The Dallas Cowboys‘ defense is bad. Eight weeks into the season, they sit at 31st in the PFF rankings, allowing 31.3 points each game. This begs the question: why not replace the defensive coordinator already? But the latest from Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones indicates that the front office is not so keen on making a change.

“Coach Eberflus has been a high-end coach,” Jones said Friday on 105.3 The FAN. “He was a really top coordinator throughout his stay in Indianapolis, where it got him the head job in the NFL, which we all know is difficult. And then he had really good defenses in Chicago.

“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, all ownership, everybody needs to look in the mirror and see where they can be better.”

When the Cowboys signed Matt Eberflus as their sixth DC in the last 13 seasons, the goal was to get the Cowboys’ 28th-ranked defense in 2024 to a better form. However, the team has only been drowning halfway through the regular season. 

They are 3-4-1, sitting second in the NFC East division and 10th in the NFC conference. While their offense sits second in the league per Pro Football Reference, their defense has allowed a minimum of 30 points in six out of eight games, and not necessarily against top-tier offenses.

The problem was quite simple.

Eberflus is known for his love of a zone defense. That’s what he did almost 90% of the time through the first six weeks. But it also led to confusion in coverage and opponents running down the field wide open. They were also reluctant to blitz. However, things have changed since their matchup against their division rivals in the Washington Commanders. With 40% more man coverage and blitzes in their strategies, they allowed only 22 points.

But in Dallas, inconsistency seems to be the only consistent thing.

Against the Broncos in Week 8, the situation got worse. Denver likes to run screens and swing passes. While Eberflus continued to inject the strategic changes, injuries to defensive players, like Trevon Diggs, washed away any growth. Despite the Broncos’ offense gravitating towards the lower half in the league, the visitors lost 24-44. With that loss, they also dropped all the way from ninth in total team efficiency to 20th.

After the defeat, Eberflus told The Athletic’s Jon Machota how every game in the NFL is different and they are developing a team that carries multiple things at once, including pressures, man-pressures, and zone pressures.

“I’ve been Matt. I’ve been a coordinator,” Schottenheimer resonated Jerry Jones‘ comments after the Week 6 road defeat to the Carolina Panthers. “And I’ve been where people are calling you out and saying you don’t know how to coach and, ‘Man, this guy is the worst coach in history.’ Matt Eberflus is a damn good football coach. 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.’ It sucks. It’s no fun. We’re gonna ride this thing out. And we’ll play better. We really will.”

We also know how the Jones’ father-son duo operates. They prefer familiar people.

Eberflus got the job because he had spent time in the Cowboys system before. He was the linebackers coach from 2011 to 2015, before taking up the additional role of passing game coordinator for two years, 2016 and 2017. So, while they are suffering in defense, the owner has always shown confidence.

Entering Week 9, the Cowboys would be less than 24 hours ahead of the NFL trade deadline. And if the team wishes to continue supporting Eberflus, they may have to become buyers in the trade market despite Jones claiming that one trade could not make things good. For one, their star QB is all in to bring in a defensive player.

“Definitely can help a team,” Dak Prescott said when asked by the media. “Not being naïve and understanding where we are, and to say one position is where we need to go or that, I’m not sure. Leave it to those guys who are in those talks.”

While the management keeps evading hard action, the defense is sinking into the foxhole.

Cowboys’ defense gives headache to Matt Eberflus

The defense has been bad in almost all criteria you can think of. They rank 31st in the league in total yards allowed (404.6 per game), 31st in passing yards allowed (258.6 per game), 29th in rushing yards (146.0 per game), and 31st in points allowed (31.3 per game). Not only metric-wise, but the plays have not been great either.

One thing that has gone against Matt Eberflus is his style of following the playbook. He rarely makes any prompt decisions inspired by the game. It might be the reason they lost 2 games by a point difference of 4 or fewer points. He runs a safe zone-heavy system that needs the players to read and then react to the coming offense. But the Cowboys have players who like to go explosive.

Cornerback Trevon Diggs is on the injured reserve (IR) list. But he likes to go fast. In Eberflus’ system, he needs to play slow, which affects his overall game efficiency. Will things improve or deteriorate as they play one last game before a bye week? It’s the million-dollar question!