{"id":474924,"date":"2025-12-27T12:11:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474924\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T12:11:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:11:42","slug":"matt-eberflus-future-with-cowboys-is-looking-bleak-after-comments-by-jerry-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474924\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Eberflus\u2019 future with Cowboys is looking bleak after comments by Jerry Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cowboys front office has one more game to evaluate the work of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus<\/a> when the Cowboys finish the 2025 regular season against the New York Giants.<\/p>\n

If Jerry Jones\u2019 comments on Friday tell you anything, a decision on Eberflus\u2019 future hasn\u2019t been made, but things don\u2019t look good.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not at all,\u201d Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) about his comfort level with Eberflus and the defensive scheme employed. \u201cWe got a lot of work to do there.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the interview, Jones expressed excitement with the Cowboys\u2019 30-23 win over the Washington Commanders on Christmas Day<\/a>. That victory ended a three-game losing streak, and Jones, along with several other players, said finishing the season strong is a must.<\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Cowboys fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jones said his enthusiasm for the victory shouldn\u2019t be confused with his thoughts on the defense overall. <\/p>\n

The Cowboys won an ugly game and the defense played a role in that. Jones didn\u2019t like the seven plays of 15 or more yards his defense gave up.<\/p>\n

The Commanders started 39-year old Josh Johnson<\/a>, the third quarterback, and he was sacked once and hit six times. Jadeveon Clowney had 1 1\/2 sacks and three quarterback hits. Clowney\u2019s effort, his best of the season<\/a>, also included six quarterback pressures out of 16 pass rushes. He also had two tackles for either a loss or no gain.<\/p>\n

However, the Cowboys defense (41 plays), which wasn\u2019t on the field as much as the offense (87 plays), allowed an average of eight yards per play. There was a 72-yard touchdown run by Jacory Croskey-Merritt, where he hit top speeds of 21.6 miles per hour, the 15th fastest run of the season according to Next Gen Stats. Wide receiver Deebo Samuels had a 41-yard reception on a screen pass where near the end of it, he knocked the helmet off safety Donovan Wilson.<\/p>\n

Every time the Cowboys offense, which pushed the lead to 21-3 in the first half, pulled away, the defense struggled to maintain the comfortable lead. It allowed the Commanders to come within a touchdown three times after trailing 21-3.<\/p>\n

Johnson looked relaxed in the pocket as the pass rush just couldn\u2019t reach him consistently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he did look comfortable back there, but again, you\u2019re certainly getting enough pressure on him when you hold them to 1 of 6 on third down like that,\u201d coach Brian Schottenheimer said. \u201cAgain, was it perfect? No. I will say this. I know they were doing a lot of things to chip our edges and things like that. There\u2019s things you can do to take advantage of that, but at the end of the day, this is a damn good football win for our football team, and we\u2019re going to enjoy Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

For the majority of the season, Eberflus has been under siege about his scheme and the lack of blitzes coming from it. Communication was a major problem early in the season and injuries also impacted what Eberflus could do with the personnel.<\/p>\n

Against Washington, Dallas played without starting linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (concussion) and starting cornerback DaRon Bland (foot). Logan Wilson, a linebacker whom the Cowboys traded for, was active but didn\u2019t play<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outside of the personnel, the Cowboys made a change in how Eberflus calls the plays. In a Week 16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Eberflus called the defensive signals from the coach\u2019s box for the first time in his career<\/a>. Clowney said he didn\u2019t notice much difference, other than the energy Eberflus brings. <\/p>\n

The purpose of moving Eberflus to the coach\u2019s box was to allow him to make adjustments faster when seeing the whole field from a different vantage point. With Eberflus in the coach\u2019s box, the Cowboys have allowed 28.5 points and 390 yards per game.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Trevon Diggs said the struggles should be shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 50-50,\u201d he said. \u201cA team effort. A team thing. I feel like we know what we got in our room. We know what the calls are. We know everything. We have to stick together. It\u2019s the only way we can get through this and build and grow by sticking together.\u201d<\/p>\n