EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. — Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has said before that coaches, in his humble opinion, can be overrated. He’s seen play calls he expected to be successful go wrong, and vice versa. It’s ultimately about the players, in his mind.
Fair, but there is an element of belief that players have to have in their coaches. That’s why Sunday’s 37-22 win had larger repercussions in the mind of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“That’s coaching,” he said after the win that featured multiple backups playing key roles. “And everybody on this team as a player, their coaches just went up in their eyes today. I hope that’s the way for the fans as they did in mine.”
In terms of external opinion, Sunday’s win was an important one for Schottenheimer and his staff. They had to deal without four starting offensive linemen from the original starting five. They were still down wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. They were playing without wide receiver and kick returner KaVontae Turpin, as well as second-string running back Miles Sanders.
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Without them, the Cowboys didn’t skip a beat. Wide receiver Ryan Flournoy had a career-high and team-high six catches for 114 yards. The running game stayed hot without the usual starters in, recording over 100 rushing yards for the fifth-straight game to start the season. The last time the Cowboys accomplished that feat was 2016, when rookie Ezekiel Elliott was shining. Now it’s free agent signing Javonte Williams, who also set a career-high with 135 rushing yards on 16 carries. He also now has six total touchdowns on the season.
The defense and coordinator Matt Eberflus also needed a public reputation boost after struggling through four games. They responded by keeping the Jets’ offense in check and holding quarterback Justin Fields to less rushing yards than Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Even Prescott said he would’ve bet the opposite if he could’ve.
The Cowboys are now 2-2-1, making Schottenheimer the second-winningest coach of the five first-year coaches.
“The main thing I want to say: The credibility of our coaches just went up today in the eyes of the players,” Jones repeated after Sunday’s win.
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