For some in Cowboys Nation, we'd like to talk about anything but Sunday's loss to the Ravens. For others, we want to rant our hearts out. As Dallas fell to 1-2 in one of the most demoralizing fashions imaginable, it's left us all with serious questions about the rest of the season. Here are a few that I'm chewing on.
3 Cowboys questions that need answering from the Week 3 loss
Is it time for Brian Schottenheimer to fire his playcaller?
Coach evaluation can often get confused in the aggregate, particularly with high-volume stats over the course of a season. The Cowboys had the NFL's second-best offense in 2025 and are currently 12th in yards per game and seventh in scoring, so it's easy to summarily judge that Schottenheimer is doing a quality job as the team's playcaller.
But that final Cowboys drive turned into an epic, all-time disaster. After being handed an absolute gift with the pass interference call on Baltimore's Nate Wiggins, Dallas has the game all but wrapped and served to them.
With 23 seconds, 1st-and-goal from the two-yard line, and a run game averaging 4.9 yards per carry, which had already given you two touchdowns earlier, the Cowboys bumbled their way into a field goal. While all of us were refilling our drinks to get ready for overtime, Baltimore's improbable last-second victory came because Schotty and Dak Prescott scored three when they should've had seven.
This is a pattern, unfortunately, with Schottenheimer's playcalling and partnership with Prescott. Sure, they're churning out plenty of yards and touchdowns on average. But the difference between wins and losses often comes down to moments, and it's too often that in these key moments the opposing defense has more success.
Defending Schottenheimer is getting harder. He got a pass from most for last season because of Matt Eberflus' undermining defense. Schotty's offense was the only reason that Dallas got to seven wins. But as the Cowboys drop to 1-2 after the offense blatantly fails to seal the deal, blaming Christian Parker and a bunch of third-stringers feels, at least partially, wrong.
Accountability has to come from the top down; otherwise, there is none. Schottenheimer can't control the fact that Dallas will never fire its general manager, so he has to do even more from his seat to set the right tone.
That may need to be admitting he's not getting the job done in his offensive role and letting Klayton Adams take over all aspects of being the coordinator.
Who is left to play corner and safety?
We have seen some rough times with injuries to specific position groups, but the current situation in the secondary is downright diabolical. The Cowboys are now down multiple starters and key backups, raising a huge question about who will actually suit up for this week's game in Houston.
We started the year with Devin Moore on IR, which wasn't a big concern as the rookie needed time in the lab. But then we lost Malik Hooker in Week 1, Cobie Durant and P.J. Locke in Week 2, and now Jalen Thompson and Shavon Revel after Sunday.
Essentially, DaRon Bland and Caleb Downs would be your only active DBs who were expected to play major roles this year.
That would leave Caelen Carson, Reddy Steward, Markquese Bell, Ameer Speed, and Alijah Clark to fill out the rest of the spots as either starters or rotation guys. Dallas will probably call up Derion Kendrick from the practice squad, but that hardly fixes things.
These eight guys may not be enough to even get through a game, so look for Dallas to make a couple of outside moves. System familiarity is a plus on short notice, so we could see them poach Trikweze Bridges from the Bengals' practice squad or sign Josh Butler, both of whom were in training camp and aren't currently on a 53-man roster.
Thankfully, the 0-3 Texans are having major issues on offense. But if they get home field and a motley crew in Dallas' defensive backfield, it may be just the help they need.
Why is Markquese Bell still here?
I know I just went off about DB depth, but some guys aren't even worth putting on the field as a warm body. Markquese Bell hasn't looked good for a while, and it's been especially bad this year. His lack of coverage skills are more exposed than ever in Christian Parker's scheme, making him a constant liability.
Yes, Bell is a core special teams player. We know from the last several years how that keeps guys employed. But C.J. Goodwin only played cornerback when Dallas was down to its absolute last resort, or in a meaningless regular-season finale.
Bell still gets in the mix even without the aforementioned slew of injuries, and there's no sign that it's a good thing for the defense.
Obviously, this week isn't the time to cut him given the injuries. But once we get a few of these other safeties back, Dallas needs to either put him in the "special teams only" box that Goodwin lived in, move him back to linebacker, or just cut him loose.
The current role is clearly not working.
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