When the 2025 schedule dropped for the Dallas Cowboys, many looked with trepidation at the gauntlet that started with the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 and ended with the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16.
The tough segment also included the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings, and when the Cowboys started the season 3-5-1 with that gauntlet coming up, many saw it as the make-or-break point for Dallas.
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Well, Dallas has beaten the Eagles and Chiefs, with the Detroit Lions up next, as the 6-5-1 Cowboys now have lots of momentum.
But looking back, when he first saw the schedule, did head coach Brian Schottenheimer envision his team beating both Philadelphia and Kansas City?
“I didn’t, I’ll be honest with you,” Schottenheimer said in a revealing truth. “I wasn’t thinking about any of that stuff then. I was trying to put together a staff and figure out what our identity was going to be. But I did know when I looked at the schedule, and I saw the stretch, and I’ve heard everybody talk about, oh hey, they got to play the Eagles, the Chiefs, and then oh it’s the Lions and the Vikings.”
It is a tough stretch, no doubt, but the Lions appear gettable and might be without Amon-Ra St. Brown, who is dealing with an ankle injury; the Vikings and Chargers aren’t the teams we thought they would be.
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Suddenly, Dallas will likely be favored in those games (except Lions), and after slaying the Eagles and Chiefs, don’t underestimate what that does to the mentality of the locker room.
“The reason you have to play those games is because if we do have a chance and we do get into the playoffs, it proves to you that you’re beating teams that have been in the Super Bowl,” Schottenheimer added.
“You’ve beat teams that have won championships. That gives all the guys in that room all the confidence in the world to go play anybody anywhere. It’s more of, who’s next, and we’ll line up and play.”
With the Lions up next, the Cowboys will be more than confident that they can roll into Ford Field and get what would be another huge win.
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Why? Because if you can beat the Eagles and the Chiefs, then you can indeed slay the Lions, and if that is achieved, then the schedule opens up, and then the playoff possibilities become real.
Half of the battle in professional sports is above the shoulders, and the last two weeks have given the Cowboys an incredible boost.
Ford Field, a month ago, would have sent shudders down the spine of the Cowboys. Not now.
And when you have that type of mentality, one that you get from beating both of last year’s Super Bowl teams, that’s half the battle, and right now, this Cowboys team truly believes that it doesn’t matter who is in front of them, they’ll beat them.