Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said his team will have some changes on defense going into their Week 7 game against Washington. We look at what those possible changes could be:
More man-to-man defense
The Cowboys play a zone defensive scheme that has struggled at times, especially in the passing game. Schottenheimer said the team is open to playing more man-to-man defense, which suits what corners DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs like to play. Stephen Jones told the flagship radio station that tweaks to the scheme will benefit some of the players. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young faced zone coverage 85.2% of the time Sunday. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 174 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
More playing time
Linebacker Marist Liufau earned the only sack against the Panthers while blitzing. He played just 27 snaps as the strongside linebacker. It might be time for Liufau to get more snaps over, say, Shemar James, a rookie who played 60 snaps while leading the team with 11 tackles. James plays weakside linebacker, and the Cowboys like to crosstrain their players, especially at linebacker. It might be time for Liufau to get more playing time in the nickel and base packages. Former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer thought Liufau had the talent to play middle linebacker. Also, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus might use a different style of nickel defense, where strong safety Donovan Wilson is off the field and Juanyeh Thomas plays more at deep safety. Wilson is a trusted veteran — for example, he had 63 snaps against Carolina. His struggles in deep coverage are an issue, however.
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Find a defensive end rotation
The Cowboys started Marshawn Kneeland and Dante Fowler at defensive end on Sunday. Kneeland played with a balky ankle, which limited him to 20 snaps. Fowler played just 18 snaps. The Cowboys like their rotations, but Sam Williams (37 snaps) and Donovan Ezeiruaku (38 snaps) got the most snaps. James Houston is a third-down specialist, but he leads the team in sacks. But Houston played just 14 snaps. It seems like the rotation has no focus based on the snap counts. Cowboys need to focus on maybe two players — Ezeiruaku and possibly Houston — to start, then add the others.
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