Dallas Cowboys can't afford to keep wasting seasons like the one Dak Prescott just had

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott knows the seasons are slipping away and understands it's a little bit worse when one of his best — and healthiest — years is wasted by a defense as bad as any in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.

The star quarterback who just finished his 10th season won't blame his teammates on the other side of the ball. Never has, never will. He's also not so naive as to ignore the obvious.

“It’s still hard to answer that,” Prescott said when asked what the team needed after a 34-17 loss to the New York Giants clinched consecutive losing seasons in Dallas for the first time in 23 years. “You’ve got one of the best offenses in the league.

"Unfortunately, not-so-good defense in the league, however you say it.”

That would be the only defense in the league to allow more than 30 points per game (30.1), the third-worst overall defense and the worst against the pass. The Cowboys (7-9-1) allowed 500 points (511) for the first time in franchise history.

Job security has been a question for weeks for defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who's in his first season in that role after a seven-year stint as a Dallas assistant a decade ago led to him running the defense in Indianapolis and then getting the head coaching job in Chicago.

If Eberflus gets fired, it'll be the second time in two years. The Bears let him go in the middle of a third straight losing season in 2024.

“We’re going to look at everything,” first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer said Sunday when asked if he wanted Eberflus back. “At the end of the day, we didn’t win enough games. That starts with me. I’m responsible for that. That’s where we’ll start.”

Prescott's predecessor, Tony Romo, had the job for 10 years with very similar results: plenty of high-powered offenses and mediocre or worse defenses, with only two playoff victories to show for everything.

This is the first time the Cowboys have finished with a losing record when Prescott started most or all of the games. And yet, their seven wins were the most for a team allowing at least 30 points per game since the 1950 New York Yanks went 5-7.

Despite the four-time Pro Bowler finishing third in yards passing (4,552) and fourth in touchdowns (30), Dallas has now played 30 consecutive seasons without a trip to the NFC championship game, the longest active stretch in the conference.

In the previous 26 seasons, the Cowboys went that far 14 times, winning the franchise's five Super Bowl titles. Prescott was 2 the last time Dallas won more than one game playoff game in a season.

“The leader I am, I’m frustrated, always trying to figure out what could I have done better, whether it was conversations here, talking to this guy there, whatever it may be,” Prescott said. “Yeah, I’m tired of it, sick of it. It won’t change the way I approach this offseason, the way I lead, me just giving this game everything I’ve got to try to change it.”

The biggest offseason priority is bringing back George Pickens after the receiver's breakout season following the trade that brought him from Pittsburgh. Dallas also would like to keep running back Javonte Williams.

Pickens, a prime candidate for the franchise tag with his rookie contract expiring, and 2023 All-Pro CeeDee Lamb gave Prescott the most potent pair of pass-catchers he has had in Dallas. If the Cowboys want to improve in the second year of Schottenheimer's offense, Pickens is the key.

Prescott said he anticipates plenty of offseason conversations with owner and general manager Jerry Jones. Prescott is going into the second year of the $240 million, four-year extension he agreed to hours before the 2024 opener. It's the first NFL contract with an average annual value of $60 million.

“Jerry knows how I feel, how the organization feels, anything about George,” Prescott said. “I think Jerry knows the importance of keeping a guy like that, talking about leading the league in passing or having a chance to do that, talking about how good this offense was this year. That guy was a huge part of that.”

The Cowboys need linebackers and defensive backs, as in plural on both. There were liabilities everywhere behind a defensive front that is probably just one impactful edge rusher away from being elite.

As for that front, Dallas has to decide whether to re-up with Jadeveon Clowney after the soon-to-be 33-year-old recorded a career-high three sacks against the Giants, not to mention a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Quinnen Williams, a midseason trade addition from the New York Jets, could be an anchor for years in the middle of the defensive line.

Fellow defensive tackle Kenny Clark, the player Dallas got along with two first-round draft picks in the trade that sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay a week before the season started, made a huge impression on his teammates and the front office. But he's set to count $21.5 million against the salary cap, a number Dallas probably wants to lower to keep him.

Prescott will be 33 when he takes his first snap next season. Jones is set to turn 84 in October. The clock is ticking for both and April's NFL draft might be the most important on defense for Jones in the 37 years since he bought the Cowboys.

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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer reacts after a touchdown against the New York Giants during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) looks to pass against the Dallas Cowboys for a two-point conversion during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

Dallas Cowboys running back Jaydon Blue (23) is tackled by New York Giants safety Dane Belton (24) during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger (82) carries the ball against Dallas Cowboys cornerback Reddy Steward (27) and linebacker Logan Wilson (55) during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) passes against the New York Giants during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo.

The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and chased after the moon to nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am so, so excited to be able to tell you that for the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit,” NASA’s Lori Glaze announced at a news conference.

The engine firing was flawless, she noted.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said he and his crewmates were glued to the capsule's windows as they left Earth in the rearview mirror, taking in the “phenomenal” views. Their faces were pressed so tightly against the windows that they had to wipe them clean.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon,” Hansen said.

NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.

Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s grand plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will dash past the moon then hang a U-turn and zip straight home without stopping on land. In the process, they will become the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970. They also may become the fastest during their reentry at flight’s end on April 10.

Glover, Koch and Hansen already have made history as the first Black, the first woman and the first non-U.S. citizen to launch to the moon. Apollo’s 24 lunar travelers were all white men.

To set the mood for the day’s main event, Mission Control woke up the crew with John Legend’s “Green Light” featuring Andre 3000 and a medley of NASA teams cheering them. “We are ready to go,” Glover said.

Mission Control gave the final go-ahead minutes before the critical engine firing, telling the astronauts that they were embarking on “humanity’s lunar homecoming arc” to bring them back to Earth. The capsule is relying on the gravity of Earth and the moon — termed a free-return lunar trajectory — to complete the round-trip figure-eight loop. The engine accelerated their capsule to more than 24,000 mph (38,000 kph) to shove them out of Earth's orbit.

“With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it,” Koch said.

Flight director Judd Frieling said he and his team were all business while on duty but will likely reflect on the momentousness of it all once they go home. “I suspect everybody understands that this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment," he told reporters.

The next major milestone will be Monday’s lunar flyby.

Orion will zoom 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon before turning back, providing unprecedented and illuminated views of the lunar far side, at least for human eyes. The cosmos will even treat the Artemis II astronauts to a total solar eclipse as the moon temporarily blocks the sun from their perspective.

While awaiting their orbital departure earlier Thursday, the astronauts savored the views of Earth from tens of thousands of miles high. Koch told Mission Control that they can make out the entire coastlines of continents and even the South Pole, her old stomping ground.

NASA is counting on the test flight to kickstart the entire Artemis program and lead to a moon landing by two astronauts in 2028.

The so-called lunar loo may need some design tweaks, however.

Orion's toilet malfunctioned as soon as the Artemis crew reached orbit Wednesday evening. Mission Control guided astronaut Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going, but not before having to resort to using contingency urine storage bags.

The urine pouches are serving double duty. Mission Control ordered the crew to fill a bunch of the empty bags with water from the capsule’s dispenser on Thursday. A valve issue arose with the dispenser following liftoff, and NASA wanted plenty of drinking water on hand for the crew in case the problem recurred. The astronauts used straws and syringes to fill the pouches with more than 2 gallons (7 liters) worth before pivoting to the moon.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This image released by NASA on Thursday, April 2, 2026, shows NASA’s Orion spacecraft with Earth in the background. (NASA via AP)

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station's cupola, on March 30, 2026. (Jessica Meir/NASA via AP)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Spectators view NASA's Artemis II moon rocket launch from the A. Max Brewer Bridge, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Titusville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)