In case you haven't heard, the Dallas Cowboys' defense is very bad and there is a shared sentiment among fans that defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus should lose his job.
That Eberflus hasn't already been fired suggests he'll survive long enough to coach the final three games. But what Cowboys Nation really cares about is what happens after that. Will Jerry Jones send his old friend packing, or will cooler heads (albeit not logical heads) prevail?
While Jones seemingly hasn't made a decision, Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram made an educated case on whether Eberflus will be back.
"It's a fascinating topic, but I think we've reached a point after J.J. McCarthy had a career game against this team on a primetime stage," Harris said on the Cross Chop podcast. I think we're at a point where Jerry Jones is frustrated enough to make a move."
If you had asked me right after the game, I would've said, 'Eh 50-50 they make this move,' but after hearing Jerry on Tuesday on the radio, I'd say it's like 70-30."
It sounds like Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus is a dead-man walking
While Harris merely projected the odds of Eberflus losing his job, his conjecture is worth a lot more than most. As a plugged-in beat reporter and team insider, Harris has his pulse on the team. That includes the temperature of one Jerry Jones.
In most cases, Eberflus would have lost his job a long time ago. However, Jones isn't one to fire coaches or coordinators in the middle of a season, and the defense enjoyed a brief turnaround during Dallas' three-game winning streak following the bye. All of that progress was undone in the last two losses.
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The Cowboys allowed 44 points and more than 400 yards of offense in a must-win game against the Lions, then surrendered 34 points to the Vikings as J.J. McCarthy posted a career-high in passing yards. Minnesota had crossed the 30-point threshold only once all season in a McCarthy start prior to that game.
What made those losses so frustrating was that Eberflus found early success sending pressure, only to abandon it entirely over the final three quarters. He blitzed at a 60 percent clip in the first quarter of those two games, then dropped to just 13.6 percent (!) from the second through fourth quarters, per Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan.
Eberflus isn’t coaching in a perfect environment. The personnel isn’t conducive to fielding a top-tier defense, and trading away Micah Parsons right before the season left him pushing a boulder uphill. Even so, his rigid tendencies have only dug a deeper hole. A good DC would at least be able to get the best out of his best players, and seemingly all of them have regressed.
Cowboys fans can only hope Harris' odds jump to 90/10 by this time next week.