Following the trade of defensive end Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, first-year Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has been unable to get the best out of his unit during the first four weeks of the season. The Cowboys’ defense is giving up 33.3 points per game on average, which ranks 31st in the league.
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The defensive effort is the main reason Dallas is 1-2-1 entering their Week 5 contest against the New York Jets. The Cowboys have a chance to earn victories in their next two games against the 0-4 Jets and the 1-3 Carolina Panthers, but the defense has to get better if they want to stay in a competitive NFC playoff race.
Per Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, cornerback Trevon Diggs asked Eberflus to make a change in the defensive scheme. He wants the Cowboys to play more man-to-man coverage instead of zone.
“Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs, who has made his bones in this league as man corner, has asked DC Matt Eberflus to play more man coverage,” Hill posted on X. “Until then he said he will have get comfortable being uncomfortable as a zone cornerback. He will start this week against Jets after being benched to start the Packers game. He said the coaches were holding him accountable for on and off the field stuff.”
Eberflus is known to prefer playing zone to man coverage. He was a questionable fit to coach the Cowboys because their roster had players like Diggs, who are built to play better in one-on-one scenarios.
Per the Cowboys’ website, Eberflus has used zone coverage at least 10% more than the league average (67.9%) in the last six seasons. Zone coverage appeared to work better for the Chicago Bears when he was their head coach in the previous three seasons. But Eberflus built most of that secondary, besides star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was excited that new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen planned to call more man coverage this season.
After seeing the result of the first four games of the season, Eberflus should consider listening to his All-Pro talent. It’s hard to imagine the defense being worse than if Diggs played a position he feels more comfortable with.
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