Just a few weeks ago, when Brian Schottenheimer left Seattle with the team, there was one worry lingering on his mind. It wasn’t how the defense or the offense would hold up in the season. Their performance wouldn’t matter if the team made errors on the field. Just five weeks into the season, Schottenheimer’s fears have become all too real.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
The Cowboys were dealing with the embarrassment of losing to a 0-4 team, and that’s when the NFL rolled out its list of fines from Week 4. And there’s a big reason we’re worried by it.
The team has been hit by two fines for the season. The NFL fined $5,583 to cornerback Reddy Steward for hitting a defenseless player, and also fined $11,941 to wide receiver and kick returner KaVontae Turpin for taunting in the third quarter with 10:50 left, according to the NFL Operations page.
Now, while KaVontae Turpin’s fine isn’t the best news, there’s some silver lining. Even though the special teams star stood out for penalties last season, he has kept it clean this year, and hadn’t received a fine until the game against the Texans. More importantly, he doesn’t have a history of taunting, so we’re not worried about repeat instances.
It’s the Steward instance that has us feeling a little more worried about things. The incident in question came late in the third quarter, with 10:57 left on the clock. C.J. Stroud passed the ball to Nico Collins, who tried to go in for the score as Steward hit Collins’ head/neck area, partially knocking his helmet off.
Right off the bat, the penalty itself is the problem, considering the NFL and the NFL Players Association are paying more attention to specific moves that can impact player health and safety. Hitting a defenseless player is one of them.
“Players who commit three offenses in any of these categories during a season will be suspended for one game. Players who commit only one violation will receive 50 percent of their fine back at the end of the season,” the league statement read.
And the bigger reason why we’re worried is the team hasn’t improved its record with penalties. We knew there would be fireworks when they met the Bucs, but after Schottenheimer’s early preseason warning and financial penalties, you’d think the players would learn their lesson, right?
Those dreams were shattered in the Bucs’ first drive. DaRon Bland’s holding call erased a sack and extended the drive. On a 2nd-and-goal, free 5 yards on Rashan Gary’s neutral zone infraction meant that the Bucs would score. And this kept happening throughout the game.
The Cowboys had forced the Bucs to punt from deep territory, and Turpin caught the ball at the 50-yard line. However, a holding call from Shemar James set them back 10 yards. After just a single more first down, Dallas had to punt yet again.
And if that wasn’t enough, Otito Ogbonnia was called for a facemask penalty against the Bucs, with the team awaiting the penalty verdict. But no matter what the cost of the fine is, the team needs to make a bigger effort around the penalties.
Coach Schottenheimer knows that pretty well. That’s the same thing he stated after the preseason game against the Seahawks. “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.”
At the time, he believed the team could find some ground by the time the season rolled around. “Addressed that today with the guys. It’s not the standard. We know that, but it’s also preseason Game 1.”
Yes, the team has improved from last season about penalties, but they’re clearly not enough. Even if Brian Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones bring in the biggest stars on offense and defense, it won’t matter if the team lacks discipline and keeps giving up yards where they shouldn’t.
In any case, the team’s problems are on full display, and Jerry Jones isn’t happy. “Extraordinarily, extraordinarily disappointed,” Jones said of the loss. “You really do need to get it done when it’s there to take… We really do need to get it done. … I thought both their fronts, was really surprised at how well they ran the ball, how they ran it between the tackles. That was surprising. We thought if they were going to run it, they’d do it outside.”
Brian Schottenheimer’s sentiment wasn’t any different from Jerry Jones. When he addressed the loss, he admitted the team was making difficult decisions.
“We’re having the hard conversations. We’re looking at the film. We’re studying the areas [of concern],” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Those conversations are really important, and we’re having them in all three phases, not just on defense. We’re identifying the adjustments and changes that we think will help us perform better, which is the main objective.”
The Cowboys will next play the Green Bay Packers on October 18, and they have a lot to look at before that bout.