Jason Garrett says Cowboys won’t rest starters in final weeks of regular season

The Dallas Cowboys officially have nothing more to play for in the final weeks except momentum and a push for the best record in franchise history. Regardless, coach Jason Garrett says the team doesn’t plan on taking its foot off the accelerator in Weeks 16 or 17.

When the New York Giants lost Thursday night to the Philadelphia Eagles, it guaranteed the Cowboys the NFC East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference. With two more wins, Dallas would have the first 14-win season in the franchise’s storied history.

But the Cowboys haven’t been to the NFC Championship since the 1995 season, and that’s the top priority for an exciting young team led by a pair of rookies. Garrett thinks the best path to get there is by conducting business as usual against the Detroit Lions and Eagles in the last two regular season games.

The trip to the playoffs will be Garrett’s second in six full seasons as the Cowboys’ head coach. In 2014, Dallas entered Week 17 with the NFC East clinched, but were still in a tight race with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks for a first-round bye.

Despite finishing with a 12-4 record, the Cowboys were on the short end of a three-way tie for the top two seeds, even after finishing with a 44-17 demolition of Washington in the season finale.

With Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott both putting together great seasons for Dallas, Garrett is electing to keep both on the field rather than protect them from potential injuries in the last two weeks.

“We don’t really think about that,” Garrett said. “We’re focused on practicing and playing as well as we can for this Monday night game against Detroit.”

Earlier in December, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones backed the same strategy:

Prescott has 3,418 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and four interceptions, and was named the starter for the NFC in the 2017 Pro Bowl. The other starter in the NFC backfield was Elliott, who leads the NFL with 1,551 rushing yards.