It has been a bumpy ride so far in 2026 for Brian Schottenheimer. The inconsistency and lack of plan has been on display way too much this year, but there were some things that Schottenheimer should be able to carry into week eight that could help the Cowboys win back-to-back games for the first time in 2026.
1) Commitment to the run
For the first time this season, the Cowboys showed a commitment to the running game in their 38-21 win against the Eagles.
Despite that being a big talking point so far this season, the Cowboys
running game hasn’t been good enough to fully commit too, especially when they have been trailing as much as they have. But all things seemed to click on the ground for the Cowboys against the Eagles, and they should be able to carry those things into their matchup against the Cardinals.
Against the Eagles, we saw a lot more creativity with the running game, using pin/pulls, traps, and misdirection to create explosive runs rather consistently. The Cardinals defense has been pretty successful so far this season defending the run, ranking sixth in rush EPA/play and 20th in rush success rate. Despite the Cardinals run rankings so far this year, the Cowboys should be able to have a solid night again on the ground if they commit to it and use similar creativity that they did in Week 7 against the Eagles.
2) Continue to push the ball down the field
One of the major changes in the offense we saw last week was their aggressiveness to push the ball down the field in the passing game. After six weeks of seeing Dak Prescott’s ADOT rank near the bottom of the league, the Cowboys generated explosive plays at an extremely high clip against a defense that had not given up many explosive passing plays to start the season.
With so many defenses sitting on the stop-routes that have been in heavy rotation to start the year, the Cowboys were able to hit multiple big plays using sluggos on the outside, which should be there for them yet again against a Cardinals secondary that has struggled to slow down opposing passing games in 2026 (31st in dropback epa/play and 20th in dropback success rate).
3) More Brevyn Spann-Ford
After signing an early contract extension this offseason, their has been a lot of talk about the Cowboys showcasing Spann-Ford more and having him cut into Jake Ferguson’s snaps.
Over the last two weeks, that has started to happen. Spann-Ford will likely never be a dynamic receiver, but he offers enough there to lead the team in snaps played at tight end given his blocking ability and ability to pickup yards after the catch with his physical style of play.
Spann-Ford opens a lot of things up for the Cowboys running game that wouldn’t be there with Ferguson in the lineup in 11-personnel. The different looks both with the pass and the run they can give defenses when in 12-personnel makes him a very valuable piece to this Cowboys offense moving forward.
