It could be argued that, after falling to 2-4 and seeing many of the grand plans of this 2026 Dallas Cowboys team sit utterly deflated following a 23-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday night in Green Bay, coach Brian Schottenheimer was in an impossible situation. What to say to your NFL team, after a devastating loss in which you were dominated on both sides of the ball, in which any progress made on the defensive side of the ball in the second half was offset first by the defense’s poor play in the first half and the offense’s poor play overall?
But Schottenheimer did go to the podium for his press conference on Sunday night and was asked what he said to the team.
His message: “The effort is right, the fight is right, but mistakes are killing us. Repeating mistakes is not what we’re about. But we’ve got to protect the football. Five turnovers in two games, not very good. Got to find the running game. That starts with myself and the offensive staff. Got to get off the field on third down on defense, whether that’s penalties or losing 1-on-1s. So, we got to clean it up. Lost two games in a row, not playing well. Got to take a hard look at it. Starts with me.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer on what he told his players: “The effort is right, the fight is right, the mistakes are killing us. Repeating mistakes is not what we’re about.” pic.twitter.com/HCFLjSC2TM— Tommy Yarrish (@tommy_yarrish) October 19, 2026
Cowboys’ Play Was ‘Frustrating’
It is hard to say that, given the level of talent on this team–on the offensive line, in the receiver’s room, at quarterback, at running back–that mistakes alone are the problem. The Cowboys did play harder and more aggressively on Sunday in Green Bay, that was obvious. But that also raises the question of where that effort and aggressiveness was in Week 5 against the Buccaneers, as well as at other times this season?
And, it could be argued, that the tendency toward mistakes with penalties and turnovers are a symptom of poor preparation and discipline. That’s part of effort, and part of fight. So, it’s hard to say that it’s mistakes alone that are holding the team back.
“It’s frustrating … We put ourselves in this position,” Dak Prescott said. “There are 11 games left. We just gotta take it one game at a time. We’ve got to go get a win.”
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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