The Dallas Cowboys' defense hit rock bottom on Sunday, as they allowed an ordinary Panthers team to erupt for 30 points and over 400 yards of total offense. Now 2-3-1 on the season, this team would have at least four wins if it had even a bad defense.
Instead, the Cowboys are trotting out one of the worst defenses in franchise history. They are the only team to be scoring over 30 points per game and allowing over 30 points per game. That isn't sustainable, and to make matters worse, they are wasting an awesome season from Dak Prescott, who delivered another MVP-caliber performance.
The defensive performance was so bad that it compelled franchise legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin to air his grievances on social media.
Michael Irvin is sick to his stomach watching the 2025 Cowboys defense
"I have never seen an NFL defense with so many people running WIDE OPEN!!!!," Irvin posted on X.
You are not alone, Irvin. We are six weeks into the Matt Eberflus experiment, and players are still having communication breakdowns all over the place.
Donovan Wilson was responsible for both of Tetairoa McMillan's touchdowns. While Eberflus obviously can't go out there and play defense, he is asking to get burned by continuing to play Wilson, a deeply flawed player in coverage, as a deep-lying safety.
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It's one thing for the players to fail to execute his scheme, but Eberflus is failing to fix the things that are under his control, like personnel decisions. Continuing to play Sam Williams 30 snaps a game while James Houston barely sniffs 15 snaps is a prime example.
Don't get it twisted: there is plenty wrong with Eberflus' scheme.
That DaRon Bland was playing 10 yards off the line of scrimmage on 4th-and-3 with just over two minutes left in regulation makes absolutely no sense. The Panthers converted a quick slant and went on to milk the rest of the clock and kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. Cowboys DBs have been told to give significant cushion all year despite awful returns.
You can't count on one hand the number of touchdowns the Cowboys have allowed this season that have come with the pass-catcher standing all alone waiting for the football to arrive. An NFL defense simply could not look any worse.
It's not in Jerry Jones' nature to fire a coach or coordinator midseason, but this is an untenable situation. It's only a matter of time until players outright quit on Eberflus because they don't trust the system.
Irvin couldn't have put it any better.