The Dallas Cowboys may have watched their playoff hopes slip away on Sunday Night Football. Dallas lost 34-26 against Minnesota in a game they desperately needed to win to stay alive in the NFC playoff race. Now the team's owner is taking sight at the team's defensive coordinator, perhaps foreshadowing changes to come during the offseason.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not mince words when asked about Matt Eberflus' performance as defensive coordinator on Sunday.
“The adjustments that we should be making (defensively) should be with these next three games in mind,” Jones said, per The Athletic's Jon Machota. “With three games left in the short time that we’ve got to play them in, then that will impact any adjustments that you make regarding coaching with the time frame we’re dealing with. That’s a legit question.”
Dallas' defense has been under the microscope for the entire season. But it became an even larger problem against the Vikings.
The Cowboys got lit up by a Vikings offense that has been out of sync all year. QB J.J. McCarthy has not played well and has not developed a connection with Justin Jefferson.
Despite a soft matchup for Dallas' defense, they could not get a huge win in a crucial prime time game.
“I’d like to play better defense, and at the end of the day, that’s what he does,” Jones added when asked about Eberflus. “From the standpoint I know Matt, of course, individually since he’s coached here for many, many years. But I thought we made some adjustments. They handled it pretty good.”
Jones sounds like he is open to replacing Eberflus during the offseason if he does not see results. If that happens, it would not be too surprising.
Machota noted that Jones has gone through three different defensive coordinators over the past three seasons.
Dallas has spent plenty of resources during the 2025 season to beef up their defense. That leaves coaching as the only area left to try and fix.
If the Cowboys cannot improve their defense over the next few weeks, fans can expect changes during the offseason.
Next up for the Cowboys is a Week 16 matchup against the Chargers.
