Mark Schlereth has apparently reached his limit with the Dallas Cowboys. After repeatedly backing their chances to win the NFC East, the former offensive lineman finally sounds ready to leave that prediction behind.
Watching the Green Bay film will do that to a guy. Schlereth went looking for reasons to believe in Dallas’ talented young blockers and came away wondering why basic assignments were still such a problem.
Mark Schlereth Backs Away From His Cowboys Prediction
On “The Stinkin’ Truth Podcast,” co-host Mike Evans gave Schlereth another opportunity to defend his belief that Dallas would win the division. This time, the answer was short.
“I doubt it,” Schlereth responded.
Then came the admission that supplied the punch line to all those earlier chances Evans had given him.
“I finally have come to my senses,”Schlereth said.
The three-time Super Bowl champion explained that his confidence had taken a beating after reviewing Dallas’ offense against Green Bay. The Cowboys lost 23-13, managing less than half of the 27.6 points per game they had averaged entering the matchup.
Schlereth had expected the offense to carry Dallas through games in which its defense struggled. Later in the episode, he described the kind of team he thought the Cowboys would become.
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“I thought the Dallas Cowboys would just outscore people 34-30 and they’d win a lot of games,” he said. “And they haven’t been able to do that.”
That disappointment now extends to a unit he had viewed as a reason for optimism. Schlereth singled out Tyler Guyton, Tyler Booker and Tyler Smith as talented players, emphasizing the athleticism and first-round investment across the line.
He believes the ability is there. His frustration is with what those players are doing once the ball is snapped.
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Schlereth Identifies Blocking Mistakes Hurting Dak Prescott
After studying the All-22 footage, Schlereth delivered a fairly bold assessment of Dallas’ problems.
“I believe I could go in there and fix that offensive line,” he said.
His criticism centered on blocking angles, assignments, and understanding where help was available. He described linemen taking poor paths toward defenders and struggling to identify whom they should block at the second level.
One example involved a guard with the center sliding toward him in pass protection. Schlereth explained that the guard should protect his outside shoulder and force the defender toward the help inside.
Instead, he said he saw a blocker set too far inside and allow pressure around the outside. For a quarterback expecting protection to hold, that mistake can wreck a play before the receiver has a chance.
Schlereth said those errors kept appearing throughout the Green Bay game.
“Every single drive, there was a bad set,” he said, also pointing to players failing to recognize their help and taking poor paths in the running game.
His assessment adds to thescrutiny of Dallas’ execution against Green Bay. The discussion has increasingly focused on how protection and assignment mistakes affect Dak Prescott’s ability to operate.
Dallas still ranks seventh inPFN’s Offensive Line Impact rankings, with an 82.0 grade in the current 2026 season standings entering Week 7. That broader season assessment offers context for Schlereth’s criticism of one particularly frustrating performance.
He also questioned whether limited padded work and slower practice sessions contribute to similar problems around the league. His argument was that athletic blockers still need to execute the details that make a protection scheme work.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.