The Matt Eberflus effect: Can Cowboys defense curtail 'explosive ability' of Jets' Justin Fields?

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys (1-2-1) and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus were torched through the air by Caleb Williams in a Week 3 loss at the Chicago Bears. 

In Week 5, Eberflus and Co., who are still working through "positioning" issues after starting the year as the NFL's worst total defense (420.5 total yards per game allowed) and second worst scoring defense (33.0 points per game allowed) four weeks into the 2025 season, have another shot against one of his former Bears quarterbacks. This week, they'll face New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who provides a more dynamic, rushing challenge than Williams. 

"I think No. 1, he presents a number of problems, just based on the skill set, the athleticism, arm strength, arm talent, the ability to improvise," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "I don't know if you saw the game last week, the long touchdown run he had on kind of the broken play, scramble. But the good news for us is no one knows him around the league probably better than Matt, being with him for two years. It'll be a fun chess match, him vs. Justin."

Fields in 2025 is only the third player in NFL history with at least 450 yards passing (471), 175 yards rushing (178) and no interceptions through three games played, joining 2022 Michael Vick and 2020 Lamar Jackson, per CBS Sports Research. That's pretty rarefied air. 

"Containing Justin Fields is the issue. He's a heck of an athlete. I was with him for a few years there," Eberflus said on Thursday. "He's a heck of a young man. Man, he's got explosive ability coming out of there. I believe we led the league in rushing and part of that was because of a lot the scrambles out of the pocket."

New York's ground game led by Fields and running back Breece Hall is the third best in the league (144.5 rushing yards per game), but the Jets' passing game is still attempting to take flight, averaging the fourth-fewest passing yards per game (160.3) in the NFL thus far in 2025. That's a matchup that much better suits Dallas' defense that is considerably more comfortable defending the run early on this season. 

"Obviously it's hard when you move place to place, and you're learning different systems. I think that's always difficult. He's doing a good of getting the ball out in the quick game," Eberflus said. "I think he's doing a good job with that. He's done a really good job of learning that new offense. That's a whole new thing for him. He's doing the best he can."

Dallas will do their best to avoid allowing Fields to replicate what Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was able to do with his feet against their defense in a 24-20 Week 1 victory over the Cowboys. Hurts scrambled nine times for 63 yards and two touchdowns after Dallas' secondary locked down Hurts' pass catchers down the field. Hurts' 63 yards off scrambles that day were the fourth-highest of his career and his most in a game since the 2022 season. 

"Yeah, I think we learned some things from that game in terms of containing a quarterback that can take off and run. We've adjusted a little bit from that," Eberflus said. "You're always going to go back and look at that. You're going to face those guys a lot now. During the course of the year, you're going to face those guys almost three quarters of the time. You have to have a good plan for that. This guy here is a special athlete."

New Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark is well aware of the challenge defending Fields' mobility presents: he faced him six times across three seasons from 2021 to 2023 when Clark was a Green Bay Packers, and Fields was the Bears quarterback. Clark's Packers won all six matchups. 

"It's all hands on deck with him. He's a great athlete. He had a crazy touchdown against the Dolphins. You have to make sure all hands are on deck with him because he can get out of the pocket and make some plays," Clark said Wednesday. "That's the main thing, just trying to contain him. He's got a hell of an arm too. We just have to do a good rushing him and getting smart when rushing him." 

Dallas has leaned on strong-armed backup quarterback Joe Milton heavily in practice this week to simulate the athleticism Fields will present at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

"We got Joe [Milton]. He's like a running gazelle out there," Eberflus said. "He fits the bill pretty good."

Cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs echoed the major talking point around Dallas this week: keep Fields in the pocket. The last thing the Cowboys defense wants to do is to have their front seven chasing around the line of scrimmage while their defensive backs get run ragged in scramble drill after scramble drill. 

"We know he got that threat. We got to keep him in the pocket. We got to do better at that and stay tight in our coverage," Bland said.

"I feel like he's going to be running a lot. We have to make sure he's not running a lot," Diggs said Wednesday. "Make sure that we contain him to the best of our ability. He's a good quarterback. Fast. Receiver fast. We have to make sure we stay on him. ... You have to be more careful of the scramble drills, everything. He's going to be running around, throwing the ball. We got to stay on our coverage, stay on our man."

A critical component of keeping Fields in the pocket will be generating pressure on him when he does drop back to pass. That will be something to keep an eye on because Dallas' pass rush hasn't been the same with All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons this season. The Cowboys' 40.2% team quarterback pressure rate with Parsons on the roster from 2021-2024 was the best in the NFL in that span. Without him this season, Dallas possesses a 33.3% QB pressure rate, tied for 21st in the NFL. 

"The hard part is we also have to get that pressure on him," Bland said. "We can't let him get comfortable back there and just see all his options."

Dallas has also spent the fifth-most time trailing (2:39:03) in the league this season, a situational component that affects the pass rush according to Clark, Dallas' leader in quarterback pressures (14) this season. Getting a stop or two early will play a crucial role the Cowboys getting their pass rush on track in Week 5 against Fields. 

"We get teams to drop back and pass, truly drop back and pass, the [pressure] numbers will go up," Clark said Wednesday. "We just got to do that. We fall behind 14-0 every game, it's tough to do that when teams are play-actioning and running the ball, and they got control of the game. If we can actually get up and get ahead and be able to play downhill like that, I think our [pressure] numbers will go up."