Mac Engel: The Cowboys saved three coaches from themselves in a win at Houston

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Oct 5, 2026

Published in Football

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HOUSTON — Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb stood before a throng of reporters on Sunday afternoon, and from 20 feet away, his quarterback, Dak Prescott, yelled, “You’re welcome, CeeDee!”

A few feet away, teammate George Pickens was preparing to leave the Cowboys’ locker room and could only say, “Yeah, no [expletive].”

The Cowboys’ 34-30 win in Houston on Sunday afternoon was thanks largely to the historic love connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and this is one the head coach, defensive coordinator and special teams coach needed, too

With the win, the Cowboys saved Brian Schottenheimer, Christian Parker and Nick Sorensen from themselves, and another terrible week before the next game.

“I wanted this game. I don’t think we needed this game,” Schottenheimer said. “Rio [the loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3] doesn’t define us as a football team, as a coaching staff. I was very up-front and honest with that, but I wanted this game a lot.

“Rio had nothing to do with this game. This game stood by itself.”

Schottenheimer credits improving defense

Any first-year NFL coach, or first-time coordinator, deserves some grace, but the “probation period” for Parker is over. Through the first three weeks of the season, no coordinator was “getting it” from former players-turned-analysts more than Parker.

Other than, “Well, he’s new,” and “look at the players he has,” defending Parker and his defense was as much fun as ramming your head into a car door. He earned the criticism; his defense looked awful. Curious schemes, plus bad tackling, contributed to a unit that was poor against the pass, and worse against the run.

The schedule has not been kind to the Cowboys in the first part of the season, but on Sunday the NFL handed a bad offense plus a quarterback with .01 confidence for the Cowboys’ defense to devour.

The Cowboys did not devour the Texans, but they did stop them enough to win. The Texans were held to 3.3 yards per rush, 3 of 10 on third downs, and quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked twice.

This isn’t exactly the ‘85 Chicago Bears, but it’s a marked improvement over the 2025, and 2026, Dallas Cowboys.

“They are getting better, they really are,” Schottenheimer said after the game. “You can see it coming. We wreaked havoc on C.J. Stroud.”

The Cowboys’ pass rush has been mostly invisible this season, and on Sunday it is not a coincidence they sent linebackers to pressure the quarterback. They had to do something different.

Linebacker Rashan Gary had a sack, and finally applied noticeable pressure on a quarterback for the first time with the team. Can’t really say the same about teammate Von Miller.

In one possession in the second half, the Cowboys pressured the quarterback on consecutive plays, a first this season. Seriously.

“[Linebacker] Jaishawn Barham is a guy you want to bring [to rush the passer],” Shottenheimer said. “I thought Christian mixed up his calls really good tonight. Some of it was run pressure, and we did a nice job against the running game.”

All of this is against the now 0-4 Texans, but it’s something.

A win Schottenheimer did need

One week after the terrible loss against the Ravens in Brazil where the head coach wore the Idiot Cap on the 10-hour flight back to DFW, Schottenheimer nearly “decisioned” himself into another series of “What the hell were you thinking there?” questions.

Late in the first half, Schottenheimer twice elected for long Brandon Aubrey field goal attempts; the first was a 62-yard attempt that was blocked by the Houston Texans’ Will Anderson. It’s the second time in as many weeks an Aubrey field goal was blocked, something that falls on special teams coach Nick Sorensen.

Houston turned the short field into three points.

A few minutes later, Aubrey missed a 65-yard field goal. Houston turned the short field into another three points.

“I had no question if for some reason he missed it we had plenty of time to fight back,” Schottenheimer said.

Faith in Brandon Aubrey is warranted, but field goal attempts from any distance need a fun governor.

Had the Cowboys not won this game, those decisions would have been used to hit Schottenheimer all week. As all coaches need to do, however, he “got away with one,” and the Dallas Cowboys are 2-2.

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