Matt Eberflus, known for his predominantly zone-based scheme, flipped the script vs. Washington — running man coverage on over 45% of snaps.
The result: a pick-six, four sacks, and a 45.7 passer rating in man coverage as Dallas dominated without Malik Hooker or Trevon Diggs.
Cowboys’ Defensive Revival
When the Dallas Cowboys took the field against the Washington Commanders, few expected such a dominant defensive performance — especially without Malik Hooker and Trevon Diggs anchoring the secondary.
Yet under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys proved that adaptability — not rigidity — can spark a defensive revival.
Eberflus, long known for his predominantly zone-based system, changed course.
Instead of relying on spot-drop coverage and soft zone looks, he unleashed a man-heavy attack — calling man coverage on more than 45% of defensive snaps, the highest rate of the season. The impact was immediate.
While in man coverage, the Commanders’ passing game completely collapsed:
- 5-for-15 passing
- 57 total yards
- One pick-six interception
- One forced fumble and one recovery
- 45.7 passer rating
That shift let the defense play fast, physical, and instinctive — finally matching scheme with talent.
Man Coverage Ignites the Pass Rush
As Sports Illustrated reported, the Cowboys’ man coverage didn’t just help the secondary — it reignited the pass rush that had been under fire all year:
“ Rookies Shemar James and Donovan Ezeiruaku recorded their first career sacks, while Jadeveon Clowney and Kenneth Murray also each recorded one. For good measure, James forced a fumble when he got to Jayden Daniels, and Clowney recovered the fumble. There was a lot made of the secondary playing better in man coverage against Washington, but the pass rush deserves as much credit.”
The correlation is clear — when coverage holds, the front can feast.
Tight man defense forced Jayden Daniels to hesitate, giving Dallas’ rushers the extra second they’ve been missing all season.
A New Defensive Identity Taking Shape
Even though Washington finished with 205 passing yards, nearly 150 came against zone coverage on checkdowns and short throws.
In man coverage, the Commanders had no answers. Dallas’ defense looked confident, cohesive, and aggressive — three traits that had been missing in earlier weeks.
Eberflus’ flexibility allowed players like DaRon Bland, Juanyeh Thomas, and Shemar James to thrive. The mix of man coverage and pressure turned what was once a predictable defense into a dynamic, turnover-driven unit.
Adaptability Wins Games
Eberflus’ traditional zone philosophy doesn’t naturally fit Dallas’ fast, physical personnel, but his willingness to adapt showed what’s possible.
By trusting his corners and safeties to hold up in man coverage, he created opportunities for his front seven to dominate.
A defense that once struggled to pressure quarterbacks now looks rejuvenated — thanks to a coordinator willing to evolve. If this man-heavy approach continues, the Cowboys may have found the blueprint for their best defensive football yet.
Who would of thought Eberflus could adapt? His rigidity these past six weeks was a recipe for a disastrous season and rightfully a very good reason to get his butt canned. I think we all saw a new resurgence in the Cowboy defense yesterday as well seeing a more animated Eberflus on the sidelines who seemed to be enjoying himself! Kudos to him and the Cowboy defense!
Eburflus still did the wrong defnse over half of the plays. The 45% man being so dominant is a reson to fire Eburflus , not give cheers. A competent coach does not have such huge disparity of what obviously works versus his pet system.
The 45% man coverage is better than not playing man coverage at all!! And what he called in that game worked, so why would you fire a defensive coordinator that was willing to make the changes to make our defense work!? That makes no sense!! He called a great game, and we dominated that game because of the changes he made!! So he deserves credit for adapting to the players, not to be fired!! Like I said before…. I’m glad you don’t have a say in what happens with the team, we would never win a game if you had anything to do with it!!
The question is, why did it take one third of the season to make this change ?
Do NOT give Eburflus any credit. You are not ‘flexible’ when you go 6 games stubbornly forcing players into wrong matched assignments and then finally do less than half the plays doing what the players do well. Eburflus still kept the bad performing zone over half of plays. No, Eburflus is still a terrible coach too stubborn and dysfunctional to do the obvious .
So he finally switches the scheme to fit the players, and you don’t think he deserves credit!? Just because he didn’t run man coverage 100% of the time!? You do realize you can’t run the same coverage the whole game right!? If you keep running the same coverage all game long, the offense will figure out a way to beat that coverage!! So the changes Eberflus made was how it should’ve been!! He could’ve ran a little more man coverage, but what he did was good enough to dominate that game!! So there’s no reason to whine and complain about it!! And if you knew anything about football, you wouldn’t be complaining about it at all, you would know he called a great game and deserves credit for adapting to his players!! You are the only person I’ve ever seen that would complain about us dominating a game!! But then again, that’s how Cowboys haters are, so maybe your just not really a Cowboys fan!! Or you just don’t know what your talking about, which is a really big possibility too with all the ridiculous stuff I’ve seen you write in the comment section!! And to say it again…. I’m really glad you don’t have a say in how this team is ran…. We would never win a game!! You would break records for having the most 0-17 teams in a row!!
“The correlation is clear — when coverage holds, the front can feast.”
Cody, my friend, you and I have been on the same page all season!
I’ll say it again, once they traded Micah, they bet on the coverage holding up long enough for the rush to get home. Playing Man 45% of the time especially early is the way to go.
AND if you noticed, they also did what I suggested putting Marist as a SLB on the LOS on run downs. Who woulda thunk it!?!
I’ve been saying for weeks that we need to run more man coverage!! The coverage the secondary runs is everything, and our corners are best in man coverage, so if our corners are playing man coverage, it gives our defensive line more time to get to the QB, and that’s what creates sacks and turnovers!! So I knew if Eberflus switched to more man coverage, we would be a really good defense!! I just hope he sticks with it!! He ran a lot of man coverage in the jets game too, and that’s why we had such a good game then too, but then he went right back to running zone coverage the whole next game!! So I hope he finally realized that we need to play a lot of man coverage for our defense to be a good defense!! I know we can’t run man coverage 100% of the time because the offenses will eventually figure it out and eventually find a way to beat it, but as long as he keeps running man coverage like he did against Washington, maybe a little more, I think we’ll have a really good defense this season!! And I think we can make a run if we can keep playing like we did against Washington!!