ARLINGTON, Texas — There are four weeks remaining in the 2025 NFL regular season, but for the Minnesota Vikings (5-8) and Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1), Sunday night’s Week 15 matchup already feels like a playoff game.
Minnesota will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss, and for a Dallas squad that has just a 12.2% chance to reach the postseason per SportsLine, the Cowboys are essentially in the same boat. The weight of walking the playoff tightrope and needing to win out is such that quarterback Dak Prescott feels it even when he’s sitting on the couch at home.
“That’s a good question. It’s not heavy,” Prescott said Thursday. “Even if I feel it — and obviously I think about it a lot — I say that to say that I want that. That’s unfortunately the situation that we’ve put ourselves in, and it’s the only way that we can get out of it.
“It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is on me,’ or that it’s stressful,” he continued. “This is just the avenue that we have to go, and the only way we can get out of this is handling our business. Whether we’re cheering on other teams to lose or not, more importantly, we’ve got to come in each and every day and focus on the now. Just be present, and when you’re able to do that, you’ll be OK with the result at the end of the day.”
The burden on Prescott will be lighter than it was in Dallas’ 44-30 Week 14 loss at Detroit. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will return 10 days after suffering a concussion against the Lions, and cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee) said Friday that he expects to play Sunday night after missing the last seven games. Diggs is officially listed as questionable.
Where to watch Cowboys vs. VikingsDate: Sunday, Dec. 14 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ETLocation: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)TV: NBC | Stream: Fubo (try for free)Follow: CBS Sports AppOdds: Cowboys -5.5, O/U 48.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)Cowboys vs. Vikings: Need to knowDak Prescott vs. Brian Flores’ blitz
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores presents a strength-on-strength matchup with his relentless blitz packages. Minnesota sends five or more pass rushers on a league-high 49.2% of opponent dropbacks, per TruMedia. The next-closest team, Atlanta, is at 40.4%.
When blitzing, the Vikings allow a 58% completion rate (ninth-lowest in the NFL) and just 6.2 yards per attempt (fifth-lowest). Prescott has been one of the league’s best quarterbacks against pressure, ranking third in completion percentage (68.5%) and passing yards (1,137) versus the blitz this season.
“Just over time, certain blitzes, certain looks you see better than others,” Prescott said. “It’s hard to surprise me, but you still have to be on your P’s and Q’s. Hell, I just got hit two weeks ago against one, Kansas City, and threw an interception. I’m far from having it all dialed in.”
“[Brian Flores] is a play caller who likes to win the game with the plays that he’s dialing up — the way he’s attacking offenses and the looks he’s presenting, giving us curveballs and making it tough on us. So yeah, why I relish this challenge is that it’s as much of a game as anything — a challenge to me mentally, what I’m seeing on film and being able to decipher it and get us into the right protections, the right looks and plays against all the different looks.”
Completion percentage
68.5%
3rd
Pass Yards
1,137
3rd
Pass TD
9
T-8th
Passer Rating
106.4
11th
Expected points added (EPA) per dropback
0.21
8th
Aaron Jones‘ Texas homecoming
Aaron Jones returns to AT&T Stadium hoping for another massive Texas homecoming. Jones will be making his AT&T Stadium debut as a Minnesota Viking on Sunday, but the El Paso native has plenty of history against his hometown team after four matchups as a Green Bay Packer.Â
He has more than 100 rushing yards and at least one touchdown in all four of his career games against his childhood team, joining Pro Football Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson as the only other player in NFL history to begin his career with four such games in a row against a single opponent, including the postseason, per OptaStats. Tomlinson’s victim was the Cleveland Browns.
The last time Jones visited AT&T Stadium was in the Packers‘ 48-32 wild-card round romp of the Cowboys in the 2023 season. He went off for playoff career highs of 118 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, an efficient 5.6 yards per carry. Jones’ production that day tied the NFL all-time record for rushing touchdowns in a road playoff game, rushing touchdowns in a wild-card round game and rushing touchdowns in a Packers postseason game.Â
Current Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark was on the Green Bay sideline for that effort, and he is looking forward to seeing his ex-teammate of seven seasons with the Packers on Sunday night.
“Man, it’s going to be great, man. I’m always excited to play him. He’s from out this way, so he gets a lot of energy coming to play the Cowboys,” Clark said. “I’m excited to play him. A great player, a guy that I’ve been having a lot of respect for for many years.”
Carries
83
20.8
Rushing yards
488
122.0
Rushing first downs
31
7.8
Rushing touchdowns
9
2.3
J.J. McCarthy vs. Dallas’ pass defense
J.J. McCarthy versus the Cowboys’ pass defense is a stoppable force vs. a movable object. McCarthy produced the best start of his young career — all seven games — in a 31-0 victory over the Commanders in Week 14: 163 yards and three touchdown passes on 16 of 23 passing.
However, he remains dead last in the NFL in completion percentage (56%), TD-to-INT ratio (9-10) and passer rating (67.4) this season among 34 qualified quarterbacks. McCarthy has been so rough this season that Justin Jefferson is averaging just 62.3 receiving yards per game in 2025, which is stunning considering his previous career low for a season was the 87.5 he produced as a rookie in 2020. The four-time Pro Bowl wideout is the NFL’s all-time receiving yards per game leader (91.6), but alongside McCarthy, Jefferson has only 15 receiving yards across the last two games combined.Â
On the other side is a Cowboys defense that is allowing the most passing yards per game (255.2) in the league this season.
Cowboys vs. Vikings prediction, pick
Dallas’ cornerback position has been a mess in 2025, but McCarthy won’t be able to capitalize on those deficiencies, as the Cowboys can pressure him with their trio of high-impact defensive tackles — All-Pro Quinnen Williams, three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa.Â
Prescott will be able to make more than enough plays against Flores’ blitz with both Lamb and George Pickens at his disposal, and the Cowboys roll to a much-needed victory on “Sunday Night Football.”
Pick: Dallas 27, Minnesota 10 | Cowboys -5.5, Under 48.5