Now in his second season as the Dallas Cowboys head coach, Brian Schottenheimer is no stranger to criticism. But after Dallas fell 24-16 to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that entered 0-4 and started a rookie quarterback, former Cowboys WR Dez Bryant aimed at one call in particular. He made it clear he wasn’t interested in excuses.

“I don’t care if we got the 2; I still think that wasn’t a smart decision. Knowing you’re down 7 vs down 8 makes a difference… smh,” Dez Bryant posted on X.

The Cowboys caught a break (?) in the fourth quarter after scoring a touchdown. However, instead of going for a safe extra point, Dallas went for a two-pointer and subsequently failed.

Quarterback Dak Prescott looked for Ryan Flournoy, but the pass was overthrown and was also broken up by Tampa Bay’s Keionte Scott. The miss kept Tampa Bay’s lead at eight instead of six, and the score stayed at 24-16.

It was an unfortunate end to a drive that covered 99 yards in 10 plays. The Cowboys got possession one more time after this, but Dak Prescott was intercepted. Tampa Bay ran away with a much-needed victory soon after.

“That’s our philosophy— when you’re down 14, especially with our offense, because when you get it, you have a chance to go and win the game, and you make it a six-point game,” Schottenheimer said after the game, via Cowboys insider Patrik Walker. “That was kind of our philosophy at that point. We just didn’t get it executed.”

The Dallas Cowboys gave up opportunities they were not supposed to. Late in the fourth quarter, with a win already out of their hands, Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving rushed for 22 yards on a first down. It had Jerry Jones exit his suite before the clock ran out.

“Heartbreaking,” Bryant tweeted after the game. And it was exactly so for Cowboys Nation.

The Cowboys defense saw the Buccaneers torch their field with 214 rushing yards, highlighted by a 72-yard gain from Irving right at the beginning of the third quarter. There were mistakes on the offense too; Prescott was intercepted twice in the game.

At halftime, Brian Schottenheimer owned up to the fact that his play calling wasn’t good enough, particularly in how the offense handled Tampa Bay’s blitz, and the way the game unfolded proved him right.

“I gotta call better plays, No. 1,” Schottenheimer said. “We’ll make some good adjustments right here, but it’s gotta start with me calling better plays.”

On the other hand, Tampa Bay finished with 419 yards of offense and held on at AT&T Stadium. Irving carried 21 times for 165 yards and a touchdown.

“Hats off to our defense,” said rookie QB Jalon Daniels. “They played lights-out the whole entire game. Alex Anzalone, being able to get that game-winning interception, I appreciate those guys. Offensively, we went out there and were able to execute our game plan.”

Daniels was sharp while filling in for Baker Mayfield, who was out injured. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, good for a 110.2 passer rating.

“We were definitely supposed to win this game,” Prescott said after the game. “That we’re supposed to have on paper or whichever way you want to look at it. I think Schotty said it best in the locker room, in this league, you’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win. When a winless team comes into your home stadium on a Thursday night primetime game, yeah, we’re supposed to win that. It sucks and right up there close to embarrassing, but I don’t know if I would say that.”

No wonder why Tez Bryant was disappointed.