Brian Schottenheimer delivers brutal Cowboys 'truth' after Panthers loss

The Dallas Cowboys dropped to 2-3-1 on the season after getting overrun by Rico Dowdle and the Carolina Panthers in a poor 30-27 loss.

Dowdle and his 183 rushing yards from 30 carries simply overwhelmed the Dallas defensive line, with Rico, at times, not touched until five or six yards downfield, and sometimes, there were back-to-back gains of eight or nine yards on the ground.

Dallas got beaten up, and the worst part is the defense knew what was coming, given Carolina's desire to run the ball, and Dowdle feasted in a way that was embarrassing for the Cowboys' defense.

When asked what his message was to the team after the Panthers loss, head coach Brian Schottenheimer didn't pull any punches.

“I told them the truth,” Schottenheimer said. “I told them that we did not play that game physical enough. When you look at it, they controlled the line of scrimmage, they owned the line of scrimmage. That's part of our identity, we were not surprised by it, but at the same time it was one game, and we know we can be a physical football team.”

More: Cowboys get odd grade after Panthers beatdown

Cowboys need to sort out defense

Whether it is a change in scheme or personnel, Matt Eberflus needs to make adjustments because, as things stand, the current setup cannot continue. Having one of the worst defenses in football means wasting one of the best offenses in football.

One could make the case that, through the first six weeks, had this Dallas defense been "average," then the Cowboys might have had four or five wins instead of two. But alas, here we are, needing answers to what this defense can do to turn things around.

Schottenheimer stated that the team is going to " ride this thing out" and "get better," but we have been hearing that for weeks, fans need to see proper change and until they do, this team will score 30 points per game, but concede just as much, and as the Cincinnati Bengals of last season can attest to, that won't be enough to secure playoff football.

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