The Dallas Cowboys had the lead over the Seattle Seahawks, but Brian Schottenheimer was far from satisfied with how his team was playing. The Cowboys’ head coach saw too many penalties and not enough consistency up front, leaving him with plenty to address at halftime.
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“At the end of the day, the penalties are killing us. We have to be way better with our hands. … We gotta run the ball. We’re not getting any movement up front. … Hey, it’s young-guy football.” Brian said, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota.
The penalty count was already at six when Brian spoke.
Left tackle Marcellus Johnson had been called for penalties on back-to-back plays, first for a false start and then for illegal use of his hands. Those mistakes continued a night in which Dallas repeatedly put itself in difficult situations.
And the number kept climbing after halftime. According to Dallas Cowboys beat writer Tommy Yarrish, the Cowboys were penalized 13 times. That meant Dallas finished the night with two more penalties than it had in last year’s preseason opener, when the Cowboys were flagged 11 times.
Seattle scored first to take a 7-0 lead. Dallas responded with a 29-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, and Sam Howell connected with Camden Brown for a 39-yard touchdown, giving Dallas a 10-7 lead into halftime. Joe Milton III later extended the lead in the third quarter by throwing another touchdown pass to Brown.
The Cowboys found ways to put together a strong enough performance to beat Seattle 17-7.
The win also gave Dallas a small piece of preseason history. The Cowboys had not won their opening preseason game since 2017, making Saturday’s result their first victory to start an exhibition schedule in nearly a decade. That matters less than what the coaching staff learns from these games, but it does give Brian Schottenheimer a positive result to begin his first preseason as Dallas’ head coach.
The quarterback situation also remains one of the Cowboys’ bigger preseason storylines. Howell and Milton both played without throwing an interception, with Howell completing 8 of 12 attempts for 94 yards and Milton going 12 of 15 for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Their numbers give Dallas more film to evaluate in a competition that was already unresolved entering the preseason, meaning neither player has been pushed out of the conversation after the opening game.