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FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is feeling the heat. His Dallas defense in Year 1 as the team's defensive coordinator under head coach Brian Schottenheimer is allowing 29.8 points per game, the most in the NFL. 

One of the elephants in the room regarding the Cowboys' defensive decline is the 2025 season was the first without All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons, whom Dallas traded away to the Green Bay Packers a week before the season began. Eberflus noted his impact but also accurately assessed Parsons' departure "is what it is." 

"Obviously you have an All-Pro pass rusher that wins really quick [Parsons], that's certainly going to help any defense if it's Micah or if it's Myles [Garrett] or whoever that might be. But that impact player is always going to help to a certain degree in pass downs and other downs," Eberflus said Thursday. Again, you can't look back right? It is what it is and then you just focus where you are."

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Parsons himself saw that comment on Twitter/X, and he reposted Eberflus' press conference quote with a number of laughing emojis. He then clarified why he took an apparent shot at Eberflus and the Cowboys an hour after posting the initial reaction. 

"Y'all want me to feel bad? Jerry Jones slandered my name to Cowboys media and national media for months," Parsons posted on Thursday. "So I do think I can react to comment if I want to! #respectfully."

Dallas' defense was also derailed by injuries across the board at cornerback with DaRon Bland (foot), ex-Cowboy Trevon Diggs (knee/concussion), Shavon Revel (knee) and Caelen Carson (knee, hamstring). Diggs and Eberflus also clashed about zone vs. man coverage usage all year long. 

"I think the start of the year, guys were in and out, in terms of we weren't at full force," Eberflus said. "And then when we got some guys back, I thought we had a good stretch there. I thought the stretch was pretty good. We started to improve. I know we improved in the run defense and the third-down defense. And then from there we just didn't execute the way we wanted to at certain moments. Certainly, some good execution in there at times, but it's got to be better."  

Despite the Cowboys' defense ranking bottom-three in the NFL in almost every key defensive metric this season, Eberflus claimed he didn't think he would "do anything differently" when CBS Sports asked what things he would do differently if he could go back to the beginning of the year. 

"I don't really think about it that way," Eberflus said Thursday. "I think about being in the moment and just keep adjusting and learning and growing and getting better. I don't think I'd do anything differently. I think I would just work to adjust when you get different players in and those things. I think that's what you do as a coach."  

Cowboys defense under Matt Eberflus in 2025, NFL ranks
NFL rank

PPG allowed

29.8

Last

Total YPG allowed

376.8

30th

Yards per play allowed

6.2

31st

Passing yards per game allowed

253.6

Last

Third down conversion rate allowed 

46.5%

30th

Red zone TD rate allowed 

68.9%

31st

Completion percentage allowed

68.6%

30th

Pass yards per attempt allowed

8.2

31st

Passer Rating

109.7

Last


However, Eberflus ultimately fell on the sword and took full accountability for the year-long struggles Dallas has had on defense. 

"Ownership and accountability is right with me," Eberflus said when asked how much ownership he takes for the defensive struggles. "I'm the defensive coordinator, so it's always that. … I take full accountability. We wanted to see more progress during the course of the year. It was just more up and down. It just wasn't linear."

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones may choose to have Eberflus' ownership of his defensive woes result in a firing after just one season. Jones admitted regret for hiring him in Week 16 after Dallas was officially eliminated from playoff contention.

"Ultimately, you point your finger right back at you on who hired Matt Eberflus," Jones said. "It's easy to say you could have done things differently, but that goes with the territory. Any time you make the ultimate decision, then you've got to look at that and weigh it."