Cowboys remain hot, will play 'anybody, anywhere'

ARLINGTON, Texas — As Dak Prescott jogged to the locker room after Thursday’s 31-28 win against the Kansas City Chiefs, he was chomping on a turkey leg.

A number of offensive teammates had some turkey of their own. When owner and general manager Jerry Jones walked out of the locker room, he was carrying a turkey leg of his own.

Inside the locker room, music blared, players danced and everybody was in a festive mood.

The Cowboys have won three straight games for the first time since 2023. They have inched over .500 for the first time this season (6-5-1) and put themselves in position to be relevant in the playoff chase as the calendar turns to December.

“We’ll play anybody, anywhere,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “You can see that by what we’ve done the last couple of weeks. The moment’s not too big for us.”

In the span of five days, the Cowboys beat the two participants in Super Bowl LIX in February. They tied the franchise record for the largest comeback (21 points) to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and on Thursday they beat the Chiefs with a fourth-quarter comeback.

It had Jones and Prescott searching for a better two-game stretch for the Cowboys since Prescott was made the starter in 2016.

“Under the circumstances, I don’t remember a better two games back-to-back here at home,” Jones said. “And these guys played inspired.”

Said Prescott, “I’m not sure if I have, honestly. On top of where we’ve put ourselves right before these games and just the place that we’re in of having to get these wins against two elite teams. I mean the two teams that played in the Super Bowl last year. Last year’s last year, but you’re talking about two organizations that obviously know how to win, and we just beat them both in two great games.”

After a 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 3, the Cowboys fell to 3-5-1. A day later, they acquired defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson in trades. Three days later, Marshawn Kneeland died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Through their sorrow, the Cowboys have persevered. Kneeland’s jersey still hangs in the Cowboys’ locker room. They carry a No. 94 flag with them on the field.

The past three games, the locker room has been jubilant.

“To me, this is a tough business, man,” Schottenheimer said. “And if you don’t celebrate these amazing times and these big wins, then why are we working so hard? Why do we sacrifice what we sacrifice of times with our family and things like that if you’re not going to enjoy it and have fun?”

Prescott threw the go-head touchdown pass and 2-point conversion with 11:15 to play for his 26th comeback when trailing in the fourth quarter. CeeDee Lamb responded from three drops against the Eagles to catch seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs. George Pickens’ 13-yard catch on third-and-2 at the two-minute warning iced the game.

Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes against the Cowboys’ defense, but Dallas held Kansas City to just five third-down conversions on 13 tries. The defense sacked Mahomes three times and had four straight stops in the second and third quarters.

“I feel good about where we are as compared to where we were,” Jones said.

And Prescott knows the work is not done. In a week, the Cowboys play the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. The Lions are 7-5 and lost to the Packers on Thursday, but they had the best regular-season record in the NFC last year (15-2).

When the schedule came out in the spring, this 12-day stretch figured to tell the tale of the Cowboys’ season.

“I can tell you right now that we’re not going to just sit on some high because of [the winning streak],” Prescott said. “We know we’ve got a big one coming again next week. And all this really does for us is just give us more confidence knowing that we can go play with whoever.”