Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer promises changes are coming to his woeful defense.
"There's always reasons to change, and there will be change," he said Monday following a 44-24 loss in Denver. "I can promise you that. I can show you that. We've already had meetings, and we've talked about those changes. We're in the mode right now of where we've got kind of a one-game season."
Schottenheimer didn't detail what those changes might involve.
The Cowboys rank 31st in points allowed and yards surrendered through eight games, behind only the Cincinnati Bengals in both categories. Dallas' 6.2 yards per play allowed is tied for 32nd with the Bengals and Bears.
In Sunday's defeat in Denver, the defense was abysmal at all levels. The pass rush generated just seven QB pressures with zero sacks on 29 Bo Nix dropbacks. The run defense got stampeded, allowing 179 yards and 6.4 yards per clip, and the pass D got diced up, allowing Nix to throw for 247 yards and four touchdowns with one opening-drive interception.
The Broncos found pay dirt on six of their 10 non-kneel drives.
"No one is happy with the way we performed [against the Broncos]," Schottenheimer said. "It's not acceptable. It's not good enough. I would say both the staff and the players are aware that the standard was not met, so now what do you do? Be solution-oriented.
"The solutions are making adjustments to scheme, changes to personnel -- giving this guy a little bit more playing time and all that. Those things will play themselves out."
Some of the issues are personnel problems, with a lack of talent up front to consistently win one-on-one. Some are players missing tackles or getting out of their lanes. Others are schematic problems, with game plans that don't put players in a position to succeed.
Schottenheimer added that some of the planned changes likely won't be installed until the club's Week 10 bye, following a Monday night tilt against the Arizona Cardinals.
"I just say that because we've got Arizona before the bye and, really, bigger changes to our style will happen over the bye week," he said. "That's when we get a chance to say, 'OK, now we're looking back at nine games. What were those issues and did we get them corrected?'
"No? Well, now we need to do this and we need to do that."
Sitting at 3-4-1, the Cowboys desperately need a win against the 2-5 Cardinals, or any bye-week changes could be too late to change their fortunes in 2025.
