As a defensive coordinator, his units have finished 20th or worse in yards per game six times compared to the five times they finished in the top-10. ...
Among Nolan's six defenses to finish in the top-10 in yards, four of those years occurred in his first season as defensive coordinator ('93 Giants, '10 Dolphins, '09 Broncos, '00 Jets). The '12 Falcons are worth mentioning, even though they finished 24th overall, the worst of his first seasons with a team, because Atlanta finished No. 5 in points allowed.
Aside from Nolan's first ever season as a defensive coordinator with New York in 1993, that points allowed mark with the Falcons is his best ever — regardless of what year it was to coordinate the defense.
The '12 Falcons are also germane to the discussion because they finished fifth in takeaways with 31. Atlanta reached the NFC Championship Game that season, and the offense was part of the neutralizing factor for Nolan's defense giving up so many yards. The Falcons offense finished eighth in the NFL, which offset the defense being 24th overall.
Factor in the offense finishing seventh in turnovers and the defense fifth in takeaways, and then the same placements with regards to points for and points against, and the Falcons were able to achieve the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Even the '14 Falcons are worth mentioning because they also finished top-10 in takeaways. Even though the defense was dead last and the offense No. 8 overall, and even though Atlanta was 27th in points allowed and 12th in points for, they were No. 6 in takeaways and the offense was No. 13 in turnovers.