We half-heartedly hinted about the two massive trade deadline trades by the Dallas Cowboys to acquire star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and veteran linebacker Logan Wilson potentially inspiring a late-season surge similar to 2018 when the Cowboys traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper mid season, ended the schedule with a 7-2 run (3-4 at time of trade), snuck into the Wild Card round and won a game.

Now that this year's trades have immediately sparked a two-game winning streak, recently extended by a historic 21-point comeback to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 on Sunday, another surge is possible.

"I love being down," Prescott said about the franchise-record-tying effort. "I don't know why. I couldn't tell you. When you're down, when it requires such-and-such a play, it's a unique place that you have to get to in resilience and focus ... just trying to lead the other guys and get them to do the same. When they do, and you end up winning a game like this, this can be huge for us, moving forward."

As it comes to the Cowboys chances of making the playoffs, then Dak is in a comfortable spot: Down.

The task doesn't get easier for the back-to-.500 Cowboys, who at 5-5-1 host the up-and-down-but-never-out-of-it Kansas City Chiefs (6-5) on Thanksgiving Day in Arlington, a national-TV showcase that's likely to break every viewership record known to man.

The lights will be bright, but will the Cowboys bask in the glow of glory that comes with a three-game winning streak of supreme magnitude or melt toward what would sure be another playoff absence with a loss?

This talk about the playoffs comes unmistakably because Philadelphia, whom Dallas played close in a four-point Week 1 loss, was the conference leader at 8-2 entering the rematch contest. The Eagles will likely carry that record advantage into a division win as they have enough remaining games to push them above at least double-digit wins (the Raiders and Commanders twice).

But for Dallas,  they are - to use a fun phase for bubble teams around this time of year - "in the hunt".

Dallas' remaining schedule goes like so: Kansas City (6-5), at Detroit (7-4), Minnesota (4-7), Los Angeles Chargers (7-4), at Washington (3-8) and at New York Giants (2-10).

The Cowboys be no more than three-point underdogs (what they are entering Thanksgiving week vs. Patrick Mahomes & Co.) in each of these games if they keep playing at the level they have since the bye. Heck, based on how others are playing, they could even be road favorites to end the year.

Start stacking these wins, as Schottenheimer and Prescott have preached is necessary more than ever? The playoff odds computers will grow exponentially in favor of "America's Team". According to FOX Sports, Dallas' eight percent odds to make the playoffs entering Week 12 jumped to 13 percent after the Eagles win. With a victory over the Chiefs, it rises to a 24 percent chance. Make it four in a row over the Lions, and we're right near a coin flip at a 49 percent chance to see the postseason.

Of course, a lot needs to play out beyond the Cowboys, but what hurts the most is the damage already done to Dallas' record before this turnaround; it's playoff fate has maybe already been sealed after poor performances from earlier on.

The Chicago Bears lead the Detroit's NFC North division and own the head-to-head over Dallas after an embarrassing Week 3 in the Windy City. The Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) in that same division have a tie against the Cowboys from that following week, all setting up the upcoming Lions game to have major implications for pole positioning in the Wild Card race.

Dallas is also on the wrong side of the head-to-head with the Carolina Panthers (6-6 after a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night), who took down the Cowboys in Week 6. Detroit and Carolina each hold the two spots ahead of Dallas in the playoff picture standings, but are still on the outside looking in on the NFC Wild Card race.

Then there's that Dallas loss against the currently-3-8 Arizona Cardinals at home in Week 10 before the bye. That might sting most of all.

"Yeah, we've put ourselves in this position," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said postgame on Sunday. "I look back on certain games, I'm like, 'Man.' But you know, again, you can't focus on that."

The Seattle Seahawks (8-3), Packers and 49ers (8-4) are the three at-large bids if the NFC bracket were to be made today. Division leaders include the Los Angeles Rams (9-2), Eagles, Bears, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-5). All in all, the Cowboys sit at 10th in the conference standings at 2.5 games out of the final NFC Wild Card spot.

So, it's a challenge moving forward... like a no-more-room-for-error challenge to keep the postseason hopes alive. Quarterback Dak Prescott knows that more than anybody.

"It's not one game at a time. We have to win every game," Prescott said. "With that being said, you can only do that by winning every play and giving it your best every play. When you do that, can stay focused, and finish with elite execution, you're going to feel confident and good about what you've done. We just have to find that, and it really starts at practice and at these walkthroughs in the next couple of days getting ready for Kansas City."

It's Prescott's half of the squad that has kept the team afloat in Schottenheimer's first year at the helm. The decade-long starting quarterback - now the Cowboys' franchise leader in career passing yards - ranks third in the NFL in passing yards this year while powering the league's most prolific attack by yards per game and fourth highest-scoring offense.

The defense still ranks toward the bottom in yards and points allowed, but the additions of Williams and Wilson - not to mention explosive youngsters DeMarvion Overshown, Shavon Revel Jr. and Caelen Carson activated from IR - have shown enough proof that this ship can get steered in a new direction, no matter how far it drifted off course at first.

"We're going to be fighting; scratch, claw every play until it's over," defensive captain  Osa Odighizuwa said.

His coach, like his quarterback, says it begins one rep at a time against opponents as esteemed as these ones are.

"You've got to focus on the fact you're getting ready to play," Schottenheimer said. "We just beat the defending Super Bowl champions, getting ready to play the team that they played. And you know, you just go out and take each championship opportunity as its own.

"After 17 games, we're going to either be in the playoffs or not. But if we keep playing the way we're playing right now, I like our chances. A lot of these teams play each other. We play a lot of the teams that are ahead of us, and we'll see how it goes."

And if how it goes is another impressive showing against a solid team this Thursday, then those first playoff dreams will be creeping further away from sarcasm and more toward seriousness.