FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys aren't stacking wins, as coach Brian Schottenheimer says championship teams must do.
They're only stacking uninspired performances, which doesn't reflect well on someone who spent 25 years as an NFL assistant before getting his first chance to run a team.
Schottenheimer's offense is getting worse in his second season, and the general malaise in a 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night looked a lot
like that from the embarrassment of a 24-16 defeat to previously winless Tampa Bay 10 days earlier.
Not even extra time to rest, adjust and make even more changes to a beleaguered defense offered any proof that this team can return to the playoffs after missing out the past two years.
“This will test not just Schotty,” quarterback Dak Prescott said after a showing that somehow might have been worse than his game against the Bucs. “It will test myself, test this whole team. It will test this brotherhood that we brag about, that we say we are going to hang our hat on.”
Dallas visits Philadelphia next Monday night in a meeting of 2-4 teams that have combined to win the past five NFC East titles. It's not often that the question for this matchup is which team is in a worse place.
The Cowboys have had all of the pieces from one of the NFL's best offenses available the past two games — and have their two worst performances of the season to show for it.
The Eagles, two-time defending division champions, are trying to figure out how to win with quarterback Jalen Hurts sidelined, possibly for the season, by issues with blood clots.
The situation is dire enough for the Cowboys that Prescott and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who called a players-only meeting for his side of the ball last week, talked briefly in the locker room in Green Bay about how to keep the season from spiraling.
“You just have to get that first one. You have to get that first win,” Prescott said. “That is actually what me and (Williams) were just talking about. When you get that first win, you get the confidence going. We know the guys that we have, and then you can get a streak going.”
The next three opponents currently have losing records. Then again, so does Dallas.
The Cowboys play in the NFC East, which had a chance going into Monday night to become the first division since the 1970 merger to have every team play and not win in back-to-back weeks. One-win Washington was at undefeated San Francisco. The Eagles and division-leading New York Giants won't have their starting quarterbacks anytime soon. The odds favor the NFC East champion taking a losing record into a home playoff game.
Prescott has struggled badly against the blitz the past two weeks, something he was quite good at previously. There were some inexplicable plays against the Packers. Some with no hot routes. Another with a desperation throw out of the back of the end zone on fourth down.
“I just have to simplify the plan,” said Prescott, who threw two interceptions and had a third erased by a questionable roughing the passer call. “I don’t want to get too into it, but it is definitely fixable.”
It's not a stretch to say Brevyn Spann-Ford could be on his way to replacing Jake Ferguson as the starting tight end. The Cowboys invested in the third-year undrafted free agent just before the start of the season, and he had a remarkably athletic play for a first down against the Packers. He was almost upended short of the marker, but managed to stay on his feet and get the extra yardage needed. Spann-Ford was targeted five times, with four catches for 35 yards. Ferguson was targeted three times, with two receptions for 13 yards. Spann-Ford is bigger than Ferguson, and a better blocker.
The Dallas running game is at its lowest point of the season. Javonte Williams averaged 3.7 yards on 11 carries (41 yards). The Cowboys ran just 15 times in 70 plays, and only once after Williams' 1-yard run cut the deficit to 17-7 in the third quarter.
KaVontae Turpin's rib injury on the opening kickoff could be a multi-week blow to the return game, although Jonathan Mingo did have a 16-yard punt return. ... LB Dee Winters strained an Achilles tendon not long after getting Dallas' first interception of the season. ... LB DeMarvion Overshown is close to a return after missing five weeks with a hamstring injury.
Sub-20 — The Cowboys have scored fewer than 20 points in consecutive Prescott starts for the first time since 2019, when they lost 13-9 to New England and 26-15 to Buffalo. That team missed the playoffs.
The Cowboys have a four-game losing streak in Philadelphia, and have lost eight of the past nine meetings with the Cardinals, the next opponent. Each of the past three Arizona teams to beat Dallas finished that season with at least 13 losses.
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