(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
In the first two weeks, the Dallas defense has played mostly zone. Is there a reason for this? Do the Cowboys not trust their secondary to cover in man? Is this a calling card of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus? As fans, should we get use to zone coverage all year long? – William Howeth/Garland, TX
Patrik: The bottom line is Matt Eberflus isn't a huge fan of running a primarily man coverage scheme, and that's fine, because that, in and of itself, is not an issue so long as you can get pressure and sacks with your front four. Ah, therein lies the problem regarding what went wrong time and again versus the Giants: lack of overall pressure and allowing Russell Wilson, one of the best in the league at reading and dissecting zone coverages and throwing the deep ball, time to get set for his throws. That wasn't the case against Jalen Hurts, who struggles against zone coverage and who was also pushed off of his spot far more often than not. My preference would be to adapt the coverage weekly, being truly multiiple, and deploy man as primary when it's pertinent and zone when that makes more sense. If not, then you better start bullying the passer, and hopefully the addition of Jadeveon Clowney, and the readdition of DaRon Bland soon, will help keep a Week 2 explosion from ever happening again.
Tommy: It's Matt Eberflus' calling card. That doesn't mean the entirety of the blame is on his shoulders, though. I thought the Cowboys handled the Eagles just fine in zone coverage during Week 1. I don't think a lot of the secondary players were on the same page in Week 2, which led to some of the deep shots and chunk gains from the Giants offense. But back to the question, yes, I think the reason is because it's what Eberflus has done over the course of his career and had success doing. In the last six years that Eberflus has been a defensive play caller, he's used zone coverage at at least a 10% higher rate than the league average of 67.9% in four of those seasons. The bigger questions may be whether or not Eberflus has the pieces on the roster to be able to run that much zone, which is a totally separate conversation.
Mailbag
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