Brian Schottenheimer cost the Dallas Cowboys a win in Rio de Janeiro. That is the bottom line from the Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil, and there is no hiding it.

Some people have lashed out at quarterback Dak Prescott for not throwing it to wide receiver George Pickens on third-and-goal. Some have said Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s defense still has major problems. Some have pointed to practice squad cornerback Reddy Steward losing Zay Flowers in coverage on the final play of the game. Others have cited kicker Brandon Aubrey’s two out-of-bounds kickoffs as a costly issue.

A lot of players made mistakes on Sunday. But Schottenheimer made four to five decisions in the final stretch of the game alone that were indefensible. Let’s break it down.

First-and-goal: Why not run the football?

The Cowboys drove the ball downfield and reached first-and-goal at the 2-yard line following a pass interference call on Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins. Dallas had one timeout remaining and chose not to run the football.

To be fair, there’s a case for Schottenheimer here. Maybe the coaching staff feared a sack that would burn the timeout and leave the Cowboys unable to line up for a field goal in time. I’m willing to give him a pass on this one.

So make it a sideways thumb for this one instead of a full thumbs down. 

Cowboys call timeout at 14 seconds

This was the massive mistake. After a false start moved Dallas back to the 7-yard line, Prescott scrambled on second-and-goal for two yards. Schottenheimer immediately called a timeout with 14 seconds on the clock.

Keep in mind, by this point, Schottenheimer had already decided the Cowboys would kick a field goal on fourth down rather than go for it. He had an argument to go for it, considering Dallas’s secondary was decimated with multiple backup cornerbacks and safeties on the field. You don’t want to go to overtime with that defense. But he’d made up his mind: kick on fourth down.

So why not let the clock bleed to nine seconds? Average NFL play takes six seconds. That’s how coaches do math. With nine seconds, you get one more throw into the end zone and then let Aubrey kick the game-tying field goal. Instead, Schottenheimer sprinted toward the official with arms fully stretched, calling for the timeout before he even realized offensive tackle Terence Steele had gone down injured.

That decision gave the Ravens the ball back with 7 seconds, enough time for a 27-yard gain and the game-winning field goal.

The third-down play call that handcuffed Dak Prescott

Schottenheimer admitted after the game that he overcoached Prescott on third-and-goal. He gave his quarterback one pre-snap read: Pickens or nothing. If the defense didn’t present the desired look, throw it away and play for overtime.

Think about that. Prescott is widely considered one of the best processors in the NFL. He had carried the Cowboys all the way to the 2-yard line, put up 28 points, and played a very good game with multiple big plays. And with the game on the line, Schottenheimer reduced him to a one-read robot.

On that play, aside from Pickens breaking open late, wide receiver Ryan Flournoy came open over the middle. Had Prescott been given a full progression, he could have worked from Pickens to the middle of the field and found Flournoy for the touchdown. Not to mention, it could’ve been a better playcall with an even easier concept. 

I understand people wanting to blame Prescott, but I have never heard of a quarterback getting blamed after the game for scoring 31 points and not ignoring his coach. That is absolute mad fan behavior. That is not objective.

The touchback kickoff and the final defensive call

The Cowboys instructed Aubrey to kick a touchback, handing Lamar Jackson and the Ravens the ball at the 35-yard line. Ravens head coach Jesse Minter even said after the game that he planned to run out the clock before the Cowboys decided to kick the touchback.

Yes, Aubrey had kicked out of bounds twice. But he had also executed the touchback kick four times in the game. The risk of kicking it inbounds and forcing a return, potentially pinning Baltimore at the 25 or deeper, outweighed the reward of a touchback to the 35. The difference between an out-of-bounds kick to the 40 and a touchback to the 35 is five yards, which in that game scenario meant almost nothing. It was worth the risk!

Then came the final play. Sure, this one is mostly on Cowboys DC Christian Parker, who called man-to-man coverage, putting Steward on Flowers with a double stunt at the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys have been terrible at running stunts since training camp. The rush produced absolutely nothing. Jackson had all the time in the world, and Stewart got burned.

Watch the film all you want. But coaching lost the Dallas Cowboys this football game. There’s no question about it.