The Dallas Cowboys lost a tough game in Week 17 to the Arizona Cardinals, 25-22. They are now 11-5 on the season.

There are a few reasons why the Cowboys weren't able to walk away with this win, but it doesn't hurt them as much as it would have a few weeks ago. Dallas has already clinched the NFC East division and will look to find some success in the playoffs.

Let's take a look at four takeaways from the Cowboys' Week 17 loss to the Cardinals.

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Cowboys Week 17 Takeaways

4. Defense wasn't great

One of the biggest reasons why the Cowboys have found so much success this season is because they have arguably been the best defense in all of football. That wasn't necessarily the case in Week 17 as they took on the Cardinals and gave up 25 points. 25 points isn't necessarily a ton of points to give up, but Kyler Murray also threw for 263 yards and the Cardinals also rushed for over 100. This isn't something that the Cowboys are going to continue wanting to do towards the back end of the season because if they do not get stops in the playoffs, they will find themselves in a bad position and could potentially be sent home early.

Giving up 25 points isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, but the Cowboys are going to have to try to keep teams around that number or a bit less if they want to find success in the playoffs.

3. No run game

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Dak Prescott wasn't necessarily incredible against the Cardinals, but he did go 24 for 38 with 226 yards and three touchdowns. Although he didn't play his best game, there isn't a ton more that you can ask from him because he still put up the numbers and put the Cowboys in a position to win this game. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott only had 16 yards on nine carries and Tony Pollard only had nine on three carries.

If the Cowboys want to have any success in the playoffs, they're going to need their run game to be significantly better and definitely have more than 45 rushing yards in a single game. The Cowboys have two very good running backs and plenty of their success in the playoffs is going to be based on how well both of them can run the football. If they are both running the football at a high level, they will find success because it's going to open up the rest of the offense.

2. Loss doesn't hurt that badly

This loss doesn't necessarily hurt the Cowboys too much but it could hurt in terms of seeding in the NFC.

Dallas has already won the NFC East and they have clinched a spot for the playoffs, so there's not necessarily a big reason to be concerned about this loss. Obviously, when you're going up against a good team like the Cardinals, you always are going to want to walk away with the victory but unfortunately, Dallas was not able to.

1. Have to stay healthy for the playoffs

The Cowboys have had some unfortunate injuries this year, but they're going to have to limit that in the last week. It would probably be best for them to decide to sit some of their key guys because they need to be fully healthy to find any success in the playoffs.