Give credit to new Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Quinnen Williams. While there has appeared to be a line of folks around The Star ready to throw defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus under the bus for the way the Dallas defense completely let the team down throughout the season, Williams said that scheme alone is not the reason for the failings of this season.
The Cowboys ranked No. 32 this year in points allowed, and Dallas was No. 30 in yardage allowed. That’s not all on Eberflus.
“A lot of people kind of put the blame on the coaching all the time,” Williams said in his exit interview this week. “Definitely as players, we got to take accountability because we are on the field, and like I always say like, cover three is cover three, and it’s been cover three for 50 years. Man’s been man like for 50 years. Cover Two has been cover two for 50 years it’s on the players to execute when we’re on the field.”
Cowboys Gave Up 511 Points This Season
Still, the Cowboys gave up 511 points on the year, and it is hard to imagine Eberflus surviving that. Their defensive grade at Pro Football Focus was 52.8 this season, which ranks tied for third-worst in the NFL, and with a 30.9 grade, they had the worst coverage unit.
Again, that is not all on Eberflus. The Cowboys’ top two cornerbacks, DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs, were both injured for significant stretches this season, and both were ineffective when they did play. Diggs blamed the lack of man-to-man coverage in Eberflus’ defense for his early struggles, but it turned out that Diggs was also dealing with a knee injury and was released before the end of the season.
Bland had a foot injury that dates back to last season, one that has limited him now for the past two years. He told reporters on Monday that he will have surgery on the foot next week.
It didn’t help, either, that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones waited until just days before the season started to trade away the team’s most important defensive player, Micah Parsons, a decision that put Eberflus behind the eight-ball from the beginning of the year.
GettyDallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
Dak Prescott Not Happy With Defense
The shame of it all is that the Cowboys, who will be looking for their fourth defensive coordinator in as many years if Eberflus is fired, wasted an outstanding season from Dak Prescott and the offense thanks to their poor defensive showing. Prescott led the league with 409 completions and was in the top four in passing yards at 4,552 and touchdowns at 30.
Prescott took the rare position after the season to absolve himself of responsibility for the Cowboys’ 7-9-1 record, Normally, Prescott takes the entire team’s issues on his shoulders when there are struggles.
“One of the first seasons—if not the first of my career—I can’t directly correlate my play to the wins or losses, or the end of the season, or overall success of the season,” Prescott told reporters. “So that makes it frustrating. One of the best offenses in the league, explosive. Now, sure, not always to our standard. Didn’t play like that every week, week in and week out, but put up a lot of points. Unfortunately, just didn’t win all the games that we should have. Didn’t finish out some of those one-score close games on our end, and ultimately leads us to a 7-9-1 record. It sucks but it’s the reality.”
Cowboys Star Takes Blame for Late-Season Collapse