The Dallas Cowboys struggled defensively during Sunday’s 31-14 loss to Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer acknowledged that the defensive output was not pretty, and hinted that he and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus could look to simplify their strategy.
“Yeah, it wasn’t, and that’s coaching. That starts with us, and we got to do a better job, simplify some things maybe. And the one thing we knew going into this game is they would challenge us with some of their motions and shifts, and they did that. I thought [Bears quarterback] Caleb [Williams] played very, very well. Threw the ball really well, made some plays off point. But, again, got to tighten the coverage down for sure,” Schottenheimer told Lawrence Dow of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“We’ll take a hard look at it and maybe to simplify things, and we’re going to do what we do well. I can promise you that.” On getting pressure on Williams “I thought we got pressure on him, we just couldn’t finish it. We were around, we just couldn’t get him on the ground, and it’s been something — he’s an athletic quarterback, has a chance to hurt you with his arms and with his legs and he did that. Same thing, I thought we forced some really third-and-longs and they converted third-and-longs because he moved off the spot and made us pay for it. We’ve got to take a look at it. Like I said, we’re three games into this 17-round fight and have a good opponent coming this week. It’s what we get paid to do, make corrections and get these guys playing better and with more confidence.”
The Cowboys allowed Williams to complete 19 of 28 passes and toss four touchdowns. One week prior, the defense surrendered 37 points to the New York Giants in a shootout win.
Dallas will hope to find a solution to their defensive woes before they host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.
