Brian Schottenheimer made it very clear earlier in the week: The Dallas Cowboys defense needs personnel and scheme adjustments following back-to-back underwhelming performances.

Though we’ll have to wait until we learn about the personnel side of things, Schottenheimer said the Cowboys needed to “simplify” the defense but didn’t go into any further detail. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus did. And in the process, he revealed a change he hopes aids in making life easier on Dallas’ defensive backs.

“I think you do one word, one word things that mean the whole call,” Eberflus told reporters on Thursday. “I think that helps out and we’re doing some of that and the guys are really buying into that and I think that’s important that the guys hear a word because when teams on the ball go fast or whatever that may be, they understand the whole call.”

The Cowboys’ defensive backfield has shown plenty of blown assignments on film three weeks into the season. At times, cornerbacks have played techniques that don’t match what the rest of the secondary is doing. For instance, against the New York Giants in Week 2, cornerback Kaiir Elam played a cloud technique, which likely meant he expected safety help over the top. There was no one there to help and the Cowboys gave up a huge gain.

So simplifying things make sense to avoid miscommunications. But I have to be honest. From the outside looking in, simplifying things to the point where calls are one-word-long raises questions. Does Eberflus think his players can’t handle it? Is he admitting things were too complicated? I reached out to A to Z Sports’ Rob Gregson, who has a background in coaching and consulting to assist with his insight.

What Eberflus simplifying coverages to one word could mean

Gregson: To hear that Eberflus had to simplify his play calls, going to only one word for his secondary, is surprising to me. Everyone has probably seen that clip of Chris Simms struggling to repeat one of Jon Gruden’s play calls. That’s because on offense, you have to sort the protection, the QB drop, the route combination, or run play direction, and things like “can” calls or hot routes.

It’s much less in-depth on defense. A call on defense only concerns the front, a blintz or stunt, and the coverage on the backend. An example would be “44-BASE-CRASH-HEAT-ZERO.” That one is more complicated, even, because it involves alignment and stunting (44 Base), a blitz (Heat), and the coverage (Zero). So to me, going from that to C2, or C3, or C8, as the calls would be kind of weird, because calls already aren’t in-depth.

Cowboys are running out of time

Regardless of the context, Matt Eberflus’ decision t0 simplify things that much is an extreme measure. But it might be one that’s needed. Pick your favorite pass defense stat. The Cowboys’ pass defense is likely a bottom three unit in that category. Here are a few in which they’re dead last: Passing yards allowed per game, EPA/attempt, yards per attempt, yards per cover snap.

Eberflus needs a solution. Beyond simplifying calls, the defensive coordinator also said players need to be more disciplined with their eyes in coverage. We’ll see if it shows up on Sunday night.

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Good stuff from the veteran.

Mauricio Rodriguez