Bears Film Study: Eberflus brings new meaning of doomsday to Dallas defense

A closer watch of Cowboys at Bears led to this conclusion: Matt Eberflus will not last long as Dallas defensive coordinator.

Sure, it was great to see Caleb Williams throw 4 touchdowns and earn NFC offensive player of the week, but there was some absurdly bad defense being played last weekend. No one should suggest the Bears offense is headed in the right direction based on this game.

Keep in mind, the previous quarterback to face the Dallas defense was the Giants' Russell Wilson, who went from the top QB in fantasy when he played the Cowboys to benched for Jaxson Dart when he went against the Chiefs.

Here's a quick rundown of the doomsday plays by the Eberflus defense:

· On the Bears first touchdown, Trevon Diggs put a one-handed chuck on Rome Odunze, slipped on the turf and was hopelessly beaten as Odunze hauled in a 35-yard pass. As Odunze celebrated in the end zone, Diggs stood by tapping his chest, the universal sign for “My bad.” Yeah, we saw it, Trevon.

· To say the Cowboys bit on the handoff-and-lateral play would be an understatement. Cornerback Kaiir Elam was in full sprint toward the line of scrimmage and ended up 20 yards behind the play. Safety Malik Hooker also took a couple of false steps and it was an easy pitch and catch from Williams to Luther Burden III.

· With the score tied 14-14 in the second quarter, the Bears faced a third-and-9 and pulled off a 41-yard screen pass to D'Andre Swift. Five Dallas defenders chased Williams and there were no Cowboys in sight when Swift caught the pass, with Joe Thuney and Drew Dalman in front of him. He ran about 17 yards before a defender got near him.

· On the final TD of the first half, the Bears lined up with two tight ends on the right side. Both Dallas defensive backs locked onto Durham Smythe (really?) and let Cole Kmet stroll unguarded into the end zone.

· The only second-half TD was a fourth-and-4 play. D.J. Moore simply made a middle cut in the back of the end zone and Hooker, the safety in the area, never saw him. Moore was hiding in plain sight, apparently.

Even though he ended up with the Packers, even the most hard-core Bears fan should probably feel happy for Micah Parsons that he managed to escape this mess.

Out like Lamb

Two plays stand out when it comes to deciding the game. One was the rip-away fumble by Tyrique Stevenson after Dallas gained 29 yards on its first two offensive plays. The other was obviously receiver CeeDee Lamb going out with an ankle injury and making no catches.

Putting Lamb at running back seems like another boneheaded Cowboys decision. It's far less likely he gets his ankle squashed by a linebacker if he's catching passes 20 yards downfield. The Bears gave D.J. Moore three carries in this game, but Lamb is a lot closer to the top of the NFL's WR tree.

Overall, the Cowboys outgained the Bears 398-385. There was plenty of bend-but-don't-break to the Bears defense Sunday, which was the right move with their two best defensive backs sidelined. That also explains the 22 receptions by Dallas running backs and tight ends, as Dak Prescott dumped short throws constantly.

Throwing darts

The Eberflus defense made things extremely easy for Caleb Williams, but there were a few really impressive throws. Twice he completed passes with a rusher in his face on play-action bootlegs.

But the vote here for best throw of the day was a 29-yard gain to Burden late in the second quarter. Williams led his receiver and dropped it over two defenders in the middle of the field, setting up a key touchdown.

Five of a kind

It was unusual to see the Bears play so many five-man defensive fronts. The first play of the game featured Daniel Hardy, Dayo Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter, Grady Jarrett and Montez Sweat across the line. They used it plenty of times throughout the day, sometimes with Tremaine Edmunds dropping down to an edge, but usually with five linemen.

Did it work? Not at all.

One concerning aspect to this game was the rushing yards given up by the Bears. Overall, it was a 6.1-yard average on 20 carries. Dallas' first nine runs gained 67 yards, which is 7.4 per attempt. Even after falling behind, the Cowboys should have stayed more patient with the run.

Early logic suggests the Bears might be too light in the middle with Jarrett starting ahead of Andrew Billings.

Quick hitters

Shout out to Lake Zurich's Jack Sanborn. After being let go by the Bears, he is the Cowboys' second-leading tackler. … Gervon Dexter continues to shine. He's the Bears' best defensive lineman by a wide margin and might be ascending into Akiem Hicks territory. … Rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner saw his first NFL action Sunday. He got an early pressure, which was a good sign, then was escorted from the room twice in a row by Dallas guard Tyler Smith. Maybe he's not quite ready.