In today's game, the majority of the rules are favored greatly towards the offensive side of the football. Elite defenses in today's game are the ones who create the most defensive turnovers and buckle down in the red zone, forcing teams to kick more FG's then scoring TD's.
Prior to Nolan's hire, the Cowboy Defensive Scheme was known to be more of the bend and don't break. Keep everything in front of you, prevent the big plays, force teams to drive the entire field and stiffen up in the red zone. What really hurt our defense was their inability to create any defensive turnovers what so ever, each game forced the offense to score over 30 points to be successful. If the offense had a bad day, their was zero chance for success.
When you look at the Cowboy Off-season there is a distinct rebuilding plan in place;
#1 priority was to fix stopping the run. If you cannot be successful on the early downs, you will have less of a chance of creating any impact plays. If teams are always 3rd an short, they have the ability to either run or pass, which makes it far more difficult to defend. You can never allow your pass rushers to just pin their ears back and rush the QB. The majority of the defensive additions all have something in common, they all are strong run defenders.
Their next priority was adding more playmakers to the back end, players who not only have plus ball skills, but legitimate instincts to create more turnovers. Both Diggs/Wilson exhibited such traits last season, they added Kazee who is a legitimate ball hawk with a strong track record of taking the ball away, both two corners drafted were viewed as potential playmakers at the position. They also added perhaps the best coverage linebacker in the class in Cox.
If the defense can return to that bend, don't break scheme, be more success on the early downs, the turnovers should come. With a team losing so many close games recently, that could flip the script.
