WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Jerry Jones ruled out a coaching change after the Cowboys lost 33-30 in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals.
- Dallas led 24-10 with 14:20 remaining but fell to 3-5 after matching its largest blown fourth quarter lead.
- The Cowboys had been 202-0-1 at home when leading by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter.
- Brian Schottenheimer and Dak Prescott both emphasized shared responsibility for the defeat.
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made his disappointment clear after Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Arlington, Texas. Even after the defeat, Jones said the result would not prompt a coaching change.
Asked about that possibility, Jones offered a direct response. “That's not in my mind at this time,” he said.
Jones also expressed confidence in Brian Schottenheimer after Dallas let a fourth quarter lead slip away. He spread responsibility beyond the head coach and pointed toward the people around him.
“A lot of people let Brian down today and so for whatever criticism we want to have of Brian, we can all get in line,” Jones said.
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The Cowboys are 3-5, with their playoff possibilities tied mostly to the struggles throughout the NFC East. Dallas nevertheless fell further behind the New York Giants, who are 4-2-1.
Dallas held a 24-10 lead with 14:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. Dak Prescott had just scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys ahead by 14 points.
Before Sunday, the Cowboys were 202-0-1 in home games when leading by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter, including the playoffs. That unbeaten home mark did not survive the overtime loss to Arizona.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the defeat matched the largest blown fourth quarter lead in Cowboys history. Dallas also lost games after holding such leads at the New York Jets in 2011 and at the Green Bay Packers in 2022.
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The Cowboys are now 342-3-1 in franchise history when leading by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter. They also became the first NFL team this season to lose after entering the fourth quarter ahead by at least 14 points.
Teams had been 44-0-1 in those situations entering Sunday. Dallas still had a 10 point advantage with 3:24 remaining, and its win probability peaked at 98.3%, according to ESPN Analytics.
Jones framed the outcome as a collective failure rather than an issue limited to one coach or one part of the organization. “It's an indictment of the whole show,” he said.
Schottenheimer, now 10-14-1 as Cowboys coach, said he was disappointed by the result, but, “I believe in our staff. I believe in our players.”
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“I only know how to do it one way, and that's the work. I'm a worker, I'm a problem solver,” Schottenheimer said.
“I think we got guys in there in that locker room that are problem solvers,” Schottenheimer said. “We have guys in there that want to be great.”
Schottenheimer said the team continues to believe in its approach across offense, defense and special teams. He also described players as hurt by the outcome and said he would address them directly as their leader.
“We got guys that believe in what we're doing as a football team in all three phases, and they're hurting. They're hurting right now, too,” Schottenheimer said.
“And so as a leader, I'm going to stand in front and hit them with the truth,” Schottenheimer said.
Jones has made only one coaching change during a season since his tenure began in 1989. In 2010, Dallas was 1-7 when he replaced Wade Phillips with Jason Garrett, who remained in the job through 2019.
“I made a change and I don't want to mention it because I'm not proud of it,” Jones said. “But I made a change with Wade Phillips there in the middle of the season and I don't see that here.”
Senior defensive assistant Mike Pettine is the only member of the staff with NFL head coaching experience. Pettine joined the Cowboys in Week 5 and had a 10-22 record with the Cleveland Browns in 2014-15.
Prescott also rejected the idea that one person should absorb the blame. “It's all of us,” Prescott said. “Don't put the blame on one person.”
Prescott called that approach weak and cowardly, pointing to the responsibility shared by all 11 players on the field, along with the coaches and support staff. He said the fault would not belong exclusively to him even if he threw 100 interceptions.
“And so yeah, don't take the easy and cheap way out,” Prescott said. “This is about us and it's about us backing him up and backing one another up and we'll have to show it.”
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