How Cowboys respond to coaching failures in loss to Ravens could chart course of 2026

Brian Schottenheimer had his biggest failure in game management early in his second year as an NFL head coach, and Christian Parker had a huge teaching moment in the third game of the 34-year-old's career as a defensive coordinator.

How the coaches and players of the Dallas Cowboys respond to the 34-31 loss to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro — and the second-guessing that will continue all week — could go a long way in determining the fate of the season.

“It’s a long season and just the maturity of understanding that, that this game can derail you,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “It’s going to be the beneficiary of us not allowing it to. Hopefully it’s one of the best things that happens to us. Hopefully we can look back on this in a month or a couple of months and say it was good.”

It doesn't look so good for Schottenheimer at the moment, with the Cowboys (1-2) headed to Houston (0-3) on Sunday.

From the clock management leading to Dallas' final offensive play, to his stunning postgame revelation that in so many words he coached his star quarterback out of trying to win the game, the heat could be on sooner than expected for a 25-year career assistant finally getting his first chance to run a team.

Schottenheimer used his final timeout with 14 seconds remaining and Dallas trailing 31-28 on third down from the Baltimore 5-yard line.

The play call was a quick out to George Pickens just past the goal line, and the coach told his QB to throw it away if he felt the connection wasn't there. Prescott threw it out of bounds over Pickens' head just as the receiver was getting separation near the pylon on a play that lasted just 4 seconds.

Dallas settled for a tying field goal with 7 seconds remaining.

“I probably overcoached Dak on that one,” Schottenheimer said. “With the time, no timeouts, it had to go to (Pickens) or throw it away.”

Calling such a quick play meant Schottenheimer used the timeout at least 5 seconds too early, assuming he would have wanted Brandon Aubrey's short kick to be the final play of regulation, or much closer to it.

The next miscalculation was a long kick from Aubrey — the subsequent kickoff landing beyond the end zone and giving the Ravens the ball at the 35 without forcing a return that would have used some, if not all, of that time.

Then came Parker's fateful decision to play man-to-man instead of zone, leaving the target line for a field goal open for Lamar Jackson's 27-yard completion to Zay Flowers. The Ravens had a timeout, and Jackson called it in time to set up Tyler Loop's winning 56-yard field goal.

Unless the Cowboys (1-2) turn this into a season that gets them back to the playoffs for the first time in three years, these major coaching missteps will linger.

What's working

Rookie LB Jaishawn Barham looks like a keeper for sure as a third-round pick, and perhaps a defensive centerpiece. He had two tackles for loss on Derrick Henry in the fourth quarter, the first to finish a goal-line stand that led to a go-ahead touchdown. The second forced a punt.

What needs help

The Cowboys have serious injury issues in the secondary. None of the three players around Flowers on the decisive last-second catch was someone Dallas figured to be counting on. The plan to have rookie first-round pick Caleb Downs as a hybrid could be replaced by the need to have him play exclusively as a safety.

Stock up

RB Javonte Williams looked much more like the back of last season than what he showed the first two weeks this year. He had 19 carries for 98 yards, including 44 on the first drive. His final carry of the opening possession put Dallas on the Baltimore 1, but Schottenheimer called consecutive passing plays as the Cowboys settled for a field goal.

Stock down

Even before the breakdown on Baltimore's final play to set up the winning field goal, the defense was leaky again. The Cowboys have allowed at least 165 yards rushing in all three games, including 192 from the Ravens. They are right back to being one the worst defenses in the NFL, and don't have any interceptions a year after finishing with a franchise-worst six.

Injuries

S Jalen Thompson will miss at least four weeks after injuring a hamstring against the Ravens, executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said on his radio show Monday. P.J. Locke, another safety, is looking at a similar timeline after tearing the plantar fascia in a foot in Week 2 against Washington. ... CB Shavon Revel (knee) and DT Jonathan Bullard (calf) also left the Baltimore game and didn't return. ... The Cowboys are hoping LB DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring) and S Malik Hooker (forearm) will return from two-game absences this week.

Key number

8-11-1 — Prescott's record with Schottenheimer as the head coach. It was 76-46 before that.

Next steps

The Cowboys are in a stretch of playing four out of five games away from home. The only game at AT&T Stadium in that stretch is on a short week — Oct. 8 against Tampa Bay after the Houston visit.

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