Sunday's matchup felt like a potential breaking point for the Dallas Cowboys. Win, and you feel pretty good about where the season is headed. Lose, and you start to question if the team has any shot at being relevant in January.
While there is still plenty of season left, a dark, ominous cloud has engulfed the franchise following Dallas' 31-14 loss to a previously winless Bears team. Ben Johnson ran circles around Matt Eberflus' defense, which once again had several busted coverages as a result of miscommunication.
Johnson rubbed salt in the wound after the game while discussing the flea-flicker from Caleb Williams to Luther Burden that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown. The Bears' head coach and play-caller knew going in that kind of trickery would work against Eberflus.
Ben Johnson knew a flea-flicker would work against Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus
"I give the staff a lot of credit," Johnson said. "They're going through, watching the tape and finding out things that may or may not fit, whether it's Dallas this year, or some of the stuff we're watching of Chicago's defense from yesteryear [under Eberflus]. So that was really a staff find. And we worked it all week and felt comfortable calling it this week."
Cowboys fans certainly aren't fond of Johnson, dating back when he ran up the score as the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit rolled over Dallas 47-9 last season.
Johnson dialed up more trickery on Sunday with the Bears up by two scores in the fourth quarter. It was definitely a form of showboating from the first-year head coach, but direct your anger at the Cowboys for not offering any resistance all afternoon, not Johnson. If you don't want to get embarrassed, then make plays.
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That takes us back to Eberflus and the flea flicker. It was the slowest-moving flea flicker you'll probably ever see, and it still worked, in part because Kaiir Elamb bit hard on the handoff to D'Andre Swift. That took Elam completely out of the play. Malik Hooker was late to react, but Elam's gaffe forced him to cover two deep receivers. Caleb Williams' pass had way too much zip on it for Hooker to make up the requisite ground before Burden scampered into the end zone.
It's hard to get on Eberflus for what was ultimately Elam's mistake, but the inspiration for the play goes back to Johnson diagnosing flaws in Eberflus' defense in the film room. While flea flickers can succeed against man coverage, they’re primarily designed to pull defenders out of deep zone responsibilities. It worked to a tee with Elam and Williams' arm strength did the rest.
Cowboys fans should expect to see a lot more trick plays in the future. The cat is officially out of the bag that this defense folds like a lawn chair on throws down the field.