Fewer than 24 hours ago, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones attempted to deflect blame from defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as the team missed the playoffs.
“I don’t think you can really address one without the other in our case,” Jones said. “But I think you can look back and look at decisions we made to the defense three years ago, five years ago, and look at… Why did we make some of the decisions we made on the coaches at that time? What did we expect relative to what we’re doing with our personnel?”
“So that’s why that is just inaccurate to put this on an evaluation of Eberflus. It really is… I don’t want it to sound like it’s as simple as evaluating Eberflus. It’s broader, much broader than that.”
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Fast forward to today and Jones is singing a different tune – or at least his actions are.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Cowboys fired Eberflus after the Cowboys owned the No. 30 overall defense and No. 32 scoring defense, allowing 376.8 total yards and 29.8 points per game. “Dallas Cowboys fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Cowboys now will be going on their fourth different defensive coordinator in four seasons,” Schefter reported.
Dallas gave up at least 30 points in eight games this season while allowing at least 40 points in three games.
Executive vice president Stephen Jones hinted a move like this would be coming.
“Bottom line, we need an identity on the defensive side of the ball. I don’t think we established that this year,” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “Whether it’s Coach (Matt) Eberflus or whoever it is, we have to create an identity.
“I think everybody would say that Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer has a ton of energy, he’s very authentic and has an identity. We’ve got to play to that in all three phases. I think we did in one phase (offense) this year. I don’t know that we established that in the other two phases (defense, special teams).”
The Cowboys will once again have a new defensive coordinator.
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