Cowboys offense has kept it 'vanilla' all preseason; here's what to expect when Dak Prescott starts to cook

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer made it clear all preseason what his squad was going to show in their joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 5 and all three of the team's preseason games from a schematic perspective: nothing. 

"Don't read too much into it, guys. We literally played two coverages. We kept all of our clubs in the bag. It's like we were out there playing with a 7 iron," Schottenheimer said at training camp on Aug. 6, a day after the joint practice with the Rams. "We're going to be playing with a 7 iron most of the preseason."  

Now that there are only nine days from the Cowboys kicking off the 2025 NFL season at the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas is readying to unveil its offense with Schottenheimer on the headset for the first time. So what will that look like on Sept. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field? 

"An exciting offense," Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Monday. "We've kept it vanilla for a reason, so we're excited about getting out there and putting it all on display next Thursday."    

Prescott made sure to clarify that Schottenheimer's attack wouldn't foundationally be all too different from former head coach Mike McCarthy, whom Schottenheimer served as the non-play-calling offensive coordinator for the last two seasons. 

"He's been here before and was key in installing some of the plays in the past," Prescott said of Schottenheimer. "So he understands the importance of the play-caller's purpose and me understanding the importance of what he wants to do."  

So what will be different under Schottenheimer? Dallas will mix in more play-action concepts, closer to the top five rate it was used at in 2023 (27.7%, fifth-highest in the NFL) while also implementing more motion and cut splits. That's been obvious even with the "vanilla "playbook that's been utilized all offseason from organized team activities (OTAs) to mandatory minicamp, training camp and the preseason.  

"I think he [Prescott] and I working together along with the rest of the guys putting together the system, there'll be tweaks. There's going to be changes," Schottenheimer said at his introductory press conference in January. "We'll have tons of communication moving forward on some of the thoughts of things we want to do whether it's tempo, or some of the different things we're trying to do with our play-action passing game, the run game, things like that.  ...  I'm a big believer in cut splits. I'm a big believer in shifts, in motions to distort things. We're going to do a great job of marrying our runs and our passes and make those look the same."

* Per NFL Pro/NFL's Next Gen Stats

Schottenheimer also wants to make up-tempo offense a staple of the Cowboys offense, not just something they use out of desperation when trailing. Dallas trailed for the 10th-most amount of game time (8:08:58) last season, which led to it having the shortest time between plays (33.2 seconds on average) in the NFL. However, that was very predictable because of the game script Dallas was stuck in after falling behind early.  

"I would say there's a tempo element that we're excited to mix in that our players have all shown an affinity for it, and let me expand on that a little bit. Why do players like tempo?" Schottenheimer asked rhetorically at his introductory press conference in January. "They like tempo because it allows them to play free. You guys have heard some of the play calls; Dak can rattle off four or five of them right now. They're pretty long. So when you go fast, you're playing on the ball, it's a little more like pickup basketball. Those would probably be the biggest things that I would say from an offensive standpoint." 

What will remain the same for Prescott when executing Schottenheimer's offense is how he approaches using his feet and lower body despite returning to the field for the first time in 305 days when he tore his hamstring on Nov. 3 in Atlanta.

"For me, it's about doing more running than I've done in the past years, and whether it be at practice or just throughout the week to make sure I'm ready for game one. Whether it's a lot of running or whenever it is down the season, just making sure my body is ready for it."

Prescott would feel ready to roll no matter who the opponent on the other side of the line of scrimmage was. It just so happens that opponent will be the defending champion Eagles in front of a raucous, celebratory Philadelphia crowd for Super Bowl LIX banner night. 

"It doesn't matter who the hell you're going against," Prescott said. "Much respect and credit to them, but the emotions would just be about this team, and us starting the right way."