Will the real Cowboys defense please stand up?

Matt Eberflus in Cowboys sweatshirt on field — ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 22: Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus walks on the field prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Atlanta Falcons at AT&T Stadium on August 22, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Well, as you can see, the Dallas Cowboys playoff hopes took a massive hit last night in the loss to the Detroit Lions, mainly because the defense we saw early in the season returned last night.

A lot of us, including myself, did think that maybe the Cowboys defense could be just good enough to match the offense and help this playoff push after the last two weeks, but the real Dallas defense stood up on Thursday night!

It Was Ugly

The Cowboys pressured Jared Goff four times on his first six drop backs, blitzing him three times. They pressured him four times over his next 29 drop backs. Dallas blitzed just five times on those 29 drop backs.

The Dallas offense had a total of 417 yards and scored 30 points. Heck, they even cut it to a three-point game with just about nine minutes left in the 4th quarter and the Dallas defense let the Lions score a touchdown to make it a two-score game in less than 8 plays!

We can’t kid ourselves any longer, they still have a major issue on defense, and the Lions’ game plan was perfect.

Nick Harris

@NickHarrisFWST

Lions 44, Cowboys 30 u2014 FINALnnThe offense had its issues, but it battled behind Dak, CeeDee and Flournoy. The defense on the other hand? It couldnu2019t buy a stop when the door was left cracked.nnPostseason hopes arenu2019t gone, but theyu2019re super dire.nnCowboys fall to 6-6-1. Thoughts?

10:36 PM · Dec 4, 2025

446 Likes 151 Replies View on X →

The Dallas defense has now given up 40 or more points in three games this season, the worst in football. How can you bring Matt Eberflus back? You can’t, right?

One more thing I should add is that when the special teams unit is giving up kick returns to nearly the 50-yard line, it makes it even harder, but the Lions had no trouble putting the game away when it was a three-point game and when you as a fan have no faith in the defense, that is an issue.

The Cowboys are now 6-6-1, and although they could win and get to 10 wins, it won’t be enough now to get into the playoffs with how loaded the NFC is top to bottom. They had to have this game.

We will see how the rest of the season goes, but this loss just feels a lot like a playoff one because they had to have it, and say what you want, the offense had issues, but this was a one-score game in the second half more than twice, and the Lions offense ran over this defense.

It now feels like we are back to where we were before the trade deadline, and I am sure a lot of talk is going to happen over the next few days, but it is very simple, this defense is just not good enough in 2025.

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Shane Taylor

Shane Taylor is a sports journalist with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and seven years of professional media experience. He has written 766 articles for InsideTheStar.com, reaching over 928,000 readers. Prior to Inside The Star, Shane worked as a Sports Reporter for Journal Star and a Regional News Reporter for Shaw Media. He currently works in the TRIO Upward Bound department at a junior college.

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VAM 5 months ago

Yeah, the defense looked bad, but a few things that may have contributed to that. First, WHY ARE THEY DEFERING on the coin toss, which put immediate pressure on the DEFENSE!!! Lions have a good offense, with Gibbs and Co. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Since 2000, the team that scores first, has a 64% chance of winning. Again, NO SENSE!!! Second, then when the Cowboys got the second half kickoff, DP promptly throws the first of his two INTS! Yeah, I know it was a tipped ball, but why are you trying to JAM the ball into a well-covered player? That gave the Lions a very short field at about the 15-yard line. and again, put the DEFENSE in a very difficult position. Two plays later, TD pass, against the rookie (more about him later). Third, without their amazing kicker, this game would have been even more lopsided. 63 57 55 yarders, on top of two others. Very few kickers can do that. And why is he making these long FGs? Because the OFFENSE led by DP couldn't drive the field to match up with the LIONS. So, that accounted for 15 points. That leaves the offense accounting for the other 15 points. One wide open blown coverage TD pass and a running TD plus a two-point conversion. Lions obviously WANTED it more. They gang tackle and run to the ball with bad intentions. WR St Brown played very well on a bad wheel, while Cowboy's $20 MILLION a year malcontent CB, Trevon Diggs, was AWOL AGAIN, leaving the East Carolina rookie, Revel, to be fed to the Lions. They should try to trade that BLEEP, ASAP. Not sure they would have many takers. Now this team has to rely on others to do their dirty work. LA has to beat the Eagles or it's basically over for playoff dreams. So, blame the defense again if you want, but clearly there are issue(s) to go around. 30 years and counting.
1. Shane Taylor Post Author 5 months ago
  
  You are saying they couldn't match the Lions offense, Vam they scored and cut the lead to THREE points with 9 mins left in the 4th quarter, and the defense proceeded to give up a touchdown in FIVE plays.....
  1. VAM 5 months ago
    
    You're right Shane, they did, but the big contribution of their All-World kicker with those LONG FGs had a lot to do with that. Most kickers cannot do that. He makes a big difference to this team than other teams just don't have, almost like bailing out the offense in a way. He even made a possible TD saving tackle on a kickoff return. Again, the offense itself, scored 15 points the whole game, one TD was a blown coverage wide open TD pass that maybe you could have thrown. Just opinions of a longtime fan who may expect more from my team that may have spoiled me with great success in the past. BTW, I like your articles and ones by the other authors here. Keep up the good work.
    1. Shane Taylor Post Author 5 months ago
      
      Vam, I appreciate it, and enjoy your comments on the entire site as a level headed fan. Let me say, I am just as frustrated, I am 29 years old and have seen four total playoff wins in my life dating back to when I was born in 96. 100% agree on Aubrey, which is why I think the offense to begin with should have been more aggressive, but it seemed more conservative and you could tell from the start. The last two games they played with no expectations winning two huge games nobody picked them in, but the moment it catches up to them things become more difficult.
      1. James Vargas 5 months ago
        
        Shane, didn’t think you were that young. Excellent written articles by the way, I always enjoy reading you. so now I feel really old. I am from a generation that got spoiled by the teams’ success in the 70’s, 80’s and, 90’s. It has been a long and frustrating 30 years since J Jones let J Johnson go. Still, I continue cheering for the Cowboys !