Newsletter

Cowboys defense no longer predictable: ‘variety, costumes’ galore – Dallas Cowboys blog

FRISCO, Texas – If the comment had been made by any of the three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks the Dallas Cowboys faced in 2019, a player like New England’s Tom Brady, Giants’ Eli Manning New York or Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay, maybe that would have been easier to take.

Because of the combined work experience of those quarterbacks, each of them had truly seen just what a defense could do over the years.

But it was Sam Darnold, the second-year New York Jets quarterback after a three-week layoff due to mononucleosis, who last October perfectly summed up the Cowboys’ defense in 2019.

“They just did what they did,” Darnold said after the Jets’ 24-22 victory. “They do it every week. They just play a high [safety], sometimes two tall, and they like to stop the race. “

Calling the Cowboys’ defense predictable isn’t surprising, but it’s not like the unit is awful. He was 11th in points and 9th in yards per game last season. From 2014 to 2019 under the direction of former coordinator Rod Marinelli, with help from Matt Eberflus and Kris Richard, the Cowboys finished no worse than 16th in yards or points per game.

But the Cowboys defense also lacked the ability to regain the ball and couldn’t find crucial saves in key games.

Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is coming up with a new defense tasked with producing more takeout, although he has said a lot will be postponed.

“The things they did last year have been very helpful to the things we do,” Nolan said. “We’re adding a few things here and there.”

Maybe more than a few things.

While the Cowboys will continue to have a 4-3 front, the roster is different from the past. Aldon Smith basically plays as a 3-4 linebacker in a two-point position. DeMarcus Lawrence always lines up as a right defensive end, but sometimes he’s in a two-point position as well.

The Cowboys showed off traditional 3-4 looks, which will benefit from the arrival of tackle Dontari Poe, with Lawrence and Smith replicating the spots DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer held in the Wade Phillips defense from 2007 to 2010.

Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith reversed their positions, with Vander Esch now the Cowboys signalman as a middle linebacker. Smith plays Demario Davis in New Orleans, where Nolan coached linebackers before coming to Dallas. Vander Esch and Smith do more of the blitz.

“I think it was a good decision to try and protect Jaylon a bit more in some of the blocking pattern things, not because he needed it, but because I thought because of the size from Leighton, picking up people might be a bit of strength, ”says Nolan.

The safeties hide their appearance more, decide when we will be close to the line or if they will hold their half of the field. Cornerbacks mix between media coverage and off.

Dallas cornerback Chidobe Awuzie wouldn’t name them, but he said some quarterbacks had asked him what the Cowboys defense was going to do in 2020. That didn’t happen in his first three years.

“We’re going to be doing all the same covers with different looks, with the same looks,” Awuzie said. “It’s going to be very multiple. It’s going to produce a lot of mistakes on the part of the offense and quarterbacks. They’re just going to say in the coverage that they were expecting something else, but they’re not. When you have two. high safeties or high safety before the game starts, it is very easy for a quarterback to diagnose where he is going with the ball before the game starts.

“But when there is disguises, movements, being active and not being statues, it’s going to be very hard for them. They’re going to have to diagnose while the play is going on. It’s going to produce bags and turnovers.”

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott believes seeing the various programs in practice will help him this season.

“I mean, you get used to what your defense is doing and you’re able to take it out on them, I guess. But that’s not the case with defense and what Coach Nolan does with his plan. “said Prescott. “They change things. They make you look different and you always have to be on your p’s and q’s.”

The Cowboys are hoping the opposing quarterbacks need to be on their p’s and q’s a lot more than they were a year ago.

The Cowboys face two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks this season in Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, and three more who took their teams to the Super Bowl – Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, Rams’ Jared Goff and San Francisco. Jimmy Garoppolo. The Cowboys also face last year’s NFL Most Valuable Player in Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and this year’s first pick in Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.

“Just with all the variety and the costumes, I think it’s going to be special for us this year,” Vander Esch said. “I think this will create a lot of revenue opportunities. We’re excited about it and we’re just ready to start at this point.”

.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending