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Todd ArcherDec 25, 2025, 06:50 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.<\/p>\n LANDOVER, Md. — The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> will miss the playoffs, but after Thursday’s 30-23 win<\/a> against the Washington Commanders<\/a>, quarterback Dak Prescott<\/a> reiterated he wants to play in next week’s season finale at the New York Giants<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I’ll have some fight back,” Prescott said. “It depends on how it comes, what’s the purpose, what’s the reason. Obviously, I understand being approached about it, but the conversations we’ve already had about it are for me to play.”<\/p>\n Prescott was sacked six times, a season high, and hurried 11 times by the Commanders. For the first time this season, he failed to complete 60% of his passes, hitting 19 of 37 attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran four times for 24 yards.<\/p>\n Asked if Prescott would play against the Giants, Dallas coach Brian Schottenheimer hedged slightly.<\/p>\n “It’s Christmas,” Schottenheimer said. “I’m going to enjoy Christmas, man. I’m going to have some eggnog. I’ll deal with that when I get looking back to the film, but definitely some eggnog. And we’re playing to win.”<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks 1 Related<\/p>\n With a victory against New York, the Cowboys would avoid posting a losing record in back-to-back campaigns for the first time since they suffered three straight 5-11 seasons from 2000 to 2002.<\/p>\n Prescott said there is a “big difference” between finishing 8-8-1 or 7-9-1.<\/p>\n “Lot of pride, and I think that’s another reason I want to play,” he said. “In a season [of] me being healthy, I’ve never had, in all of my life, career, a season under .500. So, that tie is going to come into play really well. So, it’s a huge difference. It’s one of those things that, I mean, yeah, it’s just pride. It’s pride, honestly.”<\/p>\n Prescott went 8-8 as the starter in 2019. The two times he has played fewer than nine games, the Cowboys have gone 6-10 (2020) and 7-10 (2024). This will be the third season in which Prescott has started the majority of games and the Cowboys have not made the playoffs (2017, 2019).<\/p>\n Prescott said any conversations he has had with Schottenheimer since the Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason have been with the idea he would start.<\/p>\n “I love this game,” Prescott said. “I love any opportunity that I get to play it. So, with that being said, yeah, if I get to go out there, I’m going to give my best. I’m going to prepare the same way. I’m going to be the same player.<\/p>\n “I understand the reasons why maybe not [to play], and if I’m approached with that, I’ll handle it then.”<\/p>\n The downside is substantial if Prescott were to suffer an injury. He is set to count more than $74 million against the cap, although the Cowboys will restructure his deal to gain some cap space, with a $40 million base salary. Schottenheimer said he did not like that Prescott was hit as much as he was by Washington.<\/p>\n “Again, we want to win,” Schottenheimer said. “We play to win. Eight-eight-and-one. Do the math; sounds way better than the alternative. But again, the other thing is, right now we’re 4-1 in the division [NFC East]. This is a pretty good division. Historically, it’s been one of the best in football, and you can see how physical the games are just by watching today’s game.”<\/p>\n Prescott has won 14 straight games against the Giants, although the Cowboys needed a 64-yard field goal to force overtime in a Week 2 triumph. He has not lost to New York since 2016, his rookie season. He believes momentum can carry over to 2026 with victories.<\/p>\n “Winning helps everything,” Prescott said. “Just finishing off with a win, two of them, would be great for us.”<\/p>\n After Thursday’s contest, Prescott wore a sweatshirt that read “Wake up happy” on the front.<\/p>\n “I’ll wake up happy, for sure,” he said, “but I’ll probably wake up a little sore too.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Todd ArcherDec 25, 2025, 06:50 PM ET CloseTodd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-370455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2025\/1005\/r1556041_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center\")
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