I keep hearing the Cowboys coaches Brian Schottenheimer and Christian Parker need to be fired. I get the frustration, and I’ve questioned both of them myself, and the Tampa Bay loss didn’t leave me feeling particularly patient.
But my years as a detective taught me to look for information, and get the whole picture before making a decision. If I only collect what supports firing these coaches, I’m just giving my frustration some stats.
And there are plenty of stats to prove they need to be fired, so let’s look for reasons to keep them and weigh the pros and cons.
Schottenheimer has offensive results worth considering. Parker has dealt with injuries that complicate judging his first five games. Neither of these explanations cover everything happening in Dallas, especially when both units make each other’s problems worse.
Brian Schottenheimer Has Results Worth Defending
First we will see that Dallas finished second in total offense last season with 391.9 yards per game. The Cowboys finished inside the top 10 in rushing and passing for the first time since 2021, with Javonte Williams getting 1,201 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
I can’t hold coach Schottenheimer responsible when the offense stalls and not throw him a bone when it works. His staff helped Dallas get yards through the air and on the ground.
The Numbers Made Me Reconsider Schottenheimer
This was the evidence that changed how I viewed this part of the argument.
Entering the Tampa game, Dallas had the fewest offensive possessions in the NFL at 36, but the Cowboys were tied for the most scoring drives with 22 and led the league at 3.4 points per possession. 14 of those drives ended in a touchdown.
🔹 36 total drives (last)
🔹 22 scoring drives (T-1st)
🔹 3.4 points/drive (1st)
🔹 13 red zone TD (T-1st)
🔹 5 drives without 1st down (1st)
🔹 7 punts (T-1st)
🔹 122 total points (T-2nd)
🔹 14 TD drives (T-3rd)
In all, that works out to scoring on about 61% of their chances, and they reached the end zone nearly 39% of the time.
How many of us went into this questioning why Schottenheimer’s offense couldn’t be more consistent? Well, those numbers should force you to take another look and make you ask yourself the question. Were we letting the Tampa loss do too much of the talking?
An offense leading the NFL in points per possession deserves more credit than saying it looks good sometimes. Before Tampa, Dallas was getting the fewest number of chances and making each opportunity count.
I don’t want that to erase the seven drives that only produced three points against the Buccaneers. Schottenheimer still has to answer for that night, but using it to explain the entire season would leave out the best evidence in his favor.
It also changes how I connect the offense and defense, which both contributed to the loss. Over the first four games though, the offense was producing at a rate that should have got us more wins.
The biggest question is why it didn’t have more chances, and how much Parker’s defense could help by getting off the field.
Don’t get me wrong, Schottenheimer is responsible for the whole team. His offensive work gives me a bigger reason to keep him, while Parker’s case depends on injuries, limited time, and what he can accomplish with more help.
Christian Parker’s Injury Argument Holds Up
The strongest evidence I found to give Parker more time was the number of players he’s had to work around.
By September 29th, Dallas had dealt with injuries to Malik Hooker, DeMarvion Overshown, P.J. Locke, Cobie Durant, Jalen Thompson, Jonathan Bullard, and Shavon Revel. The safety group was hit the hardest.
That’s a lot for a first-year coordinator trying to get the communication and assignment down. Saying every team has injuries doesn’t explain how this defense is supposed to handle that injury report without consequences.
Joey Porter Jr. is another player to use as evidence. Against Houston, he played 24 defensive snaps, 19 in coverage, and didn’t allow a reception on his only target. Then an illness kept him out against Tampa Bay.
One target isn’t a big sample size to tell me Porter would have changed the result, but his absence does show us how quickly Parker lost another option after a good debut.
I think we should give those unfortunate events some weight, but one thing I haven’t found anywhere enough good to try to defend Parker on results alone.
Player Mistakes Still Need Coaching Answers
So, through five games, Dallas has allowed a league-worst 168.4 rushing yards per game, and opposing quarterbacks had a 120.5 passer rating, while the Cowboys had five sacks and no interceptions.
That falls well short of the standards Parker talked about before the season. The standards: stop the run, affecting the quarterback, and building around what his players do well.
Some opportunities have been there for the players.
This is where I don’t know whether to blame the coach or the players, but Dallas missed 32 tackles on running plays through five games, ninth-most in the NFL. On Bucky Irving’s 72-yard run, Jaishawn Barham reached him early but didn’t finish the tackle.
Parker can’t make that tackle from the sideline, and calling the play a failure would be ignoring the player’s chance to stop it.
What we can say is repeated mistakes demand a response from the coaches. If a player struggles, find out if he needs more attention, a different responsibility, or fewer snaps. Don’t just let it continue.
But here’s the caveat to that. None of us have every defensive play call, so we can’t just assign blame for every breakdown. I can see the problems Parker talked about before the season are still here fives games in.
Different Cases for More Time
Adding Mike Pettine gives Dallas some great veteran leadership. He brings experience and has a connection to both coaches. This was described by Schottenheimer as support for Christian Parker and the defense.
Coach Pettine will be a senior consultant and his arrival does give Parker help, but I want to see what his help accomplishes.
I want to see this defense give the offense more chances. We don’t need to see coach Parker turn this into an elite unit overnight. But it would be nice to see Dallas finish tackles and end possessions.
After going through the evidence, I’m against firing either coach immediately, but for different reasons.
Coach Schottenheimer has produced an offense that led the league in points per possession through the first four games. Tampa deservedly needs scrutiny, but it doesn’t wipe away the rest of the season.
He still has to answer for the whole team, including whether the help he has brought in makes the defense better.
With Coach Parker, I’ll give him the injuries, which is unfortunate, and it’s only been five games. That, in my opinion, is a short time to establish himself.
Coach Schottenheimer has given me evidence to believe his offense can help Dallas win. We’ve seen it. Parker has given me reasons to wait before deciding he has to go. We have two different cases, and I’m not going to pretend they’re equal.
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