With three games left in the 2025 regular season, it's quite clear that the Dallas Cowboys upgraded at head coach with Brian Schottenheimer. Not only is Schottenheimer establishing a stronger culture relative to Mike McCarthy, but he also seems to be a better leader of men, and his offense is markedly more diverse.
Of course, there is only so much praise that can go around for a head coach who's all but been eliminated from the playoffs in his first year at the helm. The Cowboys have less than a 1 percent chance to make the tournament with three games left.
Like any rookie head coach, Schottenheimer has had his ups and downs. Unfortunately, the downs reared their ugly head in the team's respective losses to the Lions and Vikings.
Schottenheimer has coached way too conservatively after the offense has crossed midfield, and having a security blanket as automatic as Brandon Aubrey -- Sunday's shocking blip notwithstanding -- might be serving as a crutch for Dallas' play-caller.
Cowboys' Brian Schottenheimer has to stop relying on Brandon Aubrey
Schottenheimer coached not to lose against the Vikings. Cowboys fans saw underneath passes to Hunter Luepke, 2nd-and-long runs, and not going for it on 4th-and-short in crucial situations.
At the very least, Schottenheimer should know by now that the offense needs to score 30 or more points every week to win.
And even if you take the defense out of the equation, kicking field goals is not how you win in the NFL. While Aubrey is a nice safety net in case a drive after midfield stalls, settling for field goals cannot be part of the strategy. That goes for any offense, let alone one that has a quarterback playing at an extremely high level, arguably two top-five receivers, and an efficient running game.
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The only time Aubrey should be weaponized is before halftime or at the end of games. If he happens to make a 60-yard field goal along the way, then great.
Not going for it on 4th-and-3 in the first half forced Schottenheimer to go for a 4th-and-7 with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. That is indefensible when you throw the Dallas defense into the equation. It was evident early on that it was going to be "one of those games" for Matt Eberflus' unit.
That goes back to Schottenheimer needing to learn to have his pulse on the game. The fake field goal in the first quarter was a thing of beauty. It should have been a tone setter for the rest of the game, but the aggression was nowhere to be found until it was too late.
Aubrey is great enough to bail the offense out from time to time. But relying on him backfired in a big way as he missed two kicks that loomed large as Dallas chased points in the second half.
Schottenheimer has plenty to build on from this season, but his in-game decision-making still needs to evolve. The Cowboys will be much better off once he treats Brandon Aubrey as a luxury rather than a fallback.