{"id":41747,"date":"2026-01-15T23:49:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41747"},"modified":"2026-01-15T23:49:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:49:21","slug":"what-defensive-scheme-makes-most-sense-for-cowboys-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41747","title":{"rendered":"What defensive scheme makes most sense for Cowboys right now?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_680,y_172,w_3386,h_1904\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/cowboys_country\/01kf1yw0vqdgzq1w7eq0.jpg\" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark celebrates after a play during the first half against the Minnesota Vikings.\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">After one frustrating season with Matt Eberflus running the defense, the Dallas Cowboys are looking for a new defensive coordinator. They&#8217;ve cast a wide net, looking at coaches who run all sorts of schemes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\">That begs the question of what system will fit the personnel in Dallas best. That was the subject of a recent mailbag on the Cowboys&#8217; official website.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\">Staff writers Patrik Walker and Tommy Yarrish each answered, and they had a similar take. While Walker said the defensive line fits a 4-3 scheme, they were both more concerned with a coach who is flexible and allows the corners to play press coverage.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">&#8220;As for what would fit the Cowboys, I think a scheme that lets your corners play more press man would certainly tailor to the strengths of some of their best corners like DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel,&#8221; Yarrish wrote. &#8220;If they&#8217;re going to do that though, they&#8217;ll also need a system that can get after the quarterback and create pressure so the secondary has more opportunities to make plays on the ball and create turnovers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-5\">Matt Eberflus&#8217; refusal to change doomed the Dallas defense<\/h2>\n<figure><figcaption><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_589,y_0,w_2756,h_2756\/c_fill,w_720,ar_1:1,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/cowboys_country\/01kf1zj5e1xg35bp6tp4.jpg\" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on the sideline during the first quarter at AT&amp;T Stadium.\" \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">That wasn&#8217;t the case with Eberflus, who Walker said was rigid in his philosophy.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">&#8220;The problem with the Matt Eberflus hire wasn&#8217;t the hire itself, but rather the rigidity in his philosophy once he arrived. The personnel in Dallas was one that relied heavily on a pass rush to help corners succeed who excelled in man coverage, specifically press man coverage, leading to a takeaway party under Dan Quinn,&#8221; Walker wrote.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\">&#8220;Shoehorning them into running zone 90 percent of the time was a recipe for disaster, and especially without a pass rush to shrink those windows.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\">Candidates such as Jim Leonhard have been praised for the way they can adapt to their players, which is something that Leonhard had to do often as a defensive coordinator in the NCAA. They&#8217;re also looking at several candidates who have experience as defensive passing game coordinators.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\">Walker and Yarrish made it clear that fixing the secondary is more important than the scheme itself, a belief the Cowboys appear to share based on their focus on defensive back coaches.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"inline-text-13\"><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Dallas Cowboys look for their next defensive coordinator, it&#8217;s worth asking what scheme fits their personnel best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dallas-cowboys"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What defensive scheme makes most sense for Cowboys right now? 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