FRISCO, Texas — No one in the building can deny it: the 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a Texas-sized kick in the neck, or rather a more sensitive part of the anatomy, and it's left the Dallas Cowboys stunned and searching for answers.
In a game "we should've won", as All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott explained it, the Cowboys rarely had control and, when they did, they found ways to guarantee they'd eventually snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
It all led to some very real soul-searching for the club, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer is doubling down on his goal of making changes to not only get the train back on the tracks, but to finally keep it there for good.
"When you are a coach, there are going to be things you're going to correct," he said on Friday, in the immediate aftermath of the loss. "We are solution-makers. We're not excuse-makers, we're solution-makers. That's what we're working on really, really hard right now.
"We're having the hard conversations. We're looking at the film. We're studying the areas [of concern]. Those conversations are really important and we're having them in all three phases, not just on defense. We're identifying the adjustments and changes that we think will help us perform better, which is the main objective."
To that end, while Schottenheimer stopped short of expressing what those specific changes would look like within the coaching staff and on the depth chart, what is known is that, per owner, president and general manager Jerry Jones, no sweeping changes are being considered heading into Week 6 — at all.
That means all are expected to remain in place, tasked with fixing everything that ails the team, of which there is plenty, and to do it before a season the front office is pouring its all into suddenly begins swirling down the drain.
"I started very clearly with what our standard is. We want to compete everyday in the National Football League," Schottenheimer said of his message to the coaching staff and coordinators. "In the first quarter [of the season], we have not achieved that. But I also made it very clear that we are the solution. We are the ones who can get this better. This weekend and today, not only did we watch the game from yesterday, but we've gotta get [the win against] Houston cleaned up.
"We're [now] in self-scout mode. What are we doing well? What areas do we need to improve — certainly plenty of those. And it's not just identifying those areas, but it's also the plan of what to do to improve those areas. I made it very clear that we have not met the standard, but we are five games in. And as part of being the solution, we need to be solution-oriented as a coaching staff."
As far as the aforementioned depth chart goes, it feels a foregone conclusion there will be tweaks to playing time, and Schottenheimer confirmed "the rotation at outside linebacker will be something we'll look at" — as a clear and definitive example of part of the action plan.
Many failings led to what occurred in the waning moments in Rio, and nearly again in Houston, and then most certainly against the Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium. Schottenheimer says he isn't going to shy away from moving parts around to see what will finally work.
"Absolutely," he asserted. "And those are things that are definitely going to happen as we continue to work through the process this weekend, absolutely. We're all in this thing together."
