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Dak Prescott put up MVP-caliber numbers again in 2025. He ranked among the top five NFL quarterbacks in traditional stats like passing yards (third), touchdowns (fifth) and completions (first). He ranked among the top five NFL quarterbacks in advanced stats like completion percentage over expected (CPOE, third), expected points added (EPA, fourth) and QBR (fifth).
But he didn't sniff the playoffs and won't be anything but an afterthought in this year's MVP race. That's largely because of the guy who made him throw so many passes. Not head coach Brian Schottenheimer or offensive coordinator Klayton Adams. The blame falls at the feet of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
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It was Eberflus's defense that couldn't maximize the star power left behind in the wake of the preseason's shocking Micah Parsons trade. It was Eberflus who failed to turn a brief uptick in performance following an in-season deal for Quinnen Williams into anything sustainable.
It was Eberflus who was responsible for a defense that ranked 30th in yards allowed, 32nd in opponents' EPA and 32nd in scoring defense. The Cowboys trailed in all but one of their 17 games this season, only beating 38-year-old third-string quarterback Josh Johnson and the Washington Commanders wire-to-wire.
There is balm in Gilead for Prescott in 2026. Eberflus was reportedly fired Tuesday after designing the league's worst defense and asking his star quarterback to bail him out repeatedly in a 7-9-1 campaign.
Eberflus's first year in Dallas was supposed to rehabilitate his NFL stock after being fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2024. The former Indianapolis Colts coordinator had built a top five unit over the back half of 2023 with Montez Sweat in tow. That fell apart the following season and Eberflus decamped for the Cowboys and a prospective lineup loaded with stars like Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.
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Parsons' sudden departure didn't help, but Eberflus was constantly overwhelmed just like he'd been in Chicago despite, ostensibly, fewer responsibilities. Every defensive back who started more than three games gave up a passer rating of at least 99.0 in coverage. Diggs clocked in at a career-worst 157.2 -- the maximum is 158.3 -- and was released before the final week of the season. Bland had nine interceptions in his All-Pro 2023 and one in 12 games this fall. Rookie Shavon Revel, a Group of 5 prospect with first round buzz, fell to the Cowboys in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft and struggled badly as opponents picked him apart with little support from the defense around him, resulting in a 126.1 passer rating allowed and three touchdowns given up in only five starts.
The pass rush without Parsons went from generating 51 sacks in 2024 to 35 in 2025, in part because of a lowered blitz rate because the team couldn't trust its cornerbacks in single coverage. Eberflus was stuck in an ouroboros of poor play, with that lack of pressure eating its secondary and a lack of trust in the secondary chomping away at the pass rush. His defense landed a single player on a Pro Bowl roster. It was Williams, who played only seven games for the team.
To Eberflus's credit, he was saddled with a difficult task. Parsons was a rising tide whose departure left several of Dallas's less secure players beached. He had to find roles for the broken toys other teams threw away but owner Jerry Jones coveted like Kaiir Elam, Logan Wilson and (big sigh) Kenneth Murray. This was going to be a challenge no matter what.
If the Cowboys defense had merely been bad, Eberflus may have escaped with his job and a second chance to turn things around. Instead, it was a disaster that burned yet another season of Prescott's prime without a playoff appearance. Eberflus couldn't survive that, so he had to go.
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The next man up will get a similar challenge. The good news is it will be difficult to be any worse.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Cowboys fired Matt Eberflus because of course they did
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