5 takeaways from Cowboys’ home finale loss to Chargers: Maybe a change comes now

In the Dallas Cowboys’ final home game of the season, the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers entered AT&T Stadium and came away with a 34-17 win to move to 11-4.

The loss ensured Dallas (6-8-1) will finish without a winning season for the second consecutive year.

The first half was a points bonanza, with the Chargers taking a 21-17 lead into the halftime break after both teams found offensive success. However, the defenses adjusted in the second half — one better than the other — and the Chargers blanked the Cowboys’ offense over the final 30 minutes for the win.

Just two games remain in the Cowboys’ season, and the team is already showing signs of looking to the future.

Here are five takeaways as Dallas begins to put its offseason plans together:

Could a change come before the end of the season?

In Sunday’s game, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus coached from the booth for the first time this season in a move that the staff hoped would allow the defense to make quicker adjustments throughout the game. Well, different approach, same result.

The Cowboys’ defense allowed over 400 yards (452) for the sixth time this season, while Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw for more yards (300) in this one than he had in any game in the past two months. The Los Angeles offense averaged 7.3 yards per play and scored over 31 points for just the second time all season.

It’s become a troubling trend for a Cowboys defense that hasn’t been able to stop anything over the course of the season — much less an offense for a team destined for the playoffs.

As Eberflus’ job comes more into focus in the final two weeks, could Dallas elect to make an early decision on his future? It most likely won’t happen on a short week with a game on Thursday, but one final game with an interim coordinator in place could give Dallas a jump-start at evaluating a future candidate.

Brian Schottenheimer will need work in the offseason, too

As a play-caller, Brian Schottenheimer has mostly found success with his unit.

It has been far from perfect, but he has a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in his first season calling plays for the Cowboys. However, some situational play-calling has to get cleaned up.

After a strong performance in the first half that saw Dallas put 17 points on the scoreboard and 216 yards of total offense together, the second half saw the first-team offense go scoreless and finish back-to-back drives with fourth-down misses.

On the first, a fullback dive to Hunter Luepke was read the whole way by the Chargers’ defense. On the second, a third-down deep shot to KaVontae Turpin set up a fourth-down play that didn’t allow for any movement toward Prescott’s strong side as he scrambled.

Schottenheimer has been keen on looking at postgame tape to see how he can get better, referring to them as “after-action reports.” An after-action report on the whole season could benefit his play-calling as well.

Again, the George Pickens noise was silly

While the offense certainly had its issues in the second half of this game, George Pickens was the one constant.

After his worst two-game stretch as a member of the Cowboys — posting just 70 yards on eight receptions — Pickens exploded for a 130-yard day on seven receptions. The highlight came on a 38-yard go-ball score that saw him beat one-on-one coverage off the line and streak the sideline for the easy score.

The performance etched Pickens into the top 10 of single-season receiving totals in franchise history, as he now sits eighth in team history with 1,342 yards.

The noise that he took from the two lackluster performances was worth pointing out, but it wasn’t deserving of the effort concerns or long-term questions that began to circulate. In conclusion, Pickens will be just fine.

Tyler Smith sustains value at left tackle

For most of the season, the Cowboys have had issues at both tackle positions. At left tackle, Tyler Guyton has started 10 games and has allowed 31 quarterback pressures, while Nate Thomas has started four games and has allowed 23 pressures. At right tackle, Terence Steele has started every game and has allowed 43 pressures.

With Guyton missing his fourth consecutive game with a high ankle sprain, the Cowboys opted to push Tyler Smith from left guard out to left tackle against the Chargers, a position he has started at in 20 of his 60 career games.

The official pressure numbers won’t be available until the morning after the game, but Smith provided much more reliable protection to Prescott’s blind side than what we’ve seen throughout the season.

With the Cowboys no longer having a financial reason to keep Smith inside at left guard after he signed an offseason extension, maybe the Fort Worth native could be a long-term option at left tackle. Considering Guyton’s college position was right tackle, a move could make sense for the Oklahoma alum if the team decides to move on from Steele.

Cowboys won’t have a WR3 problem in 2026

When wide receiver Ryan Flournoy went down in the second quarter with a knee injury, somebody needed to step up into the third pass-catching role. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

Pickens and Lamb sustained their productive afternoons, but they failed to get any supplementary help from the receivers behind them on the depth chart when Flournoy exited the game. It’s a reminder of how productive Flournoy has been when the ball has gone his way this season.

On the team’s first drive, he fought through a tackler on the goal line for his fourth touchdown of the season, and he should have had another if it weren’t for a Tyler Smith holding call on a play that ended in Flournoy hauling in a tough touchdown grab.

As the Cowboys look to the future down the stretch, one thing they don’t have to worry about with Flournoy: They have their WR3.

This story was originally published December 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM.