There are some teams that you simply can't keep down. Even if they are technically actually down. Teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Yankees, and of course, the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.
And Dallas' starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, embodies that attitude of ever-present confidence even if the situation does not deserve it.
Prescott and the elite Dallas offense were once again unable to overcome the abysmal nature of the defense as the Cowboys lost 34-17 to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 at Jerry's World.
The loss dropped them down to 6-8-1 and added insult to injury: Dallas already knew they would not take part in the 2025 NFL playoffs after an Eagles win on Saturday. That's the second straight year with no postseason for Dallas, the first time that's happened since 2019-2020.
But despite that, Prescott remained defiantly confident in speaking with the media. He still believes that going into his 11th year with the Cowboys, things will be different in 2026. They will get better. Prescott talked about only controlling what he can control, and hoping for improvements around him in 2026 (via Jon Machota).
"The work that I put into this. From last year to this year, I think you can go back to every year and there’s been improvement. When you control the things that you can control, and you do it with a great attitude, put God first, you’re not going to question yourself," said Prescott.
"You’re not going to question your ability to accomplish something. We’re going to keep working. I’m going to keep working. This team is going to keep working. The organization, obviously, is going to do things in the offseason and hopefully everything is just building for us to have a better year than we did this year. And I know for myself and anybody that I’m leading or that’s following me, that’ll be the message."
It's a very healthy and mature perspective on what is a dire situation at present and a disappointing era of Cowboys football overall going back to Prescott's rookie year in 2016.
The Cowboys have not been to an NFC Championship since they won their fifth and most recent Super Bowl in 1995. It’s been over three decades since they’ve had a sustained playoff run.
Since Prescott took over in 2016, Dallas has 95 regular season wins, tied for 8th-most. But in the postseason during that time, they’ve gone just 2-5.
And yet, before every campaign, there is a level of hope and belief and confidence among Cowboys fans and players like Prescott that “this year will be the year.”
At this point, we don’t know whether to applaud that consistent level of optimism or check these Cowboys players and fans into an insane asylum.