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By Jon Machota
Oct. 27, 2026 Updated 8:57 am CDT
PHILADELPHIA — Win or lose, a Brian Schottenheimer postgame news conference usually lasts about 10-15 minutes.
After the Dallas Cowboys’ 38-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, the head coach’s time at the podium lasted barely over four minutes. Something was off. His answers were much shorter than usual. Some were only a few words.
When asked about it, Schottenheimer simply responded: “I’m great. Excited for our guys.”
Here’s a breakdown of his previous postgame news conferences this season.
Week 1 loss at the New York Giants: 11:00
Week 2 win vs. Washington Commanders: 15:30
Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil: 13:50
Week 4 win at the Houston Texans: 13:35
Week 5 loss vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 11:55
Week 6 loss at the Green Bay Packers: 10:45
Schottenheimer seemed to be in a more serious mood than normal as he walked to the visitor’s locker room at Lincoln Financial Field before Monday night’s game. He showed similar body language while making his way to the postgame locker room.
“Definitely a hungry, pissed off version of Shotty,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after the game. “It’s not like he’s naive. It’s not like he hadn’t heard some noise about him, and whether it’s calling the games or whatever doubt that’s been out there. But we’ve got his back. He knows that. He’s a guy that takes a lot of pride in his job, a lot of pride in his team.
“Everybody handles everything different, so I don’t blame him to an extent. We’ve got his back. More importantly, it’s just about us going out there and executing on Sundays.”
While Schottenheimer was walking to the bus from the team hotel a few hours before the game, a fan wearing a New York Giants hat shouted in his direction.
“What’s your excuse, every other NFC East team has a backup quarterback,” the fan said. “What’s your excuse? Two and four, Schotty! You’re another puppet for Jerry (Jones)! First place New York Giants!”
Schottenheimer said he did not hear the fan because he was wearing headphones. During his pregame radio interview on 105.3 The Fan, he recalled a story of a tough loss his father, Marty Schottenheimer, suffered during his coaching career. The following day their family was at a restaurant and a few fans were ridiculing the coach, not knowing the Schottenheimers were sitting nearby and listening to every word. Marty Schottenheimer ended up paying for the fans’ meal without them knowing.
Brian Schottenheimer has been under significant scrutiny recently as the team’s offensive play caller. A group that was expected to be one of the NFL’s best entered Monday night’s game scoring only 29 points in their previous two games combined.
He was criticized locally and nationally during the week after he said in different interviews that he is “an elite play caller” and he knows “what a great coach I am.” The Cowboys then entered the game having lost eight of their last 11. Under Schottenheimer, before Monday night, they were 1-7-1 in primetime games.
But Dallas responded with its best offensive performance of the season, totaling 416 yards with 204 coming on the ground. The Cowboys were also 8-for-13 on third down. Running back Javonte Williams had a career-day with 25 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. After struggling the last two weeks, Prescott got back on track through the air, throwing two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and one to George Pickens. No Eagles defender recorded a sack or quarterback hit.
“I thought Dak played awesome,” Schottenheimer said. “Outstanding. … Just the patience and poise in the pocket. It jumped off the film. Anytime you throw three touchdowns like that, the two-point conversion (run) was great. He looked like he was in control out there all night.”
Prescott said before the game that he viewed it as a must-win situation for a 2-4 team trying to keep up in the NFC East race with the division-leading 4-2-1 Giants. Schottenheimer didn’t see it exactly the same way.
“No,” he said. “I thought it was the next championship opportunity. But I think it gets us right back into the hunt in the NFC East.”
Cowboys hand Eagles fifth straight loss
The offensive performance was impressive. It came against most of the key pieces available for the Eagles. The other side of the ball was a different story. Philadelphia was without franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts and No. 1 wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Star running back Saquon Barkley played but was clearly suffering through hamstring and back injuries. Despite all of their key missing pieces, Tanner McKee, their No. 3 quarterback entering the season, kept the Eagles in the game until midway through the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia managed only 17 first downs, 222 total yards, 3.6 yards per play and 35 rushing yards against the Carolina Panthers last week.
Against the Cowboys? Twenty-three first downs, 321 total yards, 5.2 yards per play and 121 rushing yards.
Dallas’ defense had some key pieces play well, most notably defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, but the group still looks a ways off from competing at a high level against quality opponents. It’s not difficult to envision how differently things could have been Monday night with Hurts, Smith and a healthy Barkley. But that didn’t happen, and it’s easy to see how the Eagles have gone from Super Bowl contenders entering the season to now 2-5.
Dallas has a very favorable upcoming stretch, five games with only one opponent — the San Francisco 49ers — with a winning record. The other four (Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and Eagles) have a combined record of 7-21. If the Cowboys play like they did at Philadelphia, they could potentially get to nine or 10 wins.
They could also revert to the team we’ve seen the previous two weeks and finish the season with only six or seven. Either way, they are benefiting greatly from being in arguably the NFL’s worst division. Nothing that happened in Philadelphia should all of a sudden make anyone think Dallas is ready to beat teams like the 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks. Those are the six NFC teams currently with better Super Bowl odds than the Cowboys.
Something that will be interesting to see going forward is if Schottenheimer continues to carry himself like he did Monday. It seems like it would be difficult because that’s not his natural personality. He’s much more Pete Carroll, one of his biggest coaching influences, than Bill Belichick.
“I know the team feels it,” Prescott said of Schottenheimer’s recent serious-minded approach. “I’m sure there’s players that need that to fire themselves up to an extent. It’s contagious. And at the end of day, he’s our head coach. We’re going to follow him. We’ve got his back and we appreciate that.”
Oct. 27, 2026 Updated 8:57 am CDT
PHILADELPHIA — Win or lose, a Brian Schottenheimer postgame news conference usually lasts about 10-15 minutes.
After the Dallas Cowboys’ 38-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, the head coach’s time at the podium lasted barely over four minutes. Something was off. His answers were much shorter than usual. Some were only a few words.
When asked about it, Schottenheimer simply responded: “I’m great. Excited for our guys.”
Here’s a breakdown of his previous postgame news conferences this season.
Week 1 loss at the New York Giants: 11:00
Week 2 win vs. Washington Commanders: 15:30
Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil: 13:50
Week 4 win at the Houston Texans: 13:35
Week 5 loss vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 11:55
Week 6 loss at the Green Bay Packers: 10:45
Schottenheimer seemed to be in a more serious mood than normal as he walked to the visitor’s locker room at Lincoln Financial Field before Monday night’s game. He showed similar body language while making his way to the postgame locker room.
“Definitely a hungry, pissed off version of Shotty,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said after the game. “It’s not like he’s naive. It’s not like he hadn’t heard some noise about him, and whether it’s calling the games or whatever doubt that’s been out there. But we’ve got his back. He knows that. He’s a guy that takes a lot of pride in his job, a lot of pride in his team.
“Everybody handles everything different, so I don’t blame him to an extent. We’ve got his back. More importantly, it’s just about us going out there and executing on Sundays.”
While Schottenheimer was walking to the bus from the team hotel a few hours before the game, a fan wearing a New York Giants hat shouted in his direction.
“What’s your excuse, every other NFC East team has a backup quarterback,” the fan said. “What’s your excuse? Two and four, Schotty! You’re another puppet for Jerry (Jones)! First place New York Giants!”
Schottenheimer said he did not hear the fan because he was wearing headphones. During his pregame radio interview on 105.3 The Fan, he recalled a story of a tough loss his father, Marty Schottenheimer, suffered during his coaching career. The following day their family was at a restaurant and a few fans were ridiculing the coach, not knowing the Schottenheimers were sitting nearby and listening to every word. Marty Schottenheimer ended up paying for the fans’ meal without them knowing.
Brian Schottenheimer has been under significant scrutiny recently as the team’s offensive play caller. A group that was expected to be one of the NFL’s best entered Monday night’s game scoring only 29 points in their previous two games combined.
He was criticized locally and nationally during the week after he said in different interviews that he is “an elite play caller” and he knows “what a great coach I am.” The Cowboys then entered the game having lost eight of their last 11. Under Schottenheimer, before Monday night, they were 1-7-1 in primetime games.
But Dallas responded with its best offensive performance of the season, totaling 416 yards with 204 coming on the ground. The Cowboys were also 8-for-13 on third down. Running back Javonte Williams had a career-day with 25 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. After struggling the last two weeks, Prescott got back on track through the air, throwing two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and one to George Pickens. No Eagles defender recorded a sack or quarterback hit.
“I thought Dak played awesome,” Schottenheimer said. “Outstanding. … Just the patience and poise in the pocket. It jumped off the film. Anytime you throw three touchdowns like that, the two-point conversion (run) was great. He looked like he was in control out there all night.”
Prescott said before the game that he viewed it as a must-win situation for a 2-4 team trying to keep up in the NFC East race with the division-leading 4-2-1 Giants. Schottenheimer didn’t see it exactly the same way.
“No,” he said. “I thought it was the next championship opportunity. But I think it gets us right back into the hunt in the NFC East.”
Cowboys hand Eagles fifth straight loss
The offensive performance was impressive. It came against most of the key pieces available for the Eagles. The other side of the ball was a different story. Philadelphia was without franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts and No. 1 wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Star running back Saquon Barkley played but was clearly suffering through hamstring and back injuries. Despite all of their key missing pieces, Tanner McKee, their No. 3 quarterback entering the season, kept the Eagles in the game until midway through the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia managed only 17 first downs, 222 total yards, 3.6 yards per play and 35 rushing yards against the Carolina Panthers last week.
Against the Cowboys? Twenty-three first downs, 321 total yards, 5.2 yards per play and 121 rushing yards.
Dallas’ defense had some key pieces play well, most notably defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, but the group still looks a ways off from competing at a high level against quality opponents. It’s not difficult to envision how differently things could have been Monday night with Hurts, Smith and a healthy Barkley. But that didn’t happen, and it’s easy to see how the Eagles have gone from Super Bowl contenders entering the season to now 2-5.
Dallas has a very favorable upcoming stretch, five games with only one opponent — the San Francisco 49ers — with a winning record. The other four (Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and Eagles) have a combined record of 7-21. If the Cowboys play like they did at Philadelphia, they could potentially get to nine or 10 wins.
They could also revert to the team we’ve seen the previous two weeks and finish the season with only six or seven. Either way, they are benefiting greatly from being in arguably the NFL’s worst division. Nothing that happened in Philadelphia should all of a sudden make anyone think Dallas is ready to beat teams like the 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks. Those are the six NFC teams currently with better Super Bowl odds than the Cowboys.
Something that will be interesting to see going forward is if Schottenheimer continues to carry himself like he did Monday. It seems like it would be difficult because that’s not his natural personality. He’s much more Pete Carroll, one of his biggest coaching influences, than Bill Belichick.
“I know the team feels it,” Prescott said of Schottenheimer’s recent serious-minded approach. “I’m sure there’s players that need that to fire themselves up to an extent. It’s contagious. And at the end of day, he’s our head coach. We’re going to follow him. We’ve got his back and we appreciate that.”
