Cowboys' Dak Prescott Says 'Every Game is a Must-Win' Amid NFL Playoff Bracket Picture

Following a disappointing 27-17 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott stressed the importance of every game moving forward.

Speaking to reporters after Dallas fell to 3-5-1 on the season, Prescott noted that the Cowboys have to string some wins together in order to truly get into the playoff race.

"Every game is a must-win going forward," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "You say that, and you feel that in the NFL and you should feel that. But when you put yourself in a position or behind like we have, it's even more so that's the case. … Having all those games to play, you can catch a hot streak and be right in the mix. That's great. But you got to get a streak going and if you don't get a streak going, you're just putting yourself more and more behind the 8-ball, so it's now or never."

The Cowboys played from behind throughout Monday's game, and they were down by multiple scores for most of it.

That allowed the Arizona defense to tee off on Prescott, sacking him five times and intercepting him once.

▶️ Full Cardinals-Cowboys Recap

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The Cowboys turned the ball over three times in all and committed six penalties for 55 yards, while the Cards committed no turnovers and took only two penalties for 10 yards.

Monday's game felt like a big opportunity for the Cowboys to get back to .500 before the bye week. Dallas then comes out of the bye with a winnable road game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The schedule gets much tougher after that, though, as their next five opponents are the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers.

All of those teams are .500 or better and in the thick of the playoff race, and a few of them are considered legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Entering Week 10, the Cowboys are 11th in the NFC. At 5-3, the Lions currently hold the seventh and final playoff spot in the conference.

Last season, the Cowboys missed the playoffs with a 7-10 record due in large part to Prescott getting injured, but even with Prescott injured and putting up strong numbers, Dallas has not improved as much as hoped.

While the Cowboys do rank third in the NFL in total offense and fourth in scoring offense, they are also 31st in both total defense and scoring defense.

Rumors and speculation have surrounded the Cowboys throughout the season regarding a potential trade for an impact defensive player, and team owner Jerry Jones teased making some deals during an appearance Monday on the Stephen A. Smith Show (h/t ESPN).

"A lot of action going on right now in terms of trading," Jones said. "We certainly have made a trade, and we may make a couple more trades before that deadline. We've made one. We possibly could make two more, and I'm going to wait and let you read about that when we send the papers in tomorrow."

On Tuesday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Dallas had acquired linebacker Logan Wilson from the Cincinnati Bengals, bringing some much-needed defensive talent into the organization.

The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, so if the Cowboys are planning more moves beyond the trade for Wilson, time is running out to make them happen.