Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on the field during pregame at AT&T Stadium Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Matt Eberflus announces significant Cowboys defensive change ahead of Week 4

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Josh Sanchez | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 1:18 PM ET

The Dallas Cowboys' defense has been putrid through the first three weeks of the 2025-26 NFL season, and many people are looking at defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus sideways.

Eberflus' system has failed to produce, the secondary has been lost in coverage, there is no pass rush, and everyone has been calling for a change.

Some have even gone to the extreme of calling for Eberflus' job.

On Thursday, when speaking to the media, Eberflus revealed that some of the criticism has been heard and the defense has made a significant change during practice this week.

One of the main criticisms of Eberflus' scheme has been defenders looking lost on the field and defensive backs failing to pick up coverage. So, in an effort to simplify things for everyone, Eberflus has made a change to the play-calling.

Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News relayed the news that "Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus said Wednesday was one of the best practices of the young season. Eberflus noted the Cowboys changed their calls to one word to simplify things on the back end."

It doesn't get much simpler than a one-word play call, so we'll have to see if it all works out.

Dallas welcomes the Packers to AT&T Stadium in primetime on Sunday night, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.