Blogging The Boys
Thinking about the future is not often a characteristic that describes those visiting the “Sin City” of Las Vegas, and it’s one the Dallas Cowboys will be looking to delay at least a week by renewing hope on the 2025 season and get in the win column for the first time since week seven. The Cowboys spent their bye week making trades to improve the defense with players that will remain under contract into 2026, but are hopeful the full scope of what they’re adding to that side of the ball can also help support an offense that needs to get back to scoring, and make the team a balanced one that can make a late season surge.
Off of losses to two teams they’ve historically struggled against, the Cowboys not being able to turn fortunes around against either team under first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer has them unfortunately right back in a familiar position of being outside the playoff conversation looking in. Another thing the Cowboys had time to do leading into Monday Night Football at the Raiders is look inward at their own operation, as they were on a bye week. The Raiders currently have the worst record of all remaining opponents on the Cowboys schedule, and Dallas has a slew of new faces they plan on introducing to the defensive lineup against them, so how Schotty’s team looks against the Raiders off extra rest will be interesting.
Coach Schottenheimer is still looking for his first primetime win as head coach, something he’ll still have chances to do against the Lions and Vikings later this season, but getting win number one against a former mentor of his in Pete Carroll would be a great start.
It was reported during the Cowboys’ offseason coaching search that ended with Schottenheimer’s hire that Jerry Jones reached out to Carroll at one point. It was unknown at the time if this was to vet Carroll’s interest in the Cowboys opening, but looking back now it feels far more likely this was a “reference check” on Schottenheimer, before Carroll ultimately took the Raiders job. Schottenheimer’s first opportunity to be a NFL offensive coordinator came in 2006 with the Jets, another team Carroll previously coached, but his more substantial stop was in Seattle from 2018-20 as Carroll’s offensive coordinator with the Seahawks. It was here that Schottenheimer’s own philosophies and foundations to being a future head coach were laid, aligning closely with Carroll’s when it comes to a desire to run the ball and win up front at the line of scrimmage.
After just one season in Jacksonville following his time in Seattle, Schottenheimer landed on Mike McCarthy’s staff in Dallas where he eventually got this head coaching opportunity. The reigns are fully his to build the Cowboys in this image, one they’ve tried many different versions of over the better part of the last two decades, but so too are loads of fresh faces and young talent on the offensive and defensive lines...
