The Dallas Cowboys' defense has been heavily criticized all year, and rightfully so. They can't seem to cover anybody while also being high on the list of teams that have given up the most points in the NFL this season.
Rico Dowdle was one story, as he backed up his bold promise last week when he told the Cowboys to "buckle up" and get ready for a revenge game. Dowdle had a career day and now holds the title of the most single-game scrimmage yards in Panthers history with 239.
The play that had Cowboys fans scratching their heads occurred late in the fourth quarter on a 4th-and-3 with the Panthers on offense. For whatever reason, Da'Ron Bland played way too deep in coverage when Carolina only needed three yards. Sure enough, Bryce Young connected with Hunter Renfrow to effectively ice the game.
Cowboys' DC Matt Eberflus must answer for 4th down call vs. the PAnthers
Even Fox analyst Greg Olsen was dumbfounded about why Bland was playing so far deep. Young clearly wasn't looking anywhere else on the play either, as he zipped the ball right over the middle to Renfrow to get the first down.
This is another Matt Eberflus classic, as it seems very few of his situational play-calls have worked this season. The Cowboys' defense can't even figure out basic principles of situational awareness. This game should be a call for Jerry Jones to end the Matt Eberflus experiment now.
Nothing is getting better. In fact, it's just getting worse, as the Cowboys rank dead-last in the NFL in points allowed, opponent passer rating, and opponent third down conversion rate.
Ultimately, Murray was responsible for shifting over to break up the pass. The play was designed to bait Young into the throw, but Murray was too slow to react. That still doesn't justify Bland playing almost 10 yards off the line of scrimmage, but Eberflus trusting a flawed player in Murray to come through with the game on the line was a major oversight.
Eberflus read the Panthers like a book, but again, asking Murray to have the situational awareness to shift over in time was his first problem.