After the Rio debacle, Dallas leaders own their failures to preserve locker room trust as the team pivots to a crucial showdown against the winless Texans.
The 1-2 Dallas Cowboys are turning their attention to the 0-3 Houston Texans in Week 4 on Sunday as they try to move on from the Rio debacle.
But one thing had to happen before the team could move on.
Those who doomed the team had to take accountability.
One was head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who publicly and privately took ownership of his failures in that now-infamous final 23 seconds.
And then defensive coordinator Christian Parker, whose questionable play call with seven seconds left, allowed the Baltimore Ravens to get into field goal range.
Both have taken the criticism. Both have taken accountability and have moved forward, knowing they both played a big role in Dallas losing that game.
And for Dak Prescott, he revealed why it was important for Schottenheimer and Parker to take responsibility for their failures in Rio.
"I think it's important," Dak said. "I think as a leader, as somebody that has to make a lot of decisions, even myself, when you mess up and you haven't made the decision or made the decision that you wanted to make, you have to do that.
"If not, you lose respect, and you lose trust. I know those are two of the better leaders I've been around in my time, and I wouldn't expect anything less."
And Prescott is right.
The pair had to admit when they made mistakes; otherwise, the rest of the locker room sees that, and that is how things can go sideways in a hurry.
Thankfully, both did exactly what Dak expected them to, but now, the key is not doing it again.
Because doing it once in Rio as a pair did is one thing. But doing it again after you know you shouldn't could open up a can of worms for the Cowboys.
As the Texans loom next on the schedule, the Cowboys know how crucial a win is against a winless Houston team, and the same issues that plagued it against Baltimore can't be seen on Sunday.
And going by what we've heard from both Schottenheimer and Parker, it won't be any time soon.
