Blogging The Boys
The anticipation for game one of the NFL season is unlike any other feeling for most football fans. The anticipation for the Cowboys week one game against the defending Super Bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, made things even more exciting. With Dak Prescott back in the lineup and George Pickens added to the offensive fold, all eyes were on Brian Schottenheimer coaching in his first game as a head coach in the National Football League.
Schottenheimer has had plenty of experience calling plays in the NFL, but September 4th, 2025 was the first time he was able to take the field as a head coach. Today we will take a deeper look at how Schottenheimer did as a play-caller and head coach in the Cowboys week one loss to the division rival Eagles.
There has been a lot of conversation around the Cowboys offensive identity this offseason. After disappointing showings in the preseason, many fans were expecting more of the same from the Cowboys offense in 2025. Boy were they wrong.
Let me preface this by saying things could change quickly, but after one week Brian Schottenheimer proved to be the real deal. First off, the Cowboys use of motion skyrocketed in week one of the 2025 season from where they have been under Mike McCarthy. On Thursday night, the Cowboys’ offense ran motion/shifts on 42% of their plays which would have ranked fourth in the NFL last season. This is coming off a season in which the Mike McCarthy led offense ran motion at a 29th highest rate in the NFL.
Motion is one of the easier avenues to open up advantages for offenses in the NFL and the Cowboys did an excellent job of creating clear pictures pre-snap and larger windows post-snap for the Cowboys offense.
Along with the use of motion, the Cowboys showed a good amount of play-action in week one as well, something they ranked near the bottom half of the league in last year. With the use of motion and play-action, the Cowboys did not have a three-and-out in week one and ended the game with a 81.5% series success rate.
We must also not forget to shout out Klayton Adams work as well when it comes to grading play-calling. Adams’ presence was felt in the Cowboys running game, especially in the first-half showing some pretty big differences in success rate throughout the game for the Cowboys rushing attack.
For such a tight game, there were not as many crucial management decisions to grade Schottenheimer on in his first game at head coach. The few we will discuss may not seem like much, but gives us all something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
On the Cowboys final drive before halftime, the Cowboys were able to drive 53-yards down the field and kick a 53-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-20 heading into the half. On the final few plays...
