FRISCO, Texas — Unacceptable. That is the word being thrown around by the Dallas Cowboys after their 44-24 shellacking at the hands of the Denver Broncos, a loss that extends the losing streak to eight games stretching back to the 1995 season. There was no shortage of blame to spread around, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer made sure it touched every corner of the bread.
When asked on Monday if he believed the Cowboys had any players, on either side of the ball, that played to the standard, his answer was as short as it was sharp, and he also included himself and his coaching staff in his criticism.
"Not really," he said. "I don't think anyone coached well, either."
It was another defensive outing draped in production poverty, save for the interception by cornerback Trikweze Bridges on the opening drive but, even then, the Cowboys' offense failed to get into the end zone despite having more than one chance at doing so with the goal line in sniffing distance — 1st-and-goal from the Broncos' three-yard line — settling for a field goal.
Penalties, a lot of them, on both sides of the ball, mixed with poor execution and some play calls that Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus most certainly want back, to torpedo any chances the Cowboys might've had at stealing one in the Mile High City.
It was a mess of a showing by Dallas, and Schottenheimer promises some potentially major changes are on the way, but not this week — as they prepare to host the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football ahead of their bye week.
"There's always reasons to change, and there will be change," he said. "I can promise you that. I can show you that. We've already had meetings, and we've talked about those changes. We're in the mode right now of where we've got kind of a one-game season."
It sounds as if Schottenheimer's changes will require two weeks to install, hence the pause.
"I just say that because we've got Arizona before the bye and, really, bigger changes to our style will happen over the bye week," he added. "That's when we get a chance to say, 'OK, now we're looking back at nine games. What were those issues and did we get them corrected?'
"No? Well, now we need to do this and we need to do that."
Owners of the 32nd-ranked defense that allowed Bo Nix and the Broncos to rack up 268 total yards and four touchdowns, in the first half alone, continues to be a recipe for disaster unless All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense can be perfect, every game, every rep.
As evidenced against the Broncos, however, that is simply not sustainable; and a bad day at the office is inevitable no matter how high-flying the offense is on most other days. Exacerbated by the aforementioned rash of penalties that continue to plague Dallas, one of the top-2 most penalized teams in the league through Week 8, the areas where perfection is required to mask defensive deficiencies were nowhere near it in Denver.
"No one is happy with the way we performed [against the Broncos]," said Schottenheimer. "It's not acceptable. It's not good enough. I would say both the staff and the players are aware that the standard was not met, so now what do you do? Be solution-oriented.
"The solutions are making adjustments to scheme, changes to personnel — giving this guy a little bit more playing time and all that. Those things will play themselves out."
And, for Schottenheimer, it's not about succumbing to any sort of knee-jerk reaction from Week 8, but rather understanding the body of work that's dragged the Cowboys to a 3-4-1 record is wrought with a laundry list of shortcomings that are undeniable and, oftentimes, inexcusable.
Instead, the Cowboys' head coach will remain levelheaded, but not at the expense of walking around with his eyes wide shut.
"Just like I'm not gonna overreact to us being Washington or having beaten the Jets, I'm not gonna overreact to this," he said. "I'm going to deal with the facts, and the facts are we did not play very well. That is not our standard. Therefore, we will make changes, and we will do things better.
"It's a one game season, because we want to find a way to beat Arizona and go into the bye, sitting here at 4-4-1."
