Matt Eberflus needs to be on the hot seat and other Cowboys takeaways following embarrassing loss to Bears

That was an ugly one for the Dallas Cowboys. Their 31-14 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3 drops them to 1-2.

There's a lot to say about the team's Week 3 performance, but there's an obvious place we have to start. And that is the defense. Let's dive into this weekend's takeaways.

The Cowboys' defense is so embarrassing that Matt Eberflus must land on the hot seat

Let's put a pin on Matt Eberflus' share of the blame for how the Cowboys' defense is performing and start with the players.

The Cowboys' defensive ends failed to generate quarterback pressure again, and it resulted in a big day for Caleb Williams. Per PFF, Williams was kept clean in 75% of his first half dropbacks. By then, he had 239 passing yards and three touchdowns, with the Bears leading 24-14. Things didn't get better in the second half.

Coverage wise, mistakes were a plenty, including Trevon Diggs being burnt after slipping in press coverage. Angles were bad and led to many big gains for Chicago. Right now, I'm pessimistic about how far coaching adjustments can go based on the way players are executing.

However, Eberflus needs to try something. Anything. More blitzes to manufacture pressure. More man coverage to play to Diggs' strengths. Maybe switch Malik Hooker to the high-safety role instead of insisting on Donovan Wilson fulfilling that role. Increased competition is needed at linebacker because it's not consistent. It's not Eberflus' fault the team got rid of Micah Parsons, but he can't keep doing the same moving forward. It's way too bad.

Brian Schottenheimer needs to re-evaluate his fourth-down decision-making

On a fourth and two from the Bears' 34-yard line, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer opted for a 53-yard field goal attempt. The first-half decision illustrates his confidence in kicker Brandon Aubrey. However, it also highlights an Aubrey-related issue the coaching staff is facing: Is the inflated confidence in Aubrey detrimental to optimal fourth-down decision-making?

The Cowboys were moving the ball well in the first half despite a couple of costly mistakes. They were, however, struggling on defense. A fourth and two from the opponent's territory is go-for-it territory. Schottenheimer should lean on Dak Prescott to make those conversions.

CeeDee Lamb's injury is a real concern

We'll have to wait to find out more about Lamb's ankle injury, but if he misses playing time, the Cowboys offense could struggle. Right now, pass protection is a concern for the offense, and as long as defenses can take George Pickens away, there's no other legitimate threat on offense. It's time to cross our fingers and hope No. 88 can come back soon.

Cowboys' run offense is legit

Let's get out of here on a positive note: The Cowboys can run the ball.

Javonte Williams had 76 rushing yards in 10 attempts (7.6 average gain), and Miles Sanders added another 41 in nine carries (4.6 average). If the team can fix woes in other areas like pass protection and defense, it's nice knowing they can pound the rock to protect leads.

window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll && event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-375').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-375').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*');