How this change helped Cowboys' defense flip the switch in blowout win vs. Commanders

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys players were practically begging new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus to use more man coverage through the first six weeks of the 2025 season. 

Dallas was a top five defense built on generating quarterback pressure and takeaways under former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn while running man coverage on 33.8% of their defensive plays from 2021 to 2023, the third-highest rate in the NFL in that span. After Dallas ranked 31st in scoring defense (30.7 points per game allowed) and last in the entire NFL in total defense (411.7 total yards allowed) through the first six weeks while running zone coverage on a league-high 87.2% of defensive snaps in 2025, Eberflus relented. 

The Cowboys ran man coverage at a season-high 49.2% rate on Sunday, per TruMedia, against Quinn's Washington Commanders, and Dallas' defense had their best performance under Eberflus in a 44-22 Week 7 victory. That 49.2% man coverage rate is the highest in the NFL in Week 7 entering "Monday Night Football." How stark of a shift did Eberflus make with his defense? Dallas' next highest man coverage rate of the season was 14.1% in Week 5 at the New York Jets, a 37-22 Cowboys road win. 

"It was just all on the same page, getting our details. We were able to play fast out there," All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland said. "We showed who we are out there. It was a great day. ... As a cover guy, I like to be playing man."

Cowboys' Jerry Jones avoids providing direct answers about Trevon Diggs' home accident

Garrett Podell

"It's an exciting room in there, and they should be excited," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said postgame. "Obviously every Cowboy fan should be excited how that defense played, and they really did some impressive things out there."

Communication breakdowns in the secondary were at the core of Dallas' defensive issues, and that led to the Cowboys surrendering 49 explosive plays through the first six weeks of the season -- the second-most in the league behind only the Miami Dolphins' 50 entering Week 7. Much of that had to do with zone in a new system with Bland confirming it's easier to communicate and be on top of the details when playing man coverage. As a result, Dallas surrendered just seven explosive plays on Sunday, the team's third-fewest this season. 

"Yeah because it's less things you have to look at," Bland said when asked if the details are easier to stay on top of in man. 

Eberflus didn't just get more aggressive with his coverage plans, he did so as well with his aggression regarding the blitz: the Cowboys' 42.5% blitz rate in Week 7 tis their highest of the season by a wide margin. The next closest blitz rate Eberflus has dialed up was back in Week 3 against his former employer, the Chicago Bears, in Week 3: 28.6%. Dallas' 45% quarterback pressure rate in Week 7. Naturally, the Cowboys racked up four sacks by four different players -- linebacker Kenneth Murray, linebacker Shemar James, edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney and edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku -- for their second-highest sack total of the season behind only their five of New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields in a 37-22 Week 5 road win.

"I feel like he's doing a great job trying to get everybody on the same page, talking to the players and seeing what we look to do and seeing what we're seeing," Bland said of Eberflus. "I think he's doing a good job of that. It just brings a level of confidence that we have a coach who is confident in us and can see what we see. It gives us the confidence to go out there and play for him."  

However, that doesn't mean Eberflus' preferred zone coverage doesn't have a time or place with players. Bland's 68-yard pick-six of Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota came in zone, and that play made Bland's six career pick-sixes both the most by any NFL player in his first four seasons as well as the most career pick-sixes in Cowboys history.  

"We were just in a zone, the [running] back leaked out late and didn't see me. Mariota didn't see me in the open space, so I was like 'I got to get this one,'" Bland said. "Even though the sun was bleeding in my face a little bit, but it was good. ... It was more so 'don't drop it' because I felt like it was just me and the end zone."

The more Eberflus can adjust his man and zone coverage blend more closely balanced, the more Dallas' defense will be able to drop the hammer on opposing offenses. 

"He's the kind of guy you want to be, and he exudes confidence to the players," Jones said of Eberflus. "I was proud of the way he as well as [head coach] Brian [Schottenheimer] came up with that game plan. Credit goes to the head coach who spent a lot of time on that side of the ball this week along with 'Flus. Made an adjustment certainly gives us a lot of hope as we look to the future as to how this defense can play as we evolve."