Though it took place in Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys played their first of three preseason games in front of what was essentially a home crowd Sunday. The stands were no better than three-quarters full, and judging from the broadcast audio, it sounded like three-quarters of those in attendance were for the silver and blue. Despite the allegiances of the crowd, the painfully unwatchable affair ended with a last-second touchdown pass from second-year Rams QB Stetson Bennett to secure the win for the (technical) home team by a score of 13-12. The incredibly pedestrian final underscores just what a yawner it was.
Ignoring the outcome of the meaningless game, it was another milestone in this year’s heretofore underwhelming journey toward the regular season. With All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb a training camp holdout, a starting QB — along with an entire coaching staff — entering 2024 on lame-duck deals, an aging and unproven running back corps, and the team’s forgettable free agency “haul,” there’s been precious little to get hyped about. Even more so than the average fake football game, there was very little intrigue heading into the Week 1 preseason headliner. Save one thing: the debut of a former first-round QB for Dallas.
For those deluded enough to believe Trey Lance could be the savior that jaded fans have been dreaming of that helps the franchise get out from under an extremely expensive and perennial “playoff-choking” QB in Dak Prescott, you might want to keep your foot hovering over the brake pedal. Statistically, Lance’s outing wasn’t all that bad. He finished 25 of 41 for 188 yards and no picks and mixed in 44 yards on the ground across the three and a half quarters in which he played. And though the defense gave him several extra possessions via four Bennett interceptions, Lance was unable to find the end zone, and the number of times he overthrew or put the ball behind open receivers was … uninspiring, to say the least. With each successive series, it became a little clearer why the 49ers were so willing to let him go just two years after giving up three first round picks to move up to No. 3 overall to draft him.
I get it. The kid hasn’t really played. Despite entering his fourth season, he’s essentially still a rookie, playing in just eight games so far as a pro. Not to mention that he didn’t really play a ton in college either. He had just 17 starts while at North Dakota State. But it’s still hard to imagine that he gets much better at this point. San Francisco seems to think they’d seen enough. I just might hold off on anointing him the heir apparent. There’s no question Dak is gonna get his $60M (or more) per year somewhere, but Lance shouldn’t be the reason No. 4 doesn’t get paid here.
Speaking of not paying, Jerry Jones said last week when questioned about it that he has “no urgency” to get a deal done with Lamb, a Top 3 wide receiver in the league. This type of hubristic nonchalance has come to epitomize this Cowboys offseason, and as a result, I see no urgency in fostering any of my typical enthusiasm. Normally, by this time, I am bouncing off the walls in anticipation of the oncoming season. Now, Dallas Cowboys football to me is — as bewildering as it is to me to recognize — a complete afterthought.
I’m certainly not alone. I cannot recall a preseason with so little buzz surrounding the silver and blue in more than two decades. There have been numerous reports that the usually standing room only training camp practices have, this year, been as poorly attended as Sunday’s preseason game. Perhaps the last 10 months of giddily watching each of the area’s other three major sports teams progressing to their respective sports’ conference finals (and beyond), coupled with the front office’s laughable and petulant “nah’ll-in” strategy, has hampered the usual excitement. Perhaps it’s nearly three decades of the same ol’ shit that’s finally catching up to the Joneses. I just can’t bring myself to care right now, and Sunday’s snoozer did little to change that. If anything, it threw another shovelful of dirt on my give-a-fuck. I have no doubt that when the new kickoff rules (how wild are those?) begin real-life meaningful games, I’ll be back with my full glass of Kool-Aid in hand. ’Til then, I’m preoccupied with one thing: When does Mavs season start?
