Matt Eberflus on the hot seat after Cowboys’ defensive collapse in Carolina

The Dallas Cowboys’ Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers was a breaking point for fans and perhaps a wake-up call for the front office. After another defensive meltdown under coordinator Matt Eberflus, the calls for his firing have grown too loud to ignore.

Defensive disaster overshadows Dak’s brilliance...again

The Cowboys entered Sunday hoping to build their first winning streak of the season, but a 30–27 loss in Charlotte instead sent them tumbling back below .500 at 2-3-1. While quarterback Dak Prescott turned in yet another standout performance, throwing for 261 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, the Cowboys’ defense once again collapsed when it mattered most.

Eberflus’ unit allowed the Panthers to move the ball at will, surrendering 239 total yards to former Cowboy Rico Dowdle, including 183 on the ground and a receiving touchdown. Rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan added two more scores on just three catches, exposing a Dallas secondary that looked unprepared and outmatched.

The final dagger came on Carolina’s last possession: a six-minute, game-ending drive that drained the clock and ended with a walk-off field goal. It was a frustrating sequence that highlighted everything wrong with the Cowboys’ defense this season - poor tackling, no adjustments, and a lack of composure in crucial moments.

Sunday’s loss wasn’t an outlier. Under Eberflus, the Cowboys have fielded one of the league’s most porous defenses through six weeks. Despite the team’s offensive success (Dallas entered the week ranked fourth in scoring), Eberflus’ group has repeatedly failed to hold leads or generate consistent stops.

What makes this defeat particularly painful is the contrast between Prescott’s efficiency and the defense’s ineptitude. The Cowboys’ quarterback now has 13 touchdown passes to just three interceptions on the season, but his efforts have been wasted by a unit that can’t keep opponents under 30 points.

Fans and media turn on Eberflus

If the on-field issues weren’t enough, the postgame reaction made Eberflus’ situation even more precarious. Cowboys fans flooded social media demanding his immediate firing.

“FIRE MATT EBERFLUS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” one fan posted.

“Eberflus should be fired immediately after this game,” added another.

Even national voices joined in. FOX Sports analyst Skip Bayless blasted the performance on X:

“IF POSSIBLE, THE DALLAS COWBOY DEFENSE LOOKS WORSE THAN EVER. JERRY SHOULD GO DOWN AND FIRE EBERFLUS RIGHT NOW. THIS IS JUST SO EXCRUCIATINGLY EMBARRASSING.”

Analyst Laurie Horesh was equally blunt, calling one of Eberflus’ late-game coverage calls a “marchable offense”, adding that the defense is “exactly why Dallas were never contenders, no matter the play of their QB.”

With Dallas now reeling and the defense appearing to regress each week, the pressure is squarely on Eberflus, and, by extension, head coach Brian Schottenheimer and owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys’ playoff hopes remain mathematically alive, but their defense must improve quickly to stay competitive in a loaded NFC.

Eberflus’ seat is getting hotter by the week, and unless he can orchestrate a dramatic turnaround, Sunday’s collapse in Charlotte might be remembered as the game that sealed his fate.

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