The Dallas Cowboys left Brazil with a heartbreaking 34-31 loss and with a third straight season sitting at 1-2 after three games. The last two years ended with just seven wins each, and it is clear the Cowboys will need to improve to avoid that fate again this year. More than improving on the field, though, it will be incumbent on Dallas to improve between the ears, because much of what is holding the team back here in Brian Schottenheimer’s second year at the helm have been careless, mental mistakes.
They were all over the tape of Sunday’s loss vs. Baltimore. Drives that petered out in the shadow of the goal line. A blocked field goal, an ill-advised shovel pass that led to a fumble, a poor decision on a third-and-goal pass and, most obviously, the seven-second, game-winning drive that crushed the Cowboys’ hopes of an overtime victory. Critical mistakes were everywhere, and as likable a guy as Schottenheimer is, it’s hard not to start pointing the finger his way.
‘Disturbing Trend’ Under Brian Schottenheimer
That’s the sentiment from Dallas Morning News columnist Kevin Sherrington, who found the way the Cowboys played on Sunday especially frustrating because there is obvious talent there. But there has not been much competence when it comes to getting players to care for the little things, to make sure the small details don’t lead to big mistakes.
Sherrington wrote that the Cowboys “weren’t ready” for the penultimate play of the game, the Lamar Jackson completion that set up kicker Tyler Loop’s field goal. It could also be pointed out that it make little sense for kicker Brandon Aubrey to kick the ball through the end zone for a touchback just before that, a kick that took no time off the clock.
Wrote Sherrington: “The book on Schotty as a head coach is thin, of course, but there are a couple of disturbing trends. As our Joe Hoyt notes, the last three times the Cowboys have started a season 1-2, they missed the playoffs. That includes Schotty’s first season as head coach, when they started 1-2-1, actually, which is hard to do in the NFL these days.”
Cowboys Don’t ‘Get Little Things Right’
Now, Sherrington pointed out that the Cowboys do seem to like paying for Schottenheimer, that he does get loyalty and effort from his guys. But he does not get intelligence.
He wrote: “The bad news is, they don’t play smart. They make far too many mistakes. They let a team with a reputation for folding shake its history. Meanwhile, the Cowboys can’t seem to manage the details, and the details make all the difference, especially in tight games. …
“Because you can’t expect the Cowboys to get the little things right, it’s getting harder every day to think they’ll do anything big this season.”
There is time, of course, and the Cowboys’ situation is not all dire. The early season has not been kind to the Cowboys’ next three opponents–the Texas, Buccaneers and Packers are a combined 1-8. The could emerge at 4-2 by Week 7. But there will be much that needs to be cleaned up first.
Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer Called Out Amid ‘Disturbing Trend’