After the Dallas Cowboys' shocking loss to the Carolina Panthers, 30-27, there is once again talk from the fanbase about blaming defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus after another disappointing outing from the unit. While Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer believes the defense can turn it around this season, he continues to defend Eberflus after each lackluster outing.
Dallas' defense allowed close to 200 yards and three touchdown passes from quarterback Bryce Young, but the real highlight for the Panthers was their running game, led by former Cowboy running back Rico Dowdl, totaling 183 yards. Schottenheimer would explain why he believes Dallas' defense will turn it around, pointing to how “great” a coach Eberflus is and how his track record speaks for itself, according to The Athletic.
“Matt’s a great coach,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s been around. Everywhere he’s ever been, he’s had good defenses. It’s not just Matt by himself. Matt’s trying. Players are trying. It’s not a lack of effort. This is not that. We have to be able to play more complementary defense. And early in the season, we were getting hurt throwing the football. This game, we got hurt running the football.
“Our gap control is not very good right now,” Schottenheimer continued. “That’s the big thing I’d say, our gap control is not where it needs to be. We’re not fitting gaps right. Shoot, I think first half, it seemed like there was almost probably 75-80 percent of their runs the guy was four or five yards before we had contact on him. That’s not good enough. We know that. And we’re going to address it.”
Do the Cowboys' players believe in Matt Eberflus' defensive scheme?
As a harsh evaluation is needed on the Cowboys' defense, there could be a question of whether the players on the team believe in the scheme that Eberflus is running. When Schottenheimer was asked the same question, he expressed that he “would think so.”
“That’s a bigger question,” Schottenheimer said. “I would think so. I would hope so. What are we six games in? Is that right? Six games. Yeah, I would think so. We plugged one hole in the passing game a couple weeks ago, right? Certainly, we’ve shown the ability to run the football. We’ve shown the ability to stop the run. But there’s a consistency that’s not showing up. We gotta be better. And that starts with me, that starts with the coaching staff to put these guys in the right position.”
At any rate, Dallas' defense looks to improve as the team is currently 2-3 as they take on the Washington Commanders next Sunday.
