The moments of excitement over the Dallas Cowboys perhaps getting involved in the playoff race turned out to be nothing but false hope.
The Cowboys won three in a row to get back in the playoff conversation, then lost two in a row to fall well out of it. A loss at the Detroit Lions in Week 14 was somewhat understandable. A home loss to a Minnesota Vikings team that had already been eliminated from playoff contention was not.
The Cowboys aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs at 6-7-1, but it would take a miracle for them to make it. And what was apparent inSunday's 34-26 loss to the Vikingsis that the Cowboys aren't a playoff-quality team. The defense couldn't contain Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy, who has struggled most of the season. George Pickens continued his late-season disappearance with another quiet game. Even kicker Brandon Aubrey, the Cowboys' most reliable asset, missed two field goals.
The Cowboys made a big move at the trade deadlineto acquire defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and although that was never meant to be just a one-year, win-now move, it showed some hubris. If Dallas truly thought it could make the playoffs after a 3-5-1 start to the season, they were ignoring some deficiencies that couldn't be fixed with one move. It was clear to see Sunday night, with Dallas being outplayed by a team that was 5-8 coming in, that there's work to do.
J.J. McCarthy has a promising performance
One of the big questions before the game was whether McCarthy would be able to build on a solid performance last week, or revert to the subpar form from his first six starts.
It was pretty good news for the Vikings. McCarthy was far from perfect. He missed a few throws, including several to Justin Jefferson, who had another quiet game. But he also made some nice plays. A touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor in the back of the end zone, against tight coverage, was impressive. McCarthy also scored on a nifty naked bootleg after he sold the fake handoff very well. That came on fourth-and-1 and tied the game at 14.
The Cowboys' pass defense has been suspect most of the season, even though the defense as a whole improved after the Williams trade. But it was still good for Minnesota to see McCarthy making things happen in what was just his eighth career start.
A nice 29-yard pass to T.J. Hockenson and a 23-yard pass to Nailor set up a 1-yard touchdown run by C.J. Ham. That put the Vikings ahead 24-23 heading into the fourth quarter. McCarthy completed 15-of-24 passes for 250 yards. The Vikings have to be pleased with that.
The Vikings (6-8) were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race before the game started but they were still putting plenty of pressure on Dallas, thanks to their young quarterback keeping the offense moving.
Cowboys can't catch Vikings
The Cowboys had a chance to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, but something strange happened: Kicker Brandon Aubrey missed his second field goal of the game. Aubrey, widely considered the NFL's best kicker, had missed only two field goals in Dallas' first 13 games. That's what kind of night it was for the Cowboys.
Minnesota took advantage right after Aubrey's rare miss. McCarthy hit a few passes, including his second touchdown pass to Nailor, and the Vikings led 31-23. The Cowboys went for it on fourth down shortly after that, and a catch was just short of the first-down marker, leading to a turnover on downs. When the Vikings went for it on fourth down shortly after, Aaron Jones easily picked it up on a run up the middle. That helped set up a field goal that gave the Vikings a two-score lead. Minnesota made those plays on Sunday night and the Cowboys couldn't.
The Cowboys aren't that far off, but they do need some improvements over the offseason. They will need to make a decision on whether to re-sign Pickens, which is a little more complicated with him having two straight poor outings. The defense needs to get better against the pass. It's an important offseason coming up in Dallas.
After Sunday night's loss, there's no more concern about a postseason run getting in the way of starting the offseason work as soon as possible.
