"They can’t stop a cold": Stephen A. Smith blasts Cowboys' defense with blunt take after 31-14 loss to Bears

The Dallas Cowboys are 1-2 to start the 2025 season, with both losses coming on the road. But while the game at the Philadelphia Eagles was competitive, the same cannot be said for what happened on Sunday.

America's Team suffered a 31-14 rout at the notoriously fickle and dysfunctional organization that was the Chicago Bears, as Caleb Williams humiliated Matt Eberflus' defense with four touchdowns, two of them coming after the game had been tied at 14 apiece, to give Ben Johnson his first win as head coach.

And Stephen A. Smith had some scathing words about that performance on Monday's episode of his eponymous show (from 04:10 in the video below):

“Your defense is trash, it just has to be said. And we can’t mince words. We can’t wiggle our way around this stuff... They’re horrible. It was bad enough to see what the New York Giants did to them just last weekend. ...They can’t stop a cold. They can’t stop the sniffles.”

One telling statistic was the number of sacks on each team. While the Bears got one each from Dominique Robinson and Montez Sweat, the Cowboys sorely felt the effects of trading Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, failing to put up even one against the most-sacked quarterback of 2024.

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Cowboys players react to Bears' destruction of defense in Sunday game

After the game, Cowboys players could not help but be mentally and psychologically exhausted at the shellacking that they had to endure. Cornerback Trevon Diggs admitted:

"We just didn't execute, gave up some big plays in the beginning of the game, and just from there it was just a snowball effect."

Meanwhile, defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who had arrived from the Green Bay Packers via a trade involving Micah Parsons, said:

"It's tough. We got to find a way to get off the field. Teams get worn down the more plays they get. So got to just do a better job with that, and it all starts with locking in on film, playing fast, understanding what you're going to get and holding each other accountable to that."

It was not just players, however. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer rued not pressuring Caleb Williams enough, which led to the sophomore's first no-sack game.

Meanwhile, EVP Stephen Jones deflected from the team's anti-pass struggles by praising the run defense, which limited D'Andre Swift to only 33 yards.

Brandon Loree

@Brandoniswrite

On 105.3 The Fan, #Cowboys Stephen Jones said that he thinks they’re doing great things defensively with stopping the run. Via @pfref, Dallas has allowed an average of 3.7 yards per carry to opposing teams, 10th best in the NFL. NFL average is 4.2 YPC. So that’s one positive.