The good news despite Sunday’s loss

Despite how Sunday’s season finale 23-19 loss played out, there was plenty of good news for the Dallas Cowboys.

First and foremost, the nightmare season is over. Very little went Dallas’ way this season and now they can hit the reset button.

Second, the Cowboys finally started Trey Lance and officially found out they wasted a fourth-round pick and a few million Benjamins on him.

Now at least they know they have one quarterback on the roster. The bad news is that the quarterback is Dak Prescott.

Saddled with a bad contract, Dallas is going to have to ride with Prescott for the next three years.

The good news in that is the Cowboys should draft Prescott’s ultimate replacement either this year or next and groom him to start in 2028.

Some additional good news could come in the next few days. This is in the area of the coaching staff.

Mike McCarthy Needs To Go

Either by walking out the door to Chicago when his contract expires on the 14th, or by Jerry Jones telling Mike McCarthy that his services are no longer required.

McCarthy’s play-calling is barely mediocre. He gambles when he shouldn’t and doesn’t roll the dice when he should.

The final drive of the first half is a prime example.

With Dallas set to get the ball to start the second half, McCarthy should have taken a chip shot field goal for a 9-3 halftime lead.

Instead, he calls a pass play on consecutive plays from the two-yard line on third and fourth down that fell incomplete.

I would suggest Mike Zimmer moving up to replace him. But Sunday’s loss took some of the shine off of Zimmer.

After containing Jayden Daniels for most of the game, Zimmer’s defense parted like the Red Sea and let Marcus Mariota run all over them.

By The Numbers

Ok, I can admit it. I was wrong.

I picked Dallas to end the year at 8-9. They were even worse than I thought they’d be and finished 7-10.

My bad.

Yes, that is sarcasm in its purest form dripping off your screen right now.

Given what the Cowboys are looking at in players set to be free agents in a couple of months, and Jones Inc.’s stated intention of not spending in free agency, a better 2025 isn’t so looking good.

McCarthy’s record in Dallas after five years now stands at 49-35 in the regular season. He’s just 1-3 in the playoffs.

Those numbers don’t inspire confidence.

Sunday’s loss dropped the Cowboys’ all-time record against Washington to 79-49-2 overall and snapped a three-game win streak by Dallas.

The Cowboys are now 43-18-2 at home against Washington all-time. The team’s three-game win streak at home against the Commanders was also snapped with Sunday’s loss.

The loss drops Dallas to 3-2 in Week 18 games, 0-1 at home.

The Cowboys conclude their 65th season with an all-time record of 569-423-6 in the regular season. They are 315-167-4 at home and 254-256-2 on the road.

In the playoffs, Dallas is 36-31 with five Super Bowl victories.

Sunday’s 23-19 loss was the fourth time in Cowboys history they ended a game with that score. Dallas is 1-3 in those games.

The franchise has had 421 different scoring combinations to end a contest in its 65 seasons of play.

One And Done

Jerod Mayo was the hand-picked replacement by the New England Patriots for Bill Belichick at the end of last year.

New England didn’t even let Week 18 come to a complete end before parting ways with their heir apparent.

Fired even before Black Monday could officially begin? That isn’t going to look good on the resume.

Depending on who you prefer as your talking head of choice, there could be another half-dozen new head coaches in the NFL when the 2025 season begins.

In addition to the Patriots, these teams could be shopping for new head coaches: Dallas, Las Vegas, Chicago, both New York teams, Jacksonville, and New Orleans.

As Black Monday plays out today, we’ll see just how bad it will be.

A Tale Of Two Quarterbacks

Joe Burrow’s chances of winning the MVP went down the drain Sunday afternoon when the Denver Broncos steamrolled the Chiefs.

The win put Denver in the playoffs and ended the Bengals season. The rest of the AFC playoff teams breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Burrow and the Bengals would have been the team that nobody wanted to play.

Another AFC quarterback probably played his final NFL game on Sunday in New York.

It’s time for Aaron Rodgers to move on. He definitely won’t be coming back to the Jets in 2025.

It’s hard to imagine any other team offering him a starting job after his last two seasons.

And it’s even harder to imagine that he’d accept a back-up role.

He’s had a great career. It’s time for him to call it a day.

Or maybe head to Minnesota, if he really wants to perfectly copy Brett Favre’s career arc.

A Championship On The Line

While the FBS division of college football still has its semi-finals to play before the championship game in Georgia later this month, the FCS will crown its champion tonight.

North Dakota State (13-2) and Montana State (15-0) will collide at 6 p.m. in Frisco, TX to determine this year’s FCS champion.

You can bet that both Hunter Luepke and Trey Lance – both Bison alumni – will be on hand.