ARLINGTON, Texas — Any hope the Dallas Cowboys had, albeit slim, of making the NFL playoffs has all but flown out of the window after losing their second game in as many weeks to fall to 6-7-1 on the season. The loss to the Vikings was wrought with errors on both offense and defense and, in the end, they exited their minibye week with not a lot of answers for what Minnesota presented.
Defensively, a great start to the game — a tip-drill interception created by safety Donovan Wilson and reeled in by All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams — devolved into JJ McCarthy leading his team to 34 points scored. Offensively, things weren't much better, and head coach and offensive playcaller Brian Schottenheimer is wearing his accountability on his sleeves.
"I'm frustrated that," he said. "We didn't find a way to get this game done. I'm frustrated that we were that poor on third down. We're better than that. I'm better than that."
To his point, the Cowboys converted just two of their 12 attempts on third down, and two one-yard rushing touchdowns, one from Javonte Williams and another from Malik Davis, served as their only two red zone touchdowns. Brandon Aubrey had a rare day highlighted by two missed field goals, both from 50+ yards, but it was his four made field goals that accounted for 12 of the team's 26 points.
One week prior, in the loss to the Detroit Lions, Aubrey accounted for 15 of the Cowboys' 30 points, a two-week span that leaves Dak Prescott and Co. searching for answers as to why their kicker, albeit an All-Pro, is averaging nearly as many points as the offense is — answers that will keep Schottenheimer up at night.
"It's always gonna start with me, and the things that I messed up and didn't do very well," he said of his offense's struggles against the Vikings. "Brian Flores was better than me today. I won't sleep very good tonight, but I promise you I'll wake up tomorrow, work my ass off, and I'm [gonna] figure it out."
The frustration with the loss, and the totality of events since rattling off three wins in 10 days, two of which being against the previous two Super Bowl winners and one of those wins being a historic 21-point comeback against the Eagles, is palpable; and Prescott's post-game press conference saw him readily wearing the emotion on his face when answering questions.
The All-Pro quarterback expected better of the season, and of the matchup against the Vikings, and he joins teammates in coaches in trying to process the disappointment of it all.
"Yeah, I mean, it's sh-tty at this point," he said. "It's hard to even go back to those highs, but yeah, I mean, you'd beat two good teams. You beat the two Super Bowl teams here, and in a matter of what, eight days? Nine days —something like that. And then, you go on the road and have to play a really good team, and they got the better end of us last week.
"... We didn't do the things necessary to win, or score in the red zone. And to come into this game, and we couldn't get an answer for Cover 0, and we didn't score in the red zone. You add those two things together, and you're gonna lose by eight [point]. It's unfortunate and it sucks, but it's the reality of the NFL, and this sh-t's hard."
It won't get any easier for the Cowboys, either.
Though their playoff hopes aren't mathematically over, they are all but. The loss to the Vikings gives them, now, just a one percent chance at sneaking into the playoffs, and the wild card option is off of the table, leaving only one avenue to the postseason: to win all three games, currently showing no life toward pulling such a feat, while also hoping the Eagles lose all three of their final games.
Despite the poor start to the first half of the season, the Cowboys had everything in front of them, still, following their three-game win streak. With the latest loss, however, the only thing in front of them is a mirror.
"We didn't find a way to win this game," Schottenheimer added. "I knew this would be a game like that. I wasn't surprised by that. Kevin [O'Connell] is a great coach. Brian's a great coach and, unfortunately, this game came down to the fact of our inability, really, in the red zone, and some of the situational stuff.
"We weren't very good on defense, on fourth down. … At the end of the day, when you play a team like this, you gotta be on top of your situational stuff, and we weren't."
The already tall task got infinitely taller on Sunday night, and it's a jagged pill the Cowboys will have to swallow as they try to finish the season the right way.
