Through nine games, the Dallas Cowboys offense is averaging 29.2 points per game and 378.4 yards per game, both top-four marks in the NFL. Despite having one of the league’s most productive offenses, Dallas is 3-5-1 after nine weeks. The reason why is that the team’s defense is abysmal, allowing 397.4 yards per game and 30.8 points per game, both second-worst this season.
There are a lot of people to blame for the embarrassing performances every week, like defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, or the players who get pushed around on the field. While fans make sure to criticize both parties after every game, everything with the Cowboys always points back to one person: Jerry Jones. The team owner is never shy about taking accountability for the state of the franchise, but he recently got very honest about his role in the team’s eyesore of a defense.
Jerry Jones on @1053thefan when asked what something that he and the front office didn't have the right read on up to this point in the year
"I've errored over the last three years with the changing of defensive coordinators or defensive philosophies or the adjustments there.…
— Tommy Yarrish (@tommy_yarrish) November 4, 2025
Jerry Jones regrets how he handled the Cowboys defense
Going on local radio hours after losing to the Arizona Cardinals in primetime, Jones was captivated by the spirit of accountability. He’s always honest — a bit too much at times — but on Tuesday, he was being honest about the ways he messed up the franchise. One of the ways he did that was with constant turnover at the defensive coordinator spot.
Looking back over the last three years, Jones said he would have tried to prevent changing defensive coordinators every year. The team owner believes going to a new voice or new defensive philosophy every season is the reason why the unit currently looks the way it does. The lack of continuity really took a toll on the unit, and Jones admits he missed that up until this point.
It’s great that Jones finally realized that, but that could be bad news for any fans hoping to end the Eberflus era. Nevertheless, going from Dan Quinn to Mike Zimmer to Matt Eberflus is certainly a journey, and not the most fun one. The last time Dallas was really a consistently good defensive unit was during Quinn’s three years as defensive coordinator. Proving Jones' point, the Cowboys' defense got better each season under Quinn.
With this realization, it would be a bit contradictory for Dallas to move on from Eberflus after the season, but fans probably wouldn’t fault the organization if it did. That will be one of many big offseason decisions the Cowboys will have to make.