The Cowboys’ defense had an abysmal season in 2025 under first-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. The unit was one of the worst in the NFL throughout the entire campaign and didn’t make many improvements throughout the year.
Eberflus addressed the disappointing season from his defense, and acknowledged that the Micah Parsons trade just before the season played a big role in their lack of success. Eberflus said things changed for Dallas’s defense when it opted to offload its All-Pro edge rusher, prompting a response from Parsons himself on X.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/13vdOrCPkC
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) January 1, 2026
Clearly, Parsons has been enjoying the fact the the Cowboys’ defense has looked like a shell of itself in his absence. Through 17 weeks, no team in the NFL has surrendered more passing yards per game than Dallas (253.6), and they’ve allowed 33 passing touchdowns, which is tied for the most in the league with the Bengals. Dallas has 30 sacks as a team, which ranks 23rd in the league. Those are all areas in which Parsons would be making impact on a daily basis. Last season, the Cowboys had the third-most sacks in the league (53), with Parsons responsible for 12 of them despite only playing in 13 games.
Eberflus was perhaps dealt something of an unfair hand after Jerry Jones pulled the trigger on the blockbuster Parsons trade just one week before the season got underway. He acknowledged the challenges Parsons’s departure created, and the Packers star certainly seemed to get a kick out of it.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Micah Parsons Was Loving Matt Eberflus's Comments on Cowboys' Defensive Struggles.
