The Dallas Cowboys were running red hot with a three-game winning streak until they hit a massive roadblock against the Detroit Lions. Jared Goff‘s side registered a dominant 44-30 win over the Cowboys in Week 14, heavily denting Dallas’ postseason hopes. With the Minnesota Vikings next, Cowboys’ starter Dak Prescott addressed the circling pressure to make the playoffs.

“It’s not heavy,” Prescott said, describing the pressure of making the playoffs. “Even if I feel it, and obviously I think about it a lot, I say that to say I want that. That’s unfortunately the position we’ve put ourselves in, and that’s the only way that we can get out of it. It’s not like that, it’s some, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is on me’ or, ‘This is stress,’ no. This is just the avenue that we have to go, and the only way we can get out of this is handling our business.”

Ahead of Week 15, the Cowboys are just 1.5 games away from securing first place in the NFC East, which remains the best method for Dallas to secure a postseason spot. Especially after the Philadelphia Eagles suffered a 22-19 loss, boosting the Cowboys’ playoff odds from 7% to 11%. If America’s Team wins its final four games, it will have a 54% chance of making the postseason, according to The Athletic’s NFL playoff simulator.

Addressing this scenario, Dak Prescott remained confident and shared his approach for the final four games of the season.

“I just got to go win every game. That’s all I can control,” Prescott said. “I’m going to root against [the Eagles] regardless, whether we’re in this position or not, so I got to control what I can control and go win games.”

With that said, Dak Prescott and Co. must rekindle their winning form and battle every adversity that comes their way to ensure a playoff berth, especially when there have been plausible rumbles of mistrust surrounding head coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Questions raised about Schottenheimer’s play calls after Detroit defeat

The loss to the Detroit Lions was a massive gut punch for the Dak Prescott-led Dallas Cowboys, as plausible concerns about head coach Brian Schottenheimer emerged from upper management. Reacting to the defeat at Ford Field, Executive Vice President Stephen Jones felt Schottenheimer could have done better, as he remarked on kicker Brandon Aubrey’s performance.

“What a performance. He [Aubrey] gave us every opportunity to stay in that game. I just wish he would have had one shot there at the end to win it because I’m sure he would have made it,” Jones said on the Dallas Cowboys’ own YouTube channel.

With that, Jones questioned the choice not to attempt another long field goal, a decision widely attributed to Brian Schottenheimer. Aubrey was on fire against the Lions as he scored five field goals and even added a tackle on a long return. Hence, in a must-win game against the Lions, Jones wanted the head coach to give him another chance to convert a long field goal to avoid the loss.

However, that wasn’t possible; the Cowboys were trailing by 14 points with 1:23 left, and a field goal wouldn’t have changed the outcome. Ultimately, at the 1:13 mark, Dak Prescott’s short middle pass intended for Ryan Flournoy was intercepted by D.J. Reed, sealing the game for the Lions.

Now, with just four games remaining in the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys must iron out all these issues, as they certainly can make a postseason push and compete through the playoffs as a dark horse Super Bowl contender.