The Cowboys got the win Sunday, but the postgame mood in Dallas didn’t exactly match the score. Inside the locker room after a 27-23 escape over the Indianapolis Colts, Brian Schottenheimer brought back his victory gimmick and tried to turn a shaky finish into a celebration. CeeDee Lamb, on the other hand, sounded like a player who knew how close it all came to slipping away.
Walking back to the locker room, Lamb could be heard saying, "Oh my God, I (expletive) fumbled. I hate that (expletive)." (h/t Jon Machota, The Athletic).
That reaction told you plenty. Lamb had just put together a monster day - 10 catches for 195 yards, tying Davante Adams for the most receiving yards in a game this season - but the errors were what stuck with him.
His controversial fumble came on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Dallas was up 20-17 and would have had 1st-and-goal from the Colts’ nine-yard line with a chance to stretch the lead. On top of that, replay showed he failed to get a second foot in bounds on a dropped touchdown that would have likely put the game away.
Instead, the Cowboys settled for a field goal and a 20-10 lead.
Even with all that production, Lamb’s focus was on what went wrong, not what went right. That’s the kind of urgency the Cowboys needed after surviving a game in which they committed 14 penalties, turned it over twice and needed a late score to beat a 2-6 team that’s openly tanking. Their season was a minute and 36 seconds away from being over.
That’s why Schottenheimer’s postgame routine felt so off. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating a win, especially after last week’s collapse against Arizona, but this was not the moment for a full-blown victory spectacle. The Cowboys were barely hanging on, and the performance left plenty to clean up.
The contrast with Lamb’s mindset was hard to miss. He had every reason to enjoy his own brilliance, but his mistakes were front and center. Schottenheimer, meanwhile, was handing out praise in spots that didn’t quite fit the moment.
Don’t go out of your way to praise Brandon Aubrey for making a field goal when he missed a 51-yarder in a tie game in the fourth quarter. Don’t shout out Rashan Gary for a sack when Kenny Clark flushed Daniel Jones right into his arms. If anyone deserved individual recognition, it was Caleb Downs for his game-clinching interception.
That’s the part that stood out most: the Cowboys needed perspective more than pageantry. Celebrate the win, sure. But keep it brief, acknowledge the mess, and move on.
The Bears offered a better model Sunday night after their sloppy win over the Buccaneers. Their locker room was subdued, Ben Johnson handed out just one game ball and kept his speech short: "Our best football is yet to come"
That’s the tone Dallas probably should have taken. Instead, Schottenheimer leaned into the theatrics while Lamb sounded like the guy who understood exactly how narrow the margin was.
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