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Eberflus Report Week 16 - Utterly Defenseless, Again
Another opponent experiences one of its best days at the expense of hapless 'Boys Defense.
Bob Sturm
Dec 24, 2025
Our objectives today will be:
OVERALL DEFENSIVE EVALUATION
To get a good feel for how far the Cowboys will have to go to fix their defense, we probably need to establish where they need the most help. After watching the tape of this demolition by Justin Herbert and the Chargers, there is no doubt that help is needed in many, many places.
I realize meeting every week on Wednesday to confirm what we already know is going to resemble beating a dead horse, but please know that those of us who still meet here do it for a specific purpose – to find a way back to contender status. The Cowboys have a chance to be good again as soon as 2026, but doing nothing will not fix this.
They will need swift and decisive moves – many of them – to turn this mess around.
First, let’s establish some numbers for a moment. In 2025, the NFL has an average yard per play of 5.4 yards. Again, 5.4 yards per snap is what the average NFL play yields. The best offense in the NFL is 6.2 (the Rams) and the worst offense is 4.5 (the Raiders) and for context, the Cowboys offense is 6.0.
On Sunday, the Chargers offense hit the Cowboys defense for 7.3 yards per play. This is, incredibly, the fourth time that Dallas has given up more than 7 yards per play this season. That is just absurd. Each time, they could not even come close to fighting back and appearing to have any hope at all.
And, sadly, now that we are starting to see the end of the road, two of these occasions have happened in the last three weeks. The one game that did not get there was against Minnesota, but the Vikings had 6.3 which was their single-game high in 2025.
As we wrote about on Monday, they also had the dreaded zero sacks–zero takeaways performance. So, not only did they give up a chunk every snap, but they also had almost no splash plays.
But, the Chargers game was another new low. Usually, when a team is passing all over the Cowboys, Dallas has the run handled. Or, the other way around. However, against the Chargers, Dallas could stop nothing and were over-run.
The total: 152 yards on the ground and 300 yards through the air.
Just colossally bad.
Justin Herbert was sensational. It might have been the best game he has ever played, but if not, it at least is in the conversation. He sliced and diced and found different receivers at will. His passer rating was incredible and his QBR was, too.
In fact, he put together a game in the database that was worth mentioning:
Don Majkowski? Be still my beating heart!
Now, let’s eliminate everyone on the list that did not get at least 10 yards per pass attempt. 10 yards per attempt is absolutely silly. NFL Average is 6.1. How many turn up against Dallas with these data points?
So, zero sacks suggests that Dallas had no pass pressures, but that isn’t true. In particular, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark both had great days, but they could not get him to the ground. Look at this pocket movement from Herbert before he fires another missile.
I would argue that this continues to reveal that the edge situation is a real concern and that will have to be a priority this offseason. Edge is a premium position and I think that they are pretty short in this very important spot right now. DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons are Pro Bowlers for other teams.
Meanwhile, the great Brian Baldinger would argue that the secondary is a bigger concern than the edges as he tweeted and recorded this: .
Here are the depressing coverage numbers by DB:
Diggs and Revel are both high-level talents and we know Diggs is surely gone. Revel is a kid coming off some major injuries and was a man corner being forced into zone. DaRon Bland is down for the year and nobody else looks like a NFL starter.
Like we said, they are a ways off, so to see the Chargers slice and dice them should not be too shocking, it seems.
Here are the numbers from Sunday:
The red is everywhere. Crime scene stuff, really.
The drive chart is even more depressing:
The Chargers had two drives that were about 8 minutes each. They had four drives that were 65 yards or more. They had five drives with at least three first downs each. And they had six different explosives:
Now, it should be noted as we look at the Statbutler.com snap-sheet, this was a game without Quinnen Williams and virtually without DeMarvion Overshown (who played his last snap with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter). If we believe these are two of the main reasons to have hope moving forward, then surely their absences being felt can verify this a bit.
OK, let’s whip through some plays here and see what we can see.
FILM STUDY
1Q - 8:51 - 3-4-LAC 41 - J.Herbert pass short right to T.Harris to DAL 36 for 23 yards (D.Overshown).
This is basic stuff here. You are playing man coverage and the motion is to attempt to confuse, but rookie CB Shavon Revel vs rookie WR Tre Harris is basic stuff. If you read this space, you know I am a Revel guy, but rule No. 1 on the perimeter for a DB is to get your guy to the ground and I have no idea what this effort is called. But, my friend, the NFL is not-for-long if this is your best tackling effort. Huge play and completely unnecessary.
1Q - 6:48 - 2-8-DAL 23 - J.Herbert pass deep left to Q.Johnston for 23 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This one is on Revel and we can say the Chargers are targeting him, but this is the NFL and a good throw will beat good coverage every time. Here, 99-Perrion Winfrey makes his first film study as he is given a chance with Quinnen out. He is not a rookie, but he hasn’t been on the field for an NFL game since 2023. I liked this rep for sure. He is a strong player. But, 5-man rush cannot get to Herbert and he drops a beauty right in the bucket.
2Q - 9:50 - 2-10-DAL 25 - J.Herbert pass deep right to L.McConkey for 25 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This one has been debated plenty online this week, but I am not sure why. 10-7 Cowboys and the Chargers here will take the lead on this pass where they beat Cover 2 and Trevon Diggs must carry the vertical and doesn’t sort it out in time. Late motion for Ladd McConkey into a wheel route is for this exact reason to confuse and the inside vertical from 13-Keenan Allen occupies 28-Malik Hooker. Diggs has some defenders out there and while I am generally one of them, this is not the snap to defend. This is his responsibility. The idea that he has flat responsibilities in Cover 2 is true, until a vertical goes to his outside with the safety already locked.
2Q - 5:50 - 3-9-LAC 32 - J.Herbert pass short left to K.Lambert-Smith pushed ob at LAC 42 for 10 yards (M.Hooker) [O.Odighizuwa].
Again, Shavon Revel on 3rd and 9 has to make a tackle here. There is nothing Matt Eberflus can do for him. This is football and you have a responsibility on the perimeter to make the stop by yourself or to die trying. There is no chance you can let a WR who weighs 182 to stay in bounds and to get to the sticks on you. This is enough to get yanked off the field because you are betraying your teammates here.
2Q - 0:30 - 3-5-DAL 13 - J.Herbert pass short left to K.Allen to DAL 1 for 12 yards (T.Diggs).
This is 17-14, Dallas, in the final minute of the half. 3rd and 5 and if you can get a stop here, you are 17-17 at halftime and that is a much different spot. The Cowboys look like Cover 6 here and try to zone everything up. 13-Keenan Allen runs over 27-Reddy Steward and Justin Herbert is allowed to escape. He makes a great play and another big 3rd down conversion is a killer – especially in the red zone and in the final minute. A true 4-point play.
3Q - 14:13 - 2-8-LAC 26 - J.Herbert pass deep left to Q.Johnston to DAL 24 for 50 yards (M.Hooker).
First pass snap of the second half is the biggest play of the game, so this is not how you want to start the third quarter, but alas. Stop me if you remember this from earlier. The Cowboys are trying to run a Cover 2 and the Chargers send two verticals on the same side to put 28-Malik Hooker in a bind where he can’t get them both. That means the corner has to get on his horse for the outside vert and Bridges hesitates so Johnston is way behind him. This is the thing about playing zone. Everyone has to be very clear on their responsibilities and we see so many coverage busts in zone. This is probably the main reason that they will be firing Matt Eberflus.
3Q - 7:38 - 3-1-LAC 26 - J.Herbert pass incomplete deep left to Q.Johnston (T.Bridges).
Here is a 3rd-and-1 heat-check for the Chargers and Herbert where they will go play-action because there is Johnston vs Bridges again. This time, Bridges plays it way better, although you would want to get turned around a bit if possible. So, Dallas did force a key punt to try to tie the game.
4Q - 14:40 - 3-7-LAC 32 - J.Herbert scrambles right guard to DAL 34 for 34 yards (S.Revel, M.Bell). FUMBLES (M.Bell), and recovers at DAL 34.
Here is 3rd and long and Eberflus gets a LB 59-Murray on a free run to Herbert and he simply cannot finish the play. Putting guys in position does not mean you can do it for him. Herbert is big and strong and you have to get his legs, but the end zone view shows that it is perfect. But, the play is not made and now Herbert off to the races and he wasn’t far from taking it all the way. Demoralizing, but it shows Herbert’s full arsenal.
4Q - 6:14 - 3-9-DAL 45 - J.Herbert pass short left to Q.Johnston pushed ob at DAL 20 for 25 yards (T.Diggs; D.Wilson)
Here is the last 3rd-and-long and Dallas again cannot get the stop. Johnston had an incredible day in his homecoming (TCU) and the Cowboys made things too easy. Donovan Ezeiruaku is close and Trevon Diggs is close, too, as he undercuts the pass and is hunting for a pick-6. But, Herbert isn’t falling for that and as we know, close doesn’t matter and the Chargers easily put this game to the sword at this moment.
SPLASH PLAYS
Only seven splash plays? Ugh. Nothing.
I will say the season totals here are absurdly low as 40-45 is usually the team-lead, whereas 22 might be enough this year to be the splash leader. Very tight at the top with two games to play.
So, there you have it. It is ugly and we expect they will clean some house in two weeks on this defense yet again.
We are on to Washington.
Another opponent experiences one of its best days at the expense of hapless 'Boys Defense.
Bob Sturm
Dec 24, 2025
Our objectives today will be:
- Overall Defensive Evaluation
- Justin Herbert was sensational
- Coverage was awful, in zone and man.
- Film Study
- Splash Plays
OVERALL DEFENSIVE EVALUATION
To get a good feel for how far the Cowboys will have to go to fix their defense, we probably need to establish where they need the most help. After watching the tape of this demolition by Justin Herbert and the Chargers, there is no doubt that help is needed in many, many places.
I realize meeting every week on Wednesday to confirm what we already know is going to resemble beating a dead horse, but please know that those of us who still meet here do it for a specific purpose – to find a way back to contender status. The Cowboys have a chance to be good again as soon as 2026, but doing nothing will not fix this.
They will need swift and decisive moves – many of them – to turn this mess around.
First, let’s establish some numbers for a moment. In 2025, the NFL has an average yard per play of 5.4 yards. Again, 5.4 yards per snap is what the average NFL play yields. The best offense in the NFL is 6.2 (the Rams) and the worst offense is 4.5 (the Raiders) and for context, the Cowboys offense is 6.0.
On Sunday, the Chargers offense hit the Cowboys defense for 7.3 yards per play. This is, incredibly, the fourth time that Dallas has given up more than 7 yards per play this season. That is just absurd. Each time, they could not even come close to fighting back and appearing to have any hope at all.
And, sadly, now that we are starting to see the end of the road, two of these occasions have happened in the last three weeks. The one game that did not get there was against Minnesota, but the Vikings had 6.3 which was their single-game high in 2025.
As we wrote about on Monday, they also had the dreaded zero sacks–zero takeaways performance. So, not only did they give up a chunk every snap, but they also had almost no splash plays.
It isn’t great right now.
But, the Chargers game was another new low. Usually, when a team is passing all over the Cowboys, Dallas has the run handled. Or, the other way around. However, against the Chargers, Dallas could stop nothing and were over-run.
The total: 152 yards on the ground and 300 yards through the air.
Just colossally bad.
Justin Herbert was sensational. It might have been the best game he has ever played, but if not, it at least is in the conversation. He sliced and diced and found different receivers at will. His passer rating was incredible and his QBR was, too.
In fact, he put together a game in the database that was worth mentioning:
- 300 yards passing
- 0 interceptions
- 0 sacks
- 2+ touchdowns
Don Majkowski? Be still my beating heart!
Now, let’s eliminate everyone on the list that did not get at least 10 yards per pass attempt. 10 yards per attempt is absolutely silly. NFL Average is 6.1. How many turn up against Dallas with these data points?
- 300 yards passing
- 0 interceptions
- 0 sacks
- 2+ touchdowns
- 10+ yards/attempt
So, zero sacks suggests that Dallas had no pass pressures, but that isn’t true. In particular, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark both had great days, but they could not get him to the ground. Look at this pocket movement from Herbert before he fires another missile.
I would argue that this continues to reveal that the edge situation is a real concern and that will have to be a priority this offseason. Edge is a premium position and I think that they are pretty short in this very important spot right now. DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons are Pro Bowlers for other teams.
Meanwhile, the great Brian Baldinger would argue that the secondary is a bigger concern than the edges as he tweeted and recorded this: .
That is pretty bleak stuff and it seems to suggest that the coverage mess is a source of these results. So, is the pass rush exposing the coverage or the coverage exposing the pass rush? They are both holding the other back at it is not going to improve internally, it appears.
Here are the depressing coverage numbers by DB:
Diggs and Revel are both high-level talents and we know Diggs is surely gone. Revel is a kid coming off some major injuries and was a man corner being forced into zone. DaRon Bland is down for the year and nobody else looks like a NFL starter.
Like we said, they are a ways off, so to see the Chargers slice and dice them should not be too shocking, it seems.
Here are the numbers from Sunday:
The red is everywhere. Crime scene stuff, really.
The drive chart is even more depressing:
The Chargers had two drives that were about 8 minutes each. They had four drives that were 65 yards or more. They had five drives with at least three first downs each. And they had six different explosives:
Now, it should be noted as we look at the Statbutler.com snap-sheet, this was a game without Quinnen Williams and virtually without DeMarvion Overshown (who played his last snap with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter). If we believe these are two of the main reasons to have hope moving forward, then surely their absences being felt can verify this a bit.
OK, let’s whip through some plays here and see what we can see.
FILM STUDY
1Q - 8:51 - 3-4-LAC 41 - J.Herbert pass short right to T.Harris to DAL 36 for 23 yards (D.Overshown).
This is basic stuff here. You are playing man coverage and the motion is to attempt to confuse, but rookie CB Shavon Revel vs rookie WR Tre Harris is basic stuff. If you read this space, you know I am a Revel guy, but rule No. 1 on the perimeter for a DB is to get your guy to the ground and I have no idea what this effort is called. But, my friend, the NFL is not-for-long if this is your best tackling effort. Huge play and completely unnecessary.
1Q - 6:48 - 2-8-DAL 23 - J.Herbert pass deep left to Q.Johnston for 23 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This one is on Revel and we can say the Chargers are targeting him, but this is the NFL and a good throw will beat good coverage every time. Here, 99-Perrion Winfrey makes his first film study as he is given a chance with Quinnen out. He is not a rookie, but he hasn’t been on the field for an NFL game since 2023. I liked this rep for sure. He is a strong player. But, 5-man rush cannot get to Herbert and he drops a beauty right in the bucket.
2Q - 9:50 - 2-10-DAL 25 - J.Herbert pass deep right to L.McConkey for 25 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This one has been debated plenty online this week, but I am not sure why. 10-7 Cowboys and the Chargers here will take the lead on this pass where they beat Cover 2 and Trevon Diggs must carry the vertical and doesn’t sort it out in time. Late motion for Ladd McConkey into a wheel route is for this exact reason to confuse and the inside vertical from 13-Keenan Allen occupies 28-Malik Hooker. Diggs has some defenders out there and while I am generally one of them, this is not the snap to defend. This is his responsibility. The idea that he has flat responsibilities in Cover 2 is true, until a vertical goes to his outside with the safety already locked.
2Q - 5:50 - 3-9-LAC 32 - J.Herbert pass short left to K.Lambert-Smith pushed ob at LAC 42 for 10 yards (M.Hooker) [O.Odighizuwa].
Again, Shavon Revel on 3rd and 9 has to make a tackle here. There is nothing Matt Eberflus can do for him. This is football and you have a responsibility on the perimeter to make the stop by yourself or to die trying. There is no chance you can let a WR who weighs 182 to stay in bounds and to get to the sticks on you. This is enough to get yanked off the field because you are betraying your teammates here.
2Q - 0:30 - 3-5-DAL 13 - J.Herbert pass short left to K.Allen to DAL 1 for 12 yards (T.Diggs).
This is 17-14, Dallas, in the final minute of the half. 3rd and 5 and if you can get a stop here, you are 17-17 at halftime and that is a much different spot. The Cowboys look like Cover 6 here and try to zone everything up. 13-Keenan Allen runs over 27-Reddy Steward and Justin Herbert is allowed to escape. He makes a great play and another big 3rd down conversion is a killer – especially in the red zone and in the final minute. A true 4-point play.
3Q - 14:13 - 2-8-LAC 26 - J.Herbert pass deep left to Q.Johnston to DAL 24 for 50 yards (M.Hooker).
First pass snap of the second half is the biggest play of the game, so this is not how you want to start the third quarter, but alas. Stop me if you remember this from earlier. The Cowboys are trying to run a Cover 2 and the Chargers send two verticals on the same side to put 28-Malik Hooker in a bind where he can’t get them both. That means the corner has to get on his horse for the outside vert and Bridges hesitates so Johnston is way behind him. This is the thing about playing zone. Everyone has to be very clear on their responsibilities and we see so many coverage busts in zone. This is probably the main reason that they will be firing Matt Eberflus.
3Q - 7:38 - 3-1-LAC 26 - J.Herbert pass incomplete deep left to Q.Johnston (T.Bridges).
Here is a 3rd-and-1 heat-check for the Chargers and Herbert where they will go play-action because there is Johnston vs Bridges again. This time, Bridges plays it way better, although you would want to get turned around a bit if possible. So, Dallas did force a key punt to try to tie the game.
4Q - 14:40 - 3-7-LAC 32 - J.Herbert scrambles right guard to DAL 34 for 34 yards (S.Revel, M.Bell). FUMBLES (M.Bell), and recovers at DAL 34.
Here is 3rd and long and Eberflus gets a LB 59-Murray on a free run to Herbert and he simply cannot finish the play. Putting guys in position does not mean you can do it for him. Herbert is big and strong and you have to get his legs, but the end zone view shows that it is perfect. But, the play is not made and now Herbert off to the races and he wasn’t far from taking it all the way. Demoralizing, but it shows Herbert’s full arsenal.
4Q - 6:14 - 3-9-DAL 45 - J.Herbert pass short left to Q.Johnston pushed ob at DAL 20 for 25 yards (T.Diggs; D.Wilson)
Here is the last 3rd-and-long and Dallas again cannot get the stop. Johnston had an incredible day in his homecoming (TCU) and the Cowboys made things too easy. Donovan Ezeiruaku is close and Trevon Diggs is close, too, as he undercuts the pass and is hunting for a pick-6. But, Herbert isn’t falling for that and as we know, close doesn’t matter and the Chargers easily put this game to the sword at this moment.
SPLASH PLAYS
Only seven splash plays? Ugh. Nothing.
I will say the season totals here are absurdly low as 40-45 is usually the team-lead, whereas 22 might be enough this year to be the splash leader. Very tight at the top with two games to play.
So, there you have it. It is ugly and we expect they will clean some house in two weeks on this defense yet again.
We are on to Washington.
