Is Brian Schottenheimer’s first Cowboys season an improvement over Mike McCarthy’s last?

The brevity of the NFL season — just 17 games compared to the 82 or (gasp) 162 we reckon with in other major sports — allows for lots of fun with numbers. It allows for lots of mistakes to be made, too, and the 2025 Cowboys are certainly not immune.

Whether it’s any of us here locally or NBC’s Cris Collinsworth talking to a national audience, we all gave credence to the idea that Dallas’ defense had improved dramatically since the trade deadline acquisition of Quinnen Williams from the Jets, a time that also included the return of linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. But there weren’t really enough games on hand to know that, we just speculated on how it looked that way. Certainly the defense has gotten more stingy against the run.

But on this team bound for nowhere — again — we should at least re-examine those numbers. During the bye week, the Cowboys’ defense that we had all described as horrific ranked 31st in total defense, 31st in scoring defense and 32nd in passing yards allowed. With games against the Raiders, Eagles, Chiefs, Lions and Vikings now added to the mix, the Cowboys rank 29th in total defense, 31st in scoring defense and 32nd in passing defense.

Better against the run? Yes.

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Better in any meaningful way when it comes to keeping a good offense from producing points? Not in the least.

And that brings us to the story of 2025. The Cowboys at 6-7-1 have only the slender playoff hope of winning their last three games while Philadelphia loses all three. In all likelihood, the Eagles will defeat Washington on Saturday afternoon and stick a final fork in this Cowboys’ season before Dallas takes the field against the Chargers. So what is this season? How can it fairly be considered an improvement on 2024, which was disastrous enough that Mike McCarthy was fired?

For me, the Cowboys’ only chance to put the slightest positive spin on this season is to win their last three games and finish 9-7-1. I know that achieves nothing in terms of postseason glory and, in fact, slides them down the draft ladder when that comes calling in April. But it would make the Cowboys 6-2 after the bye week, and establish them as a team to at least be watched in 2026.

What if they can’t achieve that? What if they go 2-1 the final three weeks to finish 8-8-1? How in the world can that be considered improvement (assuming Dak Prescott remains healthy)? They were 7-10 last year with Dak missing nine games, not to mention those missed by Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence on the other side. One more victory (and a weird tie) with Dak making all 17 starts is hardly anyone’s idea of progress around here.

Not Brian Schottenheimer’s. “I’ve said it, I’m going to say it again, it starts with me. I have to be better. I will be better.”

Sounding more like Jason Garrett in Year 1 than anyone wants to really think about for too long.

And it’s not Jerry Jones’ idea of progress, either. “We certainly didn’t think we’d be here in this kind of shape with three games to go and have to be behind the 8-ball the way we are.”

No one thought that maybe after the win over the Chiefs. But everyone thought it after the loss to Arizona. There’s just too big a swing in perception with NFL teams, especially the Cowboys where every two-game win streak is the foundation for the next Lombardi Trophy and every two-game skid signals that the roof is collapsing (not just random panels falling) from AT&T Stadium.

It’s interesting to note that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn — brought to New York to fix the defense despite his very uneven work in that department in Detroit — fired his defensive coordinator Monday after a 48-20 loss to Jacksonville. I wonder if he even knows that after the Jets pulled the plug on this season, trading Williams to Dallas and cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts for future first-round picks, New York actually gave up fewer points per game without its two stars than it had in the first eight weeks … at least they had until a bad game against a hot Jaguars team. Now they are right back on the Cowboys’ tail at 28.4 points per game allowed.

Dallas is still coughing up an even 30.0 per game. Yes, the Cowboys have a more explosive offense this season. But the guy who nearly saved the game Sunday, running back Javonte Williams, is one they maybe can’t even afford next year. And George Pickens’ breakout season here means simply that he will be a very disgruntled player stuck with the franchise tag next year or one making at least $100 million in guaranteed money on the only side of the ball where Dallas ever makes those commitments.

And if that’s the case, then 8-8-1? What would it even mean? Jones has rearranged the deck chairs on his yacht once again, but he still doesn’t see that iceberg out there, waiting to derail it all one more time after 30 years of plotting courses that lead to disaster.

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