Brian Schottenheimer defends Matt Eberflus amid criticism of Cowboys defense: ‘We’re gonna ride this thing out’

The Dallas Cowboys had statistically one of the five worst defenses in football last season. Six games into the 2025 season, and it’s gotten worse under new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

After Sunday’s 30-27 Week 6 road defeat to the Carolina Panthers, in which Dallas surrendered 410 yards, the Cowboys have the NFL‘s No. 32 ranked defense. On the flip side, the Cowboys own the league’s No. 2 ranked offense. It hasn’t mattered, as Dallas is a disappointing 2-3-1.

Things look bleak for Eberflus and his side of the football. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer, however, has belief in Eberflus’ ability to turn it around.

“I’ve been Matt. I’ve been a coordinator,” Schottenheimer said Monday, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “And I’ve been where people are calling you out and saying you don’t know how to coach and, ‘Man, this guy is the worst coach in history.’ Matt Eberflus is a damn good football coach. We have to perform better.

“But I’ve been him, so part of me being in [the defensive meeting room] is to help as an asset, to tell him, ‘I believe in him. I understand what he’s going through.’ It sucks. It’s no fun. We’re gonna ride this thing out. And we’ll play better. We really will.”

Cowboys defense struggling under Matt Eberflus

The Cowboys allowed Rico Dowdle to run for 183 yards on Sunday. For the fourth time this season, they allowed 30 or more points and recorded one or fewer sacks.

The gap between offense and defense has been historic. Dallas is one of just seven teams in the Super Bowl era to score 175 or more points and allow 175 or more points in the first six games of a season, per Todd Archer of ESPN. The 2021 Kansas City Chiefs were the only team to make the playoffs.

Schottenheimer was asked after Sunday’s loss if they had the players to play Eberflus’ system. The first-year head coach said, “Yeah, absolutely. No question about it.” Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones agreed with Schottenheimer’s assessment.

“Yes, I do,” Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan, via DallasCowboys.com. “This just comes down to execution. We’ve got to continue to be more consistent, and we can certainly do it. I think this is a work in progress, obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball.”