The Dallas Cowboys may be 2nd on their division table, but their playoff chances tell a drastically different story. At 6-7-1, their playoff hopes have diminished to around 1%. Their recent struggles culminated in a loss on Monday of Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings. Quarterback Dak Prescott has been open about the team sabotaging its own winning momentum, expressing his disappointment that the team couldn’t build on their previous highs.

“At this point, hard to even go back to those highs,” Prescott said after the game. “You beat two good teams, beat the two Super Bowl teams here, you know, in a matter of what, eight days, nine days, something like that. And then, you know, you go on the road and have to play a really good team.”

Dak Prescott looked back on the Cowboys’ two home clashes with Super Bowl finalists, the Eagles and Chiefs, highlighting the grit and adjustments they made in those high-stakes matchups. Despite strong performances at AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys sabotaged themselves, stumbling on the road, falling to the Lions, before stumbling again at home to the Vikings.

Just weeks ago, the Cowboys seemed to be on a clear path. They defeated the Eagles 24-21 in Week 12 and followed up just five days later by beating the Chiefs 31-28. Prescott noted that beating the two Super Bowl teams in such a short period created high expectations. 

However, the team’s performance immediately dropped off, leading to a loss against the Detroit Lions by a score of 44-30, and then the recent 34-26 defeat to the Vikings. 

“They got the better end of us last week,” Prescott noted after the game. “We played that game, you know, 10 times, it might be 5-5 or 6-4. That’s kind of that matchup last week. We didn’t do the things necessary to win. We couldn’t get an answer for cover zero, and we didn’t score in the red zone. Add those two things together, and you’re going to lose. It’s unfortunate. It sucks, but it’s the reality of the NFL. It’s hard.”

The Vikings, led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s two passing touchdowns and one rushing score, secured the crucial 34-26 victory. Although the Vikings (6-8) themselves have been eliminated from the postseason, their win did push the Cowboys (6-7-1) to the brink of elimination.

For the Cowboys to overtake the Philadelphia Eagles and win the NFC East division, they now face a near-impossible task. This challenging scenario means the Cowboys’ playoff future is now largely out of their hands.

Jerry Jones talks about the Cowboys’ diminished chances of making it into the playoffs

The Dallas Cowboys’ recent loss felt a little worse considering that the Vikings had already been eliminated from the postseason before the game even started. Team owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed the frustration felt by the entire organization. He acknowledged the grim reality.

“We certainly didn’t think we’d be here in this kind of shape with three games to go and be behind the eight ball the way we are,” Jones explained, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “It’s very disappointing. I’m really, obviously, very disappointed for our fans. I’m disappointed for these players. I didn’t expect that. I thought we could come out here and on both sides of the ball make a better accounting of ourselves. Minnesota did the best job out there today on both sides of the ball.” 

The Cowboys’ only remaining path to the playoffs is a single, highly improbable scenario: they must win the NFC East division over the 9-5 Philadelphia Eagles. For this to happen, the Cowboys need to win all of their remaining games, and simultaneously, the Eagles must lose all of theirs.

The Eagles are in a commanding position, needing just one more win or one more Cowboys loss to secure the division title. Their next game is against the 4-10 Washington Commanders, and the Eagles are the favorites going in. While they may not be out of the playoffs yet, each week from here onwards will feel like a mammoth task, beginning with a fixture against the in-form Chargers for Week 16.