Cowboys

The Cowboys’ defense has sputtered throughout the season and is among the league’s worst in several categories. When asked if he could go back in time to do anything differently, DC Matt Eberflus responded that he’d only try to adjust more effectively to different players. 

“I don’t really think about it that way,” Eberflus said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I think about being in the moment and just keep adjusting and learning and growing and getting better. I don’t think I’d do anything differently. I think I would just work to adjust when you get different players in and those things. I think that’s what you do as a coach.”

As for his responsibility in Dallas’ poor defense, Eberflus said he takes full accountability. 

“Ownership and accountability is right with me,” Eberflus said. “I’m the defensive coordinator, so it’s always that. … I take full accountability.”

Eberflus points out that their defense wasn’t at “full force” early on in the season, and they weren’t able to sustain success after showing improvements against the run and third-downs. 

“I think the start of the year, guys were in and out, in terms of we weren’t at full force,” Eberflus said. “And then when we got some guys back, I thought we had a good stretch there. I thought the stretch was pretty good. We started to improve. I know we improved in the run defense and the third-down defense. And then from there we just didn’t execute the way we wanted to at certain moments. Certainly, some good execution in there at times, but it’s got to be better.”

• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Micah Parsons: “I wish Micah the very best. … I’d love to have Micah on the team. But we just couldn’t afford him. We wanted 4-5 players more than we did him. But he’s outstanding. I understand his sensitivity and can even understand these comments.” (Machota)
• Jones on the release of CB Trevon Diggs: “I thought Trevon had one of the most impressive beginnings in pro football and with the Cowboys that I’ve ever been associated with. I personally think that there are things that Trevon did back when he first came in the NFL that he physically has been compromised with to do.“And one of the things he could do is just something similar to what Deion Sanders could do. Deion could make a mistake or he could bait a player, and then he had the burst to make up for it and go back and make the play and get the ball. Certainly Diggs had that early. He would go be out of position, but not really because he’d intercept the ball.“… He deserved to be paid (when we signed him to a contract extension in July 2023). That production, injury wise or otherwise has fallen off. There’s a lot of reasons for it. But I wish him well.” (Machota)

Eagles 

The Eagles are coming off a big 13-12 win over the Bills in Week 17. Philadelphia DT Jordan Davis explained that DC Vic Fangio‘s plan was to limit Buffalo’s rushing attack and keep QB Josh Allen inside the pocket. 

“Exactly that,” Davis, via Albert Breer of SI. “We wanted to stop their run up front. We knew they led the league in rushing yards as a team, as a unit, and we wanted to make sure that we handled that. And then let Josh Allen play QB from the pocket. And he got out of the pocket a couple times and made great passes. I mean, he’s a QB. He’s MVP. That’s what he does. But we just wanted to make sure that we went in with a plan and not let him take over the game and put the team on his back.”

Davis added that playing Allen and the Bills forces them to stay ultra-disciplined. 

“You really have to stay disciplined with this team and with that quarterback,” Davis said. “You don’t want to be undisciplined and take a high rush or work your way outside where he can take it up the middle. And, yeah, as you can see, the results showed.”

Eagles

The Eagles’ offense sputtered toward the end of Week 17’s win over the Bills, recording just 17 yards in the second half. Philadelphia OC Kevin Patullo points out that they struggled on first downs, which put themselves in bad positions.

“When you look at it, is the amount of drives we had and plays and some of the starting positions, it was the first down thing again,” Patullo said, via ProFootballTalk. “We had four drives where we had inefficient first downs, put us in four second-and-longs, and then from that, we were in three third-and-longs. When you’re doing that, when that’s happening, it’s going to be very hard to move the ball. . . . When you look at those drives, it gets frustrating. We need one play. All we need is one spark, one thing to get those things going and we’re out of it.”

When asked if the Eagles’ offense can flip a switch in the playoffs, Patullo understands that they’ve been inconsistent but feels they can “lean into” their strong points. 

“I wouldn’t say there’s a switch,” Patullo said. “I think we’ve been a little inconsistent, and we know we have it in us to do what we need to do because we’ve done it in spots. That’s what we’ve got to really lean into and press into and be detailed and do what we have to do.”