FRISCO, Texas – The 2026 offseason is here, as the Cowboys closed the first year of the Brian Schottenheimer era with a 7-9-1 record.
Before we begin looking ahead for what's next, let's first take a look back at each month of the 2025 season for Dallas and how the Cowboys fared. We'll close our series with the month of December, and the final game in January.
December & January:
- Dec. 4 – Lions 44, Cowboys 30
- Dec. 14 – Vikings 34, Cowboys 26
- Dec. 21 – Chargers 34, Cowboys 17
- Dec. 25 – Cowboys 30, Commanders 23
- Jan. 4 – Giants 34, Cowboys 17
Biggest takeaway: After the Cowboys seemingly re-ignited their season in the month of November to position themselves for a late playoff push, a tough loss on the road in Detroit made things much more difficult. They'd have to win out, and the Eagles would have to lose one of their last four in order for Dallas to win the NFC East. After losing the following week to the Vikings, it appeared to be even more of a longshot, and the Cowboys were eliminated before their Week 16 game against the Chargers.
Something to remember: Despite a difficult close to the season and missing the playoffs for a second straight year, Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys were adamant about playing their starters the rest of the season as they looked to build momentum into 2026. It was especially important for QB Dak Prescott to close the season out playing in all 17 games after missing the back half of the 2024 season to a hamstring injury.
Something to forget: Opposing offenses who had struggled over the course of the year continued to have big days against the Cowboys' defense. The Vikings' J.J. McCarthy had a career-high 250 passing yards and three total touchdowns against Dallas. The Chargers' Justin Herbert, who was the most-sacked QB in the NFL, was not sacked for the only time all season. Even in a win, Commanders QB Josh Johnson had his fifth-highest career passing total and 23 points is the most an offense has scored when Johnson has been the starting quarterback in his 10-year career.
Employee of the month:
Tommy Yarrish: Despite the Cowboys' defensive struggles to close out the season, Jadeveon Clowney was a bright spot for Dallas in the last five games. Clowney posted 4.5 sacks, which helped him end the year as the Cowboys' leader in sacks with 8.5. He also added five run stuff and a forced fumble, proving that even at age 32 and his 12th season in the league, there was still a lot of juice left in the tank. Will it be enough for the veteran to return to Dallas in 2026? He certainly seemed interested.
Patrik Walker: There was little to be excited about once the calendar turned to December and the Cowboys got walked in Detroit, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a player or two who deserves recognition. For me, in December (and the lone January game), I'm going to give the nod to George Pickens here, since I haven't given him my EOTM honor yet and, as we all know, his 130-yard outing against the Chargers was electric (no pun intended). It's too bad it was for naught, but he'd also have a near-100 yard outing on Christmas Day as an encore, and it served as a reminder — as if anyone in Dallas needed one — to make re-signing Pickens the top priority in this year's NFL free agency spree.
Nick Eatman: Hate to duplicate an answer here but it's got to be Jadeveon Clowney, right? He entered the final month of the season with just four sacks but finished with 8.5, mainly due to getting three in the final game. To me, it was more than just the production but here's a guy who is going to be a free agent, he's one of the oldest players on the team but even with the Cowboys out of the playoffs, he's out there representing. And yeah, maybe the fact he's playing for a contract was a driving factor, but give him credit for going out there and doing it. One of my favorite plays was running down Deebo Samuel in the Washington game, pretty much saving a touchdown. But I think Clowney showed us all he's still got plenty left in the tank, so much so that he definitely drove up his asking price in free agency.
