theathleticuk
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Brian Schottenheimer has achieved something few have: after the Dallas Cowboys' dreadful start to the season, the head coach now shares a level of culpability with owner and general manager Jerry Jones. Jones will always bear the ultimate responsibility, especially since he hired Schottenheimer to replace Mike McCarthy after the 2024 season. But even Jones could not have anticipated such a dismal beginning.
The Cowboys lost 23-13 to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday night in a game that was not as close as the final score suggests. Similar to the previous week's 24-16 home loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas's performance left observers wondering if any team can be beaten right now.
"I'm going to just start with what I told the guys," Schottenheimer said. "The effort is right. The fight is right. But mistakes are killing us. Repeating mistakes is not what we're about. We got to clean it up. Lost two games in a row. Haven't played well. And got to take a hard look at it. And that starts with me."
A team expected to rely on one of the NFL's best offenses managed only seven points on its first eight possessions Sunday night. With a healthy Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Javonte Williams, and all starters on the offensive line, the talent level is high enough that no defense should hold them to a single touchdown over that many drives. Yet the Packers did so without Micah Parsons, Edgerrin Cooper, and Javon Hargrave. Yes, the same Packers against whom the Cowboys scored 40 points last season in Week 4 without Lamb — and with Parsons and Cooper on the field.
It defies logic that a team historically effective against the blitz with Prescott at quarterback has been completely stymied by back-to-back defensive masterclasses called by Tampa Bay's Todd Bowles and Green Bay's Jonathan Gannon.
"We got to figure that out," Prescott said of the offensive struggles. "I wish I could give you that answer at this time. (I have to) watch the film to see what wasn't done or what wasn't executed efficiently. I know I had plays out there that I want back that I know directly correlated to a turnover and us getting off the field on third down, and fourth down on one of them. I don't have the answer for the whole team and what that is, but I believe in who we are and I know we have the talent and the men that care. We just have to put it together. Our process is right, but we have to win on Sunday."
One of the most puzzling aspects Sunday was that Pickens, one of the league's top playmakers, was targeted only once in the first half.
"That is a great question," Prescott said when asked about that stat. "As we have said before, these teams know his capability. They know we want to attack with him downfield and really just any which way and they do a good job of putting two guys on him. So for us, I think it is about maybe moving him more early. CeeDee does move a lot, so I think he puts himself in the position in different coverages. It doesn't matter what they are doing. We just have to find a way to get him the ball. I don't have that answer for you right now, but we have to find a way to get it to him."
Prescott started the season hot, throwing eight touchdowns with only one interception through the first four games. Over the last two, he has thrown only two touchdowns and four interceptions. Not all turnovers are his fault — dropped passes and Lamb falling Sunday contributed greatly — but the drop-off against teams that are not exactly Super Bowl favorites is alarming. Prescott believes it is all fixable, starting with the head coach and offensive play-caller.
What gives them confidence that Schottenheimer can turn it around? "Just the man he is," Prescott said. "The way that he approaches each and every day with the same process. Adversity has hit us and we have to answer. We have to look at it dead in the face. This will test not just Schotty, it will test myself, test this whole team. It will test this brotherhood that we brag about that we say we are going to hang our hat on. It is going to test that and we are going to see what we are made of."
Defensively, Sunday was more of the same seen all season. The unit continues to underperform expectations entering the season, which were not very high. One of the biggest reasons the Packers did not put 30-plus points on the board had little to do with Dallas's secondary and more to do with Jordan Love's accurate passes being dropped too often. Love was hit eight times and sacked three times. Linebacker Dee Winters recorded the team's first interception of the season. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams played well as Dallas looked decent against the run, holding the Packers to 57 yards. It should be noted that Green Bay entered with the league's worst rushing attack, averaging 60 yards per game.
But the issue of giving up third-and-longs way too often continued. Green Bay entered as the NFL's worst third-down offense. The Packers converted 11-of-18 against the Cowboys.
Coming off an embarrassing loss to the Buccaneers, who lost again Sunday to drop to 1-5, Dallas seemed to be in a good spot to rebound. The Cowboys were playing their third game in 12 days then. Sunday night's game came after nine days of rest.
That Tampa Bay loss led to some noticeable changes. Longtime NFL defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was added to the coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant. Schottenheimer had said there would also be some lineup changes. The two most notable were that tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford started and played more than Jake Ferguson. Rookie outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence got the start over Donovan Ezeiruaku. Schottenheimer also tried to set the tone early by taking the ball when the Cowboys won the coin toss. It did not create much positive momentum though, as Dallas managed only one first down before punting.
The Cowboys have the benefit of playing in one of the league's most wide-open divisions with an easy upcoming schedule. Of their opponents in the next six weeks, only the San Francisco 49ers have a winning record. But with how the Cowboys are currently playing, they could lose all six of those games.
"It's about us fixing our issues, cleaning house and just getting better," Prescott said. "From there, the division is open, that will take care of itself. But we have to win first and we have to get going and from there we can try to build. It is about finding a way to win."
That starts with Schottenheimer. Will he find a way to get things back on track? And if he does, can there be sustained success? In his two seasons as head coach, the Cowboys have won consecutive games only during one three-game stretch. They followed that three-game winning streak with three consecutive losses, the longest losing streak of Schottenheimer's time as coach.
"We're in a hole," he said. "We put ourselves there, and there's one way out of it. That's what I told the guys. I said, you got to work, got to find solutions, can't repeat mistakes. And they understand that."
Schottenheimer has never deflected the blame. He understands that he is in a business that demands quality results. But those results are not there and the future does not look very bright at the moment. How he handles these next few weeks could be what ultimately determines his future in Dallas.
"There's definitely time to pull out of it," he said. "But we got to fix the mistakes that we've talked about. Go back to work. That's what we're going to do. Division game, Philadelphia (next week), another place that's tough to play at. But our guys are going to respond. It's not the effort, it's the execution. And that's what we got to clean up, and that's as a football team, coaches and players alike."
Key Analysis
Schottenheimer's tenure is already at a crossroads. The Cowboys' offensive ineptitude, defensive lapses, and inability to correct mistakes have placed him squarely on the hot seat. While Jones bears ultimate responsibility, Schottenheimer's performance in the coming weeks will likely dictate whether he remains in Dallas beyond this season.
Originally reported by theathleticuk.