Brian Schottenheimer’s timeout decisions were suspect at best
If you simulated Sunday night’s Dallas Cowboys game against the Green Bay Packers 100 times then the visitors probably lose a significant majority of them. I don’t know how you could argue otherwise right now.
In reality the Cowboys did lose, 23-23, and did so in a way that the final score doesn’t properly reflect.
There were a lot of things wrong with what Dallas did at Lambeau Field, but one thing was really difficult to process as it was unfolding in real time: Brian Schottenheimer’s timeout strategy.
Schottenheimer’s timeout decisions were suspect at best
Let’s set the stage.
After the Dak Prescott interception where CeeDee Lamb fell down the Packers took over at their own 23-yard line with 1:50 left before halftime. They had all 3 of their timeouts, and the Cowboys had 2 remaining. It should also be noted that the Packers were set to receive the second half kickoff given that Dallas took the ball when they won the opening coin toss.
The Packers began to move, and following a Joey Porter Jr. pass interference they had a new set of downs at the Dallas 27-yard line. At this point there was 53 seconds left and Green Bay had burnt one of their timeouts.
Green Bay handed the ball off to Pierre Strong and he picked up 4 yards. The clock showed 46 seconds left and a timeout was called. NBC’s Mike Tirico was setting up a point about how the Packers were burning one of theirs, and then seemed surprised that the Cowboys were the team who called it.
“And the Packers… hold on to those two timeouts. Now one is taken… by Dallas, I believe.”
When the broadcast came back from commercial Tirico speculated that maybe the Cowboys wanted to save hope of getting the ball back before halftime. Sure, that is plausible in a literal sense.
But a few plays later the Packers converted another third down (shocker) by way of Jordan Love finding Matthew Golden. Golden came down in bound sat the Dallas 2-yard line. Brian Schottenheimer called his final timeout.
Why? What could the strategy have possibly been at this point? Tirico was similarly sort of shocked as he was setting the stage.
“Clock continues to run. 28 seconds, it’s first and goal. And a timeout taken… Dallas takes its final timeout before first and goal.”
The absolute best explanation you can come up with here is that Schottenheimer was trying to get his defense set. Maybe the most obvious answer is the actual one. But each of these times the timeouts were called right away. If Schottenheimer wanted to change personnel he could have let the Packers line up and then called it. At least that way more time would have been burned off of the clock. He literally called each of these two timeouts at the time that most benefitted Green Bay.
Look at in the game log. It is difficult to understand.
The only real explanation is that Schottenheimer maybe somehow believed that Dallas was going to have time to mount a drive themselves? But even then, that is a huge stretch. The situations in question would have involved time running out before at the very least a Packers field goal and that would have left the Cowboys with very little time (and no timeouts!) to give a possession their full go.
Again, I’d be willing to buy the theory that he wanted to get the defense set if he at least let some time trickle off the clock. But he did not.
This is very difficult to explain.
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