Cowboys' Dak Prescott makes feelings on Eagles clear amid pursuit of playoffs

The 6-6-1 Dallas Cowboys need wins and some help if they are going to leapfrog the 8-5 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East standings before Week 18 wraps up. 

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott made it clear that he doesn't need extra motivation to hope that the Eagles lose games. 

Dak Prescott always cheers for the Eagles' opponent

"I just got to go win every game," Prescott explained, per Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys' website. "That's all I can control. I'm going to root against [the Eagles] regardless, whether we're in this position or not, so I got to control what I can control and go win games."

The Cowboys split their season series with the Eagles, and Dallas will head into the weekend trailing three teams in the battle for the NFC's final wild-card playoff berth that is currently held by the 9-4 Chicago Bears. 

On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles will host the 2-11 Las Vegas Raiders. Later that night, Dallas will welcome the 5-8 Minnesota Vikings to AT&T Stadium.

As of Friday morning, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Cowboys just a 9.9% chance to make the playoffs. At that same time, ESPN gave the Eagles a 91.5% chance to claim the division title. 

Dak Prescott challenges Cowboys to handle their business

Prescott understands that what the Eagles do or don't do in their games won't matter much to the Cowboys if Dallas doesn't notch four straight wins.

"It's not heavy," Prescott said about the Cowboys' situation. "Even if I feel it, and obviously I think about it a lot, I say that to say I want that. That's unfortunately the position we've put ourselves in, and that's the only way that we can get out of it. It's not like that it's some, 'Oh my God, I can't believe this is on me' or, 'This is stress,' no. This is just the avenue that we have to go, and the only way we can get out of this is handling our business."

On Friday, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Cowboys as 5.5-point home favorites over the Vikings.