FRISCO, Texas -- A Dallas Cowboys season that started with optimism finds itself in peril.
Twelve games remain in the regular season, starting with Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). At 2-3, the Cowboys find themselves tied for second in the NFC East after Thursday's 24-16 loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer said the Cowboys "are just getting started" and time is on their side, but can they make the necessary improvement to be anything but a win-one, lose-one team?
Schottenheimer is now 9-12-1 as the Cowboys' head coach. They have won consecutive games once in his tenure -- Weeks 11-13 last season, when they improved to 6-5-1 overall.
Since then, Schottenheimer is 3-6.
"You've got to think more about 'now' than you do 'future,'" owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas the day after the loss to the Buccaneers. "That's not in acquiring talent as much as it is how you address practice this week, how you address how we approach playing Green Bay. Now all of this you say, 'We need better answers' and 'We need answers that sound like it could solve it all.' That's just not there, not that answer."
Jones has remained open to making more trades to bolster the roster, but the Cowboys have only four selections left in the 2027 draft (first-, second-, fourth- and seventh-round picks). They dealt their 2028 second-round pick to the Steelers to acquire Joey Porter Jr. on Oct. 1.
If they aren't stacking wins, would getting rid of more picks make sense?
Schottenheimer said he "believes the solution is in the room."
If it is, then the entire room will need to significantly improve.
Despite the changes in coaching, scheme and personnel, the Cowboys' defense remains sieve-like. They have allowed at least 378 yards and at least 20 points in each of their first five games.
Growing pains were expected in Christian Parker's first year as coordinator, but the defense in a lot of ways looks the same as the 2025 unit that finished near the bottom in every category.
Situationally, the defense has had stunning moments, too, such as giving up a 27-yard completion with seven seconds left to set up the Baltimore Ravens' game-winning field goal in Week 3 and allowing the Buccaneers to convert on third-and-21, which led to a touchdown drive. Before that play, teams were 1-of-29 when facing third-and-20 or longer on the season.
Offensively, the Cowboys have not met their own "Greatest Offense There Is" expectation. The run game delivered only 50 yards against the Buccaneers. Turnovers led to defeats in Week 1 (Giants) and Week 5 (Bucs).
Schottenheimer's game management has come under question in each of the past three weeks, including his playcalling at the end of the Ravens loss in Rio and the decision to opt for a touchback instead of kicking short to run time off the clock; the 65-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half against the Texans that was missed and led to Houston taking a 10-point lead; and the decision to go for two after the Cowboys cut Tampa Bay's lead to 24-16 with 5:26 to play.
Analytically, some of the decisions might be correct, but they seem to be made independently of the flow of the game or how the Cowboys are playing defensively.
"You certainly do react and you kind of see how the game's going," Schottenheimer said. "Sometimes when it's a low-scoring game, you might react a little bit differently than if it's a shootout or based on how you're playing. But it's a little bit of both. And what I can assure you is that the conversations are very, very strong during the week. And then on game day, it's more of a you have the conversation, you react based off of all the factors involved."
As quarterback, a lot of responsibility on how the Cowboys respond falls on quarterback Dak Prescott.
His goal now is to make sure "guys don't lose belief in one another."
"We control what we do, and whether it's offense, whether it's defense, whether it's just an individual and the way that he prepares and studies and takes care of his body and gives everything to this game," Prescott said. "So for me, it's just about being contagious and saying the right things to make sure my teammates understand that they control and we control our destiny."
Perhaps the extra time between the Buccaneers loss and Sunday's matchup with the Packers will do the Cowboys' bodies and minds some good. They just played three games in 12 days over two continents, although nobody in the organization used that as an excuse for their poor performance against Tampa Bay.
The saving grace has been the state of the NFC East.
Week 5 was a disaster for the everyone in the division: The Cowboys suffered their first home loss to a team 0-4 or worse since 1975; the Eagles (2-3) lost after blowing a one-point lead with eight seconds left; and the Giants (3-1-1) and Commanders (1-3-1) played to a tie as Washington saw the clock run out before it could attempt a winning field goal.
The Giants are atop the division but have lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart for the season. The Eagles are battling injuries and lost right tackle Lane Johnson to retirement last week. The Commanders have already had to play without their quarterback, Jayden Daniels, who wore a brace Sunday in his return from a dislocated left elbow.
"Thankfully, our division doesn't look like somebody has taken off and run with it, and everything's still in front of us. So that's the beauty of it and that's the unique part about an NFL season and these divisions. You know, we'd feel a lot worse if somebody in our division was 5-0 right now.
"So, having pretty much everything still out in front of us, gives us, gives myself, all the guys in the locker room, a lot of confidence about what's in front of us."