👋 Good morning! - Jobs need to be called for at the Cowboys. I mean seriously the damn Muffin Man can coach this defense better. - Ali Jawad

Overwhelmed by biased news? Cut through the clutter and get straight facts with your daily 1440 digest. From politics to sports, join millions who start their day informed.

Sign up now!

The Cowboys came into Sunday Night Football still clinging to the faintest postseason pulse, and by the time the clock hit zero, it felt like AT&T Stadium had watched it flatline in real time.

Dallas fell 34-26 to the Vikings, and the most familiar storyline of the season screamed the loudest again: another “meh” quarterback looked way too comfortable against this defense.

J.J. McCarthy shook off an early tipped-ball interception and proceeded to play like he’d been waiting all year for the Cowboys’ secondary to RSVP to his breakout party — two touchdown strikes, a long bomb that torched Caelen Carson, and a Peyton Manning fake-out on a rushing score that made the whole unit look a step behind.

Dak Prescott and the offense weren’t awful, they were just… stuck in neutral when it mattered most.

Prescott threw for 294 yards, but didn’t toss a touchdown, and the Cowboys’ third-down offense was an absolute horror show at 2-for-12.

CeeDee Lamb did his part with 111 yards, but George Pickens disappeared (three catches, 33 yards) in a game Dallas desperately needed a second star to show up. And while Brandon Aubrey still hit four field goals, two misses (including a painful 59-yarder that flipped the momentum off a cliff) left points, and life, on the field.

The most damning part? Dallas couldn’t even land a punch up front.

No sacks on McCarthy, even with his slow time-to-throw profile and a Vikings line that has been leaky all season.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s defense did exactly what it’s built to do: drag the game into the mud, force patience, and wait for Dallas to blink, and Brian Schottenheimer blinked at the worst time, settling for three instead of stepping on the throat.

Add in the Eagles’ 31-0 shutout earlier in the day, and Dallas isn’t mathematically dead… but after this one, the playoff dream is basically microscopic.

Cooper Flagg set the tone early with a monster first half, then Anthony Davis flipped the switch after halftime as the Mavericks stole yet another clutch win over the Nets on Friday.

Brooklyn’s constant double-teams couldn’t slow AD for long, and Flagg stayed in full control all night, finishing with 22 points, eight assists, and zero turnovers.

The DLLS Mavs crew broke down how Dallas keeps finding ways to close.

Tyler Seguin got his silver stick for 1,000 NHL games and Jamie Benn won a full-on scrap with Noah Gregor… and then the night turned into a full Florida takeover.

Sergei Bobrovsky blanked the Stars on 15 shots as Brad Marchand (two goals), Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett powered a 4-0 Panthers win.

Dallas has now dropped back-to-back regulation games for the first time since mid-October, so the DLLS Stars Post Game Show is dove into what went wrong and what it means next.

What a ride!!! Thank you John Cena.

Be sure to subscribe to our shows wherever you listen to your podcasts. Traffic can be the worst, and one of the best ways I get through it is by listening to the audio versions of our DLLS shows. You should, too!

Ali Jawad
Dallas Cowboys ​Content Creator/Newsletter Writer
[email protected]