Any hope that the Dallas Cowboys could compete for a playoff berth this season vanished in Sunday's embarrassing 30-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers. In a vacuum, scoring 27 points against one of the least explosive offenses in the NFL should be enough to win. But we are talking about arguably the worst defense in franchise history.
Cowboys fans are out in droves on social media pleading with Brian Schottenheimer to fire Matt Eberflus. It doesn't sound like that will happen, but it felt apparent after the loss that Schottenheimer is losing faith in the defense's ability to execute Eberflus' scheme.
"That’s the bigger thing. I would hope so. I would think so," Schottenheimer said when asked if the players believe in the defensive scheme.
Brian Schottenheimer is clearly losing faith in Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus
Schottenheimer isn't one to throw coaches or players under the bus, and he stopped short of that. He also said that he believes the Cowboys have the personnel to execute the scheme.
However, there is seemingly a disconnect between the head coach and the defensive coordinator. If Schottenheimer isn't 100 percent sure that players believe in Eberflus' system, then why does he still have a job?
Between the defense's continued breakdowns and miscommunications leading to explosive plays, and getting gashed against the run, this group hasn't shown any sign of improvement from the start of the season. Does that not speak to a lack of belief in the system? Growing pains in a new system are expected, but players are still pointing fingers after explosive plays as if they have no idea who's responsible in coverage.
The Cowboys punted the ball back to the Panthers with 6:14 left in the fourth quarter, and fans couldn't help but feel that the offense wouldn't get the ball back. That's where we're at now.
Dallas wasted another surgical outing from Dak Prescott and a career game from George Pickens, who erupted for nine catches for a career-high 168 yards and a touchdown. They put up a performance worthy of a win, but they have zero margin for error with this defense.
We're not sure what the alternative is, but the Eberflus experiment is not sustainable.