The Dallas Cowboys will be in a good mood after dispatching the Las Vegas Raiders 33-16 at Allegiant Stadium, but Dak Prescott knows what is to come.
For some, the Cowboys have gotten their groove back, but the trust test of whether that statement is true will come in the next three weeks. Dallas faces the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at home before taking on the Detroit Lions on the road.
There's your three-game gauntlet.
If the Cowboys are to mount a serious playoff push, this is where they will or won't do it, and that isn't lost on Dak.
“Yeah, nice tough road,” Prescott said. “The honoring doesn't stop, honestly, when the season's over, the honoring won't stop. So it's about intensifying everything that we do to carry the legacy of Marshawn and then over these next three games with the opponents coming in and us wanting to get to where we want to go.
"Everything's just got to heighten. The discipline, focus, intensity, aggressiveness, that's at practice and that'll just carry over into the game. The game's a celebration of the work that you put in throughout the week. We're looking forward to it.”
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Cowboys' season on the line
As things stand, Dallas making the playoffs is highly unlikely, especially when factoring in the next three games, let alone the rest of the schedule.
But if — and that's a big if — the Cowboys can somehow pull out some wins, with the Eagles game always a tight one and against the Chiefs, who are fighting for their playoff lives, then who knows, maybe Dallas can do something.
But even the most hard-nosed Cowboys fan won't be steadfast in the thought that their team can make the playoffs.
Still, there is hope, and maybe the Raiders game was the circuit-breaker Dallas needed to get a little confidence before going on a run.
Yes, it's unlikely, but that doesn't mean it can't happen, and these next three weeks are the very definition of win-or-season-over for Dallas.
More Cowboys news:
- Why Cowboys WRs sat out first drive on Monday Night Football vs. Raiders
- Cowboys honor Marshawn Kneeland with T-shirts, locker ahead of Raiders game
- Cowboys rout Raiders in first game since Marshawn Kneeland's passing
- Dak Prescott throws four touchdowns in blowout win over Raiders