Blogging The Boys
For the final time this season, the Dallas Cowboys play in primetime on Sunday Night Football in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings. Remarkably, the Cowboys second straight primetime game and third big stage in a row when considering Thanksgiving versus the Chiefs still carries a lot of meaning towards making a playoff push despite last Thursday’s loss at the Lions. The Cowboys have the Eagles’ third straight loss on Monday night at the Chargers to thank for this.
We say all the time that the NFL is a week-to-week league. This has never been more true than a 2025 season that now finds the 6-6-1 Cowboys a game and a half behind the 8-5 Eagles. It’s been evident in the span of just over the last two calendar weeks, where the Eagles went from 8-2 with a 21-0 lead in Arlington against the Cowboys to now 8-5. The Cowboys going 2-1 over this 0-3 stretch by the Eagles is good enough to have them back in the NFC East race, even though the loss has many in the fanbase down on the team despite the two home wins on Thanksgiving week that had spirits high.
The reality of the Cowboys staying in NFC North play for this Sunday night’s return home versus the Vikings is that if the team wasn’t already in must-win mode against the Lions, they are beyond any shadow of a doubt now. Both teams will be experiencing the full force of how feelings change from week to week in this league. The Cowboys are off an emotional loss at the Lions with letdowns and blame to go around in all three phases, while the Vikings will be looking for a second straight win against the NFC East. Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak with a 31-0 win against the Washington Commanders in Week 14. It was only the Vikings’ second win in an eight-week window, where their only other win was at the Lions in Week 9.
The Vikings are playing their first road game at the Cowboys since 2019, which was also a Sunday night game they won 28-24. Since then, the Cowboys have won three straight, all at the Vikings between 2020-22. The Cowboys will be looking to prolong their Hail Mary odds at the playoffs with some more home cooking down the stretch of this season, and know a thing or two about beating the Vikings with a Hail Mary.
One of the stories to watch in this game will be how the Cowboys defense bounces back in their last “crossover game” for defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Coming over after coaching 12 games with the Chicago Bears last season, including back-to-back-to-back losses to the Packers, Vikings, and Lions that led to his firing, the Cowboys have not fared well against two of these same teams defensively this season. They also had one of their worst defensive games of the season in Chicago against the Bears.
When the Cowboys brought in Quinnen Williams...
