The Cowboys\u2019 pressure-to-sack rate has consistently lagged this season and it\u2019s reasonable to assume their poor coverage in the secondary is a big reason why. That\u2019s because under Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys secondary has taken a zone-heavy approach. Cornerbacks have been asked to play off in coverage, providing large cushions thereby gifting short passes.<\/p>\n
Eberflus\u2019 scheme is a solid strategy for a standard bend-but-don\u2019t-break defense, but not very fitting for a defense that\u2019s producing a league-leading pressure rate. Details matter in tracking pressures, and in the case of the 2025 Cowboys, those details make the case for a specific scheme change.
Many times, the type of pressures the Cowboys are getting are categorized as quick pressures. They are situations in which pass rushers are beating their man early, thus impacting the quarterback within 2.5 seconds. With a 21.8% quick pressure rate, the Cowboys are top five in the NFL. In quick pressures without blitzing, Dallas ranks No. 2 in the NFL. In other words, the pass rush is getting there early but the secondary isn\u2019t making opponents pay for it because they\u2019re always in off coverage.<\/p>\n
Given the high degree of quick pressures, Eberflus should have his cornerbacks in more press coverage situations. Suddenly those quick passes under duress won\u2019t be so easy for opposing QBs to complete. Press coverage plus quick pressures should equal more sacks and more turnovers. It\u2019s a complementary approach that will work in Dallas\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n
Granted, if the Cowboys play more odd man fronts and move more players into the box there will be less protection on the back half with safeties. More man press could also result in more big plays against the Cowboys. But since that\u2019s happening already why not mix things up and try to produce big plays the other way as well?<\/p>\n
The timing seems to be ideal, with DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson getting more comfortable, Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson returning to the field, and the rookie Shavon Revel ready for his debut, the Cowboys are locked and loaded to play more press man in the secondary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cowboys\u2019 pressure-to-sack rate has consistently lagged this season and it\u2019s reasonable to assume their poor coverage in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,932,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-51811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-cowboys-news","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}