You Are The Coach. You Trust Your QB. What's Your Call?

[Shane612]

Brian Schottenheimer said he overcoached his quarterback and admitted his mistake (link). He said he trusts and acknowledges his quarterback, "...doesn't play the game that way (link)."

Obviously, Schottenheimer cautioned his quarterback not throw based on what he saw. Below is a split-screen. On the left is third-and-goal, from the five, right hash mark, fourth quarter, last Sunday. Pre-snap read: Nate Wiggins has press coverage on George Pickens. On the right is second-and-goal, from the five, right hash mark, first quarter, December 2024. Pre-snap read: DaRon Bland allows a 4-yard cushion on Ja'Marr Chase:

How would you coach your quarterback before the down based on the pre-snap look?

Great example.
Pickins created much more space than Chase on a very similar. It would have e been an easy TD.

 

[GINeric]

There is nothing to suggest a flag was imminent, but even if the flag came out, so what? If the Ravens accept the penalty the Cowboys are still in FG range and get another shot at the endzone. The Ravens would likely have refused the penalty and the Cowboy's kick the FG on 4th down.

The flag excuse is probably the weakest of excuse of them all to absolve Prescott for giving up on the play way to soon.

Again, my focus wasn't even about the flags or the refs. He was told to throw the ball away if his first read wasn't open. I keep looking at the video to see if something changed but everytime I watch it, I don't see his first read open until the ball was launched.

I also see the RT pushed back into his face as well, so what should he have done, disobeyed the safest play instructed by the head coach and took a chance of getting sacked with no timeouts left?

Yeah that would have been smart. But when we tied it up preparing for overtime, what was the reason we didn't get to go into overtime? Who was at fault for the things that transpired after the game tying fg with a measly 7 seconds left?

 

[GINeric]

Do coaches at this level give instructions in an absolute manner?
Would a coach say throw the ball away NO MATTER WHAT?
.
If Dak would have taken 0.75 sec to scan the field he would have seen Pickins or #19.

Are you sure about that with the RT getting pushed back into the pocket? Do you think that RTs block would have held up for 7 seconds based upon their recent protection history?

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Berate you? Where and when did I berate you? Now about the Giants game... Dak is in his 11th year and has played tons of NFL football. Why would a week one game be too big for an 11 year NFL perennial top 10 veteran? Week one?? That doesn't make sense. I said something about people talking about Dak sweating but it was damn near 90 degrees that night with high humidity. What athlete doesn't sweat in 80s and 90s with high humidity? If you go back and look at that game, there were many players on both teams that were soaked with sweat before the game started. Thats why I thought it was dumb and weird for people to have only brought up Dak sweating like he was the only one.

Dak was sweating in the game against Washington while we were way ahead on the scoreboard too if you go back an watch the film. I guess that was interpreted as he was nervous for the Cowboys to be winning? Smh....

Was that you earlier saying something was a opinion and not a fact to someone? Just pointing out you taking your own opinion as fact. As for why Dak panicked in the season opener, surprising me amongst others, was it suddenly turned into a big game, because a bit of patriotism by the Giants and their fans being a game honoring 9/11. But you can pretend to ignore that, that very point was brought up that night. Why he panicked, you have to ask him, not me. Also you are exaggerating the temperature, I had remember seeing and hearing them talk about it. Not 80's and espeically not 90's

The temperature at kickoff for the Dallas Cowboys game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on September 13, 2026, was 77°F (with a "feels like" temperature of 76°F). [1]

Game Weather Breakdown

Game Time / Quarter	Temperature	Feels Like	Wind Speed
Kickoff (Q1)	77°F	76°F	5 mph
Quarter 2	79°F	76°F	2 mph
Quarter 3	75°F	76°F	3 mph
Quarter 4	75°F	75°F	—

 

[Shane612]

Are you sure about that with the RT getting pushed back into the pocket? Do you think that RTs block would have held up for 7 seconds based upon their recent protection history?

Dak had ample time to give Pickins a chance to make a catch.

 

[GINeric]

Dak had ample time to give Pickins a chance to make a catch.

That may have been true, but you never answered my question. If the RT was pushed back into the pocket in the first 2, 3 seconds, how do you think that would have played out if you said hold it for 7 seconds? Would that have been smart to do without any timeouts left?

The coach told him to throw it away if his first read wasn't open. Thats what he did.

 

[Shane612]

That may have been true, but you never answered my question. If the RT was pushed back into the pocket in the first 2, 3 seconds, how do you think that would have played out if you said hold it for 7 seconds? Would that have been smart to do without any timeouts left?

The coach told him to throw it away if his first read wasn't open. Thats what he did.

I didn’t say 7 second.
7 second is an eternity in football.
Wear your reading glasses.
Cowboy got beat in 7 seconds.

 

[noshame]

If it's there, take it

 

[GINeric]

Dak had ample time to give Pickins a chance to make a catch.

Well the coach shouldn't have told him to throw it away if his first read wasn't open.

 

[Tabascocat]

Well the coach shouldn't have told him to throw it away if his first read wasn't open.

Dak didn’t give his first read enough time to develop, he just fired it in the stands. The RT wasn’t that close, he could have waited another second or two.

 

[Vtwin]

Again, my focus wasn't even about the flags or the refs.

I had just read numerous posts of yours focusing on the flag as one of your "what ifs". I quoted you focusing on the flag in my post. Come on now.

He was told to throw the ball away if his first read wasn't open. I keep looking at the video to see if something changed but everytime I watch it, I don't see his first read open until the ball was launched.

Yes, because Prescott panicked and chucked it. He didn't even need to hold it for a full Mississippi longer to let the route develop.

I also see the RT pushed back into his face as well, so what should he have done, disobeyed the safest play instructed by the head coach and took a chance of getting sacked with no timeouts left?

More what ifs. He had time and space to make a play. This what if mentality is the epitome of playing not to lose, aka playing scared. He can always chuck it when actually in imminent danger of being sacked.

Yeah that would have been smart. But when we tied it up preparing for overtime, what was the reason we didn't get to go into overtime? Who was at fault for the things that transpired after the game tying fg with a measly 7 seconds left?

What happened after this play has absolutely nothing to do with this play.

 

[GINeric]

Was that you earlier saying something was a opinion and not a fact to someone? Just pointing out you taking your own opinion as fact. As for why Dak panicked in the season opener, surprising me amongst others, was it suddenly turned into a big game, because a bit of patriotism by the Giants and their fans being a game honoring 9/11. But you can pretend to ignore that, that very point was brought up that night. Why he panicked, you have to ask him, not me. Also you are exaggerating the temperature, I had remember seeing and hearing them talk about it. Not 80's and espeically not 90's

The temperature at kickoff for the Dallas Cowboys game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on September 13, 2026, was 77°F (with a "feels like" temperature of 76°F). [1]

Game Weather Breakdown

Game Time / Quarter	Temperature	Feels Like	Wind Speed
Kickoff (Q1)	77°F	76°F	5 mph
Quarter 2	79°F	76°F	2 mph
Quarter 3	75°F	76°F	3 mph
Quarter 4	75°F	75°F	—

Again... why would the moment be too big for Dak in a week one game? Dak led Cowboys are 14-4 against the Giants. I do believe he's had a couple of weeks one openings in NY and helped the Cowboys win there a couple of times.

Oh yeah, about those temperatures that night in NY. I was wrong about the initial temperatures but I noticed you conveniently left out the humidity percentage that night. Tell me what the humidity was that night and what does the weather feel like with humidity this high.

You also posted the temperatures of the game at kickoff, but im sure you're smart enough to know that the temperatures are warmer two hours before the game when players are warming up and working up a sweat right?

https://www.nflweather.com/games/2026/week-1/cowboys-at-giants

What was that humidity count? Humidity does matter, correct?

 

[Shane612]

Well the coach shouldn't have told him to throw it away if his first read wasn't open.

Dak can’t think on his own?
Was Pickins his second read?
Watch the play. Dak never looked else where.
.
If he threw it to Pickins and won the game would Dak been disciplined for disobeying orders?
Your idiotic logic has no bound.

 

[charron]

I'm always telling my quarterback to throw the ball where where his receiver has the best chance to make a play on the ball and the defender has a worse chance to make a play on the ball. That's just normal. But when the game's on the line absolutely try to make a play go for the win. If he wasn't wide open I would get throwing it away but the guy was open. And honestly if Dak just missed him, oh I didn't see him cuz Marie was here. Whatever I don't understand it sound but if but if what schottenheimer said is true. He's just told to throw it away in that situation and he wasn't really even giving it a chance and he saw him open and decided to throw it away. No, that's unacceptable

 

[GINeric]

I had just read numerous posts of yours focusing on the flag as one of your "what ifs". I quoted you focusing on the flag in my post. Come on now.


Yes, because Prescott panicked and chucked it. He didn't even need to hold it for a full Mississippi longer to let the route develop.

More what ifs. He had time and space to make a play. This what if mentality is the epitome of playing not to lose, aka playing scared. He can always chuck it when actually in imminent danger of being sacked.

What happened after this play has absolutely nothing to do with this play.

For the record if you go back and read, someone else brought up the flag aspect first, I just commented on it. I never said whether or not the ref would have thrown the flag on Pickens. That play wasn't even the reason we loss the game, so the refs were irrelevant to that play in my eyes.

Its hilarious that you called a RT being pushed back into the pocket a "what if". Thats hilarious because the video proved it was a "what actually was".

We do agree on one thing. I also felt that they didn't play to win that game towards the end, and that falls on the head coach. Schotty calls the plays and its Schotty's responsibility to manage situational football.

 

[GINeric]

Dak can’t think on his own?
Was Pickins his second read?
Watch the play. Dak never looked else where.
.
If he threw it to Pickins and won the game would Dak been disciplined for disobeying orders?
Your idiotic logic has no bound.

You just answered your own question. Apparently Pickens was his first read. The first read wasn't open, the RT was pushed back into his face, and he did the smart play by getting rid of it like his head coach told him to, knowing we didn't have any timeouts.

Your idiot logic and extremely low football IQ wouldn't win games in Pop Warner. There's a reason these players and coaches are where they are and a reason you're not paid to make decisions in the NFL.

You wouldn't make it pass the initial interview with GMs and coaches who quiz you on situational football and other scenarios. You'd be out of that office in 30 seconds.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Again... why would the moment be too big for Dak in a week one game? Dak led Cowboys are 14-4 against the Giants. I do believe he's had a couple of weeks one openings in NY and helped the Cowboys win there a couple of times.

Oh yeah, about those temperatures that night in NY. I was wrong about the initial temperatures but I noticed you conveniently left out the humidity percentage that night. Tell me what the humidity was that night and what does the weather feel like with humidity this high.

You also posted the temperatures of the game at kickoff, but im sure you're smart enough to know that the temperatures are warmer two hours before the game when players are warming up and working up a sweat right?

https://www.nflweather.com/games/2026/week-1/cowboys-at-giants

What was that humidity count? Humidity does matter, correct?

I know you probably disagree, but Dak doesn't have the reputation of being a Big Game or Playoff quarterback because he is not good under pressure. It is your opinion it was humidity; it is my opinion that the pressure was up, because it was a 9/11 game in new york, and he wasn't ready for the big game atmosphere he got. I didn't mention humidity, because my quick search didn't show it and I thought Feels like is good enough since humidity tends to increase feels like, but since the feels like was lower than the actual temperature, I guess the humidity help cool down the the players? To me its yet another excuse, but you are free to your own opinion. My opinion is he cracked under pressure; your's is it was hot and humid and yet he didn't switch to a helmet without a shield to help himself.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Dak can’t think on his own?
Was Pickins his second read?
Watch the play. Dak never looked else where.
.
If he threw it to Pickins and won the game would Dak been disciplined for disobeying orders?
Your idiotic logic has no bound.

Yes he never looked anywhere else and took no time at all to throw it away.

 

[Hadenough]

I’m calling a quick slant to Pickens. Telling Dak fire that ball right into his belly.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

I'm always telling my quarterback to throw the ball where where his receiver has the best chance to make a play on the ball and the defender has a worse chance to make a play on the ball. That's just normal. But when the game's on the line absolutely try to make a play go for the win. If he wasn't wide open I would get throwing it away but the guy was open. And honestly if Dak just missed him, oh I didn't see him cuz Marie was here. Whatever I don't understand it sound but if but if what schottenheimer said is true. He's just told to throw it away in that situation and he wasn't really even giving it a chance and he saw him open and decided to throw it away. No, that's unacceptable

I just see this whole thing of well he was just following the coaches call as a bit lame. I can see it, in that Dak never looked elsewhere, but that to me isn't good quarterback play either to get a good view of the field and telegraph where you going to throw it to. But I'm just thinking who is the playcaller. I mean when he got hired, I was exactly what makes him someone special you want to hire? The reason I bring that up, is when I see that play it makes me think of the good old days of when John Madden was the color commentator. And with that much time on the clock he would always say that the QB has another shot at the endzone to take. So Madden Philosophy of having another shot at the endzone versus a no name unproven coach that hasn't done anything here.... I'm going with one more shot at the endzone, over being overly conservative, which helped to the events to lost us the game.

Then we are getting fed double narratives at the same time by the same people I think. On one hand Dak was mad at the coach and yelling at the sidlines, which I didn't get from watching the highlights. On the other hand it supposedly was the right play and Dak was a good boy and followed the play because it was situational football. Which is in? Why two Narratives. Suspicious.