Running out of answers early this season, there was no direct way to explain what happened during the Cowboys' deflating 24-16 home loss to the previously-winless Buccaneers on Thursday night for coach Brian Schottenheimer. Tampa Bay's decisive 17-point third quarter behind undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels and Bucky Irving's first 100-yard outing on the ground in two years put the spotlight on the Cowboys' second-year coach and his 2-3 start this fall. Schottenheimer hinted at potential coaching staff changes after Dallas collapsed in all three phases of the game following two turnovers from Dak Prescott, struggles defensively and a lost fumble from KaVontae Turpin on a kickoff return.
"I'm going to look at everything," Schottenheimer said. "I'll spend countless hours trying to figure it out and getting a chance to step back, look at these five games, and see what we need to improve. ... Yeah, I think we evaluate everything, but at the end of the day, we're five games in.
I am disappointed in the way we performed this evening as a football team, and that's just going to be one part of the process." The Cowboys trailed 24-10 after the third quarter before a 10-play, 99-yard touchdown drive ending with a Prescott scoring toss to George Pickens, which brought Dallas within a possession with 5:26 left. After forcing a three-and-out, the Cowboys moved to Tampa Bay's 22-yard line before Prescott's throw over the middle was picked off with 1:22 remaining, ending the threat. The Bucs doubled up the Cowboys in time of possession and rushed for 241 yards — 191 more than the opposition.
"Again, it comes down to this being the National Football League, and it's going to come down to the fourth quarter," Schottenheimer said. "And even with as poorly as we performed, we had a chance to still get back in and try to win the game, and we came up short." Schottenheimer called the loss a "missed opportunity" after his 12th setback in his first 22 games with the franchise after replacing Mike McCarthy ahead of the 2025 season. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team was noticeably dominated at the line of scrimmage, pointing to Irving's production and a weak effort from his offense.
Javonte Williams finished with 12 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys only attempted 13 rushes out of 55 offensive plays. "Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed," Jones said, via the team's official website. "You really do need to get it done when it's there to take.
They basically were very physical. I thought both their fronts, was really surprised at how well they ran the ball, how they ran it between the tackles. "We thought if they were going to run it, they'd do it outside, and thought we'd put it on the quarterback's shoulders.
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