Do the Cowboys Actually Have a Defense?
Heading into the season the Dallas Cowboys were largely viewed as favorites to win the NFC East.
The return of quarterback Dak Prescott meant their offense would be one of the better groups in the league, but questions surrounding the defense meant winning the weakest division in football was likely the ceiling for this team.
Following a horrendous 2020 campaign where the defense allowed the 5th most points in the league, the hope in Dallas entering the season was the defense could serve as a “good enough” supporting actor while the offense served as the star of the show.
Three games into the season, it’s looking like labeling this defense as “good enough” would be selling them short.
The biggest weak point for the Dallas defense last year was their inability to stop the run.
Their defensive front was frequently blown off the line of scrimmage, they struggled to make routine tackles, and the coaching staff didn’t do anything to provide them with an edge schematically. They allowed the 2nd most rush yards in the league (over 158 yards per game), and never seemed to stand a chance when the opposition handed the ball off.
Through three games this year, the story for the Dallas Defense has been completely different.
They’re allowing the 6th fewest rush yards per game, none of their opponents have eclipsed 100 yards on the ground, and they have yet to concede a single rushing touchdown.
So what’s been the cause of this rapid turnaround?
After a disappointing year from the defense in 2020, the Cowboys’ front office responded by making some major changes on that side of the ball.
There are multiple new faces in the starting lineup, 8 of their 11 draft picks were spent on defensive players, and after just one season serving as the team’s defensive coordinator, Mike Nolan was fired and replaced by former Falcons’ head coach Dan Quinn.
Quinn didn’t experience a ton of success as the Falcons’ head coach, but he made a name for himself in his prior role serving as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator.
While he was in Seattle, Quinn was in charge of the famous “Legion of Boom” secondary that was the focal point of arguably the best defense in the past decade.
Schematically, those Seahawks teams liked to run a Cover-3 defense that featured a single-high safety. That style of defense has been synonymous with long-time Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, and the success of his teams meant it quickly became one of the more popular schemes in the NFL.
While many teams tried to copy Seattle’s success by implementing similar schemes, no other organization was able to reach the same level of success because they didn’t possess the same level of talent.
One of the decisions defenses are forced to consider when choosing a defensive scheme is how to deploy their safeties. Playing one safety deep and one closer to the line of scrimmage (single-high) like Seattle does means there’s an additional defender to help support the run game and assist in covering the underneath zones.
Kam Chancellor played this box-safety role for the Legion of Boom Seahawks, and he essentially served as a linebacker/safety hybrid who could destroy defenses underneath.
The tradeoff defenses have to face when playing a safety like Chancellor in the box is the lack of help the single deep safety has. Earl Thomas was more often than not the lone man playing deep for those Seattle teams, and because he was so talented he could essentially play the role of two deep safeties all by himself.
Thomas’ ability to erase the deep passing game from opponents’ game plans allowed Chancellor and star linebackers Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright to swarm sideline to sideline underneath and gobble up anything offenses tried to throw at them in that area of the field.
When Quinn took the Falcons job, he quickly realized how difficult it was to implement this same scheme without an elite talent like Thomas patrolling the last line of defense. He didn’t find much success in Atlanta, but early signs in Dallas indicate he’s learned from his failures and is adapting accordingly.
While Quinn is bringing a lot of his typical defensive philosophies to Dallas, gone are the days where a Dan Quinn-led defense lives and dies by the Cover-3. Instead, the Cowboys’ are most often running man-to-man coverage, and the scheme appears to be an excellent fit for their personnel.
The primary beneficiary of this man-to-man heavy defense has been second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs.
Diggs was a second round pick by the Cowboys last year. He showed promise in his rookie year, but in his sophomore season he’s made a major leap and has taken his game to another level. He’s logged an interception in each of his three games so far, and it appears he’s loving the challenge of playing mostly man coverage. He’s often tasked with following the opposing team’s best receiver and trying to completely erase them from the offense’s game plan.
Having a shutdown corner in the NFL is such an asset for a defense because it provides the team with a lot of flexibility towards how they allocate the other 10 men on the field. Diggs appears to be well on his way to earning the shutdown corner label, and his presence alone has made life much easier on the rest of the defense.
Getting stellar play out of Diggs, as well as other members of the secondary, has afforded Quinn the luxury of being able to continue running the single-high looks he prefers. While man-to-man coverage is a different look compared to his traditional defense, the benefits he reaps from an additional in-the-box defender remain the same.
This additional defender is one of the main reasons why the Cowboys have been so good against the run this year. They possess a numbers advantage against the run, and they aren’t having to sacrifice much on the back end to attain it.
It’s not often you think about a cornerback like Diggs making such a positive impact against the run, yet his impressive play has had a massive indirect effect on that area of the game.
By having trust in their secondary, the Cowboys have been able to allocate an extra defender towards stopping the run. This schematic shift has led to a positive ripple effect that’s allowing the front seven to play an aggressive, attacking style of football that’s wreaking havoc on opposing offenses.
While the secondary is unlocking Quinn’s ability to play defense with an extra defender in the box, the hyper-athletic linebacker group has been the primary beneficiary.
The linebacker group is the strength of this defense, and their ability to patrol the second level and move sideline to sideline has caused fits for opposing offenses both in the run game and against the pass.
In their game against Philadelphia, the Cowboys linebacker group absolutely dominated the game. The Eagles like to run a spread offense that tries to stretch a defense horizontally in order to open up holes for their offense, but they were no match for the Cowboys’ defense in this one.
Dallas’ linebacker Jaylon Smith looked like a foundational piece of a modern defense in this game where his athleticism took center stage. His primary job was ensuring Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t beat them on the ground, and he absolutely stepped up to the task. The Eagles’ game plan runs through Hurts, and Smith’s ability to remove the threat of Hurts as a runner (just 35 rushing yards on the day) completely stifled Philadelphia’s entire offensive game plan.
Mobile quarterbacks can be a nightmare for defenses to account for. Their ability to run or pass on any given play means defenses have a lot to account for, and in the modern NFL it’s only becoming more common for quarterbacks to possess the ability to take off and run. Smiths’ ability to negate this rushing threat means the Cowboys’ defense is well equipped to match up against some of the more innovative offensive schemes.
It hasn’t just been Smith whose athleticism has really shined in this Dallas front seven though as another linebacker has been emerging as a dominant force.
The #12 overall pick in this year’s draft, Micah Parsons out of Penn State, has erupted on the scene in Dallas and made his presence felt in each of his first three NFL games. Parsons was drafted as a linebacker, but he’s already showing the versatility to line up all over the formation.
Injuries across the defensive line pushed Parsons into a defensive end role these past two weeks and he hasn’t missed a beat. He’s wreaking havoc on opposing linemen, quarterbacks, and anyone else who opts to stand in his way. Just three games into his NFL he’s already leading the Cowboys in all of their key pressure statistics and he’s looked dominant in doing so.
While mobile quarterbacks cause headaches for opposing offenses due to their dual-threat abilities, Parsons’ versatility causes an equal amount of frustration for opposing offenses.
When Dallas is playing at full strength, Parsons will likely play an outside linebacker/edge rusher combo position, but he has the versatility to line up anywhere in the front seven.
Parsons might already be the best pass rusher on the team, but that’s not even close to the only thing he brings to a defense. He’s fantastic off the ball as well where he can shut down a zone or match up with a tight end, running back, or slot receiver in man coverage. Against the run he’s constantly chasing down ball carriers, and even when defenses try running away from him, he’s athletic enough to make plays from the backside of a formation.
Even as a rookie, Parsons is already establishing himself as arguably the most dominant force on the Cowboys’ defense.
The pressure and versatility he brings to the table has had a major impact on this defense’s ability to generate turnovers. Through three weeks, Dallas leads the league with 8 takeaways, and they possess a turnover differential of +5 (also best in the league).
With an offense as strong as the one Dallas possesses, the Cowboys don’t need a defense that shuts down opposing offenses and allows this team to grind out wins in low scoring games. The ability to generate turnovers is exactly what this team needs from the defense so they can generate extra possessions and allow Prescott and the offense to serve as the star of the show.
The turnovers this team has been generating have come largely as a result of the pressure this team puts on opposing offenses, and the pressure comes in numerous forms.
The pressure coming from guys like Parsons and the rest of the front seven is one of the obvious ways this team generates pressure which in turn helps force turnovers. However, there’s also the intangible pressure that comes from trying to keep up with the high-scoring Dallas offense.
The offense is averaging 30 points per game so far this season, and each week their opponents know they’ll need to put up a lot of points if they hope to walk away victorious. Opposing coaches are forced to play an aggressive style of offense, and the Dallas defense has been more than happy to capitalize.
Through three weeks, Dallas looks like one of the more complete teams in all of football.
The fantastic play from the offense is a surprise to no one, but the complementary football on the other side of the ball was largely unexpected and it’s helping vault this Cowboys team to another level.
The defense looks in sync, and impressive play from each group has amplified the talents of all the other groups around them. The secondary playing well has allowed Quinn to play the style of defense he wants to run, and putting an extra safety in the box has helped shut down opponents’ run games.
Shutting down the run game has made opposing offenses one-dimensional, which in turn has allowed Dallas to play aggressively against the pass and generate turnovers at the highest rate in the league.
These extra possessions have made life that much easier on an already dominant offense, which in turn has placed even more pressure on the opposition’s offense.
Every part of this Cowboys team is playing a style of football that makes life easier for every other member of the team. The balance this team possesses makes them a matchup nightmare for their opponents, and early in the season they’re looking like one of the more complete teams in the NFL.
