Cowboys’ Season Ends Flat as Dak Prescott’s Frustration Boils Over After Defensive Collapse

The 2025–26 NFL season came to an unceremonious end for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon, as they fell 34–17 to the New York Giants. No playoff drama. No late push. Just a quiet, deflating conclusion to a year that promised far more than it delivered.

With the offseason now underway, Dallas immediately turns its attention toward a pivotal stretch that could define Brian Schottenheimer’s second year as head coach. For a franchise that entered the season with postseason expectations, the coming months will be about accountability, correction, and difficult decisions—especially on the defensive side of the ball.

An Elite Offense, Wasted

Offensively, the Cowboys were not the problem.

Quarterback Dak Prescott delivered one of the most productive seasons of his career, surpassing 4,000 passing yards for the fourth time while throwing 30 touchdowns against just ten interceptions. Dallas finished among the league’s most explosive offenses, capable of scoring quickly and stretching defenses at all three levels.

Under normal circumstances, that level of quarterback play is a postseason guarantee.

Instead, Dallas finished with an 8-9-1 record and missed the playoffs entirely—an outcome that feels almost impossible given Prescott’s performance. The disconnect between offensive production and overall success has left the Cowboys’ franchise quarterback visibly frustrated.

Prescott Voices What He Didn’t Say

Prescott never outright blamed the defense. He didn’t need to.

Speaking after Sunday’s loss, his words carried the weight of a quarterback who knows his efforts should have mattered more.

“Tough season. Frustrating in a sense,” Prescott said. “I think I’ve alliterated this before—one of the first seasons, if not the first of my career, I can’t directly correlate my play to the wins and loss, or the end of the season, or overall success of the season.”

That admission is striking. Prescott has long been the lightning rod for criticism in Dallas, often absorbing blame regardless of circumstance. This season, though, the numbers—and the film—tell a different story.

“One of the best offenses in the league, explosive,” Prescott continued. “Now sure, not always to our standard… but put up a lot of points. Unfortunately, just didn’t win the games that we should’ve.”

The subtext was impossible to miss.

Defense Dragged the Season Under

The Cowboys’ defense surrendered 30 or more points in nine games this season—a staggering figure for a franchise that once prided itself on physicality and discipline. By several metrics, it was the worst defensive unit in team history.

Games that should have been manageable turned into shootouts. One-score contests slipped away not because Dallas couldn’t score, but because it couldn’t stop anyone. Late leads evaporated. Momentum vanished. Confidence eroded.

Prescott stopped short of calling out individuals or coaches, but his frustration stemmed from the reality that elite quarterback play alone couldn’t overcome systemic defensive failure.

“Ultimately, it leads us to an 8-9-1 record,” he said. “It sucks, but it’s the reality.”

No Effort Issues—Just Results

To Prescott’s credit, he refused to question the character of the locker room.

“I don’t think effort or lack of focus or intensity was ever our problem,” he said. “Thankful for the men in the locker room who gave it their all… coaches, each and every week.”

That acknowledgment matters. This wasn’t a fractured team. It wasn’t a group that quit. It was a roster undone by imbalance—by an offense carrying more than its share while the defense consistently collapsed under pressure.

The result is a season that feels wasted rather than failed.

An Offseason of Consequence

Now, the Cowboys face a reckoning.

A change at defensive coordinator appears increasingly likely, and Dallas is expected to heavily invest in defensive talent through both free agency and the NFL Draft. The front office cannot afford half-measures. Prescott’s prime years are not infinite, and seasons like this one underscore how fragile championship windows truly are.

Schottenheimer enters Year 2 knowing that improvement must be immediate. Anything less than tangible defensive progress will only intensify scrutiny—and frustration—inside the building.

The Bigger Picture

For Prescott, this season may linger longer than most.

It wasn’t a year defined by personal shortcomings or missed opportunities. It was defined by the realization that even his best football wasn’t enough. That truth cuts deeper than criticism ever could.

The Cowboys are moving forward, but the message from their quarterback is clear: elite offense without competent defense leads nowhere.

And in Dallas, nowhere is not acceptable.