DC Matt Eberflus unexpectedly showed something crucial for his Dallas Cowboys’ success in the 2025 NFL season
The Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator isn’t known for blitzing opponents but when he needed to in Week 1, he did.
Without Micah Parsons on the team anymore, expectation was for the Dallas Cowboys to struggle to rush the passer during the 2025 NFL season. But Week 1 numbers suggest they didn’t sweat it too much against the Philadelphia Eagles.
According to The 33rd Team, the Cowboys ranked second in the NFL in pressure rate. But does that number truthfully reflect what happened on the field last Thursday night? From watching the live broadcast, I thought not. So I decided to dive into the film to see when and how did the Cowboys’ pressures happen.
Here’s what I found, starting with an encouraging development involving defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
Matt Eberflus wasn’t afraid to blitz and he did so aggressively
Eberflus is known to be blitz-averse. Throughout his career as defensive coordinator and head coach, blitzing is a tactic he avoids as much as possible. During the second half of the NFL Kickoff, however, Eberflus turned the heat up. And he did so in one of the most aggressive ways a coach can do it at this level: Blitzing his cornerbacks.
It started with DaRon Bland blitzing from the nickel spot versus a condensed formation. Later on, Bland showed blitz before dropping back into coverage while the Cowboys blitzed Trevon Diggs (playing outside cornerback to the boundary), catching Hurts off guard. You can see that rep in the tweet below. The next snap, the Cowboys sent another nickel blitz with Bland again. Three corner blitzes in two drives.
Each of those blitzes resulted in pressure and led to Cowboys’ defensive stops. It was a highly encouraging wrinkle on Eberflus’ defensive game plan because it showed the coach was willing to adapt when the situation called for it. And after a long first half of not pressuring Hurts, it did.
Jalen Hurts punished the Cowboys for pressuring him
It wouldn’t be fair to say the Cowboys failed to pressure Hurts by rushing four. However, they didn’t capitalize off most of those pressures. That’s because when you’re facing Hurts, the problem is he doesn’t mind being pressured. Why? He often finds a lane to punish a defense for it by using his legs. On Thursday, he picked up 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Most of that production came when being pressured.
Part of that was a result of the Cowboys’ pressures coming from only one side of the defensive line. When one defensive end beat his man, the other was often being dominated on the opposite side. So much so that despite the high pressure rate, Hurts had the highest time to throw in Week 1.
Sam Williams stood out
There wasn’t a Cowboys DE better in pass rush in Week 1 than Williams, who recorded five pressures and one quarterback hit, via PFF. He earned the right to earn a higher snap count but he still has more to prove. At least two of his pressures came when challenged by tight end blocks, which he quickly proved to be mismatches.
Other Cowboys’ pass rushers showed flashes of what they can do. We’ll see what their production looks like against a lesser group of offensive tackles. After all, it doesn’t get tougher than the Eagles’ duo of Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson.
My two cents: Eberflus will need to keep the creativity up
Though the Cowboys’ pressure rate suggests they didn’t miss Parsons in Week 1, the film tells a different story. Pressure rarely came from more than one side, which consistently gave Hurts escape routes. Often times, the defense wasn’t even close to hurrying Hurts. However, the blitzes were highly efficient. Eberflus knows it’s difficult to be successful sending extra defenders at the QB throughout the entire season so he’ll need to keep coming up with creative solutions and refreshing things up.
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What now?
