👋 Good morning! - Now that Matt Eberflus is gone, the Cowboys have to nail the next hire. Whoever takes over could end up being the single biggest factor in how next season plays out. - Ali Jawad

The Dallas Cowboys finally pulled the plug, firing defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus Tuesday morning, and now the real offseason begins.

Dallas can talk about roster fixes and draft plans all it wants, but none of it matters if the next defensive hire looks like another one-year experiment that collapses by November.

So what’s next?

The name already making the rounds is a big one: Brian Flores. At least one national reporter connected Dallas to the former Vikings defensive coordinator, and it’s easy to see why, he’s aggressive, he’s loud, and he’s the type of presence who can change a unit’s identity fast.

But he is also in line to be a head coach again so maybe not an option.

Jim Schwartz? Jim Leonhard? Raheem Morris?

But here’s the catch: this isn’t just about finding a “good” coach.

It’s about finding the right coach for this locker room, this personnel, and this pressure cooker of a job. If the Cowboys get this hire right, it can flip next season’s storyline in a hurry.

If they miss?

We’re doing this same song and dance again a year from now.

Cooper Flagg had Mavericks fans holding their breath after a scary knee-to-knee collision with Precious Achiuwa, then the 19-year-old came back with a leg sleeve and took over, scoring 11 of his 20 after the hit to push Dallas past Sacramento 100-98.

Brandon Williams delivered the late dagger sequence (corner 3, then a midrange bucket) as the Mavs snapped a brutal seven-game road skid and finally stole a clutch one at Golden 1 Center.

Even with Anthony Davis clanking his way to 7-of-23, Dallas got enough muscle (19 points, 16 boards) to escape and leave the Kings stuck in the basement.

The Stars’ skid hit a new low Tuesday night in Raleigh: a flat, mistake-filled start snowballed into a lopsided 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes, their sixth straight defeat.

Jake Oettinger got the hook midway through as Carolina spent most of the game in attack mode, while Dallas took penalties, chased plays, and looked a step behind.

Mikko Rantanen tried to put the cape on (and got an earful of boos), but even his third-period push wasn’t enough to rescue an ugly one.

The 2026 Texas Rangers might be the toughest team in baseball to pin down, with national MLB media skeptical, a farm system viewed as thin, and a big-league roster that’s underachieved for two straight seasons, leaving expectations unusually low.

But is that criticism actually fair, or are the Rangers the type of roster that can thrive when nobody’s paying attention?

Here’s why Texas is being treated like an enigma, the questions that still define them, and how low expectations might be the best thing that happens to this team heading into Opening Day.

Let’s go

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Ali Jawad
Dallas Cowboys ​Content Creator/Newsletter Writer
[email protected]