Despite boasting one of the NFL’s most productive offenses, the Cowboys entered Monday’s game against the Cardinals with a lackluster 3-4-1 record. A struggling defense has been the main culprit. The Cowboys are 31st in the NFL in both points and yards allowed per game, beating out only the Bengals’ historically bad stop unit in those two categories.
While things have gone poorly under under first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones is hopeful he’ll return as the team’s DC in 2026 (via Jon Machota of The Athletic).
“(We hope) the situation is going to continue to evolve, which I know it will. Coach Eberflus has been a high-end coach,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan last Friday. “I know right now he’s not satisfied with where we are. We all have to be better as a team, all our players, all our coaches, all our executives, ownership, everybody needs to look in the mirror and see where they can be better.”
This is the second time in recent weeks that Dallas higher-ups have spoken well of Eberflus. Owner Jerry Jones and head coach Brian Schottenheimer publicly backed Eberflus on Oct. 14. The Cowboys were then coming off a 30-27 loss to the Panthers in which they surrendered 410 total yards, including 216 rushing. Dallas went into Monday hoping to bounce back from a 44-24 loss to Denver in Week 8. The Broncos amassed 426 yards, 179 on the ground, and quarterback Bo Nix torched the Cowboys for four touchdown passes.
Regardless of how the Cowboys’ defense fares against the Cardinals, it seems the Eberflus-coached unit is poised to add outside reinforcements before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Doing so should make his job easier. Jerry Jones said Monday that the Cowboys had already agreed to one trade – presumably a move on the defensive side – and added that they “possibly could make two more.” A report has since linked the Cowboys to two Bengals defenders, end Trey Hendrickson and linebacker Logan Wilson, as well as Dolphins linebacker Bradley Chubb.
As an elite pass rusher, Hendrickson would be the highest-impact (not to mention the most expensive) acquisition of the three. He’d also help the Cowboys replace departed superstar Micah Parsons, whom they traded to the Packers before the season.
On the heels of a 14-32 stint as the Bears’ head coach, Eberflus has drawn plenty of criticism in his new post with the Cowboys this year. However, the team’s decision to jettison Parsons in late August hasn’t done Eberflus any favors. Having successfully coordinated the Colts’ defense from 2018-21, the Cowboys aren’t ready to give up on the 55-year-old. Depending on how the deadline unfolds, Eberflus could have more talent to work with when the Cowboys come off a Week 10 bye.
Your only a high end coach until your not ..these jones boys are delusional..
Well he’d being doing better if he had Parsons!!!
Bland having a tough night in coverage against the Cardinals. Thought Aubrey might tie the recent record for a 68 yrd FG, but it looked like he rushed the kick, which missed.
Their defense is awful
What a day for awful DCs. Cowboys back Eberfluss, Bengals back Al Golden, Giants back Shane Bowen.
Well, what do you expect? Eberflus has had success coaching defense, but he preaches a much different defensive scheme from what the Cowboys were running prior. If you’re going to change schemes, you need players who fit…otherwise, you shouldn’t change your scheme.
The same thing happened a few years ago with the Mike Nolan hire. The Cowboys were running a zone based 4-3 base front with Marinelli to great success. When McCarthy was hired, he brought on Nolan, who has had success with a 3-4 man scheme that he attempted to deploy with Dallas, despite the personnel differences. Dallas started to get takeaways midway through the year, finally, but Nolan ended up fired because the defense couldn’t recover in time. They just gave up too many yards and too many points.
The Bills did the same thing when they hired Rex Ryan, who took over a perfect 4-3 zone run by Jim Schwartz. You have to run a scheme that fits your players, or be prepared to stink until you get players who fit. Dallas has started running more man to fit Blanc and others, but they’re essentially making adjustments midway through the year. It’s just not the same as practicing a scheme throughout the offseason.
Eberlose is just………………Well………Not real smart. Or good, Or a leader…….Or a coach really. Clown fits better. He’s just doing this because there are no more circuses.