still give the appearance of not missing a step.
2016 was a season where we saw the Cowboys lose their franchise quarterback and transition to a rookie quarterback all during the span of the preseason. Most teams would be derailed by that circumstance alone instead of looking like a league power house looking to push for a Super Bowl birth.
Along with quarterback Dak Prescott’s emergence we saw another rookie in running back Ezekiel Elliott seemingly take the league by storm and lead the league in rushing during his rookie season. Having two rookies have that type of impact right out the gate is virtually unheard of.
So there should be no questioning as to why optimism was so high this year due to everyone expecting Prescott and company to take a step forward in the offseason. I think it is safe to say the exact opposite happened this season with the Cowboys completely falling apart and continuing to live up to their reputation of not meeting expectations and seeing talent not play up to potential.
Even with the disaster that was this season, the Cowboys had a chance to look forward and potentially start building towards next year in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles. In typical Cowboys fashion, they let that opportunity pass by.
Instead of treating their last game like the exhibition it was, the Cowboys insisted on playing to win and going with their remaining healthy starters for most of the game.
Instead of getting a long look at backup quarterback Cooper Rush we got to see Prescott have another unimpressive outing where the offense was practically nonexistent the entire game. Instead of getting an extended look at undrafted rookie wide receiver Lance Lenoir we got to see Dez Bryant give another lackluster performance, falling in line with his production most of the year. See the trend?
There are very few positives that came out of Week 17 for the Cowboys. Sure they got the win, but what good came out of the win? We got to see a Cowboys offense struggle like it has all year and the defense look good against the Eagles backups for most of the game.
Not to mention the draft positions the Cowboys lost with their win in Week 17. The Cowboys fell from picking sixteenth in the first round to now picking nineteenth. Those three picks can make a huge difference in a year where most draft experts are grading out only 16-18 first round graded players.
The Cowboys could be reliving last year’s draft where they openly admitted they did not have a first round grade on their number one pick Taco Charlton.
I understand the mindset of “every week matters” that head coach Jason Garrett is trying to instill in this team and in most cases it is correct. But the bottom line is Week 17 was meaningless and nothing was gained from the Cowboys winning their final game.
Next: Dallas Cowboys - Three biggest positives from 2017
By not treating it like the exhibition game it was, Jason Garrett and company managed to hurt their own draft stock and failed to get a decent look at some intriguing young players. It only seems fitting that the Dallas Cowboys could manage to hurt themselves while trying to win.