With the 34-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15, we can basically close the book on the Dallas Cowboys 2025 NFL season. Although there is still a mathematical chance the Cowboys can sneak into in the playoffs, the disappointing loss to Minnesota makes hoping for it feel futile. This Week 15 matchup with […] With the 34-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15, we can basically close the book on the Dallas Cowboys 2025 NFL season. Although there is still a mathematical chance the Cowboys can sneak into in the playoffs, the disappointing loss to Minnesota makes hoping for it feel futile. This Week 15 matchup with the Vikings was definitely chocked full of more negatives than positives, although things looked like they may go Dallas’ way early on. With way this game played out there wasn’t much good to comment on, but there was definitely plenty of bad and ugly which will discuss below. THE GOOD – Focus more on the future If we are being completely honest with ourselves, then there was nothing really good about the way the Dallas Cowboys played Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings. The only real positive we can take away from this game is that the Cowboys can now start focusing on more of the future now that their playoff hopes have effectively ended. They’ll of course attempt to finish the season out strong, but the more they lose in the final three games, the better their draft pick will be. For all of us who enjoy the draft season, it’s something to keep in mind the next few weeks. In a game where there was a lot of bad, the one thing that stood out the most was how poorly the Cowboys defense played. They made J.J. McCarthy look like one of the top quarterbacks in the league, allowing him to throw for 250 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 116.67. Dallas’ defense continues to give up too many big plays, something that has plagued them all year. This bad performance once again puts into question whether or not Matt Eberflus will keep his job after the season, or if the Cowboys look for a new defensive coordinator. THE UGLY – Brandon Aubrey The usually reliable Brandon Aubrey unfortunately didn’t have his best game Sunday night against the Vikings. He attempted a total of six field goals, but missed two of them. It’s hard to tell exactly what kind of impact those missed FGs may or may not have on the outcome of the game, but regardless, it was unexpected and disappointing to see Aubrey do anything but split the uprights. We can just chalk this up to him having a bad game, because we all know the caliber of kicker he usually is in the trust the Cowboys have in him. See More: Dallas Cowboys Roster

Playoffs? Playoffs?! After the Dallas Cowboys lost at home to the Minnesota Vikings, they aren’t eliminated from the postseason. However, their chances are very bleak. The Cowboys squandered opportunities to build a lead and control the game, and the same problems that have plagued them all season once again resurfaced in a game they had […] Playoffs? Playoffs?! After the Dallas Cowboys lost at home to the Minnesota Vikings, they aren’t eliminated from the postseason. However, their chances are very bleak. The Cowboys squandered opportunities to build a lead and control the game, and the same problems that have plagued them all season once again resurfaced in a game they had to win. It’s a somber feeling around Dallas today. Here’s why the Cowboys fell short on Sunday night. Not equipped to handle the pressure This could have a double meaning. The Cowboys had their backs against the wall, and losing would be detrimental to their playoff chances. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is known for his exotic blitzes and confusing the protection for opposing quarterbacks. He did just that on Sunday as the Cowboys couldn’t muster any big plays to counter Minnesota’s aggressive looks. They didn’t handle the pressure of the playoff chase, or the Vikings defense. It also doesn’t help that, at one point, Dallas was playing with their third left tackle, and the Vikings’ edge rushers were collapsing the pocket. Historically, Dak Prescott is pretty good versus the blitz and has made teams pay for committing so many players to rush the passer. That didn’t happen. Prescott was pressured on 48% of his dropbacks against the Vikings. When blitzed, Prescott completed 8/15 passes. The offensive line didn’t do a good enough job at protecting Prescott. Brandon Aubrey’s off night It says a lot about Brandon Aubrey that you expect him to make his kicks every time he takes the field, no matter the distance. So to say that him missing two field goals beyond 50 yards is uncharacteristic of him, that speaks volumes about his caliber as a kicker. That said, on a night where the defense wasn’t going to stop the Vikings, and the offense could put the ball in the end zone, every kick by Aubrey was magnified. It was the first time that Aubrey had missed multiple kicks in a game. The Cowboys ended up losing by eight points, and they would have loved to have those points on the board late in the game. At one point, the Cowboys elected to bypass going for it on 4th-and-3 from the Minnesota 18-yard line and settled to take a 23-17 lead, likely signifying that the Cowboys were okay only needing a field goal to regain the lead if the Vikings scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive. That’s exactly what happened, and it backfired. Aubrey missed from 59 yards, and the Cowboys never got ahead of the Vikings afterward as Minnesota scored again to take a 31-23 lead, which they would not look back from. George Pickens’ disappointing night After the disappointing game George Pickens had against the Detroit Lions, Dallas needed Pickens to have a big bounce back. Minnesota made sure that didn’t happen. The Vikings showed heavy pressure on passing downs, putting players in both sides of the A gaps, speeding up Prescott’s time to throw and negating some of Pickens vertical game. They also rolled safety help outside the numbers to take away the possibility of Pickens beating them down the field. Although they often showed a blitz look, many times the Vikings would drop an edge player in zone coverage to Pickens’ side to take away the slant. Simply put, the Vikings were not going to allow themselves to get beat by Pickens, and the results were underwhelming at best. He posted three receptions on six targets for a ho-hum 33 yards. J.J. McCarthy dismantles the Dallas defense If you were to poll the 32 general managers and defensive coordinators in the NFL, respectfully, J.J. McCarthy wouldn’t be in the top tier of quarterbacks in the league. For the second week in a row, the defense did nothing to disrupt a quarterback who doesn’t handle pressure well. Last week it was Jared Goff, and this week McCarthy picked them apart standing behind yet another offensive line that was dealing with injuries. Christian Darrisaw missed last night’s game, and yet Dallas failed to sack McCarthy once. For further reference, here’s how ineffective Dallas was to slow McCarthy. To make matters worse, the secondary was just as bad. Countless times the Vikings had open receivers but passes were either off-target or dropped. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson failed to connect on a few occasions but for everyone else, not a problem. McCarthy was 13/16 for 228 yards and two scores when not targeting Jefferson. Whether it was Caelen Carson getting beat for 58 yards on 3rd-and-long by Jordan Addison, or safeties being isolated in coverage against receivers, nothing Dallas did was going to challenge McCarthy. Again, the defense failed to show up when they needed to and allowed over 30 points once more. Weekly, it gets harder and harder to justify why the defense is so bad. Furthermore, it gets harder to justify why Matt Eberflus is in charge of that side of the ball. Something has to change, and unfortunately, it will only come in the wake of further disappointment. See More: Dallas Cowboys Roster

Well, that was not fun. In a game where we expected the Dallas Cowboys to keep their playoff hopes alive, the team just wasn’t up to the task as they fell to the Minnesota Vikings 34-26. At first, things looked promising, but it didn’t take long for us to realize what was about to happen. […] Well, that was not fun. In a game where we expected the Dallas Cowboys to keep their playoff hopes alive, the team just wasn’t up to the task as they fell to the Minnesota Vikings 34-26. At first, things looked promising, but it didn’t take long for us to realize what was about to happen. This Cowboys team just didn’t have it in them to show that they belong in the playoff hunt. Here are ten thoughts on this very unsatisfying Sunday night loss to the Vikings. 1. A fast start Brian Schottenheimer stated he wanted the team to come out fast, and that is exactly what they did. The defense got off the field right away after a batted pass dropped into Quinnen Williams’ arms. The offense took advantage and scored a touchdown on their first possession, although it took a little chicanery to extend the drive. 2. It’s a fake! When it appeared that the Cowboys’ opening drive had stalled out, they were given new life thanks to a fake field goal. The play was orchestrated perfectly as holder Bryan Anger delivered an over-the-shoulder toss to Brandon Aubrey as he took off running to his right. The Cowboys’ All-Pro kicker picked up the yards they needed before sliding to the turf. 3. Defense couldn’t make stops This late in the season, we just hoped the defense would be better. They’re not. It was terrible. Statistically, the yardage total wasn’t lucrative as the Vikings finished with just 327 total yards, the Cowboys’ third-lowest number of yards allowed this season. But when Minnesota pushed, the Cowboys’ defense couldn’t make stops and gave up points quickly. The Vikings scored four touchdowns on the night, and three of those drives took less than four minutes. It happened so fast, the Cowboys’ defense didn’t even know what hit them. 4. Offense underperformed The defense will take the brunt of the blame as they normally do, but the offense shouldn’t get off scot-free. Despite putting together a handful of nice drives, the offense just couldn’t finish them. The Cowboys’ offense had ten total drives, and in nine of them, they were in Vikings territory; however, they only scored two touchdowns, while settling for four field goals. Three times they got squadoosh. They stalled because whenever they needed a play on third down, they continuously came up empty. The Cowboys were 2/12 on third down in this game. 5. A not-so-special special teams Things didn’t go well on offense. Things didn’t go well on defense. And sadly, things didn’t go so well on special teams. After the successful fake field goal, it all went south. Aubrey uncharacteristically missed two field goals, which is always a bad sign that things are not going well. KaVontae Turpin let a punt bounce that rolled all the way back near the goal line. Even when Turpin had a nice return, they got flagged for a hold that negated the run. It was just bad on all three phases of the game. 6. Gotta be more aggressive When the Cowboys started their opening drive with a fake field goal, this game looked like you’d see Schottenheimer being aggressive on fourth down. But several times when the Cowboys’ offense stalled out, he kept opting to trot Aubrey on the field. Normally, it would be hard to argue with his decisions, but the Cowboys’ defense makes this a precarious situation. Settling for field goals wasn’t going to cut it, and that should have made the head coach inclined to take more chances and leave the offense on the field. 7. Another no-show for Pickens If you thought George Pickens’ five-catch, 37-yard performance last week was disappointing, you were in for an unpleasant encore performance this week. Against the Vikings, Pickens finished with only three catches for 33 yards. For some reason, the team’s exciting No. 2 receiver was a non-factor for the second-straight game. This offense was a lot more fun when they had two star receivers running around, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday night. 8. Third-string left tackle Dak Prescott was on his heels all game. Credit Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores for bringing the heat. Unfortunately, the Cowboys couldn’t handle the pressure, leaving Dak to run for his life all game. The team was already without their starting left tackle, Tyler Guyton, but then lost backup tackle Nate Thomas after he suffered a shoulder injury. Third-stringer Hakeem Adeniji was called into action, but things went from bad to worse. Right away, Adeniji whiffed on a block and then got flagged for holding. The offensive line just couldn’t give Prescott enough time to operate. 9. Javonte pushes through Despite missing most of the first half with a shoulder injury, Javonte Williams still reeled off 91 rushing yards on 15 carries, averaging over six yards a carry. During his absence, the team’s rushing game seemed lost as the duo of Malik Davis and Hunter Luepke wasn’t cutting it. Fortunately, Williams returned and picked up where he left off. His performance put him over 1,100 yards on the season, making him the Cowboys’ running back with the most rushing yards since 2019. 10. Bye bye playoffs The Cowboys absolutely needed this game if they were to make one last gasp for the playoffs. With this devastating loss, the team’s playoff hopes are almost nil. They are eliminated from wild card contention, and if they are to win the NFC East, they’ll need to win their last three remaining games while Philadelphia loses all three of its remaining games.

Game Recap: Cowboys lose to Vikings, 34-26- Kurt Daniels, DallasCowboys.com Dallas drops their second straight, getting upset by the Vikings. Second Quarter Getting the lead back didn’t take much time as Dallas was already on the Minnesota 1-yard line when the second quarter got underway. Prescott got things going with a 19-yard pass to Ryan […] Game Recap: Cowboys lose to Vikings, 34-26- Kurt Daniels, DallasCowboys.com Dallas drops their second straight, getting upset by the Vikings. Second Quarter Getting the lead back didn’t take much time as Dallas was already on the Minnesota 1-yard line when the second quarter got underway. Prescott got things going with a 19-yard pass to Ryan Flournoy and a 30-yard connection to Lamb, but it was Malik Davis who picked up the final 12 yards. He did so on three carries, the last of which saw him bully his way up the middle and into the end zone for his second touchdown of the season. The seesaw affair continued, and now it was Minnesota’s turn. The Vikings needed 10 plays to travel 75 yards for their next touchdown, but 58 of those came on a bomb to Jordan Addison, who got behind cornerback Caelen Carson. That eventually led to McCarthy completely faking out the Dallas defense and basically walking in untouched from the 1-yard line, the score 14-14. And that was followed by Minnesota adding another three points on a 29-yard field goal, which came after Aubrey pushed a 51-yard attempt wide left on the Cowboys’ previous possession. But with 1:48 remaining in the half, that was plenty of time for Prescott and company to give Aubrey another chance. The offense quickly worked its way down to the Minnesota 19-yard line, where the Cowboys kicker split the uprights on a 37-yard attempt to even things up at the break, 17-17. Dallas Cowboys playoff odds crumble in 34-26 loss to Minnesota Vikings- Mark Heaney, Inside The Star Dallas’ slim playoff hopes heading into this one are out the door. The Offensive Issues: No Touchdowns? Good Luck, Boys If you weren’t pulling your hair out watching the Cowboys’ offense tonight, I salute you, because that was as frustrating a performance as we have seen all season. To start, the unit looked good. They capitalized on a second-play Quinnen Williams interception with a touchdown drive after a Brandon Aubrey fake field goal, and a relentless effort from Javonte Williams to get in the end zone. They did punt on the next drive, but after that, they again scored 7, this time with Malik Davis. At that point, it felt like the offense was good for at least a couple more touchdowns. That assumption could not have been more wrong. After their second touchdown on their third drive, the Dallas offense kicked six field goals, making four and missing two, and turning it over on downs once. In short, that just won’t get it down. Despite strong performances from Dak Prescott, Williams, and CeeDee Lamb, Brian Schottenheimer’s play-calling woes and an invisible game from George Pickens did the offense in. Cowboys unofficially eliminate themselves from playoffs with dud loss to Vikings- K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire The late-season surge was fun while it lasted. The Dallas Cowboys had a shot. It was a long shot, but it was a shot. With four games remaining in their season, the path to make the playoffs was murky, but obvious. The team had to win their final four games, running the table to move from 6-6-1 to 10-6-1, then get help from any one of several teams. Their Week 15 game was one of three remaining contests against teams under .500, and it was at home. Yet despite the opportunity ahead of them, the Cowboys offense allowed the Minnesota Vikings defense to dictate to them, and the Dallas defense made yet another subpar quarterback have his best game of the season. Second-year QB JJ McCarthy had his best performance as a pro, and Brian Flores turned Brian Schottenheimer’s offense timid, as the Vikings won, 34-26. Dallas had received a little help earlier on Sunday, with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers all falling, but it makes little difference now. The Cowboys have been eliminated from the wild-card pursuit, and they would have to win their remaining three contests while the Philadelphia Eagles lose their remaining three contests. The Cowboys allowed an opponent to score 30 points for the seventh time in 2025, tied for most in the NFL. The game started out well, with the defense intercepting McCarthy on his first pass of the game, as Donovan Wilson deflected a pass into the air with Quinnen Williams corralling it. There seems to be a common trend amongst opposing QBs this season. Minnesota put up their second-highest point total of the season, amassing 34 points against the Cowboys on the back of arguably McCarthy’s best performance yet as a pro. But that’s not just the doomsday perspective of a Dallas fan. NBC commentator Mike Tirico echoed that sentiment on the broadcast as well. “This is the best JJ McCarthy has looked to start his career,” Tirico said. Leave it to Eberflus and the Cowboys to make McCarthy look like a force in this league. Yes, his stats were impressive, as he bounced back from an interception on the opening drive to tally 266 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. But that’s not even the whole story. McCarthy was largely able to sit in the pocket and pick apart Dallas’ weak secondary because the Cowboys didn’t get any pressure on the young player. He was sacked zero times and Dallas recorded just one quarterback hit in the contest. He might not have gotten a stain on his jersey. Sometimes, players just have great nights. Too often, however, players have their only good showings, or their greatest nights, against Eberflus and Co. Tirico’s blunt truth in saying that should give the Cowboys every reason to part ways with Eberflus after the season. Maybe

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, and since they did, they are almost fully eliminated from playoff contention. Almost. Dallas is technically alive as it relates to a spot in the tournament as the winner of their division in the NFC East. It is incredibly unlikely and impractical that they […] The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, and since they did, they are almost fully eliminated from playoff contention. Almost. Dallas is technically alive as it relates to a spot in the tournament as the winner of their division in the NFC East. It is incredibly unlikely and impractical that they would win it now, it was going to be difficult enough if they’d beaten Minnesota, but it is still possible in a literal sense is all. Here is the situation relative to the division and overall NFC playoff picture as far as the Cowboys are concerned. NFC East standings Technically speaking the division is still alive for the Cowboys, but it would take a full and total Christmas miracle. Philadelphia Eagles, 9-5 Dallas Cowboys, 6-7-1 Washington Commanders, 4-10 New York Giants, 2-12 The Eagles took care of business on Sunday and for what it’s worth the Commanders won as well. Given the fact that Dallas lost the Eagles will clinch the NFC East with a win or Cowboys loss at any point across the next three weeks. Current NFC playoff picture While the Cowboys technically have hope for the NFC East (being technical!) they are done in terms of any potential Wild Card spot. Los Angeles Rams, 11-3 [NFC West leader] Chicago Bears (10-4) [NFC North leader] Philadelphia Eagles (9-5) [NFC East leader] Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7) [NFC South leader] Seattle Seahawks, (11-3) [Wild Card] San Francisco 49ers, (10-4) [Wild Card] Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) [Wild Card] The first team out remains the Detroit Lions, but they lost in Week 15 which opened the door of possibility all the more entering Sunday night’s game. Considering that they and the Packers both fell… a Wild Card berth was still possible for the Cowboys, although that fizzled out with the loss to the Vikings. See More: Dallas Cowboys Playoffs

The Dallas Cowboys returned to AT&T Stadium, with the home crowd behind them. Playoff hopes were hanging on by a thread, the stakes were high. The Minnesota Vikings came into town looking to make a statement by punishing the Cowboys defense and offensive line. Here’s what social media had to say during Dallas’ highly frustrating […] The Dallas Cowboys returned to AT&T Stadium, with the home crowd behind them. Playoff hopes were hanging on by a thread, the stakes were high. The Minnesota Vikings came into town looking to make a statement by punishing the Cowboys defense and offensive line. Here’s what social media had to say during Dallas’ highly frustrating loss. Cowboys start with an interception on defense Brandon Aubrey for the field goal. Nope! He keeps it and runs for the first down. Dak down in the redzone runs the ball. Williams gets the first down. Javonte Williams punches it in for the first score Kenny Clark timing the play perfect on the tackle for loss. Defense makes a stop. Shavon Revel with the third down stop. Vikings come back with a touchdown to square it up. Malik Davis gets the touchdown inside the five-yard line. Cowboys score on the ground again. Broken play on the Cowboys defense leaves Jordan Addison wide open for a huge play. Terrible defensive play. Vikings score again. Cowboys go for it on fourth down at midfield. Aubrey misses the 51-yard attempt. Caelen Carson draws the flag after allowing the big play earlier in the gave. Hunter Luepke rushing and receiving for first downs. Injury update. Cowboys settle for a field goal but will receive the ball after the half. Injury update. Luke Schoonmaker makes the one handed grab and runs upfield. Huge throw by Dak to CeeDee. Aubrey hits another field goal. Vikings take the lead on a rushing touchdown. Williams gets running to start the next drive. Aubrey misses his second field goal. Vikings torch the defense and score. Injury update. Cowboys offense falls short on fourth down. Injury update. Vikings now wind the clock down late in the fourth quarter. See More: Dallas Cowboys discussion

Second Quarter Two plays into the second quarter… the Cowboys had a touchdown once more. This one was courtesy of Malik Davis who was (obviously) in for Javonte Williams. SCORE: COWBOYS 14, VIKINGS 7 (Malik Davis touchdown) The Vikings made sure to show up for the next drive, though. They moved thoroughly down the field […] The Dallas Cowboys knew that their odds were long. Even if they won four games in a row to close the 2025 season out, playoffs were not promised. But you can only control what you can control and that was the message that the team preached all week. The Week 14 loss in Detroit took some wind out of their playoff sails, but a win at home against the Minnesota Vikings could keep hope alive. It could make things interest. It was part of what they controlled. What’s more is that so many believed that they would. Oddsmakers favored them by over a field goal and just a few hours before kickoff the Vikings were formally eliminated from playoff contention themselves. It was as ideal of a situation as you could conjure up. It would appear that there is a more ideal one as the Cowboys dropped the ball and just about ended their season. They are still technically alive, we will talk about that soon enough, but this was when they knew they had to be perfect and they were nowhere close to it. Obviously this is not shocking to anyone who has been following this team all season long. They have fallen short in these types of moments over and over again. Those “types” of moments are just about gone until 2026 following the loss to Minnesota. Any real energy belongs to the 2026 season at this point. Below you will find our recap of how Sunday night unfolded. It was rough. First Quarter The Dallas Cowboys won the toss and deferred which put the defense on the field first. Given that there were reports about how Logan Wilson was set to start at linebacker… it was exciting to say the least. It took two plays for things to get legitimately exciting. Donovan Wilson got pressure in J.J. McCarthy’s face and wisely put his hand up to block a pass. That errant ball landed in the expectant arms of Quinnen Williams to give the Cowboys a turnover and more importantly… the ball! After a couple of plays the Cowboys appeared to stall out and had to settle for a Brandon Aubrey field goal. They didn’t, though! They ran a fake! And got it! Amazingly the Cowboys got down to another fourth down and went for it yet again, although this time conventionally by way of a Javonte Williams run. After getting it Javonte was in the end zone one play later. SCORE: COWBOYS 7, VIKINGS 0 (Javonte Williams touchdown) The Cowboys defense went to work and while they were not able to generate a turnover they did force a punt. Dante Fowler was a particular point of pride on the possession in question and helped stop Aaron Jones. Unfortunately KaVontae Turpin let a punt go that he maybe should have fielded. The bounce really worked against Dallas and put them just about on their own goal line. Malik Davis was in at running back for the possession as it was reported that Javonte Williams was dealing with a shoulder injury. Ultimately the Cowboys wound up punting after a three and out as they did not want to get too cute. It took two plays once more for Minnesota to have a moment. On the first one of them Aaron Jones had a massive gain and a penalty added to it to make matters worse. A few seconds later J.J. McCarthy hit Jalen Nailor for a game-tying touchdown. SCORE: COWBOYS 7, VIKINGS 7 (J.J. McCathy to Jalen Nailor touchdown) When the Cowboys took over it was noted by the NBC broadcast that Javonte Williams was questionable to return with a shoulder injury so that corroborated everything to date. Dak Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for a huge gain and the Cowboys were in striking distance as the opening quarter came to a close. To help matters a facemask penalty really put Dallas close to another score. Second Quarter Two plays into the second quarter… the Cowboys had a touchdown once more. This one was courtesy of Malik Davis who was (obviously) in for Javonte Williams. SCORE: COWBOYS 14, VIKINGS 7 (Malik Davis touchdown) The Vikings made sure to show up for the next drive, though. They moved thoroughly down the field and kept getting in their own way to keep themselves from scoring a touchdown. They wound up with a short situation right on the goal line and then J.J. McCarthy pulled the Peyton Manning bootleg. SCORE: COWBOYS 14, VIKINGS 14 (J.J. McCarthy touchdown) The game was tied at this point which felt weird because it had for so long felt like Dallas was in control. The Cowboys nevertheless began moving once more and ultimately stalled out in field goal range. Brandon Aubrey, though. Unfortunately Aubrey pushed his 51-yard attempt wide to the right which kept things tied and gave the Vikings solid field position to work with. Minnesota was able to scrap out a field goal which gave them their first lead of the night. It set Dallas up with a chance to score and 1:48 to do so. Given that Dallas deferred to start the game the drive also offered a potential double-dip opportunity. SCORE: COWBOYS 14, VIKINGS 17 (Will Reichard 29-yard field goal) The Cowboys were able to work quickly to get in field goal range themselves. Given Aubrey’s recent miss there was a little bit of breath holding for the first time in a while with him. Never fear. All was good. SCORE: COWBOYS 17, VIKINGS 17 (Brandon Aubrey 17-yard field goal) That was the half. Third Quarter The Cowboys received mixed news as the second half started. Javonte