Brian Schottenheimer defended his players’ effort and indicted almost everything else after the Dallas Cowboys lost 23-13 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. The defeat at Lambeau Field was the second in a row for Dallas and dropped the Cowboys to 2-4, and their coach said the fault started at the top.
“The effort is right, the fight is right, but mistakes are killing us,” Schottenheimer said, adding that a team cannot keep making the same errors. He pointed to five giveaways across the last two games and put the missing ground game on his own desk: “Got to find the running game. That starts with myself and the offensive staff.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer on what he told his players:
“The effort is right, the fight is right, the mistakes are killing us. Repeating mistakes is not what we’re about.” pic.twitter.com/HCFLjSC2TM
— Tommy Yarrish (@tommy_yarrish) October 19, 2026
Where the night went wrong
Dallas trailed 17-0 at halftime, the first time since November 2021 that the Cowboys had been held without a first-half point. Dak Prescott attempted 54 passes and completed 34 for 258 yards, but two of them were intercepted in Dallas territory, by Evan Williams and rookie Brandon Cisse. A would-be pick-six by linebacker Dee Winters was overturned on review, and the Cowboys gave the ball back again soon after.
The offense moved the ball only in fits. Javonte Williams scored from a yard out to make it 17-7, CeeDee Lamb caught nine passes for 70 yards and George Pickens added six for 73, yet Dallas converted just 5 of 13 third downs. Ryan Flournoy’s six-yard touchdown catch came with 44 seconds left, and the two-point pass to Lamb fell incomplete. The 13 points were the fewest of Schottenheimer’s tenure.
Brian Schottenheimer: “The effort is right. The fight is right. Mistakes are killing us.”
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) October 19, 2026
Schottenheimer also wanted more from the defense on third down, citing penalties and lost one-on-one matchups. The two teams combined for 22 flags, 11 apiece. Prescott, for his part, said the defense had played well enough to win and that the offense had not carried its share.
A slide that needs stopping
The scoring drop is stark. Dallas averaged roughly 34 points a game from Week 2 through Week 4 and has managed fewer than 17 per game across the two losses since. The night also cost the Cowboys bodies: returner KaVontae Turpin was hurt on the opening kickoff with a rib injury, and Winters left with an Achilles strain.
Schottenheimer closed by promising a hard look at all of it, with the responsibility starting with him. With the extra day before the next game, the staff has a little more time to find the answers he asked for.
What comes next
The Cowboys visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, October 26, with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. EDT. The full result from Green Bay is in the Game Center, and the injury picture is on the injuries page.
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