The Cowboys' offense has been good in Brian Schottenheimer's first year, but Dak Prescott expects it to be better in Year 2.
There's no denying that the big plus for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025 has been the offense under Dak Prescott and Brian Schottenheimer.
Many have called it a Super Bowl-caliber offense with Dak playing at a Pro Bowl level (4,482 yards, 30 TDs, 10 interceptions), CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens both surpassing 1,000 receiving yards, and running back Javonte Williams and his 1,201 rushing yards.
The Cowboys averaged 28.4 points per game (ranks fourth), but it was the defense that let Dallas down time and time again. Of course, the offense had its troubles too, but, for the most part, the poor defense was a blight on the season.
But let's not forget, this was Schottenheimer's first year in the big chair, controlling the offense, and if we are being honest, it was a good one.
And for Dak, as 7-8-1 Dallas is ready today for its season finale at New York, he's saying he expects things to get even better in 2026.
“We've had a good year one under our belt, we know kind of what we want, what we want to do, how we want to attack,” Prescott said. “I'm pretty sure we can get into this offseason and figure out, these were our weaknesses, we need to get better here and create some more strengths there.
"But we should definitely be able to take a big jump, and that's one of the keys in talking about momentum and using these last couple of games for the offseason.”
Entering the offseason, I have this thought.
If the Cowboys bring back Pickens and Williams, both of whom are free agents, the offense is mostly set for 2026.
That leaves the draft, in which Dallas has two first-round draft picks, and free agency (with ample cap space) to fully focus on fixing this horror defense.
We have often said that if the Cowboys' defense had been just average in 2025, this would have been a playoff team without question.
But the defense hasn't been good aside from a three-game stretch, and wouldn't you know it, Dallas beat the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in consecutive weeks.
So, Dak is right. Expect a big jump from the offense in 2026.
But it will all be for nothing if the defense doesn't find a way to seriously improve this offseason.
And make no mistake, the Cowboys have the draft capital and the cap space to do it.