4 Reasons the Dallas Cowboys defense will be improved in 2020

1. Mike Nolan is an improvement

There was a misconception about the Cowboys defense that they were just awful in 2019. As previously mentioned, this isn’t true as they did rank in the top-10 for yardage surrendered. The problem was they didn’t make the big plays, which was pointed out by Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Hill pointed out that Dallas was 19th in the NFL in sacks and 30th in turnovers, which has been a huge problem for them for years now. He says a big part of the problem was due to the scheme, and lack of versatility shown by the outgoing defensive staff.

"“Reasons for the lack of splash plays, outside of a so-called lack of playmakers, included a refusal to blitz and predictable coverages under former defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, and passing game coordinator Kris Richard, who called the defenses the past two seasons.” — Hill, Fort Worth Star-Telegram"

With Mike Nolan coming in, this is going to change. Hill says Nolan will stick with the base 4-3 defense but plans to also sprinkle in some 3-4 looks, which is what he has primarily run in the past. And so far, the players are into what they are hearing.

Xavier Woods, the returning safety, has expressed his happiness that the team will be disguising defenses more, getting away from the “vanilla” coverage that Hill highlighted.

Simply put, Mike Nolan is a better defensive coach at this point in his career than Rod Marinelli. There was a time the Tampa-2 was all the rage but teams need to learn to adapt and evolve, sadly that wasn’t happening in Big D.

It is now, which is the No. 1 reason to believe the defense will be better in 2020 than they were a season ago.