Minnesota Vikings v Dallas Cowboys – NFL 2025 | Sam Hodde/GettyImages

The Dallas Cowboys lost their second straight game after winning three in a row. While they have not officially been eliminated from the playoffs, their 34-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings all but sealed their fate for this season.

In a game where the Vikings were already eliminated and had nothing to play for, they out-coached and outplayed Dallas.

A significant portion of the blame needs to be attributed to the coaching. Brian Schottenheimer stuck with a game plan that involved a heavy dose of running the ball, but Dak Prescott just never seemed to get into any kind of rhythm in the passing game.

Matt Eberflus’ defense once again made an average quarterback in J.J. McCarthy look like Tom Brady. While the coaches need to share some of the blame, these players deserve the most blame for Sunday night’s loss.

3 Cowboys players who deserve the most blame for Week 15 loss vs. the Vikings

1. Brandon Aubrey

It is hard to believe Brandon Aubrey would be blamed for any loss this season when he is arguably the only consistent player on this team, but he is the poster child for this loss. Going into this game, Aubrey had only missed two field goals all year. He doubled that on Sunday night.

Aubrey’s first miss came in the second quarter when he pushed a 51-yard attempt wide right. The Vikings added a field goal of their own on the next drive to take their first lead.

Aubrey’s next miss hurt even more. Trailing 24-23 at the start of the 4th quarter, Dallas could have taken the lead if the kick was good. The All-Pro kicker wasn’t even close on a 59-yarder. Sure enough, Minnesota took advantage of a short field and scored five plays later to take an 8-point lead.

Every kicker has a bad day at the office. Unfortunately, Aubrey chose to have the worst performance of his career in one of the most critical games of the season. He will undoubtedly bounce back, but he deserves the most blame for this loss. If both of those kicks go in, Dallas might have pulled this one out.

2. Kenneth Murray

The Kenneth Murray trade keeps looking worse and worse every time he steps on the field. When the team traded for Logan Wilson, the belief was that he was going to take most of the snaps away from Murray. For the past two games, however, Murray has been on the field a lot more.

One of the biggest knocks on Murray when Dallas traded for him was that he did not read plays well in the middle. Minnesota’s go-ahead touchdown proved that point. C.J. Ham got the handoff, and Murray was nowhere to be found in the middle to offer any resistance during the play. He misread it and went to the wrong side to try to make the tackle.

The play is a microcosm of Murray’s season. He always seems to be out of position because of his inability to diagnosis and react to what’s happening in front of him.

3. Caelen Carson

Caelen Carson had another rough game. With Trevon Diggs still not back and possibly inching towards the end of his time in Dallas, Carson has gotten action as the third corner. His play is not helping this defense.

He got burned bad on a deep pass to Jordan Addison that helped set up the Vikings’ second touchdown of the game. Addison got separation without even having to put any significant move on Carson. He pretty much just ran by him to get open by a few yards.

Carson had another rough moment late in the first half when he got chippy with Justin Jefferson. The second-year pro committed an unnecessary roughness penalty that negated an illegal shift penalty called on Minnesota. Carson has not performed well when called upon this season, and if he keeps this up, he will not be in Dallas for the rest of his rookie contract.