If you think the last week of hand-wringing has been hard to take for the Dallas Cowboys after a season-opening upset loss to the New York Giants, imagine what happens if the Cowboys come home in Week 2 and lose to the Washington Commanders?
History tells us that starting 0-2 could spell big trouble for head coach Brian Schottenheimer.
“The Cowboys have not started 0-2 since 2010, which eventually led to the first and only in-season coaching change Jerry Jones has ever made,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on September 18. “Since 1989, when Jones took over, the Cowboys have opened the season with a loss 13 times and responded with a win in Week 2. Eight of those times they ended up making the playoffs. It might not be must-win, but they can’t let the early season get away from them.”
In 2010, the Cowboys started 0-2, and Jones eventually fired head coach Wade Phillips after a 1-7 start. Jones replaced Phillips with Jason Garrett, who went 5-3 over the final 8 games and was eventually hired as head coach.
Cowboys Weren’t Very Good in Schottenheimer’s 1st Season
Schottenheimer, now in his 2nd season as head coach, went 7-9-1 in 2025 as the Cowboys missed the playoffs for a 2nd consecutive season.
He also did the 1 thing NFL head coaches do when they have a losing record to try and make themselves seem less culpable — he fired 1 of his coordinators. In this case, the man with his head on the chopping block was defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
The Cowboys had arguably the NFL’s worst defense in 2025, and you can make an argument that had very little to do with Eberflus. Not only did Dallas trade its best defensive player shortly before the season in edge rusher Micah Parsons, but they also were hamstrung by dumping almost $200 million into contracts for low-performing outside cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and Daron Bland — players who not only couldn’t play at an elite level but also couldn’t stay healthy.
Cowboys Defense Improved? Didn’t Seem Like It
With 6 new starters on defense after free agency, trades, and a defense-heavy NFL Draft — along with hiring a prodigy defensive coordinator in Christian Parker — many expected the Cowboys would look like a different team on defense when they opened the season against the Giants.
The real plot twist ended up being that the Cowboys still looked like a dumpster fire on defense.
Parker, the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history at 34, came to the Cowboys after spending 2 seasons as the defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“It looks like a former secondary coach trying to be a defensive coordinator,” former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan said. “Everything from the top down. It’s hilarious … somebody got outcoached.”
“One of the weirdest games you will ever see in your life,” NFL reporter John Frascella wrote on his official X account. “Giants keep running same play, same play, same play … Left flat, catch and run … and it keeps working over and over and over … Christian Parker and Cowboys D totally embarrassing themselves.”
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Once Fired Head Coach After 0-2 Start