Of all the frustrating aspects of the Dallas Cowboys‘ 34-31 loss to the Ravens on Sunday afternoon in Rio, maybe the biggest was that the two people who might be seen as most trustworthy in the organization–quarterback Dak Prescott and coach Brian Schottenheimer–were the ones who, in the end, committed the biggest blunders. The fact that the third-down play from the Baltimore 2-yard line went so horribly wrong with 10 seconds to play, with Prescott hurling it out of bounds before even going through his full reads, is both a failure of Schottenheimer’s coaching and Prescott’s ample experience.
There are many places on the field where we don’t know how confident we can be in what the Cowboys have out there: Right tackle, linebackers, backup running back, secondary. But it always felt like the coach and QB were on the same page. Until what might have been a game-winning touchdown pass on Sunday turned into a field goal, which turned into a loss. How much faith should remain in the Schotty and Dak tandem?
Dak Prescott Had to ‘Clear the Air’ With Brian Schottenheimer
Prescott himself seemed to answer that question this week in his press conference with Cowboys reporters. Apparently, the two needed a moment to reconnect after the brutal ending to the Week 3 loss. Prescott said the situation called for “honest conversations” and, really, honest conversations are only required when there are problems.
Said Prescott: “Yeah, we had honest conversations between a head coach and a quarterback. Clearing the air, debriefing, you could say. ‘This is what happened, this is what should happen, this is what we can do better next time.”
Cowboys ‘Dropped the Ball’ in Week 3
Prescott still, even after his tough talks with Schottenheimer, sounded a lot like Schottenheimer when he pronounced the Cowboys a brotherhood, a theme that Schotty hits often.
Speaking about bouncing back from the Ravens loss, Prescott said: “It sucks because you dropped the ball, you didn’t do what you need to do. But you can look yourself in the mirror, and you can fix that. Much rather than (it being a blowout loss and feeling like we) need to make five trades or two on each side (of the ball).
“No, it’s Game 3 and there’s a lot of season left. And the last thing we’re gonna do is let this derail us, or allow us to lose confidence in the play-callers and each other. Truly, our calling card is our brotherhood. So I’d be damned if we’re gonna allow that right now to (allow us to) lose any steam or not to be as valuable as it has been for us.”
Cowboys’ Dak Prescott Gets ‘Honest’ on Brian Schottenheimer