Despite being eliminated from the playoffs after the Washington Commanders’ wild win over the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in the day, the Dallas Cowboys took the field Sunday night ready to play. Dallas beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24 in Week 16, improving to 7-8 on the season. The team has now won four of its last five games.

Cooper Rush has played well filling in for Dak Prescott. After a solid performance against the Bucs, Cowboys’ coach Mike McCarthy has no intention of making a change.

“The mindset is to win. We’re going to Philadelphia to win the game,” McCarthy said after being asked if he planned to give Trey Lance a start in place of Rush, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota on X. The veteran coach wryly added, “The crowd is gonna welcome us with open arms like they always do.”

Rush made his first start of the season against the Eagles in a Week 10 blowout loss. Prescott suffered a hamstring injury against the Atlanta Falcons the previous week. Ultimately, the ninth-year veteran underwent season-ending surgery, leaving a massive void in the Cowboys’ offense.

The Cowboys don’t care about assessing Trey Lance before he hits free agency

Rush played poorly against Philly and the team briefly turned to Lance. But the fourth-year passer was even worse, finishing the game with more fines than touchdowns. The Cowboys decided to stick with Rush moving forward and while that appeared to be shortsighted at the time, it was absolutely the right call. After starting the season 3-5 with Prescott leading the offense, Dallas has gone 4-3 with Rush under center.

Nonetheless, the Cowboys surrendered a fourth-round pick to acquire Lance in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers last offseason. And although Stephen Jones does not regret landing the former first-rounder, Lance is set to become a free agent after this season. In two years with Dallas, he has two appearances, six pass attempts, zero touchdowns and one interception. And while it seems likely the Cowboys burned a fourth-round pick, everybody appears to be okay with it.

Dallas got an incredible win over the 8-7 Buccaneers Sunday night. Rush offered just enough production to get the victory and the Cowboys’ defense was relentless. The veteran passer went 26/35 for 292 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers.

The win likely saved McCarthy’s job as Jerry Jones was effusive in praising the coach following the game. Jones has repeatedly insisted that he would not fire McCarthy during the season. However, he’s in the last year of his five-year contract and the team is enduring a massively disappointing season. But Cowboys’ players made it clear they have not quit on McCarthy in a nationally televised game in Week 16. And that’s probably enough for Jones to bring him back in 2025.