When asked on Monday if he believed the Cowboys had any players, on either side of the ball, that played to the standard, his answer was as short as it was sharp, and he also included himself and his coaching staff in his criticism.
“Not really,” he said. “I don’t think anyone coached well, either.”
It was another defensive outing draped in production poverty, save for the interception by cornerback Trikweze Bridges on the opening drive but, even then, the Cowboys’ offense failed to get into the end zone despite having more than one chance at doing so with the goal line in sniffing distance — 1st-and-goal from the Broncos’ three-yard line — settling for a field goal.
Penalties, a lot of them, on both sides of the ball, mixed with poor execution and some play calls that Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus most certainly want back, to torpedo any chances the Cowboys might’ve had at stealing one in the Mile High City.
It was a mess of a showing by Dallas, and Schottenheimer promises some potentially major changes are on the way, but not this week — as they prepare to host the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football ahead of their bye week.
“There’s always reasons to change, and there will be change,” he said. “I can promise you that. I can show you that. We’ve already had meetings, and we’ve talked about those changes. We’re in the mode right now of where we’ve got kind of a one-game season.”
It sounds as if Schottenheimer’s changes will require two weeks to install, hence the pause.
“I just say that because we’ve got Arizona before the bye and, really, bigger changes to our style will happen over the bye week,” he added. “That’s when we get a chance to say, ‘OK, now we’re looking back at nine games. What were those issues and did we get them corrected?’
“No? Well, now we need to do this and we need to do that.”