Jerry Jones isn't the type of impulsive owner everyone thinks he is, when it comes to firing head coaches.
The Dallas Cowboys have been too loyal over the past decade-plus. They have had three coaches since 2010, when Jason Garrett replaced Wade Phillips after a 45-7 loss to the Packers that dropped Dallas to 1-7. None of Dallas' three most recent coaches have taken the Cowboys to the NFC championship game. Despite that, Jones was patient with Garrett and then Mike McCarthy.
That doesn't mean he will have endless patience with Brian Schottenheimer.
The Cowboys came into the season talking about making a Super Bowl and they're 2-4. Dak Prescott talked about Dallas having "the greatest offense there is" and they've scored 29 points total the past two games. Jones himself led the talk about making a Super Bowl.
"I feel like we've got a chance to really be good," Jones said in late July at the beginning of training camp, via the Cowboys' site. "It's going to be hard … Bottom line is, I love the excitement. [The media], for all practical purposes, don't expect us to be a contender in the Super Bowl. Y'all don't. Why would you? I like that, I do. I like that, and I like what we've put together to show you that we can do it."
When the owner, who just turned 84 years old, speaks like that and the team looks just as bad as it did last season when it went 7-9-1, then nobody should feel great.
To this point, the Cowboys are maintaining full support of Schottenheimer.
"Absolutely. There's not any question in Jerry's and [my] mind," Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, Jerry's son, told 105.3 The Fan. "He has the team. There's no question they want to go out there and execute and make things happen.
"Feel really good as I've mentioned throughout this conversation about our coaching staff. We just have to continue to have it evolve and get to a point where we can win these football games."
That's great to say, and Jerry Jones' recent history of patience has to be noted too. But now with the Cowboys' offense now in a slump — Dallas looked entirely unprepared to handle the Packers' blitzes and that's a reflection on Schottenheimer, who calls offensive plays — and the defense showing few signs of improvement, the season could go south quickly.
Jones is sticking with Schottenheimer. Dallas can turn it around, considering the next three games are against losing teams: at Eagles, vs. Cardinals, at Colts. If it doesn't look better over that stretch, we'll see if the mood at The Star changes.
Panic meter: There's always chaos in Dallas, but a 2-4 start is a real reason for concern. And Schottenheimer is really going to test Jones' patience if these next three games go poorly.
Bo Nix's struggles continue
It seems possible that Nix shows up in this space regularly through the season. Because the Denver Broncos offense isn't getting any better, even after head coach Sean Payton took over play-calling. The offense was particularly odorous on Thursday night against Seattle, when it had 38 offensive yards in the second half and overtime. Sam Darnold's interception in overtime bailed Denver out, and kept a little bit of attention off Nix, who was worse in his second season than he was as a rookie, and has been worse in his third season than he was last year.
Nix's microscopic 4.9-yard average depth of target is as bad as it gets, as CBS' Doug Clawson pointed out, and the sign of a quarterback with no confidence.
There are 701 qualified QB seasons through 6 games in the past 20 years
— Doug Clawson (@doug_clawson) October 16, 2026
2026 Bo Nix ranks 701st out of 701 in average pass length (4.9 air yards per attempt)
His avg pass was thrown behind the line of scrimmage in the 2nd half on Thursday
The Broncos have played a very tough schedule and perhaps that is the main reason Nix and Denver's offense has looked bad. But the schedule is lightening up, starting this week against Arizona, and Nix needs to look better.
Panic meter: We're probably one more bad game this week from a long and difficult conversation about the Broncos quarterback situation.
How bad is the Davante Adams injury for Rams?
Davante Adams' injury on Sunday didn't look great, but it also didn't seem like it could ruin most of the rest of his season.
Adams is out 6-10 weeks with a ruptured hamstring. Other than losing Matthew Stafford, the Rams having one of their top two receivers go down was a worst-case injury scenario. One clear issue with the roster was the lack of depth at wide receiver after Adams and Puka Nacua (and was a reason everyone questioned taking quarterback Ty Simpson in the first round). The Rams might have to trade for a receiver to patch it through until Adams can return. It's a bad injury for a team that's off to a brutal 2-4 start.
Panic meter: The Rams season isn't dead but the offense is going to take a big step back without Adams.
Tanner McKee doesn't play well
There was a time when McKee was a hot name, based on some good preseason games. There was a thought that he could be traded for a huge haul, or even that he was a better option than Jalen Hurts. After Sunday's start, that looks silly.
McKee, who was demoted to third string behind Andy Dalton before the season, struggled in his first start replacing Hurts. He had 215 yards on 45 attempts. The Eagles scored 14 points and never looked like a threat to beat the Panthers.
Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season and there's no magic solution for the Eagles. A 2-4 team shouldn't trade a ton for a quarterback, especially because any quarterback available in mid-October likely isn't that good. Teams don't like trading good backup quarterbacks. This is just what it is for the Eagles the rest of the season. It might not be pretty.
Panic meter: It's hard to say the Eagles' season is over already … but that's probably the answer.
Shane Steichen survives Colts purge, for now
There wasn't much surprise that a major move was made after the Colts lost to the winless Titans at home. The only surprise might have been that Steichen survived while general manager Chris Ballard was fired.
Part of the reason might be that nobody on the Colts staff has NFL head coaching experience. Some teams don't like changing head coaches in midseason because it can lead to chaos, especially if there's nobody experienced to take the job on an interim basis. But the Colts are the franchise that hired Jeff Saturday to be head coach in midseason even though he'd only coached in high school before then. They could have figured it out.
Steichen's Colts are 2-4, he had never led the team to the playoffs and owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon has spoken often about the urgency the franchise has this season. She acted on that by firing Ballard. At this point, it seems like anything short of the Colts rallying for a playoff spot could cost Steichen his job. And that will be especially difficult if the Colts start selling before the trade deadline.
Panic meter: It's looking pretty hopeless in Indianapolis, especially for Steichen.
Will J.J. McCarthy make the Vikings look bad?
The Minnesota Vikings didn't get much back when they traded McCarthy. They sent the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft to the Giants for a fifth-round pick a few weeks ago. On Sunday McCarthy came in for the Giants in the fourth quarter and had 243 passing yards in 11 minutes. The Vikings haven't thrown for 243 yards in a game yet this season.
Is it possible that the Vikings will look very foolish for selling so low on McCarthy after 10 career starts? Possibly. But one good quarter, when the Giants got hot after falling behind by 24 points, is far from proof that McCarthy is an emerging star and was just held back in Minnesota. But still, it's at least possible that this ends up as a regrettable, impatient trade for the Vikings.
Panic meter: Let's see it from McCarthy again before we revisit the trade.