The Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan spent much of the offseason talking about bringing an aggressive, multiple approach to the defense. While that hasn’t necessarily worked out so far, the team will be facing a defense this week in the Giants that’s actually embraced that identity.
But the Giants roster had an easier learning curve than the Cowboys defenders. In Dallas, Nolan tried to transition the team from the most vanilla 4-3 scheme in the league to a complex hybrid style with no proper offseason to install it all. In New York, however, new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham took over for James Bettcher, a disciple of Todd Bowles whose own scheme was already an aggressive, hybrid 3-4 defense.