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The Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Jets 37-22 on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Here’s everything Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said to the media after the game:
On how badly they needed a game that didn’t come down to the wire
“Well, I mean we talk about all the time, you don’t win the game in the first quarter, second quarter. We knew this game was going to come down to the fourth quarter, we knew they’d make a run. That’s a good football team, they’re talented, their defense made some really good adjustments but, man, I’m just so proud of – imagine going in with four brand new offensive lineman, receivers that are still learning and growing in. Ryan Flournoy, what can you say about him, how great he played. The defense man, what they did to Justin Fields today. He’s an incredible competitor because he’s going to be sore, because we hit him a bunch, we pressured him all over the place. Again, we talk about it all the time, it’s all about winning and we found a way to win. There’s going to be a lot to correct, a lot to fix and that’s what we do as coaches.”
On if Marist Liufau’s forced fumble was symbolic of what the defense was about today
“Yeah, I think so, we’ve been pretty good about complementary football the last couple weeks, sudden change we call it and I think we were pretty close to 100% today. But yeah, incredible play and thought the defense played physical, man. Thought Marist (Liufau) did that, the pass rush was incredible. Because I was sitting there working on calls, and I’d look up and just see Justin (Fields) on his back or running for his life. Great energy man, our guys expected to win this game, they expected to play well and I think that’s important and that’s what we’re trying to build.”
On having four backup offensive linemen start and being able to overcome that
“It’s not a testament to the coaches. It’s a testament to the players. The brotherhood that they believe in, the next man up mentality. I can’t honestly say though.. I don’t remember ever having to go on with four brand new offensive linemen. But again, I think it goes down to their belief in one another. I want to see the film, but I thought really, I thought Nate (Thomas) did some really good things. He’s a very, very talented young man, as we know. A little rotation going there, left guard, trying to get (OT) Hakeem (Adeniji) and (G) Trevor (Keegan) in there. But shoot, what you could say about (G) T.J. Bass, last couple games. But that was a little unique, for sure, going in with that deal.”
On how much it helps having QB Dak Prescott to manage the offensive line situation
“Yeah, I just, look, I think we’re spoiled. I think he’s one of the best players in the league. He’s certainly one of the best teammates and leaders I’ve ever been around. The guys believe in him. He’s playing with a ton of confidence right now, and that’s why you can do some of the things that we do. In terms of staying aggressive, I thought the game changed late in the second quarter, right, when we had the turnover, we got points, and then we got three-and-out. We were able to go, and Javonte (Williams) had the huge run. But that’s a little thing, Javonte knows he cannot get tackled in bounds. So, he’s trying to score, but you saw him kind of veer to the left saying, ‘OK, if I can’t get here, I gotta get out of bounds, because of the situation on the clock.’ And then, of course, a very similar call on the two-point play, where we jumped offsides, we snuck Fergie (Jake Ferguson) back across.”
On if having four new linemen changed any of the plans today or during the week
“No, I would say we went in with a plan. We did struggle to run the ball early. It’s a good front, man. (Jets DT Quinnen) Williams is an incredible player. I thought he played very well. Their backers are downhill. Takes a while to settle in. I thought the big run before the end of the first half was huge for us. But no, not really, I mean, we knew it’d be tough inside all day. (Jets head coach) Aaron (Glenn) and (Jets defensive coordinator) Steve (Wilks) love to load the box, and that’s what they did. So, we just kind of tried to stay with it. I probably got away from it a little bit in third quarter, I guess. And it was nice to be able to finish that way.”
On it being the first time in years that the Cowboys have had two 90-yard drives and the efficiency of being able to do something like that
“But we don’t necessarily want to do that. We’d like to have 90-yard touchdowns. If we can do that, we’ll take those. I guess we probably need to go draw some of those up, because we don’t have enough of them in the offense. Just the belief, again, these guys love playing football together. They believe in one another. We expect to play well. We don’t always, but again, I think, team football, NFL football, 60-minute game. And we needed that last drive because the defense was tired, because we were really (expletive) to start the second half on offense and that’s my fault. But man, that couple drives we put together late. The big touchdown to George (Pickens), what a great catch. And then the last touchdown to Javonte (Williams) was huge.”
On what was it like coming off the field at the end of the game for him personally and getting the win having been at the Jets previously
“I don’t even think about that… I’ll be honest with you. I really don’t. I’m a live in the moment guy. Saw some really dear friends on the Jets sideline, Bobby Mastrodi, security guard, so great to see. (Former Jets RB) Curtis Martin before the game, guys like that. These are guys that I bled with. But I’m a live in the moment guy. And again, it was special to be in that locker room and celebrate with those guys. And really, there’s a lot of things to celebrate, there’ll be a lot of things to clean up. But man, the effort and play style on both sides of the ball and special teams, I thought was terrific.”
On what the main message was to the team postgame
“The power of all about the ball. It’s two weeks in a row now we’ve won the turnover battle. We were 1-0 this week, took care of it again, got a goose egg for the second week. I think that’s huge. But we talked a lot about complementary football. In defense, getting stops, and again, we didn’t get as many out, but I’m telling you, when you watch the film, there’s going to be, you guys should do the math, because I’m not going to give you the numbers, but how many punches we had on the ball. I’m not going to give you guys the numbers, but there was going be a lot of them. They were serious about and intentional about trying to get that ball out.”
On having two straight weeks where the team has had two touchdowns in the last minute of the first half and what he attributes that to and how much that can swing a game in their favor
“Well, momentum is a huge part of it. We practice the game management stuff, I think. To the question earlier about Dak, that’s one of the great things about having a veteran quarterback. There’s nothing that he can’t handle, so it’s easy to communicate with him about those things. We have words that we describe situations, which kind of takes the guesswork out of it. So, we might call something blue — we don’t, but we might call it blue, and that tells him the mindset he’s in about the ball’s gotta get out of bounds, or the ball has to go in the end zone, or whatever it is. And I think that helps, but he’s a big part of our ability to manage those situations so well.”
On if there was anything that changed with the pass rush in practice because they looked like a different group
“Yeah, I noticed it, I think there’s definitely some more pressure. We’re bringing more five-man pressures, but Dante Fowler, I thought he was incredible today, the speed and agility that he had. But it was just, it was multiple guys. I mean, when you hit a quarterback, especially an athletic quarterback like Justin (Fields), and you keep him in the pocket, and you don’t let him, we let Breece Hall get a couple of runs on us, and I’ll get a look at that. But I thought the pass rush was so disruptive, and from having played the position, coached the quarterbacks forever, man. It’s hard when you’re getting hit like that, because it does affect you.”
On if there was any sense coming out today that it was going to be a big day for WR Ryan Flournoy
“No, and I love Flo (Flournoy), I really do. You talk about one of the most selfless people you’ll ever be around. All he ever does is work, but I have seen flashes of that in practice. But we knew Sauce (Gardner) was going to match GP (Pickens), we knew that was going to be a big battle. I wish GP would have got out of there. They made a slight adjust, and he almost got out of it, but so happy for Flo. This guy’s been through so much, and he’s worked his way up the depth chart, and played special teams, and then was waiting for an opportunity. And that’s what you get excited about, like when we go watch the film of Nate Thomas or Ryan Flournoy or guys like that, they get thrown in the mix and then they have success. So important because they can build on that.”
On if the win is a good thing after last week’s tie
“Yeah, I still don’t know how to handle the tie, but yes, I mean, we always play to win, we always expect to win. We obviously haven’t won all of our games, but I do think this was a good building moment for our football team. It was great to see the defense have the flashes. We played pretty soft late, protecting the lead, so they got some yards on us late. I think (LB) Shemar James had 15 tackles, they were checking it down. But again, watch the amount of guys running to the football, tackling when Justin (Fields) was checking it down in late, in a fourth quarter, of a game. That’s when you know you’re made of the right stuff, and this football team is made of the right stuff. That’s why we’re going to win a lot of games.”
On the defense today looking like it played its best game of the season and what he attributes that to
“I would say it starts with the coaches. (Defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus is a hell of a defensive coach. He and his staff made some changes. I thought some of the changes we made were good. We mixed it up. I thought he called a really good game, but it all starts with the ability to win up front. If you can win the line scrimmage, which I thought we did, certainly in the passing game, that’s a huge part of it. So, it starts with the guys up front, and when you can affect the quarterback, and then we obviously were able to get a lead, which helped, that gives you a chance and just proud of the whole defense. They’ve taken their bruises and they’ve come out on the other side. Have to do it again next week. This is one game, midnight rule still applies. We won this game, and it still applies. Last week we tied, it still applies. As soon as I get out of here, I’m going to have a shotty, get on the plane, and try to get back to Dallas.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 7:56 PM.
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Jim Barnes
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