Dec 16, 2025
3 min read
After losing to the Vikings, the Cowboys may no longer have hope for the Playoffs, but Dak Prescott is disgusted with what Dallas's approach must end in 2025.
ARLINGTON, Texas - There is a one percent chance that the Dallas Cowboys will find their way into the 2025 NFL Playoffs.That's it.To put it into perspective, this is almost impossible for someone to get hit by a bus, on any given day, and that comparison is entirely appropriate, given the circumstances.
Desperate to bounce back from Sunday Night Football, with a poor showing a week before against the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys will soon face the Minnesota Vikings in another slip-up in a must-win situation — their three-game winning streak has been hit by the bus lately.
"Yeah, he was surprised," linebacker Dak Prescott said."Especially a bye week, when the customers are rolling like we have been for a few weeks and the confidence is so high. [We've] come back from 21 down and stopped different teams from scoring. There can only be a lot of good wins in that situation.
"I remind you that every game is important. It's a tough game. Those guys are paid too. They train all week, they train like us. It's tough. Of course, I'm surprised, hurt, angry, upset, but what I can do is improve tomorrow."
Sitting at 6-7-1 on the season with just three games remaining, all hopes of a wild card possibility fell into an open grave with a 34-26 loss to the Vikings, and hopes of anything to steal the NFC East crown from the Philadelphia Eagles are now in the ICU with a DNR order.
So what now?
The Cowboys need to win the remaining three games, including one against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, and the final two against division rivals who have nothing to do but bury the Cowboys or kick the coffin if the funeral takes place before they reach the cemetery.
And if this same team, which has been losing badly in must-win games for weeks now, somehow survives, the Eagles will have to lose, too, although two of their three games will come against the Washington Commanders, who have a 4-10 record.
While they won't be mathematically eliminated until Week 16, realistically, the Cowboys are talking like they fully understand it's probably over.And that's why, when asked about his approach to the locker room with three games remaining, Prescott talked about the importance of the only things that still exist: pride and professionalism.
"You're a professional football player," Prescott said."But you have to come to work and give your best. Unfortunately, I'm sure the playoffs are out of the picture, and it's about being proud of who you are as a man, not just that and your job and everything that got you this far. I know for a lot of guys, it's just the business of the world, right?
"That's what interviews are like for some people. You can't give up. You can't stop. It's the National Football League. I just saw a team on Thursday night that's not going to the playoffs, beat a good team and knocked it out. We've got to show up and just do our job, and that starts all week."
Two things can be true at the same time, and while the first is that the Cowboys can probably kiss their 2025 playoff hopes goodbye, a team whose first-year head coach has rebuilt its brand and rebuilt the culture of Dallas football is going to look awful.
Prescott has no intention of failing to uphold that standard, and he has words for anyone who can.
“When you get to game days, it's a tribute to the hard work you've put in to prepare,” he said.
"And if you don't, you probably won't be on this team for long."
There will be plenty of time for reflection when the offseason rolls around, and unfortunately, that's about to happen for the Cowboys.
Right now, all they have to play for is their pride and trying to figure out who they are, when for some the only thing they can do is stay in Dallas or take a chance somewhere else. Because I hope better than a 1% chance at both.
