LANDOVER, Md. – When Brian Schottenheimer was introduced as head coach back in late January, he must have used the word culture a dozen times in his press conference.
Not only did he know the culture needed to improve, but he had a phrase for it: "Compete Every Day."
Those competitions started in the offseason, whether it was free-throw shooting contests in the media room or adding a ping-pong table in the locker room. Whatever it was, he wanted his team to compete at every moment, even when they weren't playing or practicing football.
Well, you can't put Compete Every Day on the T-shirts, sweatshirts and backpacks but have an asterisk at the bottom or the back of the shirt that reads, "Unless you've been eliminated from the playoffs," or "Message not expected on Christmas Day."
Compete. And that means everyone, including the $60 million quarterback.
I loved what Dak Prescott said earlier in the week about wanting to play, "especially on Christmas" because his point was this – as a dad of two youngsters, if he's going to be missing Christmas, he better be playing in the game and not sitting off to the side wearing a beanie and eating sunflower seeds. Personally, I could relate to that. Obviously, I'm not playing in the game, but as a father and husband missing my family on Christmas Day, I definitely didn't want to be here to watch a glorified preseason game.
Maybe you can call it that anyway, but the Cowboys certainly didn't play like it. It was a fight until the very end, although it probably shouldn't have been. When the Cowboys got up 21-3, I was thinking maybe we would see Joe Milton at some point sooner than later.
As it turned out, Prescott not only played every snap, the last play of the game saw him taking a quarterback sneak as the offense literally ran out the clock. That play was also on fourth-and-1, giving the Cowboys a record-setting sixth consecutive fourth-down conversion.
The Cowboys were a perfect 6-for-6 on fourth downs, including three in one drive alone that led to a touchdown.
When I think of that stat, only one word comes to mind – trust. And it's not 100 percent a good thing.
On one hand, let's talk about the amount of trust that Schotty has with this offense. He trusts his 10-year veteran quarterback and the players around him to pick up those necessary yards on fourth-and-short. Whether it's a drag route over the middle to Jalen Tolbert, who had been inactive most of this month, or a run up the middle by Javonte Williams or even a quarterback sneak by Dak himself, Schotty turns into the play-calling offensive coordinator he is and trusts his team to get that fourth down.
Actually, and this is something that I completely love to hear, Dak said Schotty told him that in his ear on third down, giving the quarterback the early heads-up that he had two plays to convert. How many times did we see the biggest play of the drive occur on third-and-long when a player got just enough yards to give the offense a chance to convert? The big play in that scenario was Hunter Luepke's catch-and-run on third-and-16 in the fourth quarter. Dak was dumping the ball short for some yards when Luepke rumbled like Mike Alstott for 14 yards.
I'm pretty sure Shotty didn't tell Dak they'd be going for it on third down on that play, but after Luepke got 14, it changed everything. Dak then found Tolbert over the middle for a huge first down. The Cowboys eventually finished that drive with an Aubrey field goal for the 10-point lead.
Trust. Schotty trusts his offense to move the chains.
But on the flip side, there's no way Schotty can trust this defense to make stops. Sure, you can kick a field goal or punt the ball away and play the field-position game, but that would require the defense to step up and make those stops. And too many times this year, we've seen players that we barely knew were in the league step in and have career days. Josh Johnson tried his best to get on that list, which now includes the law firm of Jacory Croskey-Merritt. He ripped through the Cowboys defense for a pair of touchdowns, including a 72-yarder in the third quarter to make this a closer game that it ever should've been. But that's been this defense all year, and why should it change on Christmas Day? It didn't but the Cowboys were able to survive.
Looking ahead – as in the 2026 season, although knowing we've still got one game to play in this regular season – trust has to be evened out.
While the Cowboys have put so much trust in this offense all season, the lack of trust on defense forces the offense to be perfect. This offense is really good but not perfect. But they shouldn't have to be. The Cowboys average about 30 points per game this year. This game marked the eighth time they have scored 30 points in a game, yet they still have just seven wins.
We know the reason why. And it's because of a defense that can't be fully trusted. In 2026, that absolutely has to change and I'm sure it will, but hopefully not at the expense of this trustworthy offense.
If Schotty truly wants his team to Compete Every Day, it's going to need to start in practice. Get this defense to the point where it can truly compete with one of the best offenses in the league.
That should be the No. 1 goal, and that's something you can do in May and June. Get this defense somewhere close to the level of the offense, and that'll give him the type of Compete Every Day mantra he's looking for.
Do that and you will build that trust equally. And that, my friend, will continue to build the culture as well.
