NFL teams sometimes defy logic. How can an organization field an offense as robust and as immune to injury as the one the Dallas Cowboys currently have, only to field a helpless and inept defense. You would think an organization that can sign/draft players and coach them up so well on offense could find a […] NFL teams sometimes defy logic. How can an organization field an offense as robust and as immune to injury as the one the Dallas Cowboys currently have, only to field a helpless and inept defense. You would think an organization that can sign/draft players and coach them up so well on offense could find a way to do something similar on defense. Even just an average defense could be expected. But that’s not the Dallas Cowboys way. Instead we are subjected to extremes, and left to wonder what would be if we could just get all pistons firing together during the same season. Last week, the Cowboys fanbase was split down the middle about whether they were confident the organization was going in the right direction. That seemed about right at the time considering their record was a split down the middle at 2-2-1. We’re guessing the number who still have confidence is going to drop a bit after the 30-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Vote in the poll then hit the comments and let us know your thoughts. Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cowboys fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. See More: Dallas Cowboys Roster

The Dallas Cowboys have been plagued by multiple injuries this season, and help may be right around the corner, right before a key game against the Washington Commanders. Here’s how the Cowboys are looking after Wednesday’s practice.  CeeDee Lamb (ankle) was back at practice on Wednesday and was seen participating in team activities, earning a […] The Dallas Cowboys have been plagued by multiple injuries this season, and help may be right around the corner, right before a key game against the Washington Commanders. Here’s how the Cowboys are looking after Wednesday’s practice. CeeDee Lamb (ankle) was back at practice on Wednesday and was seen participating in team activities, earning a limited designation. Guard Tyler Booker (ankle) was ramping up and was a limited participant. Return specialist KaVontae Turpin (foot) was back at practice also as a limited participant and is looking on track to return versus Washington. Plus, Marshawn Kneeland (ankle), you guessed it, was limited on Wednesday. Donovan Wilson (elbow/knee) and Jack Sanborn (concussion) were both… limited. For the Commanders, receiver Terry McLaurin was limited at practice with a quad injury. McLaurin has missed the team’s last three games and is iffy to play Sunday. Washington also announced that former Dallas Cowboy Noah Brown has been placed on injured reserve. Defensive end Dorance Armstrong (hamstring) was listed as a DNP today. Finally, Deebo Samuel (heel) was also listed as a DNP. See More: Dallas Cowboys Injuries

Each week we dive into each team’s rookie class and compare how they stack up against each other. (Grades for each player are the overall offensive or defensive grade handed out by PFF.com) Dallas Cowboys Tyler Booker (OG) First Round Currently out with high ankle sprain. Grade: 65.0 Donovan Ezeiraku (DE) Second Round Washington’s offense is a […] Each week we dive into each team’s rookie class and compare how they stack up against each other. (Grades for each player are the overall offensive or defensive grade handed out by PFF.com) Dallas Cowboys Tyler Booker (OG) First Round Currently out with high ankle sprain. Grade: 65.0 Donovan Ezeiraku (DE) Second Round Washington’s offense is a moving target because Jayden Daniels turns dropbacks into field trips. He’s been sacked 14 times, which is middle of the pack and the Commanders just coughed up three turnovers on Monday night after juggling injuries up front. That’s the kind of environment where a high-motor edge like Ezeiruaku can really shine. The issue holding Ezeiruaku from having free reign here is Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The Commanders running back gives them a real downhill threat and he’s at 344 yards on 60 carries this year, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Add Daniels’ 176 rushing yards and that’s a recipe that keep’s Ezeiruaku having to hold his rush lines and set the edge. If the Cowboys can bottle first down and then produce on second and third down, Ezeiruaku’s high-effort style comes into play. On a defense searching for rhythm, he’s one of the few who consistently tilts reps in the right direction.Grade: 72.0 Shavon Revel Jr. (CB) Third Round Currently on Non-Football injury list (NFI) Jaydon Blue (RB) Fifth Round Blue’s tape has been light so far since taking over from Miles Sanders, and that lack of usage slows a rookie trying to find rhythm. You can see the traits, but the touches have been scattered enough that a couple of two-yard runs and a checkdown tackle short of the sticks end up defining his tape so far. His issues have been with processing and play strength. On outside zone he’ll occasionally bounce before he’s fully pressed the landmark, shrinking the crease he’s trying to hit. Inside, the feet can get a little busy so defenders arrive square and put his rush attempt into a panic play. He needs to keep stacking clean pass-pro reps so the coaching staff trusts him in the pressure downs. Once he settles in, the hope is the traits will finally meet the touches and the production will look a lot more like the speed.Grade: 56.4 Shemar James (LB) Fifth Round James looks like a linebacker built in a hurry. The areas of development are exactly what you’d expect from a rookie playing fast. He’ll overrun some inside running plays and open the cutback lane, take one step too early on play-action and leave a window behind him, or take poor angles. In coverage, the assignment is mostly fine, but the timing can drift when quarterbacks extend the play.Grade: 52.6 Ajani Cornelius (OT) Sixth Round Inactive Grade: N/A Jay Toia (DT) Seventh Round So the bad news. Toia had trouble winning the first inch of the rep, which is everything against a run-heavy script. His pad level wasn’t consistent, his hands landed late or outside, and double-teams walked him back at times way too easily for a guy his size. On inside zone runs he chased laterally way too far, opening the lanes that Dowdle happily bent into. Add a couple slow retraces on play-action and a screen where he didn’t feel the release fast enough, and he had a day he wished he could have back. The good news is when Toia fired low and tight, he posted in textbook fashion and kept his hips under him. You could see his feel for two-gapping with the peek, press, shed, and square to finish. He’s also more nimble in short spaces than he looks going off a few plays.Grade: 28.6 Phil Mafah (RB) Seventh Round Inactive Grade: N/A Alijah Clark (CB) UDFA Clark has been called up twice in consecutive weeks to help play gunner on special teams. Both weeks he’s made splash plays, getting downfield like a shot and finding the returner early to end the play. With this solid technique and speed it’s very possible we see Clark get the call for the third consecutive week followed by sole decisions on what to do with him on the 53-man roster.Grade: 80.0 (ST only) Washington Commanders Josh Conerly Jr. (OT) First Round Conerly looks like what you hope a first-round tackle looks like one month in. He’s talented, teachable, and trending. The mistakes are the fixable kind, the strengths are the sticky kind, and the arrow is pointing up. Give him time and reps, and the Commanders may have a fixture on the line. The rough parts to his game are textbook for a college left-tackle flipping to the right. He leads the team in both pressures and sacks, but there’s context to that. When Conerly gets a shade wide, inside counters or speed-to-power comes into play and his recovery can lag. Toss in the occasional grabby rescue when his hands drift outside, and you can see he still has to learn some things. As for his run blocking, that’s also a work in progress. He’s the lowest-graded run blocker among the starting offensive linemen, he is in fact, the lowest-graded run blocker among both Washington’s and Dallas’ offensive linemen.Grade: 60.4 Trey Amos (CB) Second Round Dropped into the league with press-corner length and SEC experience, Amos has settled into the rotation the way you want a rookie to with steady special-teams work, spot duty outside, and a handful of snaps in the nickel when the matchup fits. The first thing that pops on film is the frame with rangy arms, patient feet, and how calmly he gets from line up to in phase with his long strides. When offenses try to

The Cowboys are very quickly being faced with a major conundrum: Matt Eberflus. It’s rare that a team fires a head coach – let alone an assistant – during their first year on the job. Yet, it’s becoming harder and harder to justify keeping Eberflus around. The Dallas defense has been utterly miserable all year, […] The Cowboys are very quickly being faced with a major conundrum: Matt Eberflus. It’s rare that a team fires a head coach – let alone an assistant – during their first year on the job. Yet, it’s becoming harder and harder to justify keeping Eberflus around. The Dallas defense has been utterly miserable all year, and their one moment offering hope – a Week 5 win over the winless Jets – quickly withered away in a demoralizing loss to the Panthers. Brian Schottenheimer has made it clear he’s not even thinking about moving on from Eberflus. On Monday, he had this to say: “I’ve been Matt. I’ve been a coordinator. And I’ve been where people are calling you out and saying you don’t know how to coach and, ‘Man, this guy is the worst coach in history…’” “Matt Eberflus is a damn good football coach. We have to perform better. But I’ve been him, so part of me being in [defensive meetings] is to help as an asset, to tell him I believe in him. I understand what he’s going through. It sucks. It’s no fun. We’re gonna ride this thing out. And we’ll play better. We really will.” That’s an admirable response from Schottenheimer, who is surely thinking the same thing Eberflus must be thinking: I didn’t build this roster, or decide to trade away the best player a week before the season. In fact, Eberflus accepted this job fully under the impression that an extension with Micah Parsons would happen, only to quickly find out that would not be the case. It’s easy to find excuses for Eberflus, and it’s understandable why Schottenheimer is hesitant to fire his defensive coordinator just six games into the season. He’s also right about Eberflus being a good coach; his track record, which we profiled back when the hire was made, speaks for itself. That said, Eberflus has fielded a miserable defense week in and week out this year. This most recent game in Carolina was possibly the worst, even if the statistics don’t say so. Take, for example, the fourth down conversion that sealed the win for the Panthers: It’s fourth down and the Panthers need three yards to move the chains. Eberflus lines up three defensive linemen to one side and has Kenneth Murray mugging the A gap. On the boundary side, Trevon Diggs is right at the line of scrimmage, while DaRon Bland is giving a 12-yard cushion to Hunter Renfrow, lined up three yards beyond the line to gain. When the ball is snapped, Murray drops into a shallow zone before drifting towards Renfrow, who runs a quick slant. Bland, meanwhile, backpedals for a second before triggering down on Renfrow as he breaks inside. Neither player is quick enough to stop what was an easy throw. Here’s the problem: Eberflus was essentially daring the Panthers to run this exact play. The pre-snap alignment suggests exactly that, and the only other explanation for leaving Bland so far off the line is sheer incompetence. More likely is that Eberflus was trying to bait Bryce Young into throwing the slant to Renfrow. That idea is great in theory, but it relies on two things. First, Murray needs to move in Renfrow’s direction right at the snap to intercept – or at least break up – any pass. Second, Bland needs to trigger downhill immediately and meet Renfrow right at the line to gain, which is made nearly impossible by his deep alignment and backpedal at the snap. So in the biggest moment of the game, Eberflus calls a play that attempts to bait the offense into throwing at two defenders that have struggled mightily thus far this season. That’s what takes this play from being great in theory to being terrible in reality. The Panthers took the bait, too, and they had zero regrets afterward. Therein lies the problem, though: Eberflus is a good coach with a proven track record, but the roster he’s coaching in Dallas is not good enough for the defense he wants to run. Diggs and Bland excel in a press-heavy defense, while the pass rush unit has usually thrived with a heavy barrage of stunts and simulated pressures. None of those are features of the Eberflus defense, and his being in this role is the football equivalent of fitting a square peg into a round hole. So what’s the solution? The Cowboys don’t have the personnel to run this scheme effectively, but not because their personnel lacks talent. They just have the wrong coach for the personnel. That leaves Schottenheimer with two options: force Eberflus to change up his scheme or fire him. The second option presents an even harder question to answer: who replaces him? Pass game coordinator Andre Curtis makes the most logical sense, and he worked alongside Schottenheimer in Seattle, but he also spent the last three years with Eberflus in Chicago. So, too, did linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi. Neither of those coaches seem likely to come in and drastically change the scheme, while defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton is considerably less experienced than the other two. Of course, there’s also Nick Sorensen. The special teams coordinator was on Pete Carroll’s Seahawks staff for nine seasons, overlapping with Schottenheimer for three years. He primarily assisted with defensive backs, and was later the pass game coordinator for the 49ers before serving as their defensive coordinator last year. Granted, San Francisco fired Sorensen after one year in that role, and moving Sorensen to defensive coordinator would just create a hole at special teams coordinator. The inability to sufficiently answer the question of a replacement is perhaps the biggest

The Dallas Cowboys are 2-3-1 at the moment with games looming against the Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. Speaking to the first one (Washington) in front of them, oddsmakers believe they will lose as the Commanders are favored even with the game set to take place at AT&T Stadium. Imagine a world where the Cowboys […] The Dallas Cowboys are 2-3-1 at the moment with games looming against the Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. Speaking to the first one (Washington) in front of them, oddsmakers believe they will lose as the Commanders are favored even with the game set to take place at AT&T Stadium. Imagine a world where the Cowboys drop these next two. They would fall to 2-5-1 on the season and any hope of a playoff berth would be only alive in a literal and mathematical sense (odds are fairly low right now as it is). It would stand to reason at that hypothetical point to be focused on next year more than this one. This is generally not how the Cowboys have operated, but that has never stopped us from having conversations out loud among ourselves. At that hypothetical point, or even now if you’d like, should the Cowboys entertain the idea of trading away any players? Let me be very clear and say that I would not trade away George Pickens if I ran this team. But with Pickens serving as one of the better players on the Cowboys right now and with him in a contract year… the Cowboys’ current status coupled with how they handle players needing big paydays makes for interesting out-loud conversations at the very least. Again. I would not do it. We are just trying to find solutions together. What do you think? Should the Cowboys entertain trading anyone away? If not now, when? See More: Dallas Cowboys Roster

Jerry Jones believes Cowboys have ‘ammo’ to make potential trade – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com If the Cowboys win their next two games, their chances of making a trade will increase significantly. From trading a first-round pick to the Raiders for Amari Cooper in 2018 to acquiring Jonathan Mingo for a fourth-round pick last year, Dallas has […] Jerry Jones believes Cowboys have ‘ammo’ to make potential trade – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com If the Cowboys win their next two games, their chances of making a trade will increase significantly. From trading a first-round pick to the Raiders for Amari Cooper in 2018 to acquiring Jonathan Mingo for a fourth-round pick last year, Dallas has made six trades in-season in the weeks leading up to the deadline over the last seven years. Could 2025 bring the seventh in eight years? “We have thought all along that if we see a way to improve this year with a trade at the deadline, then we’ll take advantage of it,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said following a press conference about the upcoming 101st East-West Shrine Bowl. “That’s what we positioned for to start this year, was to have ammunition to do things if we have an opportunity.” That’s not anything new from Jones, who has said several times during the last few weeks that the Cowboys are open for business if the right deal comes across the table. That said, nothing is in the works at present. “I don’t have a trade in mind right now, at all,” Jones said. “That comes about right now if someone is on the phone calling.” If the Cowboys were to make a transaction before the deadline, it’s highly likely that they would look to acquire a player that could help their defense, which currently ranks last in the NFL in yards allowed per game. Jones added that if the Cowboys were to look in that direction, it would be a move that looks not just at the 2025 season, but beyond too. “If there is a trade that would help the defense, we’re in position to make that trade…” Jones reiterated. “[It] doesn’t mean we’re going to make one, but we certainly had in mind when we started this season that we were going to have ammo to be more flexible in terms of what we do with the roster as we move along this year, and of course as we get into the next couple of years.” The team is hopeful of getting Jalen Cropper back on the practice squad. After filling in on special teams, third-year wide receiver Jalen Cropper has been released. The move comes with the expected returns of superstar receiver CeeDee Lamb and electric playmaker KaVontae Turpin right around the corner. According to Todd Archer of ESPN, the Cowboys are hopeful that Cropper will pass through the wire waiver and return to the team as a member of the practice squad. Cropper appeared in three games this season and returned three punts for 27 yards and two kickoffs for 38 yards. Cropper’s release comes hours after owner and general manager Jerry Jones revealed that he is hopeful All-Pro receiver Lamb will be able to return for Dallas’ Week 7 showdown with the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium. Lamb has been out of action since suffering a high-ankle sprain just seven snaps into the team’s Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears. Turpin, meanwhile, has been slowed this season due to a foot sprain, which has kept him out of the Cowboys’ past two games. Who Jerry Jones, Cowboys could target via trade as owner says ‘we are still in it’ – Ayrton Ostly, USA Today Dallas needs all the help it can get on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys may be expecting two players back on what’s been a struggling defense so far in 2025. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown could be back after the team’s bye Nov. 9 after a serious knee injury last year. Rookie cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. may make his debut in the next month or so as he finishes rehabilitation on a torn ACL suffered in college. But what if Jones and company don’t wait for those two players to make their debut? Dallas is armed with extra draft picks thanks to the Micah Parsons trade – an extra first-round pick in the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts – and more cap space. Jones revealed the team is weighing their options ahead of the Nov. 4 deadline. “We will weigh what are the likelihood of the players we’ve got coming back, how will they impact where that will put this team as opposed to should we add a player in a trade?” Jones said. “And I don’t have a trade in mind at all. And that comes about right now if someone is on the phone calling.” Dallas could be active at the trade deadline. Here are six targets they should consider: Hunter’s been one of the best and most productive pass rushers in the league for a decade. He’ll turn 31 years old later this month but he’s shown no signs of slowing down with age. The Texas native has four sacks through five games this year and ranks eighth league-wide in sack percentage, per NFL Next Gen Stats. His pass-rush get-off time is 0.84 seconds which is also top-10 league-wide. Dallas’ defense needs help against both the run and pass. Hunter’s the type of edge rusher who can assist in both areas. He’s on pace for career-highs in tackles for loss as well as sacks this season. What may make this worth it for Houston is the long-term outlook for the franchise. They have contract extensions looming for franchise cornerstones Will Anderson Jr. and C.J. Stroud amid a 2-3 start to the 2025 season. Their playoff chances aren’t looking good and it’d be worth getting value for Hunter, who is only on the books through next season (with three void years tacked

Two things are very true right now about the 2025 Dallas Cowboys. On one hand, QB Dak Prescott is playing the best football of his career. On the other, he’s trying to overcome the worst defense he’s ever been saddled with. This dichotomy is what’s led to the Cowboys’ 2-3-1 record after six weeks, and […] Two things are very true right now about the 2025 Dallas Cowboys. On one hand, QB Dak Prescott is playing the best football of his career. On the other, he’s trying to overcome the worst defense he’s ever been saddled with. This dichotomy is what’s led to the Cowboys’ 2-3-1 record after six weeks, and is on pace to throw Prescott’s MVP-worthy performance right into the garbage along with the rest of Dallas’ season. Give the Cowboys at least a semi-capable defense, and it likely swings their Week 4 game against the Packers and last Sunday’s in Carolina to victories. Even that Week 3 game against the Bears might’ve gone differently if the defense hadn’t given up two 30-yard bombs on Chicago’s second drive. The offense didn’t help: Javonte Williams’ early fumble and CeeDee Lamb’s injury also gave the Bears momentum. But instead of rallying behind their teammates, Dallas’ defense only further opened the wound. Even without that result changing, you’d still be looking at a 4-2 record. That would have Dallas tied for first place in the NFC East and with solid positioning in the wild card race. While MVP is an individual award, team success is a heavy factor in who eventually wins it. It usually is at least a division winner, if not the number-one seed in a conference. Generally, it’s at least a team that rolls into the playoffs as a clear favorite. If the Cowboys were just on the right side of .500, many might still make the case for Prescott. Not only would he be leading his team to wins, but the offense would be doing the heavy lifting. New head coach, offensive coordinator, missing offensive linemen, an injured franchise receiver, and Jerry Jones as the ever-maligned liability: people are ready to name Prescott or anyone else a superhero for leading this team to success. His résumé is undeniable. But alas, even the greatest heroes don’t go unbeaten. Dallas’ defense is back to Doomsday level, but only because it’s killing a Superman season from QB1. Prescott is too good a man and a leader to play the blame game. Even after this loss to the Panthers, he focused on where the offense failed to convert in the redzone or had too many three-and-outs. One thing he said in the postgame comments summed up his attitude nicely. “You gotta look at yourself and fix that first.” That is the kind of generosity that makes someone a Walter Payton Man of the Year. Yes, the Cowboys’ offense left points on the Panthers’ field. There’s no denying that. But they shouldn’t have needed more than that to beat Carolina. They shouldn’t have had to answer 239 yards of offense from Rico Dowdle or a three-touchdown game from a borderline first-round bust in Bryce Young. It’s one thing to carry the load for your buddy. It’s another thing to drag his dead carcass along, too. There’s a healthy debate right now about who’s most to blame on defense between Matt Eberflus and the players. The scheme isn’t that hard, but that doesn’t mean a coach shouldn’t make adjustments when it’s so flagrantly ineffective. But it’s also evident that Dallas’ minimalist approach to defensive improvement this offseason, coupled with the Micah Parsons trade, has left them woefully thin on talent at every level of the depth chart. Sadly, there’s no mid-season fix for this bad a defense. Maybe if the front office were willing to unload its draft pick stockpile with trades, but even then, you have a big question mark about the guy running it. All you can hope for now is modest improvement, which at least helps take some pressure off the rest of the team. Maybe you get it when some injured players return, but it also has to come with better utilization by Eberflus. While it’s not fair to ask the offense to do more, at least they may be capable of it. Getting Lamb and KaVontae Turpin back, plus Cooper Beebe and Tyler Booker on the front line, should add more explosiveness to all attacks. Unfortunately, it also comes as the Cowboys’ schedule gets a lot tougher than the likes of the Giants, Jets, and Panthers. While Dak Prescott’s MVP chances aren’t the objective in 2025, they do illustrate just how unfortunate this defensive disaster is. His incredible play so far this season, along with George Pickens and others, is being sabotaged by the other side of the ball. Leave it to the Cowboys to find a way to screw up a great thing. They’ve been doing it for 32 years. See More: Dallas Cowboys Roster

After the Giants’ massive upset over the Eagles last Thursday night, the NFC East appeared open for business. Washington could’ve been the new division leaders with a win, while a Dallas victory would’ve had the Cowboys right on their heels and Philadelphia’s. But instead, somehow, New York was the only team in Week 6 to […] After the Giants’ massive upset over the Eagles last Thursday night, the NFC East appeared open for business. Washington could’ve been the new division leaders with a win, while a Dallas victory would’ve had the Cowboys right on their heels and Philadelphia’s. But instead, somehow, New York was the only team in Week 6 to move up the NFC East standings. At the very least, Philly was the only losing team to get blown out. Both the Commanders and Cowboys lost their games on last-second field goals, but not without some distressing circumstances. Washington fumbled away a chance to close against the Bears and allowed them to attempt the eventual winning kick. The day before, Dallas got run over by former Cowboy Rico Dowdle and was powerless when Carolina marched the field for their own finishing field goal. Here are the NFC East standings after Week 6: Philadelphia Eagles 4-2 (1-1 in division, 3-1 vs NFC) Washington Commanders 3-3 (1-0, 1-3) Dallas Cowboys 2-3-1 (1-1, 1-3-1) New York Giants 2-4 (1-2, 1-3) Only one of Dallas or Washington, unless we get another goofy tie, can stop the bleeding this week. Neither can afford a loss in this critical rivalry game, but it would be especially crushing for the Cowboys to drop this one at home. And having Dan Quinn come to town and win, given our current defensive coordinator’s problems, would be an extra heaping spoonful of salt in the wound. The Eagles are especially desperate for victory after two straight losses, but this Week 7 game against the 3-2 Vikings won’t make it easy. While Philly has extra rest coming off a Thursday game, Minnesota just finished a full bye week and is playing at home. There’s talk that starting QB J.J.McCarthy could return this Sunday, but don’t you kind of want to see Carson Wentz in his own revenge game? Speaking of feel-good stories, the Giants are loving life with exciting rookies Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo. But traveling to meet the 4-2 Broncos, with one of the league’s best defenses so far this year, could end the party quickly. If New York pulls this one off, Brian Daboll’s seat may get a lot cooler. See More: Dallas Cowboys General

Every week, we gather to discuss the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have David Howman, Tom Ryle, Jess Haynie, and Sean Martin.  Did Dallas get out-schemed up front on defense, or was it a run-fit issue that let Carolina control tempo? […] Every week, we gather to discuss the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have David Howman, Tom Ryle, Jess Haynie, and Sean Martin. Did Dallas get out-schemed up front on defense, or was it a run-fit issue that let Carolina control tempo? Mike: It was more run-fit sloppiness than pure out-scheming, but Carolina amplified those mistakes with smart tools. The Panthers leaned on motion and condensed splits to muddy the Cowboys’ keys so the Cowboys defensive front had to declare gap responsibilities late. Dallas often sat in light, two-high structures and slanted the front, which is fine if second-level fits are clean, but the edges were late setting the force, linebackers overran cutbacks, and safeties were hesitant triggering downhill, turning three to four yard wins into seven to ten yard gains for Rico Dowdle. That being said, Dowlde also played the game perfectly and stacked another big day next to his monstrous game against Miami. Tom: I think this is an unfortunate intersection of a bad defensive scheme and a lack of talent, particularly in the front seven. But the first to me is the most important for Dallas. The players are not completely inadequate. They just look to be in the wrong alignments with bad assignments. Howman: I don’t think it had as much to do with scheme as it did the players just getting punked. Carolina was the more physical team and when your defensive linemen are getting pushed back and spun around, it doesn’t matter much what scheme you’re running. Sean: In this particular case, I’ll go with poor run-fits, since the question is specific to the front seven. I think the major scheme issues were once again in the secondary. The Cowboys didn’t win off the ball, didn’t force Rico Dowdle to stop his feet in the backfield, and couldn’t bring down the powerful back in the open field either. A lot of things were bad, including run fits. Jess: Physicality and confidence tend to go hand-in-hand, and the Cowboys lacked it on Sunday. Looked like they let the tie with Green Bay and beating the now 0-6 Jets get them a little too full of themselves, and the Panthers smacked them right in the mouth. It’s bad in so many ways, as my fellow writers have outlined. But the lack of heart was as evident as anything. How would you grade the run blocking versus Derrick Brown and the Panthers’ interior defense? Mike: The plan to deliver heavier doses of inside zone with double teams to dent the front, then climb was sound early on. But Derrick Brown’s knockback on first contact and the Panthers’ firm backside techniques kept combos from staying on long enough. Brock Hoffman and both Cowboys’ guards got initial fits but too often lost leverage, letting the Panthers interior cross face or split the double and squeeze lanes. There were flashes from the Cowboys offensive line, but sustaining blocks was lacking and pad levels crept up in the third quarter, then from there it just got worse. The blocking was a disaster against the Panthers interior, and in a game where the line needed to control the middle, it just wasn’t there. This is a D grade for the offensive line, unfortunately. Tom: Is F- a grade? This was incredibly bad. Not only were they limited to a pitiful 39 yards rushing, they also had multiple screen passes just blown up. Screens are something of an extension of the run game, but Carolina was all over them. The injury-driven churn on the offensive line may finally be catching up to them. Howman: In a vacuum, the blocking was very bad. When you take into account that it was against a certified dude in Derrick Brown, it’s more about what you’d expect. And then when you remember that the two worst culprits were backups Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass, it’s a lot less surprising. I’m not ready to sound the alarm on the offensive line, but Sunday was pretty bad. Sean: It feels so, so weird to say that the offensive line issue may have been having some of their best players back, but isn’t that what it felt like at times? When even Tyler Smith is off on the timing of a third-down play that led to Williams being tackled for a loss and a punt, it’s a really bad day at the office for the offensive line. Of all the ways Schottenheimer could have helped this, less runs right into the teeth of the Panthers defense I think could have changed this narrative quite a bit, but as Tom said even the screen game failed them in crucial moments too. Of all the things to worry about long term for this team right now, offensive line still feels like a distant one, but the fact they added to the ways Dallas was bullied in the trenches on both sides of the ball in Carolina makes this a very hard to swallow loss. Jess: I give it a “G”, as in “Get Beebe and Booker back out there ASAP.” I know Hoffman and Bass have had better weeks, but those were against worse defensive fronts. How hot is Matt Eberflus’ seat right now? Mike: Things are so bad some people are joking about bringing Mike Nolan back, and that’s saying something. Tom: You should be able to fry up some bacon on it. As has been noted among the writers, this is sadly reminiscent of the Mike Nolan debacle. Eberflus seems determined to stick to his way of