Dak Prescott Doesn’t Want to Give Up Yet Despite Cowboys’ Slim Playoff Chances

The Cowboys currently have a 1% chance of making the playoffs.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott isn’t giving up despite the team’s 1% chances of making the playoffs. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Cowboys lost 34–26 to the Vikings on Sunday night, dropping them to a 6–7–1 record. Dallas now has an extremely slim chance of making the playoffs at 1%—they need to win their final three games, while the Eagles have to lose their last three games. It’s not impossible, but seems very unlikely at this point of the season.

Despite knowing that the Cowboys probably won’t be making the playoffs this year, quarterback Dak Prescott won’t give up quite yet. He offered an inspiring post-game message about his mindset heading into the final stretch of the season—essentially, you never know what could happen in the NFL, as he used last Thursday night’s Falcons spoiler win over the Buccaneers as an example.

“Unfortunately, I’m sure the playoffs are out of the picture,” Prescott said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “... You can’t just give up. You can’t just stop. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, we’re not going to the playoffs.’ It’s the National Football League. I just saw a team Thursday night that’s not going to the playoffs beat a good team and knock them out.

“... Nothing’s going to change for me, and that’s going to be my influence as a leader. My message to anybody around me is take pride in who you are as a man and who you are as a football player and the job responsibility that you have and what that entails is giving your best every day. And if you don’t, you probably won’t be in this league for long.”

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As Prescott noted, the Falcons, who were already eliminated from playoff contention, beat the Bucs by one point last Thursday in order to put Tampa Bay’s postseason chances at risk. Prescott’s alluding that something similar could happen to the Eagles, putting the Cowboys in a better position to try to make the playoffs this year.

It’s a long shot, and will take some miracles, but nothing’s impossible in the NFL especially when it comes to the postseason. Dallas will face the Chargers, Commanders and Giants to finish out their year. A loss to the Chargers next weekend will eliminate them from contention.

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