The Chicago Bears have seemingly turned the page from last season, when they finished last in the NFC North at 5-12, and parted ways with their head coach, Matt Eberflus, after a disastrous game that aired on Thanksgiving for a national audience. The Bears decided to move on from Eberflus after he failed to call a timeout with 46 seconds left and the Bears were on the Detroit Lions’ 25-yard line.
Now the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, Eberflus has struggled to start the season, going 0-2 and allowing 61 points to their opponents so far. This disastrous start to the Bears’ former head coach isn’t sitting well with his boss, Brian Schottenheimer, who sent Eberflus a stern warning for his defensive play-calling.
Former Chicago Bears HC warned for his lackluster defense
Jon Machota, who covers the Dallas Cowboys for The Athletic, reported that head coach Brian Schottenheimer was not happy about the number of points the Cowboys’ defense has let up this season, saying, “it wasn’t the standard” and “there are a lot of things we can clean up.” The current defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys is former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.
“Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer when asked about his level of concern with Dallas’ defense giving up so many big plays Sunday: “It was not the standard. I think there are a lot of things we can clean up. I think that’s what I’m excited about. This is not a multiple week thing. This is something that we think we can correct. I felt like it was a lot of different pieces, a lot of different parts. It wasn’t one person. It wasn’t one type of coverage.
“When you’re going to be multiple the way we are we have to communicate better. I didn’t think that our communication was to the standard that it needs to be. … Any time you give up seven explosive passes, and (Russell Wilson) played incredibly well, but there was a lot of things that we can tighten up. I think that was what was so good about the meetings today is we don’t shy away from those things. We point those things out. Defense is hard, man. All 11 guys have to be doing the same thing. When it doesn’t happen, you open up yourself to big plays.
‘… But we found a way to win the game, which is great. We’re going to make the corrections. And we have to, because giving up those types of plays, you’re not going to win many games, and we were very fortunate to find a way to win.”
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer when asked about his level of concern with Dallas’ defense giving up so many big plays Sunday: “It was not the standard. I think there are a lot of things we can clean up. I think that’s what I’m excited about. This is not a multiple week thing.…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 16, 2025
Eberflus could lose his job again if this keeps up
If Eberflus doesn’t make the necessary adjustments and get to the “standard” that Schottenheimer has, he could wind up losing his job for the second season in a row. However, Eberflus may be able to find the motivation to turn things around this week, as the Cowboys are playing his former team this week.
Having this motivation could help Eberflus get back on track and get back into the good graces of Schottenheimer, but the Bears will be eager to put up points on Eberflus after their drubbing last week against the Lions.
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