I know we’ve covered this already. The Cowboys are going to play their starters, that includes Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, on Monday night against the Lions just like they would any other game, regardless of the fact that Dallas already has the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage locked down in the NFC.
Jason Garrett has a very good reason for not resting Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ starters
Yes, for the second time, Jason Garrett is not resting his starters. And it makes sense.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Head coach Jason Garrett said on Friday that he had no plans to change his lineup or switch up the game plan this week. He reiterated that on Monday.
There’s a reason Garrett doesn’t want to rest his starters, particularly the rookie quarterback, with the playoffs looming.
Think about the consequences for a minute. Sure, it’s a meaningless game for the Cowboys. However, they won’t play another game of any significance for three weeks, in the second round of the playoffs.
That’s three weeks for everyone to get rusty. You could argue that’s what happened to the Cowboys in 2007. Head coach Wade Phillips put it on cruise control with three weeks left in the season. The Cowboys finished 1-2 and lost to the Giants in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Garrett was the offensive coordinator that year; he probably remembers the lesson well.
It’s not without risk, though. That’s two more games where a key player could succumb to injury.
The only other question for the Cowboys now is whether or not we’ll see Tony Romo in a game for the first time this season. If Garrett sticks with his plan, that’s probably not going to happen this week, but there’s always that Week 17 game.
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