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By Jon Machota
Oct. 14, 2026
The biggest criticism of Dak Prescott’s career is the same one Tony Romo faced during his time as the Dallas Cowboys’ franchise quarterback: a lack of playoff success.
With either quarterback healthy for a full season, the expectation was to make the playoffs. The bigger question was whether they could deliver in January.
That’s no longer the case. The Cowboys have taken a notable step back.
During Prescott’s first nine NFL seasons, the Cowboys were 76-46 when he started. Average that out over a 17-game season and that’s between 10 and 11 wins every year. It’s a record that basically means a playoff berth any time the franchise quarterback plays a full season.
Under head coach Brian Schottenheimer since the start of last season, the Cowboys have had the 33-year-old Prescott for every start. They are 9-12-1. Certainly not good enough to even make the playoffs.
During that stretch, Dallas has won consecutive games only once. And that three-game winning streak last November was followed by a three-game losing streak. It’s been inconsistent ever since.
Last Thursday night’s loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers was one of the worst of Prescott’s career. After the game, he was asked about the ups and downs of the last couple of years. While he said he wasn’t “fatigued” by it, he acknowledged that it’s been “frustrating.”
“As a leader, as a guy that’s been on this team, it’s frustrating because you don’t feel it until afterwards,” Prescott said, referring to another loss in a game they were expected to win. “You feel like you’re saying enough, you’re being contagious enough, you’re being the leader that you need to be. And I know guys are fighting. I know guys are trying, but it sucks.
“It’s challenging. It’s very, very challenging.”
Schottenheimer agreed with Prescott’s assessment.
“I don’t feel overly fatigued,” he said. “I do feel like the inconsistency, the win one, lose one, I mean, that’s not what great teams do. And that’s our standard. We want to be a great team. We want to be a team that gets into the playoffs and is competing for the championship of the world.
“The frustrating part is I see flashes, but it’s just not been consistent enough.”
Schottenheimer also calls the offense, so much of his time is occupied with that side of the ball. They have been outstanding at times. It’s easy to see the high ceiling of a group led by Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Javonte Williams and a potentially very good offensive line.
Defensively, no team has been worse than the Cowboys since the start of last season. Last year’s issues included trading superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons a week before the season began and a defense that never seemed fully bought in to what veteran defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was trying to establish.
This past offseason brought a complete overhaul of the coaching staff and a significant portion of the roster. Through five games, they’re just as bad, if not worse. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker has struggled.
Desperately in need of change, longtime NFL defensive coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine was hired Monday as a senior defensive assistant. Parker is also moving from calling the games on the sideline to the coaching booth, a move Eberflus made late last season when things were spiraling out of control. Lineup changes are also expected. That could be new starters or certain players getting fewer snaps. Schottenheimer has declined to reveal any of those specifics before Sunday night’s game at the Green Bay Packers.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what those personnel changes could be because, like last season, it’s not like many defensive players are exceeding expectations with their opportunities.
Defensive players held a group meeting over the weekend. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown shared that they encouraged each other to look at themselves in the mirror. They went over what they wanted their standard to be and how they can help each other.
The best news the Cowboys received over the weekend is that their division remains unimpressive. The New York Giants and Washington Commanders tied in an ugly finish. The Philadelphia Eagles choked away a game in the final seconds they should’ve won against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Giants are in first place in the NFC East at 3-1-1. The Cowboys and Eagles are next up at 2-3. Washington sits in the basement at 1-3-1.
“Thankfully, we’re (only) five games into the season,” Prescott said. “Thankfully our division hasn’t (had a team that has) taken off and run (away) with it and everybody’s still in front of us. So that’s the beauty of it. And that’s the unique part about an NFL season and these divisions and the ups and the downs of just the years. We’d feel a lot worse if somebody in our division was 5-0 right now.
“Having pretty much everything still out in front of us gives myself and all the guys in the locker room a lot of confidence.”
But Prescott also knows they wasted a grand opportunity Thursday night to be 3-2. He’s been around long enough to know how those games come back to haunt teams in December.
This Sunday night, the Cowboys face a Packers franchise that has been the biggest thorn in their side over the past 15 years. Dallas has played Green Bay 12 times since 2009. The Cowboys have won only once, a regular-season game at Lambeau Field in Prescott’s rookie season. That stretch has also included three playoff games, two of them when the Cowboys had their best chances to end what is now a 30-year Super Bowl drought.
Things are ugly at the moment. No one seems to have the answers. Maybe these recent changes can help turn it around. If not, and Prescott continues to start every game, it’ll be looked back on as a missed opportunity with one of the league’s better quarterbacks in the prime of his career.
“When you are a coach, there are going to be things that you have to correct,” Schottenheimer said. “And we are solution makers. We are not excuse makers. We’re solution makers. And that’s what we’re working on really, really hard right now. We’re having the hard conversations. We’re looking at the film. We’re studying the areas.
“And those things are being had in all three phases, not just on defense. But we feel like we’re identifying some adjustments or changes — that’s the word (reporters) use — that we think will help us perform better.”
Oct. 14, 2026
The biggest criticism of Dak Prescott’s career is the same one Tony Romo faced during his time as the Dallas Cowboys’ franchise quarterback: a lack of playoff success.
With either quarterback healthy for a full season, the expectation was to make the playoffs. The bigger question was whether they could deliver in January.
That’s no longer the case. The Cowboys have taken a notable step back.
During Prescott’s first nine NFL seasons, the Cowboys were 76-46 when he started. Average that out over a 17-game season and that’s between 10 and 11 wins every year. It’s a record that basically means a playoff berth any time the franchise quarterback plays a full season.
Under head coach Brian Schottenheimer since the start of last season, the Cowboys have had the 33-year-old Prescott for every start. They are 9-12-1. Certainly not good enough to even make the playoffs.
During that stretch, Dallas has won consecutive games only once. And that three-game winning streak last November was followed by a three-game losing streak. It’s been inconsistent ever since.
Last Thursday night’s loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers was one of the worst of Prescott’s career. After the game, he was asked about the ups and downs of the last couple of years. While he said he wasn’t “fatigued” by it, he acknowledged that it’s been “frustrating.”
“As a leader, as a guy that’s been on this team, it’s frustrating because you don’t feel it until afterwards,” Prescott said, referring to another loss in a game they were expected to win. “You feel like you’re saying enough, you’re being contagious enough, you’re being the leader that you need to be. And I know guys are fighting. I know guys are trying, but it sucks.
“It’s challenging. It’s very, very challenging.”
Schottenheimer agreed with Prescott’s assessment.
“I don’t feel overly fatigued,” he said. “I do feel like the inconsistency, the win one, lose one, I mean, that’s not what great teams do. And that’s our standard. We want to be a great team. We want to be a team that gets into the playoffs and is competing for the championship of the world.
“The frustrating part is I see flashes, but it’s just not been consistent enough.”
Schottenheimer also calls the offense, so much of his time is occupied with that side of the ball. They have been outstanding at times. It’s easy to see the high ceiling of a group led by Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Javonte Williams and a potentially very good offensive line.
Defensively, no team has been worse than the Cowboys since the start of last season. Last year’s issues included trading superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons a week before the season began and a defense that never seemed fully bought in to what veteran defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was trying to establish.
This past offseason brought a complete overhaul of the coaching staff and a significant portion of the roster. Through five games, they’re just as bad, if not worse. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker has struggled.
Desperately in need of change, longtime NFL defensive coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine was hired Monday as a senior defensive assistant. Parker is also moving from calling the games on the sideline to the coaching booth, a move Eberflus made late last season when things were spiraling out of control. Lineup changes are also expected. That could be new starters or certain players getting fewer snaps. Schottenheimer has declined to reveal any of those specifics before Sunday night’s game at the Green Bay Packers.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what those personnel changes could be because, like last season, it’s not like many defensive players are exceeding expectations with their opportunities.
Defensive players held a group meeting over the weekend. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown shared that they encouraged each other to look at themselves in the mirror. They went over what they wanted their standard to be and how they can help each other.
The best news the Cowboys received over the weekend is that their division remains unimpressive. The New York Giants and Washington Commanders tied in an ugly finish. The Philadelphia Eagles choked away a game in the final seconds they should’ve won against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Giants are in first place in the NFC East at 3-1-1. The Cowboys and Eagles are next up at 2-3. Washington sits in the basement at 1-3-1.
“Thankfully, we’re (only) five games into the season,” Prescott said. “Thankfully our division hasn’t (had a team that has) taken off and run (away) with it and everybody’s still in front of us. So that’s the beauty of it. And that’s the unique part about an NFL season and these divisions and the ups and the downs of just the years. We’d feel a lot worse if somebody in our division was 5-0 right now.
“Having pretty much everything still out in front of us gives myself and all the guys in the locker room a lot of confidence.”
But Prescott also knows they wasted a grand opportunity Thursday night to be 3-2. He’s been around long enough to know how those games come back to haunt teams in December.
This Sunday night, the Cowboys face a Packers franchise that has been the biggest thorn in their side over the past 15 years. Dallas has played Green Bay 12 times since 2009. The Cowboys have won only once, a regular-season game at Lambeau Field in Prescott’s rookie season. That stretch has also included three playoff games, two of them when the Cowboys had their best chances to end what is now a 30-year Super Bowl drought.
Things are ugly at the moment. No one seems to have the answers. Maybe these recent changes can help turn it around. If not, and Prescott continues to start every game, it’ll be looked back on as a missed opportunity with one of the league’s better quarterbacks in the prime of his career.
“When you are a coach, there are going to be things that you have to correct,” Schottenheimer said. “And we are solution makers. We are not excuse makers. We’re solution makers. And that’s what we’re working on really, really hard right now. We’re having the hard conversations. We’re looking at the film. We’re studying the areas.
“And those things are being had in all three phases, not just on defense. But we feel like we’re identifying some adjustments or changes — that’s the word (reporters) use — that we think will help us perform better.”
