Especially in the wake of the Micah Parsons trade taking place one week before the start of the season, the Cowboys entered 2025 with questions on defense. That side of the ball has indeed been a sore spot so far. 
Through Week 6, Dallas sits at the bottom of the league in total defense and 31st in points allowed. As such, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has increasingly drawn criticism for his performance to date. The former Bears head coach is in his second Cowboys stint, and it is not in danger of ending any time soon.
“Matt Eberflus is a damn good football coach,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said when asked about potential staffing changes (via Jon Machota of The Athletic). “We have to perform better. But I’ve been him, so part of me being in [the defensive meeting room] is to help as an asset, to tell him, ‘I believe in him. I understand what he’s going through…’ We’re gonna ride this thing out. And we’ll play better. We really will.”
After his first Cowboys stint – as the team’s linebackers coach – Eberflus spent four years as defensive coordinator of the Colts. Indianapolis posted a top-10 finish in points allowed three times under Eberflus, and he parlayed that strong coordinator showing into a head coaching gig. Things did not go according to plan in Chicago, though, and the 55-year-old was fired before his third season in charge was complete. Improvement will be needed if Eberflus is to rebuild his stock during his current Cowboys tenure.
“He’s had tremendous experience,” owner Jerry Jones said on today’s 105.3 The Fan appearance when offering an additional endorsement of Eberflus (h/t Machota). “He’s dealt with adversity. He’s had some great successes… I jumped at it when we had the chance to get him. I still feel as strongly [about him as the day we hired him].”
The Cowboys currently lead the league in total offense and rank third in the NFL in scoring. That has only resulted in a 2-3-1 record, however, in large part due to the shortcomings of Eberflus’ unit. It will be interesting to see if trades and/or free agent pickups are sought out to bolster the defense over the coming weeks. In any case, Eberflus’ job security early in his return to Dallas should not be regarded as uncertain at this point.
Ruh roh… he will be fired next week now.
Maybe its time to admit that even though Troy Aikman falls all over himself praising every aspect of the team and all the Cowboys players either being “All Pro’s” or potentially soon to be recognized as so…..that maybe the defensive players just aren’t nearly as good as the Cowboys and Aikman seem to think…..we’ve been hearing for years how good they all are mostly from Jerry and the Cowboys marketing machine plus Aikman….and yet they haven’t been to the big game in how long?……
Is there any announcer as useless as Troy Aikman? I’ve never heard someone talk so much and say so little.
Joe Buck. They are the absolute worst pair of announcers in football. I can’t even listen to them and I’m a cowboy fan.
If you’re willing to believe in the idea that a guy can be a good coach who just got stuck in a bad situation, then I guess you also have to accept the possibility that a guy can be a bad coach who lucked into a good situation. Therefore, his run of success doesn’t necessarily mean he has something to offer your team.
This may explain Matt Eberflus, a guy with some history of success who seems to be in way over his head with each new job he takes.
Ooohhh! The endorsement is usually followed by the firing
Taking a roster built for man coverage with a dicey linebackers group and giving it to a defensive coach who builds his scheme heavily around zone coverage and linebackers hasn’t gone well after trading away the best player right before the season. No one could have seen this coming.
Disagree….the owner (Jerry Jones), the GM…again Jerry Jones and his staff, and the HC are supposed to know their roster personnel strengths and weaknesses on both offense and defense ……Eberflus interviewed for the job which was when he outlined what his plan for defensive attack and its success was supposed to be with exactly this defense and its personnel…..what was the braintrust thinking if your analagy about zone vs man actually is true……and as a sidebar….Aikman anointed Diggs as the second coming when the rest of us saw a showboater who can be had…..
Truly struggling to understand what point you’re making here.
It’s always fun watching a player extra a little retribution against his former team and 239 scrimmage yards by Rico Dowdie was a nice “Hey, guys! remember me?” moment.
I mean, we all saw this was coming once Micah was traded. He was more than just “one guy” on the field. Defense is a whole lot easier to play when two offensive players (or more) are assigned to keep one guy from getting to your QB. Every half second more you give a NFL QB, the more effective he becomes.