Cowboys lost 33-30: A Trade Won’t Fix Bad Coaching

I’m firing Brian Schottenheimer and Christian Parker as coaches of the Dallas Cowboys, the first chance I get if I’m in charge of this team.

After that 33-30 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, I felt the play-calling by the coaches on both sides of the ball was putrid, and almost half a season is enough time to correct the problems we’ve seen all year. But, we are still watching the same problems cost Dallas games.

We watched that game as the Cowboys led by 14 in the fourth quarter against a team that benched its starting quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, and lost its top-two running backs. Dallas was still leading by 10 with less than four minutes to go in the game.

What else do you need to pull out a damn win?

Another pass rusher, linebacker, or Superman himself can save this team with the culture and coaching we see on a weekly basis. It’s time for a culture shock for this team and that starts with firing the coaches.

How Can We Trust Brian Schottenheimer Coaching After the Arizona Game?

Brian Schottenheimer is supposed to be this great offensive coordinator, but news flash, you don’t have to be a good coordinator when you have the offensive firepower this team has at its disposal.

I don’t trust this man’s play-calling when the team needs to finish a game. How many times have you yelled at the TV screen because the Cowboys need a first down, and it’s one or two yards needed, but the Cowboys throw a pass behind the sticks?

Are you not left wondering what the heck did he just call?

The Cowboys scored 30 points against Arizona, but let’s not confuse that with a good offensive performance. Dallas had 261 yards and only converted 6 of 16 third downs for a whopping 37.5%.

Let’s not forget how the first touchdown happened. Shemar James, not Dee Winters, Ed Werder, returned an interception to Aizona’s 5-yard line. Followed by a Javonte Williams fumble that was recovered by recently elevated tight end James Mitchell for a touchdown.

I’ll take the points, but that touchdown doesn’t mean Schottenheimer called a good game.

The blocking in this game was atrocious. Williams gained 56 yards on 24 carries for 2.3 yards per tote. I would love to see Dallas be able to run the ball when trying to protect a lead, but it seemed like we were running the same type of play every time we handed it off to Williams.

Those repeated short gains left this team needing too many third-down conversations, and we watched as the offense failed repeatedly to get a new set of downs.

Then Dallas got another chance in overtime and the amazing play calling from our head coach/offensive coordinator led to a three-and-out after a surprising stop from our defense.

Speaking of the defense, after they collapsed in the second half of the game, Schottenheimer had an opportunity to run out the clock for the win, but the offense couldn’t get a first down.

So, I don’t want to hear how the point total makes that a good afternoon.

Have We Seen Enough of Christian Parker’s Defense?

We watched as Christian Parker’s defense only allowed three points in the first half before giving up 27 in the second half. Twenty of those points came in the fourth quarter alone.

I thought coach Parker’s play calling in the second half was awful, and the collapse involved more than just some Minshew magic.

The Arizona Cardinals lost Jeremiyah Love and Bam Knight, leaving only Tyler Allgeier as its only available running back. Allgeier finished the game with 191 scrimmage yards, with every yard but seven coming in the second half.

This was a running back that was exhausted after busting off a 63-yard and 50-yard gain against Parker’s defense, but they still couldn’t stop him or figure him out.

I would expect a defense trying to protect a lead to make the offense work for yards while moving down the field, but we gave the Cardinals chunk plays without making them eat up the clock.

Dallas forgot how to stop the run and couldn’t stop Minshew from finishing drives through the air.

I don’t want to guess which defender missed an assignment, but I can judge what Parker’s unit accomplished: it let a depleted offense erase a lead that should have been enough for a win.

I Can’t Accept That Finish

Dallas had a 27-17 lead at the 3:58 mark. We would later see Brandon Aubrey make it 30-24 with 1:14 left.

The Cardinals took over with 1:05 remaining and drove 80 yards in eight plays to tie it up. A missed extra point kept Dallas in the game.

Are we supposed to trust the staff after that?

I wouldn’t expect any defense to prevent every completion, but I do expect the Cowboys defense to keep a backup quarterback from taking his offense the length of the field for a touchdown in about a minute.

Then the offense wasted its overtime chance to win the game with terrible play-calling.

I Want a Coaching Change, Not a Trade

I know having a shiny new toy rushing the passer would be nice, but I wouldn’t trade draft picks and expect any defensive player to fix what we are watching from these coaches every game.

A new player won’t fix Schottenheimer’s situational play-calling, he won’t automatically stop explosive plays or turn third downs into first downs. Even with a new player, we would watch these coaches fumble another lead.

There is no other way to look at what is going on at this point. Dallas had enough to win Sunday.

I’ve spent almost half the season waiting for these issues on offense and defense to get fixed, but after this Arizona loss, I don’t trust Schottenheimer and Parker to correct anything.

I would fire them. I would rather give a different coach an opportunity rather than spend the rest of this season listening to these two guys talk about what needs to change.