In my previous hot take, I picked Victor Wembanyama to win the NBA MVP this 2025-26 season. My current record on hot takes still sits at 1-0-1.
More than halfway through the season, the Dallas Cowboys sit at 6-6-1 with only 8% of making the playoffs according to ESPN. On Nov.17, against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Cowboys dominated in every fasciate of the game and finished with a 33-16 victory Monday Night Football. On Nov.6, Cowboys edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland died at the age of 24. With this unfortunate tragedy occurring, the Cowboys are playing together and with a chip on their shoulder. Everyone on the Cowboys coaching staff honored Kneeland by wearing his shirt and players wore them during warmups against the Raiders. Also during that game, Dak Prescott wrote the words “One Love” on his wrist tape to honor Kneeland with his favorite saying. Before the game, head coach Brian Schottenheimer told an ESPN reporter, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some tears when I first put this shirt on, as you can imagine.” It was clear all the Cowboys success that night was in honor of Marshawn Kneeland.
As the Cowboys moved down their schedule, they potentially faced the toughest three-game stretch coming up that any NFL team had to face this season. The Cowboys faced the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, then the 2023-24 Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving, and then went on the road in a primetime game in Detroit against the Lions. In this three-game stretch, Dallas finished 2-1 with wins over the Eagles and the Chiefs but fell short against the Lions on Thursday Night Football, 44-30. The Cowboys’ best chance of getting into the playoffs is to catch the Philadelphia Eagles, who are currently 8-5 after falling to the Los Angeles Chargers, 22-19.
The breakout of his new wide receiver George Pickens and the defense additions of Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson will lead this team in the right direction for a playoff push. George Pickens was sent to the Cowboys in exchange for an upcoming third-round pick. Pickens is having arguably the best year of his career in Dallas and already has more touchdowns with the Cowboys than he did in any season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas acquired Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets at the trade deadline in exchange for a first-round pick and a couple of other small pieces. In Williams’s first game, he recorded 1.5 sacks and four total tackles, making a huge impact.
Although the Cowboys got off to a shaky start at the beginning of the season and had the worst-ranked defense for most of the season, the new additions and the building chemistry are leading the team in the right direction. The playoff odds are still low and a lot will have to go right for Dallas, but they are headed in the right direction. I believe that the Dallas Cowboys will make the playoffs this season.
