Inglewood, California – The Cowboys' preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night was a dream for Brian Schottenheimer, who has been waiting for more than 30 years as he has the opportunity to become the head coach of the NFL.
Before the game began, he shared a moment with host/general manager Jerry Jones at Sofi Stadium, emitting Schottenheimer tears.
“I came to the stadium a little choking and then when Jerry talked to me, I would tell the truth, I was a little excited,” Schottenheimer said. “Sitting in a chair is my dream.”
That said, Brian Schottenheimer hopes to see a 31-21 loss to the Rams when he realizes his dream. But this is a day he will never forget.
“I am very grateful [Jerry] The Jones family let me sit in this chair,” Schottenheimer said. “I told you from the beginning that no one will work harder than me. We're going to see this movie and try to clean it up…but one day, I'll remember it for a long time. It's not the result we wanted, but the result of being the head coach for the first time and it feels cool. ”
What Schottenheimer doesn't want to remember is the way the Cowboys start the game. In the first quarter, Dallas had only one yard of offensive yards in six games, they all passed and allowed the Rams to advance with 160 yards and two touchdowns.
“It's definitely not the beginning of the storybook, it's for sure,” Schottenheimer said. “We just struggled. I think it was 25 to six games, which was obviously not a good way to start. They turned the fourth drop and took control of the ball.”
From there, Schottenheimer felt his team had a higher deviation rate than the offset rate, but his preferences were still subjected to too many penalty kicks to overcome the Rams' lead in the second half.
“I like the way we fight in the second half of the year…” Schottenheimer said. “I thought Phil Mafah was really hard, I thought that was good. I loved the first half defense, and in the running we just dropped the field for the fourth time…”
“I told the guy, 'Hey, they compete hard, but it's not about competition, it's about executions.'”
Of the 11 penalties for the Cowboys that night, the strangest one was from Ceedee Lamb. Lamb, who was not in the game, stood on the court on the sidelines of Jonathan Mingo's passing, and an official rushed with him, causing them both to fall. Lamb was evaluated as a fine for 15 yards of athletic behavior, which negated a field position on the Dallas offense, which would fine the Rams for passing interference in the same game.
“We have to get better through discipline. I hope [official] That's OK…” Schottenheimer said: “We have to be better than that. CEEDE knows better, we know better, but our discipline is our punishment for combativeness. But we didn't line up next to us and they warned us a few times that we had to do better to guide and play. ”
Perhaps the most important player to play in the game is sophomore quarterback Joe Milton, who will serve as Dak Prescott's backup game and debut on Saturday night with the Cowboys.
It was a roller coaster for the evening, ending with Milton completing 17 of his 29 passes for a total of 143 yards and making touchdowns and interceptions. On the ground, he added five carrys for a total of 22 yards. The interception was a deep ball intended for Ryan Flounnoy, but was screened twice and would be a learning moment for the young quarterback.
“Second and fourth, he had a check in front of him, super competition, he moved left and threw it there,” Schottenheeimer said. “Now, he trusts [Ryan Flournoy] In this case, trying to make a game, but I think it's something Joe looks at him like 'yes, I probably should check it out. ”
While it wasn't Milton's best day, it was these types of situations and moments that were crucial to him as he rose his first year in Dallas.
“That's why he needs to play,” Schottenheimer said. “I do think he settled in, and I think he found himself at a late pace and started using his legs a little better. Again, every rep he got will help him become an excellent career.”
Milton initially planned to play for the Cowboys but left after the Rams player’s elbow. Currently, the team believes this is not a serious injury.
“He got hit in the elbow. It seems that the initial test was that he would be fine, a little bruised. We'll get more tests…but I think Joe would be fine,” Schottenheimer said.
From an operational standpoint, Schottenheimer said before the game ended that they were playing fairly vanilla in terms of game calls and planning. That's it, he handles different situations in different ways to communicate with employees, such as when he decides to score a shot before the end of the first half, rather than letting his offense do it.
“I think the communication is good,” Schottenheimer said. “We played some situations like real games because I needed to work with my staff, decisions and things like that, and there are other things we did like preseason. There were a few times we might do something like this with kicking and doing things like this.”
One game went bankrupt and the Cowboys had many players who hadn't played before, including first-round draft pick Tyler Booker. While the rookie was surprised that the field was not seen by the rookie, Schottenheimer and his staff had a plan that would fit more bodies when the team returned to AT&T Stadium to host the Ravens next week.
“We have three games. We have a specific plan, the people we want to play,” Schottenheimer said. “There will be more people playing next week and won't tell you who. It's more about the rotation we want to get this week.”