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At this point, what differences are you seeing (or hearing) between the Dan Quin defensive scheme and the Matt Eberflus scheme? – David Fedak/Leonardo, NJ
Nick: One of the biggest differences that I've heard about Quinn's scheme and Eberflus is seen more in the back end. We saw a lot more man coverage with Quinn and Eberflus' defense is heavy on zone coverage.
Either way, getting pressure on the quarterback is a must in both schemes. I think you'll see a lot more speed and quickness in the front-four that relies on gutsy being quick off the ball and getting up the field. With Eberflus, the linebackers are usually the most productive players on the field, especially in coverage. That's one reason we saw some emphasis there in free agency with a trade for Kenneth Murray and signing Jack Sanborn, who was in Chicago with Eberflus.
For me, the biggest thing Eberflus can do is to figure out a way to make Micah Parsons effective in any scheme, any down and distance, and to do it in a way that will keep the offense and the offensive coordinators guessing about his next move. As long as he can make sure Parsons continues to be a dominant player, I think this defense has a chance to be successful.
Tommy: I think the biggest difference between the two is that Dan Quinn's style creates more pressure on the quarterback, while Eberflus' defense is more based on stopping the run and forcing turnovers. Not to say that each of them can't do the other, but there's more of an emphasis on those aspects at their core which creates a big difference.
Under Quinn, the Cowboys struggled at times to stop the run. Can that change under Matt Eberflus? It's certainly one of the reasons why they hired him to return to Dallas and call the defense, but my bigger question would be if they currently have the personnel to be able to stop the run. Especially at defensive tackle, I don't know if they do yet, meaning they'll have to rely a lot on their EDGE rushers and linebackers to stop the run.
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