Through three weeks, the Dallas Cowboys have surrendered 92 total points, highlighting just how bad defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' unit has been. You don't have to be a football savant to realize that's not good. In fact, that's the fourth-most points that America's Team has given up in the first three weeks of a season in franchise history.
The Cowboys are also giving up:
- 3rd-most total yards per game (409.7)
- Most passing yards per game (288.0)
- 5th-most points per game (30.7)
- Highest third-down conversion rate (53.7%)
That's why Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer acknowledged that something needed to change on defense. According to ESPN insider Todd Archer, the first-year head coach is already pushing Eberflus to do better.
"Schottenheimer said changes are coming on defense. 'Some scheme. And some might be personnel," Archer wrote on Monday. "One change will be the entire defense meeting together to get the communication right."
Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus Is Officially on the Hot Seat
Eberflus was supposed to be a defensive guru, and while he left plenty to be desired as the Chicago Bears' head coach, their defense was usually above average. So far, he hasn't done a better job than recent Cowboys DCs Mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn.
Even so, team owner/general manager Jerry Jones still has the utmost confidence in his coaching staff. In his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan (h/t The Athletic's Jon Machota), the controversial business mogul had Schottenheimer's back despite the glaring issues:
"I really like our coaching staff. They're really outstanding teachers. They know what they're doing. It doesn't look that way now. Chicago had something to do with that. But I've got real confidence in this staff that we've got," Jones said.
Jones later acknowledged that the Cowboys need to add more pressure on defense, so even he admits the status quo isn't working. That's where a player like Micah Parsons should come in handy, but that bridge was burned and demolished before the season even began.
Jones has a long history of holding onto coaches for way longer than he should, mostly because they don't challenge his authority. It's still way too early, but the first returns of the Schottenheimer-Eberflus experiment aren't even slightly encouraging, making it interesting to see if the eccentric billionaire will make any changes before the end of the season.
The Cowboys now have a Week 4 date with the Green Bay Packers up next, and Parsons will most definitely be extra motivated to have a career game to show his old team what they've been missing. Hopefully, Schottenheimer and Eberflus will get the defense back on track before then; otherwise, Dallas will be in for a long Sunday Night Football showdown.