Football <\/p>\n
Jadeveon Clowney might not suit up until Week 4 against the Packers.<\/p>\n
\nAfter defensive end Jadeveon Clowney signed with the Cowboys this week, he said he planned on making his debut for the team in this Sunday\u2019s game against the Bears.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nClowney has been at practice all three days this week, but it looks like the Cowboys have a different plan for when Clowney will be making his first appearance of the season.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nExecutive vice president Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, via Patrik Walker of the team\u2019s website, that it will be a game-time call<\/a> about playing Clowney this week. Jones added that \u201cthe lean is toward him not playing this week,\u201d so something would have to change the team\u2019s minds over the next 48 hours.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
This will be an intriguing return to Chicago for Matt Eberflus.<\/p>\n
\n\nFRISCO, Texas — Matt Eberflus does not want to rehash his 46-game stint as head coach of the Chicago Bears<\/a>. He has other things to worry about this week.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nAs the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> (1-1), how does he fix a secondary that was hit for 450 passing yards by Russell Wilson<\/a> in last week\u2019s 40-37 overtime win against the New York Giants<\/a>? How does he fix a group that allowed seven pass plays of at least 25 yards? Where does he generate a pass rush that has been a tick slow in getting to the quarterback in the first two games after trading Micah Parsons<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nThat the Cowboys\u2019 opponent on Sunday is the Bears (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox<\/a>), the team he was coaching 12 months ago, means little.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nHe \u201ccherished\u201d his time in Chicago. He wished they had won more games. But he won\u2019t look back with regret.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u201cYeah, there\u2019s always hard moments in coaching,\u201d Eberflus said \u201cYou\u2019re always disappointed when you lose because you put so much into it, the players put so much into it. You\u2019re most disappointed for the players. Once that settles in, then you work to the next day. The sun comes up and you move forward. You learn and you grow, and you keep going. That\u2019s what true grit is. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
The defense in Dallas is off to a shaky start, but it can be corrected.<\/p>\n
\n\nIf the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 defense plays all season like it did Sunday, they will be picking in the top 10 in next April\u2019s NFL Draft. After improving in the second half of the season opener, the group took a major step back in its 40-37 overtime win<\/a> over the New York Giants.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\u201cAs much as anything, it\u2019s buying into the scheme,\u201d Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this week on 105.3 The Fan. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to handle your responsibilities. And then make that play if it\u2019s there. But you can\u2019t just be out there trying to make a play. You got to have your responsibilities. Make sure that\u2019s covered before you abandon that area and try to go out and make a play. You can\u2019t be a Lone Ranger out there. You gotta be a part of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing without starting cornerback DaRon Bland, who is dealing with a foot injury, starting corners Trevon Diggs and Kaiir Elam were part of several highlight throws from Giants QB Russell Wilson to his top targets, wide receivers Malik Nabers and Wan\u2019Dale Robinson. The two combined to catch 17 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson\u2019s 450 passing yards were the second-highest total in his 14-year career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not the standard,\u201d Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. \u201cI think there are a lot of things we can clean up. I think that\u2019s what I\u2019m excited about. This is not a multiple week thing. This is something we think we can correct. I felt like it was a lot of different pieces, a lot of different parts. It wasn\u2019t one person. It wasn\u2019t one type of coverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re going to be multiple the way we are we have to communicate better. I didn\u2019t think that our communication was to the standard that it needs to be. \u2026 Any time you give up seven explosive passes, and (Wilson) played incredibly well, but there was a lot of things that we can tighten up. \u2026 We\u2019re going to make the corrections. And we have to, because giving up those types of plays, you\u2019re not going to win many games, and we were very fortunate to find a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys insist that they will be more multiple, however, through two games it\u2019s been mostly zone coverage. New Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said that can be attributed to the opponent and player availability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you give up big plays, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re minor,\u201d said Eberflus, who was fired in Week 13 last season as Bears head coach after going 14-32 in two-plus seasons. \u201cThose are major things. We have to do a better job of all 11 players, including the coaches, executing on the certain play, this play, that play, whatever it might be. But you have to execute, and that\u2019s coaches and players.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Javonte Williams has been lights out so far for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
\n\nWhen the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> signed Javonte Williams to a one-year, $3 million deal in March, many assumed it was the first step of many in their quest to address the running back position. Higher regarded free agents were still available, and the draft class was as deep as it\u2019s ever been at the position. Williams was probably nothing more than a complementary piece, many believed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nAs the offseason unfolded it became apparent Williams was no complementary piece, rather he was the lead horse. Dallas added additional runners to the stable but none of them carried the same weight or pedigree as Williams did. It was Williams or bust in Dallas, and for a while there, it felt like \u201cbust\u201d was the odds-on favorite regarding outcomes.<\/p>\n
Then a funny thing happened: Williams played well. Really well, actually. Two weeks into the young 2025 season and Williams is producing like the top RB in the NFL. The 25-year-old veteran is currently leading the NFL in EPA\/play and total EPA. His yards after contact are top 10 and his Pro Football Focus rushing grade ranks second, only behind Alvin Kamara.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
How the Cowboys can get their second win of the season.<\/p>\n
\n\nDallas will look to move to 2-1 on the year and get their defensive coordinator, former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, a victory in his first trip back to the Windy City after a tough three-year stretch where he amassed a 14-32 record in Chicago in his first NFL head coaching stint.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nNow, it\u2019s Brian Schottenheimer who is in his first role as a head coach, and he hopes that Eberflus and his defense can rebound from a performance that \u201cwas not the standard\u201d against the Giants last Sunday.<\/p>\n
How can they do that? Let\u2019s talk about it in this weeks\u2019 edition of \u201cHere We Goooo:\u201d<\/p>\n
Keep it rolling on play action<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Cowboys\u2019 running game has gotten off to a stronger start than many expected, and we\u2019ll cover more of that later. For now, the threat of Dallas having success in the ground opens a door that Dak Prescott has had a lot of success walking through: The play action passing game.<\/p>\n
For his career, Prescott has thrown for 8,692 yards, 55 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 67% completion percentage on play action. That\u2019s the seventh most yards on play action in the NFL during that time span, and sixth most among active quarterbacks. In 2025 thus far, he\u2019s gone 16\/18 for 168 yards.<\/p>\n
Chicago\u2019s defense is both banged up and young, especially at the cornerback position. Tyrique Stevenson and former Cowboy Nahshon Wright will likely get a bulk of the workload on the outside with Jaylon Johnson out and Kyler Gordon\u2019s status in the air. That should be a welcome sign for Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.<\/p>\n
It certainly was a welcome sign for Jared Goff and the Lions\u2019 offense last week as they faced their former offensive coordinator and now Bears head coach Ben Johnson. On play action passes, Goff completed 12 of his 14 passing attempts for 198 yards and two of his five passing touchdowns en route to a 52-21 blowout victory.<\/p>\n
Dallas certainly has the weapons in place to replicate that kind of performance and is coming off a week where they scored 30 points in the second half and overtime.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n