PHILADELPHIA — The last two games of this lost Cowboys season will tell the franchise if they have another playmaker to go with receiver CeeDee Lamb.Following a 41-7 loss to the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, the answer is no.The only positive from the blowout loss was watching running back Rico Dowdle hit the 1,000 yard rushing mark when he finished with 23 carries for 104 yards.Dowdle enters free agency with an uncertain future. The NFL Draft is brimming with strong running backs that could make him expendable. Dowdle will be 27 when the season opens again in 2025, and the type of contract he commands from the Cowboys, who expect to be tight again in salary cap space, leads you to believe he’s gone.What’s left is a bucket full of receivers who need work.Veteran Brandin Cooks also enters free agency after the season and might not return considering his age (31) and the health problems he encountered this season.On Sunday, Cooks finished with four catches for 52 yards and was targeted when quarterback Cooper Rush was picked off on the first series of the game. Rush was baited by safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who returned the pass 69 yards for a touchdown.Having Cooks around is a positive for young receivers to learn professionalism on and off the field. But Lamb is entering Year 6 and he’s going to become the OG in the receiver room next season.KaVontae Turpin wasn’t the happiest of players on Sunday after catching one pass for 16 yards. He also dropped one of the four targets his way.“At the end of the day, with CeeDee gone we weren’t really calling no pass plays,” Turpin said. “We just run the ball, throwing check downs. I feel like you want to see how we’re doing. There was no plays downfield that we get jiggy.”In Rush’s defense, he attempted four passes over 20 yards, including one to Cooks into triple coverage that was intercepted. Rush completed a pass with 37.4 yards of air distance according to NextGen Stats.In reality, this isn’t about deep throws. It’s about finding playmakers when Lamb isn’t on the field.Jalen Tolbert caught three passes for 30 yards and the only touchdown of the day. With Lamb nursing a shoulder injury since the Atlanta game, and Cooks missing seven games with a knee infection, you expected more from Tolbert.He’s caught 45 passes this season with an 11.4 ...
