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Todd Archer
FRISCO, Texas — One game remains in one of the most disappointing defensive seasons in Dallas Cowboys history.
Entering Sunday’s matchup against the New York Giants, the Cowboys rank last in the NFL in points allowed per game (29.8) and hope to avoid becoming the first defense in team history to allow 30 points per contest. Also of note: They are last in pass defense, 31st in red zone defense, and 30th in third-down defense, takeaways and yards.
Their best statistical category is run defense, which ranks 20th.
All of it has the job status of first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus up in the air.
Chicago Bears. «I’m the defensive coordinator. It’s always that. So, if there’s things that need to be improved, it falls on the coach and it falls on the assistant coaches and working with the players, making sure we’re doing the best we can to put them in position. I take full accountability for that.»
The defensive struggles started at the beginning of the season and abated only for a three-game stretch after the trade deadline when the Cowboys beat the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has been critical of the defense at times during the season, but this week he said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, «It’s not all Eberflus. At all.
«That’s a teamwide breakdown for us to not play better defense than we have. It’s not an Eberflus breakdown, per se.»
Jones said the Cowboys will get to the problem-solving defensively «pronto» when the season ends.
«Everybody involved in this thing, I’m sure, has been thinking ahead about how to adjust out of our results this year,» Jones told The Fan.
Eberflus mentioned inconsistent availability of players at the start of the season as part of what went wrong in 2025. The Cowboys traded pass rusher Micah Parsons the week before the season started.
«I don’t know if it changed that much,» he said. «Obviously you have an All-Pro pass rusher that wins really quick, that’s certainly going to help any defense if it’s Micah or if it’s Myles [Garrett] or whoever it might be. That impact player is always going to help to a certain degree on pass downs and other downs. Again, you can’t look back. It is what it is, and you just focus on where you are.»
Eberflus was asked if he would have done anything differently this season.
«I don’t really think about it that way,» he said. «I think about being in the moment and just keep adjusting and learning and growing and getting better. I don’t think I’d do anything differently. I think I would just work to adjust when you get different players and all those things. I think that’s what you do as a coach.»
