The Cowboys Defense

Man, I love this team. But after watching 2025 unfold so far, I’ve gotta call it like I see it: this defense is a mess. The hype doesn’t match what’s happening on the field.

Let me walk you through what’s going wrong — and it’s not for lack of trying.

📉 1. The Run Defense Is Still a Bleeding Wound

They said 2025 would fix this — bring in better interior linemen, retool the defensive tackle room. But what do we have? Teams are STILL gashing us on the ground.

• Opponents are averaging 5.4 rushing yards per attempt against us. Inside The Star

• Analysts point out that our biggest weakness entering 2025 remains run defense. SI+1

• Even with new additions (Solomon Thomas, Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn), it’s not clear that we’ve improved much in the trenches. Yardbarker+2Inside The Star+2

When teams commit to the run, they drag us into long drives, control the clock, wear us down. And when that happens, our pass rush doesn’t look so fearsome.

⚠️ 2. Big Plays & Explosive Passes All Over the Map

You can’t build a championship defense if you're constantly surrendering chunk plays. That’s been a trend in 2025:

• In early games, the Cowboys have given up 13 pass plays of 25+ yards through just a few weeks — that’s absurd. ESPN.com

• Without Micah Parsons (traded), our pass rush has zero consistency and fewer opportunities to pin teams back. Blogging The Boys+3New York Post+3Blogging The Boys+3

• Secondary communication is shaky. Misalignments, blown coverages, late reactions — small mistakes turn into big touchdowns.

🧱 3. Depth & Personnel Issues Bite Us

It’s easy to talk about stars, but defense is a team game. And when your backups are weak, that shows.

• Our defensive depth is unbalanced. Some positions have solid starters, but once someone goes down (injuries, fatigue), the drop-off is steep. Inside The Star

• The interior line overhaul was supposed to help. But DTs like Thomas have size, not always the stuffing power to hold gaps. Yardbarker+1

• The linebacker corps and secondary are under pressure to make plays. When they don’t, the entire structure crumbles.

⏱️ 4. We Can’t Get Off the Field on 3rd Down

Defense isn’t just stopping plays — it's about limiting offenses, forcing punts, making them earn every yard.

• But we’ve struggled in critical 3rd-down situations. Offenses keep converting, dragging out drives against us.

• Fatigue sets in when we’re stuck on the field too long — especially with poor run defense forcing team to throw.

🎯 5. Turnovers & Splash Plays Not Enough

Yes, we’ve had flashes. A big interception here or there. But that’s not enough.

• With Diggs injured or underperforming, the opportunistic element is down. We don’t force nearly enough turnovers anymore. ESPN.com

• You can’t live off splash plays. Great defenses make routine stops — they don’t rely on game-changing turnovers every drive.

🔥 6. Coaching & Scheme Growing Pains

Switching defensive coordinators, tweaking schemes — those things take time. But some errors are inexcusable.

• The current scheme looks good on paper — pressure, disguise, movement — until offenses adjust. Then cracks appear.

• Execution matters. Great scheme + poor execution = weak defense. Too many times, guys look out of position, misreading keys, reacting late.

• Coaching needs to make defense simpler when necessary. You can’t ask backups to play NFL chess when they’re not ready.

💥 7. We Still Fold in Big Moments

You see it every season. When a game is on the line, we need one stop — first down, 3rd & 5, goal line. We don’t get it.

In 2025, we’ve already seen it:

• In Week 6 vs. Carolina, despite a strong offensive showing (Dak with no turnovers), our defense blew it. Carolina ran for big chunks. We gave up the late game-winning drive. Blogging The Boys+1

• We allow sustain drives, clutch conversions. At crunch time, teams make us pay.

🧩 Final Word (2025 Edition)

2025 was supposed to be the year the Cowboys defense showed people: no, we don’t just rely on offense. We can stop teams, make them uncomfortable, carry our weight.

But all I’m seeing so far is unbalanced play, too many holes, and inconsistency.

We still have talent. Eberflus has ideas. The coaching staff can adjust. But unless this defense becomes fundamental, disciplined, and resilient under pressure, we’re going to keep hearing “Cowboys offense was amazing” — and losing because we couldn’t stop someone at crunch time.