The Cowboys have a lot of issues, but one stands out above them all, and it's a longstanding problem that needs to be solved.
FRISCO - In some ways, the Dallas Cowboys under first-year Brian Schottenheimer showed improvement in 2025, but there was one big glaring issue that crippled the team time and time again.
Yes, we can look at the failures in the red zone.
Sure, we can look at the inability to score touchdowns in the latter stages of the season.
And no doubt we can listen to Schotty himself, who in our media visit this week here inside The Star, was asked to reflect on his biggest takeaway from Year 1 as the team's head coach.
"The first thing is, I'm gonna be the play-caller,'' he said. "I love being the play-caller here. I'm pretty good at it, I think. So, that's never going to change."
That's fine. But that reflection is not our "first thing.'' ...
Because we've seen something else that will make Cowboys Nation shake its collective head. And our "first thing'' resonates as a major reason why this seemingly talented team hasn't been able to get over the hump in the past handful of seasons.
Previous coach Mike McCarthy tried to fix it and couldn't. And in Schottenheimer's first year, it was the worst it has been for the past several years.
And that "it''? That "first thing''?
It's penalties.
How many times have we sat back after the Cowboys have lost and stated that the team shot itself in the foot with self-inflicted wounds? Too many.
And that not just your imagination or your "eye test.'' The stats are shocking.
In 2025, per Football Database, Schottenheimer's Cowboys led the entire NFL in penalties with 133. That includes 23 false starts, eight offsides, 14 offensive holding, and six delay of game.
That's 51 on the offense alone.
But let's go back through the years and see how bad Dallas' penalty problems have been.
In 2024, the Cowboys committed the fourth-most (128), in 2023 the third-most (115), in 2022 the ninth-most (104), and in 2021 they again led the league in penalties with 127.
So, over the last five years, Dallas has ranked first, fourth, third, ninth and first in penalties.
That's a problem.
Now, is that poor coaching? Players' lack of self-discipline? An absence of "FBIQ'' (football IQ)? Or is it something else?
We'll go with "All of the Above.''
In any event, this team fails because gets in its own way on the path to potential success.
Now, will that change under Schottenheimer in 2026? Will Dallas again be among the NFL leaders in penalties? Or is there suddenly going to be a collection of 2026 Cowboys who sport higher "FBIQs''?
There is a pile of issues Dallas has to fix, and Schottenheimer knows that. But his "first thing'' reflection is a slightly misguided one.
To turn from losers to winners? We say it's the penalty issue that teeters uncomfortably at the top of the Cowboys "To-Do List'' this offseason.
