Cowboys look for rare winning streak under Schottenheimer in visit from Cardinals

Sustainability is the next challenge for the Dallas Cowboys, who have just one winning streak in nearly a season and a half under coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Dallas (3-4) begins a stretch of four home games in five weeks with a visit from Arizona on Sunday after a 38-21 road division win against two-time defending NFC East champion Philadelphia.

As strange as it sounds, the Cowboys did what they should have against the Eagles. Philadelphia’s offense is decimated by injuries, and the beleaguered Dallas defense still needed three quarters to figure out how to get stops.

The Cowboys had the second-worst rushing offense in the NFL before Javonte Williams went for a career-high 155 yards rushing among the team’s 204. A two-week rut ended for one of the league’s best offenses, with season highs in yards and points.

Now Dallas has to do it again.

“It’s a business where you have to be consistent with your execution, with your performance,” said Schottenheimer, whose only winning streak was a three-game run last season. “And I think we’ve been lacking that at times. Another good week, another opponent coming in there with a lot of challenges that they’re going to present, but it’s more about us and the lack of consistency.”

Arizona’s 2-5 record is irrelevant because it has nine victories in the past 10 meetings with Dallas. Each of the past three times the Cardinals won, they lost at least 14 games that season. A year ago, it was the only victory in the final 15 games.

The center of the Dallas Cowboys universe.

The Cardinals ended a four-game losing streak with an upset of the Los Angeles Rams on the road two weeks ago, only to lose to Denver 30-16 for their 10th consecutive defeat at home. Arizona is 2-2 on the road this season and is perfect in four visits to AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009.

“Where I always try to put my focus is that this is a week-to-week league,” first-year coach Mike LaFleur said. “I want these guys to be where their feet are. The highs that they felt (against the Rams), the lows that they felt after this last game. Once you reset, you learn from it on those Mondays, you get right back to work, and you work to be 1-0. Good, bad, or anything in between, I don’t try to look past that.”

Arizona (2-5) at Dallas (3-4)When/where to watch: Sunday, Noon CST, Fox.Latest odds: Cowboys by 6 1/2.Against the spread: Cardinals 3-4, Cowboys 4-3.Last week: Cardinals lost to Broncos 30-16; Cowboys beat Eagles 38-21.Last meeting: Cardinals beat Cowboys 27-17 on Nov. 3, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.Series record: Cowboys lead 56-36-1.

The rushing offense against the rushing defense for both teams. The Cowboys and Cardinals are averaging fewer than 100 yards rushing per game, but Dallas is coming off its second 200-yard game since Schottenheimer took over as coach and play-caller. Arizona has played the past two games without rookie No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love (ankle), but undrafted fifth-year man Bam Knight has been a capable fill-in with a 5.8-yard average on 22 carries in those games. Dallas is 31st in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 145.7 yards per game. The Cardinals are 23rd at 126.3.