FRISCO, Texas – After a 2-4 start to the season and back-to-back losses, does Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer prefer a team that's angry, or measured?
"I always like guys that are angry." Schottenheimer said.
What does he feel he has right now?
"I have a little of both. I'd say right now I'm pretty pissed off."
How about his players?
"I think they're pissed off too. We're ready for a win."
The Cowboys' next opportunity will have to wait until next Monday on the road against the Eagles after a 23-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday night.
Part of the frustration for Schottenheimer and Dallas is the offense struggling to find a rhythm in the last two weeks, combining for a total of 29 points. Schottenheimer said that Dallas hasn't played a "normal game" offensively in the last two weeks because they've trailed early.
"We've put ourselves behind in games," Schottenheimer said Monday when asked why the offense has struggled. "The last two games we've been playing second half catch up, if you will. And when you play second half catch up, it's going to affect a lot of things. It's going to affect your rushing attempts, it's going to affect how many times teams can blitz you and pressure you, so I think that's the number one thing."
Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles and Packers DC Jonathan Gannon both had success when bringing blitz looks at Dak Prescott, who over the course of his career has been steadily reliable in terms of hitting his blitz beaters in the passing game. In the last two games, that hasn't been the case.
"There's certainly things that we need to clean up from a blitz pickup standpoint, from an execution standpoint, but I think the biggest thing is we just kind of put ourselves behind the 8-ball and have had to play catch up against two aggressive teams," Schottenheimer said. "They've come after us, and we haven't handled it very well."
One thing Schottenheimer said Dallas needs to do is get Pro Bowl WR George Pickens more involved in the offense early in games.
"We need to move him around more," Schottenheimer said. "I think when you look at GP, he's able to move around, we've just got to do a better job of moving him around the design, but him in different spots. But they're certainly paying attention to him, they're certainly finding him, and this team was no different."
Another area of improvement that Schottenheimer has harped on for multiple weeks is the run game. Dallas rushed for a season-low 48 rushing yards Sunday night, and had just one rushing play after Javonte Williams' touchdown with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter. When asked about the lack of runs called down the stretch, Schottenheimer pointed to what the Packers defense showed them at the line of scrimmage.
"I think if you look at the video, there was some run-pass kills where we were trying to have the premiere play on," Schottenheimer said. "And if you pull up the video, you guys were all there, you saw how aggressive they were, and they were daring us to throw it. And so there were a few other run attempts that we ended up taking to passes because of the fronts and things they were in."
And throw it they did, with Dak Prescott attempting 54 passes, tied for the fourth-most in a game in his career. That, of course, is not sustainable, and Schottenheimer recognized changes for the offense to get back into rhythm begin before kickoff.
"I think the biggest thing we look at is how we want these games to unfold," Schottenheimer said when asked about changes in what he wants to do offensively. "Like I said last night, didn't anticipate or plan on throwing the ball 54 times last night. That's not a good formula, it's the way the game unfolded. We got down two scores, felt like we kind of had to go because we were down two scores. That's probably the number one thing."
"But in terms of changes, no, we're going to get back to work. We're going to figure it out. We have great trust in our offense. I'm not concerned about our offense. Last two weeks are the last two weeks, we own that, that is what it is. It has not been good enough. But we also have a history of being really explosive, really good. And we've done that not only last year, but in four of our games this year."
Defensively, Schottenheimer was happy with how the Cowboys played in the second half and noted a few standout performers.
"Quinnen [Williams] and Kenny Clark were excellent for us. They were very disruptive, really good push. Both had sacks. They kind of frustrated Jordan [Love] some in the pocket. I thought both corners outside, [DaRon] Bland and Joey [Porter Jr.], played really, really well. Good, tight coverage. I thought Shemar James was playing really well, and then of course Dee Winters was playing maybe his best game for us until he got hurt. The interception was incredible."
Players have had their moments, but the Cowboys as a team have still lost four games. What gives Schottenheimer confidence that he has the right personnel, and that they can turn the season around
"I start with the way they played last night form an effort standpoint," Schottenheimer said. "This team gives us what we ask for. I think it starts there. These guys practice hard, they play hard, the execution has not been good enough these last two games for sure. Again, a lot of football left."
There are 11 games left on the schedule, including four of their next five against teams that are below .500. The Cowboys, especially in their current situation, certainly aren't taking that for granted as Schottenheimer looks for a way to jump start his team.
"I'm always honest with these guys," Schottenheimer said. "I raise my voice a lot with these guys. You guys don't hear it because you're not out there, you're not in meetings. How you get the message across to me is more about being upfront and honest and direct. That's the way we talk whether we win or we lose. Your responsibility as a head coach is to paint the picture of why you either won or you lost, and that's what we'll do."
Schottenheimer and the Cowboys are back at the drawing board with their third NFC East game of the season on the horizon in Philadelphia next Monday night.
