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."
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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.