Has Cowboys' Jerry Jones changed his mind about DC Matt Eberflus?

Earlier in December, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones suggested that the club could part ways with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus shortly after Dallas' season ends on Jan. 4. 

During a Tuesday appearance on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan, Jones sang somewhat of a different tune regarding what went wrong for the Cowboys' defense throughout the campaign.

Matt Eberflus not fully to blame for Cowboys' defensive woes?

"It’s not all Eberflus. At all," Jones said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. "That’s a teamwide breakdown for us to not play better defense than we have. It’s not an Eberflus breakdown, per se. (Not) just him."

The Cowboys seemed to enjoy a defensive turnaround after they acquired defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline, as Dallas subsequently notched three straight wins to improve to 6-5-1. However, the Cowboys then surrendered 112 points over three consecutive losses that ensured Dallas was eliminated from postseason contention before Christmas. 

According to ESPN stats, the Cowboys will head into Week 18 ranked 30th in the league with an average of 376.8 total yards allowed per game and last with an average of 29.8 points surrendered per contest. Nevertheless, it sounds like Eberflus could remain in his role beyond the NFL's "Black Monday" next week. 

"Make no mistake about it, everybody had their finger in what we did out there defensively," Jones explained. "Everybody. It’s not just a one-man blame at all. I say that because therein lies what you have to sit down and figure out, what, if anything, you want to change. We’ll get to that pronto. Everybody involved in this thing, I’m sure, has been thinking ahead about how to adjust out of our results this year."

Is Brian Schottenheimer's job safe?

Machota shared that Jones "said he is pleased" with how Brian Schottenheimer handled his duties as a first-year head coach and as Dallas' offensive play-caller. Perhaps Jones would let Schottenheimer run it back with the same coaching staff through at least the start of the 2026 season.

"The main thing in football is that it is rare when you have one coach or one player that is the cause or the solution to the problem," Jones added. "That’s the main thing I’d like to emphasize to anybody listening. We’re trying to solve the problem and try to get better where we are. One guy is not going to do that."

The Cowboys will close their season with a matchup at the 3-13 New York Giants this coming Sunday.