Why Jerry Jones 'doesn't see' firing Brian Schottenheimer midseason after disaster Cowboys loss to Cardinals

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys (3-5) did the unthinkable in their 33-30 overtime home defeat against the Arizona Cardinals (3-5).

Dallas led by 14 points twice, including 24-10 with 14:20 left to play, yet still lost. Sunday marked the first loss in Cowboys history when Dallas led by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter. Previously, the Cowboys were 202-0-1 at home when leading by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter, including the playoffs. Dallas' five games with 30-plus points are tied for the most in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills (6-1), but the Cowboys joined the Houston Texans (2-5) as the only two teams with multiple losses when scoring 30 or more points in 2026. The Cowboys defense has now allowed 20-or-more points in 15 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the entire league. 

What does that mean for Brian Schottenheimer? Jerry Jones faced those questions head-on when speaking immediately after Sunday's grisly loss. 

"Yeah, we're not going to get into anything. That's not in my mind at this time. But the main thing that's in my mind is we tee it up for those kinds of spots to win it," Jones said when asked about a coaching change. "We really do want those situations to call for it, bring it on. And we got it and didn't get it. ... None of us are getting it done, and that should be my concern. So I'm not pointing at Schotty. I'm not pointing to anybody, but none of us have it done. I haven't been involved in too many games that we should have wanted, and we had the opportunities we had to win this game. So that is a big snapshot that we want to put above our mirror."   

Jones has only made one in-season coaching change in his 38 years owning the Cowboys, and that was when he fired Wade Phillips during the 2010 season. Schottenheimer won't be joining Phillips on that list at this time. 

"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."  

Dallas is 10-14-1 in the Schottenheimer era and has yet to put together a winning streak in 2026. Jones, however, pointed fingers at everyone and not just his coach. 

"It just really is glaring in a negative way how we could be where we were and end up losing that ball game," Jones said. "We had a great chance right at the end to win the game, and had everybody out there that can win games for us, and of course. didn't get it done. So it was a couple of games within the game really that was also telling, and we just just did not play well enough at all to win that ball game. Not well enough after you had the lead the way we did and had the opportunities we had to win that ball game. So it's an indictment of the whole show."      

Despite the lack of consistency under Schottenheimer, firing Schottenheimer during the 2026 isn't on his mind at the moment because he feels the inconsistency this season has to do with the entire organization, not just the head coach.   

"Well, I will say that a lot of people let Brian down today," Jones said. "So for whatever criticism we want to have with Brian, we can all get in line. And that was a total team loss to use a cliche. That was a total team effort out there for us. And we have to be better for our fans, have to be better than that when we got our hands on the win and then drop the ball."    

Why Prescott won't blame coaching

Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was quick to point fingers at himself and many others in addition to the criticism for Schottenheimer. 

"It's all of us," he said. "Don't put the blame on one person. Simple as that. I think that's weak. I think that's cowardice. "This game is about all 11 that touch the field and every person that has a part in it coaches and support staff. It's never just one person's fault. Even if I go out there and throw a bunch of interceptions, it's never just truly one  person's fault. And so, don't take the easy and cheap way out. This is about us, and it's about us backing him up and  backing one another up and we'll have to show it." 

Schottenheimer himself took accountability for the defeat but also deflected to the positive takeaways from Sunday's overtime loss.

"I'm going to always own my part of this as a head football coach. It starts with me and there's certainly things that I need to do better," Schottenheimer said. "But as a football team in all three phases, I can point out three, four, five, six plays right off the top of my head; I'm not going to, about that. And so, a lot of football left, and again, no different than Philadelphia, where you have to come out of that game and say, okay, hey, we didn't reinvent the game. You got to come out of this game and find the positives. There's going to be positives, the way we played in the first half. Quinnen Williams got some pass rush. So  that's what we'll do." 

Defensively, Dallas' defense allowed backup quarterback Gardner Minshew to come off the Cardinals' bench to become the first player in the NFL this season with at least three passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a game. Cardinals running back Tyler Allgeier exploded for 191 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns with a career-high 147 yards rushing on just 11 carries. He ran for a 63-yard score and also added a 52-yard run down the left sideline. That made him the first player in the entire league in 2026 with multiple 50-yard runs in the same game. 

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