Jerry Jones’ outburst proves Brian Schottenheimer is in over his head

Jerry Jones’ reveal is more proof Brian Schottenheimer isn’t fit to lead Cowboys.

Can it get any worse than blowing a 24-10 fourth-quarter lead against one of the worst franchises in sports?

Well, now that you ask, a loss to the Colts might actually top it.

Indianapolis is in the midst of a fire sale after firing general manager Chris Ballard.

They have lost four games in a row and have already traded star guard Quenton Nelson and standout defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.

The Cowboys could sink lower this Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

That might not be enough to get Brian Schottenheimer fired, however.

The Cowboys have no immediate plans to move on from their head coach, meaning a decision on his future could wait until after the season.

Very few Cowboys fans need more convincing that Schottenheimer is unfit for the job.

But Jerry Jones provided more proof in exposing Dallas' game plan against Arizona on 105.3 The Fan.

“We were playing a game to avoid turnovers the best we could,” Jones said.

“The game plan you saw was doing that.

“You can call that conservative if you want to.

“The game plan was based on us running the ball better than when we ran it.

“And when they did stack it really good … it’s certainly based on us giving [Dak Prescott] better protection.”

There is so much wrong there.

Brian Schottenheimer should be embarrassed by his game plan against the Cardinals.

I'm not breaking any news by saying that Schottenheimer is a conservative play-caller.

It is arguably his biggest flaw.

But his scared tendencies typically surface in certain situations, depending on the game script.

The fact that his entire Week 8 game plan was built around playing not to lose takes that flaw to an entirely different level.

That would explain why the Cowboys ran the ball 39 times compared to 29 dropbacks.

Schottenheimer seemingly did not want to put the ball in Dak Prescott's hands, believing a risk-averse approach would be enough to beat an inferior Cardinals team.

That is delusional on multiple fronts.

Entering Week 8, the Cardinals' defense could not get out of its own way, ranking 29th in EPA per play, 21st in success rate and 31st in dropback EPA.

If there is one area they excelled, though, it is against the run, as they ranked eighth in rush EPA from Weeks 1 to 7.

Schottenheimer's game plan ignored the possibility of Arizona stacking the box and bringing pressure all game.

That is a formula the Buccaneers and Packers had already used to great effect against Dallas.

It is no wonder the Cowboys struggled.

The numbers tell a clear story.

The Cowboys sit at 3-5 on the season.

There was a ton of optimism about the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason.

After their defensive woes last season, the team made a ton of investment in that side of the football.

But at 3-5, it does not look like the team has figured things out yet.

For a lot of folks, that has turned the attention to head coach Brian Schottenheimer.

But after some controversial comments from owner and general manager Jerry Jones, one analyst was perplexed by how he was running the team.

Mike Florio of NBC Sports is not a fan of the way Jerry Jones thinks of head coaches for the Cowboys.

Parting ways with Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys went through an extended search for their next head coach before settling on former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

In his first year, he led the Cowboys to a 7-9-1 record.

In light of the Micah Parsons trade, a pedestrian defense was seen as the main culprit for their lack of success.

This season, even as the NFC East has been a shell of its former self with injuries all around, the Cowboys have failed to establish themselves as true contenders.

A lot of people have therefore called for Schottenheimer's job, even as they remain dead last on PFN’s Defense Impact Metric.

But Jones has made it clear that he is not considering a head coaching change.

Then he went a step further and claimed that head coaches’ salaries do not directly translate into a team’s success.

Unfortunately, with successful coaches such as Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and Kyle Shanahan among the league’s highest-paid coaches, Jones’ comments did not ring true for the current NFL.

Those comments incensed Mike Florio of NBC Sports, who fired back at Jones during a segment on “PFT Live.”

“There is a correlation between coaching pay and coaching quality,” Florio said.

“Look at the highest-paid coaches.

“Why are they the highest-paid coaches?

“Because they’re the best coaches.”

For Florio, it was a simple equation, as he explained, “So if you want one of the best coaches, you’ve got to pay to get one of the best coaches.

“It’s proven out time and again.

“And one hire makes all the difference.”

Pointing to the likes of Reid and Payton, Florio made his stance clear.

Going a step further, he even pointed to recent developments in the NFC East division after the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh this offseason.

The pressure on Brian Schottenheimer is increasing after the Dallas Cowboys slipped to a 3-5 record with a painful overtime defeat against the Arizona Cardinals.

While owner Jerry Jones has insisted that dismissing his head coach is not currently under consideration, former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant has already suggested an alternative.