{"id":660433,"date":"2026-01-07T06:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/660433\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:41:13","slug":"cowboys-prolific-offense-has-come-at-the-expense-of-defense-and-that-needs-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/660433\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys\u2019 prolific offense has come at the expense of defense, and that needs to change"},"content":{"rendered":"

If another humiliating Cowboys season<\/a> isn\u2019t definitive proof that Jerry Jones<\/a> is the worst general manager in Dallas\u2019 history, it\u2019s only because of Nico Harrison<\/a>. But, unlike Nico, there\u2019s no use trying to fire Jerry. Just stop. Nico\u2019s boss could be influenced, whereas Jerry is in a love affair with the owner and thus bulletproof.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why Jerry will never fire himself: If the new GM wins it all, he\u2019ll get all the credit, just like Jimmy Johnson did, which is why the Cowboys<\/a> have been wandering the wilderness ever since.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t need a Moses of their own as much as an exorcist. Except even Father Damien couldn\u2019t drive Jerry out, so quit asking me to do it.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s stick to matters of this world, shall we?<\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

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On the heels of one of the most exasperating seasons in the organization\u2019s once-proud history, Jerry at least did the right thing in firing Matt Eberflus<\/a>, who had a bad year on multiple fronts. First, his successor in Chicago could end up winning more games in his first season than Eberflus did in three.<\/p>\n

Second, and more to the point, he presided over maybe the worst defense in Cowboys history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, it wasn\u2019t all Eberflus\u2019 fault, even if his zone-heavy defense went over with his players like big band music at your kid\u2019s prom. Much of the damage was done when Jerry got in a snit with Micah Parsons<\/a>, thus violating one of his marriage vows:<\/p>\n

Never get mad at your money.<\/p>\n

Parsons not only is a generational talent who packed the Cowboys\u2019 pass rush with him when he left for Green Bay. He\u2019s one of the few draft picks they\u2019ve gotten right on defense this century. Trevon Diggs was another until he flamed out<\/a> this season. DaRon Bland remains, which is probably more than you can say for Donovan Wilson.<\/p>\n

Now, you can blame the Cowboys\u2019 defensive problems the last few years on the coordinators if you want. Certainly a lot of them to blame. The next one will be the fourth in four years, surely a record of some sort.<\/p>\n

Dan Quinn was the best of the bunch, as it turns out, and I think we all owe him an apology. We blamed him for the Cowboys\u2019 inability to stop the run when Mike Zimmer couldn\u2019t, either. On top of that, Zim was out of gas. Eberflus might have been running on fumes, too, considering his PTSD from Chicago.<\/p>\n

Funny how the Cowboys finally got some traction against the run when they went out and found themselves some quality defensive tackles<\/a>. Maybe one too many, at that. Probably not a good thing when all of your best players on defense play the same position.<\/p>\n

You could practically throw a dart at the Cowboys\u2019 defensive depth chart while blindfolded and not miss a need. Edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback, safety. You name it, they need it. If you offered me Oregon\u2019s defense straight up in a trade, I might take it.<\/p>\n

A reasonable person might ask why the Cowboys have so little talent on defense and a veritable cornucopia on offense, and I\u2019ll tell you why: Jerry loves offense, because it sells.<\/p>\n

Before next season, he\u2019ll invest even more in his offense when he franchises George Pickens<\/a> or, God forbid, gives him a multi-year deal. Might even re-sign Javonte Williams<\/a>, too. And I wouldn\u2019t blame him. Williams is the Cowboys\u2019 best running back since Zeke Elliott in his prime.<\/p>\n

But one of these days Jerry will have to invest in his defense simply because no matter whom he hires, the Cowboys have proven you can\u2019t do it with smoke and mirrors anymore.<\/p>\n

BTW, on the new DC: Can Jerry just hire the best guy available \u2014 which would be Brian Flores, if available \u2014 and not worry if he\u2019s been a head coach or in the building? Let\u2019s not limit the search. Hard enough as it is, apparently.<\/p>\n

The good news is, even the Joneses seem to understand their predicament. Probably because they just watched Dak post one of his best seasons and all it got them was seven wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to get an identity on the defensive side of the football,\u201d Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we ever established what we were as a defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bad, that\u2019s what you were, Stephen.<\/p>\n

Horrendous. Abysmal.<\/p>\n

Cataclysmic.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys don\u2019t have a proper identity on defense because they haven\u2019t drafted nearly as well on that side of the ball as they have on offense. My guess is they\u2019ve let too many of the defensive coordinators dictate to Will McClay what kind of players they want. That can\u2019t happen. Coaches come and go, but, if you want an identity, you\u2019ve got to draft it, then stick with it.<\/p>\n

As previously noted, they get it just fine on offense. Since the 2011 draft, they\u2019ve picked 11 players who went on to make at least one Pro Bowl. Twelve, if you count Connor McGovern, who made it for the Bills. Otherwise, that\u2019s Dak, Tyler Smith, Jake Ferguson, CeeDee Lamb, Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Travis Frederick, Zeke Elliott, Tyler Biadasz, Tony Pollard and DeMarco Murray.<\/p>\n

On defense, they\u2019ve taken seven Pro Bowlers over the same period: Parsons, Diggs, Bland, DeMarcus Lawrence, Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch and Byron Jones.<\/p>\n

Final score in Pro Bowl appearances: Offense 42, defense 16.<\/p>\n

Focus on the latter for a while and find yourself some dawgs for your defense, Stephen. You might be surprised how much identity that gets you.<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @KSherringtonDMN<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Dallas Cowboys shift focus to 2026 season, sign 9 players to reserve\/future contracts<\/a><\/p>\n

Zion Childress and Traeshon Holden are among the names rejoining the Cowboys on reserve\/future deals.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Ex-Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett to interview for Titans gig, reports say<\/a><\/p>\n

Garrett, who serves as an analyst for NBC\u2019s Sunday Night Football coverage, has been away from coaching for several years.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Moving on from Matt Eberflus is only the first step in fixing Cowboys\u2019 defensive mess<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cowboys will move forward, looking for their fourth defensive coordinator in as many years.<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If another humiliating Cowboys season isn\u2019t definitive proof that Jerry Jones is the worst general manager in Dallas\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[2886,3224,230,1370,229,257,2461,7,467,2883,491,6,15,6736,2884],"class_list":["post-660433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-brian-schottenheimer","tag-commentary","tag-cowboys","tag-dak-prescott","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallascowboys","tag-football","tag-george-pickens","tag-jerry-jones","tag-micah-parsons","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-quinnen-williams","tag-stephen-jones"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115852455836081296","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}