The Dallas Cowboys are just six weeks into the 2025 NFL season, but the mood in Arlington already feels tense.
Despite boasting one of the league’s most explosive offenses, powered by a red-hot Dak Prescott, the Cowboys sit at 2-3-1 – a record that reflects not their scoring power, but their inability to stop opponents.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, hired this offseason to replace Dan Quinn, has quickly found himself under fire as the Cowboys’ defense ranks among the league’s worst by nearly every advanced metric.
From missed tackles to blown coverages, Dallas has struggled to find rhythm on that side of the ball, most recently allowing Bryce Young and the previously winless Carolina Panthers to put up 30 points in a 30-27 upset.
Yet amid growing criticism from fans and analysts, owner Jerry Jones is standing firmly by his coordinator.
“He’s had tremendous experience. He’s dealt with adversity. He’s had great successes,” Jones said in a post-game interview on 105.3 The Fan. “I jumped at the chance to get him. I still feel as strongly about him as the day we hired him.”
Jones‘s public backing comes at a time when frustration among Cowboys supporters is nearing its peak. The defense’s decline has been as stark as it has been swift, and while Eberflus‘s play-calling has drawn the ire of fans, the problems appear to run deeper than one man’s scheme.
Life without Micah Parsons exposes defensive cracks
The Cowboys’ offseason trade of Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers was viewed as a bold, if risky, move – and it’s now proving costly. The absence of their former All-Pro edge rusher has gutted the defense’s identity. From 2021 to 2023, Parsons helped anchor a top-five unit that thrived on relentless pressure and turnovers.
Without him, Dallas’s pressure rate has cratered, and opposing quarterbacks are routinely picking apart the secondary with extra time in the pocket.
Even Jones’s son, team executive Stephen Jones, admitted that while the defense isn’t performing to expectations, he believes the issue is execution, not coaching. “We’ve got the right guys in place. It’s a work in progress,” he said this week, dismissing the idea of a midseason firing.
Still, fans and pundits aren’t convinced. Critics argue that Eberflus‘s conservative defensive philosophy doesn’t mesh with the aggressive, turnover-heavy identity that defined Dallas in recent years. Without Parsons, the Cowboys lack a game-changing force, and Eberflus has yet to find a creative solution.
With a tough stretch ahead – matchups against the Washington Commanders, Denver Broncos, and Arizona Cardinals before their Week 10 bye – the pressure on Eberflus is mounting. If the Cowboys’ defense doesn’t show tangible progress soon, even Jerry Jones‘s patience could be tested.
For now, the longtime owner remains loyal to his embattled coach. But in Dallas, public support from Jones has often been a temporary shield – and if the losses keep piling up, Eberflus may soon find out just how thin that protection can be.
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