The Dallas Cowboys have returned to the practice facility this week as they prepare to face the winless Chicago Bears on Sunday.
This will be an intriguing game as there are multiple connections between the two teams, with the most notable involving Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Eberflus was the head coach in the Windy City for three seasons before Chicago kicked him to the curb a day after the Bears lost to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving last year.
On Thursday, head coach Brian Schottenmier told reporters that he had Eberflus come into the offensive staff meeting to share information on the Bears, per Ed Werder. It’s a smart idea by the Cowboys' head coach, even though the Bears have an entirely different coaching staff since Eberflus was fired late last year.
Matt Eberflus Not Thinking About His Return to Chicago
Speaking of Eberflus, his return to the Windy City isn't on the top of his mind. According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Eberflus was asked about what he thinks the reaction to his return to Soldier Field will be. The new Cowboys DC responded with, “I haven’t thought about it.”
Now, we can only take that with a grain of salt, as Eberflus is still human at the end of the day. And the Bears did let him go rather abruptly a day after Thanksgiving. Also, not to mention, they replaced him with another guy (Ben Johnson) from the division he coached in.
That said, Eberflus can give the Cowboys a slight advantage heading into Sunday. The defensive scheme might be different with Dennis Allen in charge, but a lot of the players that Eberflus has coached are still on the Bears’ defense.
He can share various tendencies or weaknesses of certain defensive players that Dallas should look to exploit. The Bears’ defense is coming off a terrible performance against Detroit last week, where they got shredded for 511 total yards.
If I’m the Cowboys’ coaching staff, I’m looking to attack the Bears’ secondary, which is banged up right now, as they won’t have Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
Nonetheless, Sunday’s game will be interesting to watch as Bears fans have no love lost for Eberflus. However, Eberflus likely hopes to walk out of the stadium with a win, and his unit will try to make that happen.