Dallas Cowboys DeMarcus Lawrence (90) Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
How teams build their defense is a lot like the chicken versus the egg argument. Some teams have stacked secondaries. Others bring waves of heat from their defensive line. Either one is fine as long as you have one. Clearly, the 2021 Dallas Cowboys are going with the latter.
The Cowboys have seemingly struggled since the dawn of the century on the defensive side of the ball. A lot of that struggle is born out of an inability to rush the passer.
Over the last twenty years, the average sack total of the league leader in that category has been 56 sacks.