Following a 44-24 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday that brought the Dallas Cowboys back below .500 for the fourth time this season, head coach Brian Schottenheimer pointed to a plethora of self-inflicted wounds, including 12 penalties and two turnovers.
“The biggest thing that came out of this game was that I was just disappointed,” Schottenheimer said. “We beat ourselves a lot. On both sides, we really did. We beat ourselves with penalties, we beat ourselves with mental errors, we beat ourselves with lack of communication on defense in some regards. And knowing you played a damn good football team like Denver, in a place where they’re really good at winning, you can’t do that and win in the same way.”
Of the 12 penalties, seven came before the snap in front of a raucous Broncos crowd that affected the Cowboys’ pre-snap communication throughout the game. Despite the gaudy defensive stats that included giving up 426 total yards, seven scoring drives and an average of 7.5 yards per play, Schottenheimer is keeping confidence in his group to find consistency in what has been a topsy-turvy season. Through eight games, the Cowboys have yet to find back-to-back wins.
“It’s trusting the process,” he said. “No one wants a win streak more than anybody in this locker room and in this team room, players and coaches. We want to have a winning streak. To win a game and lose a game and win a game and lose a game sucks. Nobody wants that. It’s who we are right now.”
Offensively against Denver, things weren’t much better. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw two interceptions for the second time this season while the first-team offense put together only two touchdown drives on the day.
“You can sit there and be frustrated by it, which believe me I didn’t sleep a wink last night,” Schottenheimer said. “I played the game over in my mind 1,000 times, things I could have done differently and things I could have done better. I know a lot of our players did that as well, certainly some of the coaches. At the end of the day, you have to trust the process.”
The Cowboys will look to rebound with a home game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, Nov. 3 in their final contest before their bye week. After the break, Schottenheimer’s group will go back on the road for another Monday night clash against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 17.
“It’s a one-game season,” Schottenheimer said. “Because we want to find a way to beat Arizona and then go into the bye sitting here at 4-4-1. “