The Dallas Cowboys are not a good football team. Their 2024 season is over and has been for several weeks. Entering Week 11, they had less than a three percent chance of making the playoffs, and after losing to the Houston Texans 34-10, that number is now less than one percent. With no healthy pass rushers for most of the season, one healthy corner for most of the season, an offensive line in disarray and now no franchise quarterback, the season is a wash.

The problem is that the coaching staff won’t be around next year, so they have no real interest in making decisions that benefit the franchise in the long run. That was evident when head coach Mike McCarthy had Cooper Rush throw the ball 55 times last night, while Trey Lance sat on the bench and got zero snaps.

The Cowboys offense was on the field 83 times. Lance was literally the only active Cowboys player who didn’t see the field Monday night. 47 of the 48 players all saw at least three snaps and 46 of them saw at least seven.

After the match, McCarthy paid lip service to the “mistake” and said it was the only thing he doubted.

Mike McCarthy regrets not giving Trey Lance a series on Monday night

Real?

McCarthy wants fans to believe he simply couldn’t figure out how to send Lance down the field on one of the Cowboys’ final five drives? No. This was a message to owner and general manager Jerry Jones that he is getting what he asked for in the way the front office approached this season.

The Texans took a 17-point lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter. The Dallas offense lasted 38 plays from that point on, and a lifelong coach simply couldn’t imagine that Lance would have to see the field?

Sorry, I’m not buying it. There’s not much McCarthy can do to oppose the machine that will put him out to pasture in January, if not sooner.

Lance not playing in Week 11 was definitely one of them.

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: McCarthy sends Jerry Jones a strong message with this challenging Week 11 decision