Quinnen Williams isn’t interested in sugarcoating what’s going wrong with the Cowboys.
Dallas sits at 3-5 in the 2026 season, and the defense has been a big part of the mess. Williams has been one of the few steady forces on that side of the ball, but the unit around him has struggled to hold up, and the latest example came in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona came into the matchup with one of the league’s quieter offenses, having topped 30 points only once all season. Against Dallas, the Cardinals found the end zone enough to put up 33 and leave with the win.
Williams didn’t try to dodge the blame when he spoke Wednesday.
“We’re the problem. We’re the reason we’re losing these games. If we execute, we can be the reason why we win,” the Cowboys star said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic.
Even with the defense’s issues, Williams has put together a strong individual season. He has five sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 29 total tackles, and he leads the Cowboys by a wide margin in sacks and tackles for loss. Still, he made it clear he sees room for more from himself, too.
“I'm part of this defense; I’m the reason why we’ve given up touchdowns in the fourth quarter. I’m the reason why we haven’t been stopping the run as well. And I got to do better,” he said.
Dallas will try to clean things up in Week 9 when it heads to Indianapolis to face the Colts on Sunday afternoon.
In Other News...
Cowboys Secondary Is Already Emerging As A Long Term Draft Priority
The Cowboys defense has been one of the early disappointments of the season, with the unit sitting near the bottom of the league in both total defense and pass defense. That kind of performance tends to sharpen the focus on the draft board, and one recent 2027 NFL mock draft already has Dallas looking to the secondary for help, projecting Georgia cornerback Ellis Robinson IV as a future fit.
Robinson has put together a strong college rsum and would give the Cowboys a young corner with the kind of upside teams covet when they start thinking beyond the current roster. The fit becomes even more interesting if Dallas eventually decides to move on from DaRon Bland, which would leave a clear opening for another long-term piece in a secondary that needs more stability. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Land In A Week 9 Spot With Bigger Stakes Than Expected
Dallas entered November at 3-5 after a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and the margin for error has all but disappeared as the schedule turns to the Colts in Week 9. DraftKings Sportsbook has Dallas favored by six points, which only sharpens the pressure around a game that feels bigger than a typical midseason matchup for a team trying to steady itself and keep its season from drifting further off course.
The stakes go beyond one result on Sunday. Depending on how this one plays out, the Cowboys could be forced to make some hard decisions before the trade deadline, with the front office weighing whether to stand pat or make a move to try to salvage the season. For a team already in must-win territory, the Colts are arriving at a moment when the ripple effects could reach well past the final score. [Read more 🡒]
Brian Schottenheimer Is Fueling A Cowboys Fear Fans Know Too Well
Brian Schottenheimers offense left the familiar kind of unease hanging over the Cowboys after a loss that felt avoidable for long stretches. The play-calling leaned conservative, the running game never found much efficiency, and the passing concepts too often looked easy to diagnose, all of it feeding the sense that Dallas had enough talent to do more but not enough variety in how it was being used.
What stood out most was how the game management seemed to tighten when the Cowboys needed answers late. Schottenheimer has been under scrutiny before for not adapting quickly enough or closing games with conviction, and this one added to that concern, with decisions that invited second-guessing instead of settling the outcome. For a roster built to contend, the frustration is not just the loss itself, but the nagging feeling that the same old offensive problems are still waiting to show up when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]