OK - now on to the pass defense. The Cowboys base nickel package on 3rd down is what is called a 2-4-5 set. The 2 defensive lineman are Ratliff and usually Bowen, the 4 linebackers are Ware, Spencer, Carpenter and either Brooking or James.  The 5 defensive backs are Jenkins, Newman, Scandrick, Sensabaugh and either Ball or Hamlin. Ware and Spencer line up on the ends to either rush the passer or drop into the flat using a hook zone technique to spy running backs.
 
So that is your basic package personnel. The Cowboys run a lot of looks out of this set but their 2 favorite are a base man-to-man cover 1 and what is considered a crazy scheme that hardly any teams in the NFL are brave enough to run - a cover 0.  Let's talk about this crazy cover 0 first...
 
The Cowboys favorite play to run in this set is what would be commonly called 2-4-5 Over Storm Cover 0 or even for short a 2-4-5 Over Storm Brave - defensive players know what that term brave at the end of the signal call means - you are on your own. There will be lots of pressure as we are sending optionally 6 and 7 guys but if you get beat there is no safety help and it will probably be a big gain or a touchdown.
 
Over the past few years the Cowboys would dial up this play a lot and would commonly get burned. Why?  We did not have the right type of personnel to call it. We had the pass rushing personnel for sure which is why we were always getting large sack totals. However, Roy Williams could never get a good jam or angles on tight ends and whoever was opposite Newman or in the slot just wasn't brave enough to get the close coverage needed for this scheme to work. This was usually Anthony Henry or Nate Jones, etc.
 
Now we move on to this year. For an example of this play look no further than the first 3 and out series againt Philly last week. On 3rd down we called the 2-4-5 nickel over storm brave. The over storm part of the call basically tells the two interior LBs to blitz with the LB on the over or stong side to be the "storm" rusher - he is blitzing a gap of his choosing and he is blitzing regardless of what the RB does or where he lines up.  The interior LB opposite the strong side (typically Carptenter) watches the RB - if the RB stays in to block he has an assigned gap to blitz. If he comes out of the backfield, he has to go with him...
 
An example of the good news for the Cowboys this year is to watch this play unfold. Off the snap, both LBs crash the middle and we get good pressure on the outside and excellent pocket collapse from Bowen and Ratliff. This, however, is nothing new. What is new is that you see Brent Celek come off the line with Sensabaugh on him. Sensabaugh takes the correct inside shoudler angle and even holds him a bit (I didn't say that) to slow him down. On the outside, Newman and Jenkins get excellent jam on their receivers who get basically nowhere.
 
McNabb sees this and knows Celek is his only option and he makes the correct, veteran move. He takes two steps to the left to create the right angle to get the ball to Celek on the crossing route. However, Sensbaugh has slowed him down just enough and the throwing lane closes and we get the sack. Literally one more second passes and Celek is free for a long gain...
 
This play call is always a huge gamble but is much less of a gamble this year because of the personnel we have. If you ever wondered why we continued to draft corner backs it was for this very reason - if you have excellent corners you can play this scheme and torment teams all game long.
 
Now I will leave you with one last nugget. I will tell you this with all honesty - the injury to Ken Hamlin has made our defense even better and easier to disguise. Why?  Well the NFL is all about tendencies. There are reasons there are rules about who can enter the huddle when, etc and you can never have 12 people in the huddle.
 
Cover 0 is designed to bring at most 7 blitzers (as what happend on the play I described above). Cover 1 is designed to bring 6 with a deep safety to keep you from getting burned. In the past, when Hamlin was in the game the tendency would be that he would be the deep safety since it is rare to blitz him. So, the offense could guess either cover 1 or some form or zone coverage. Now, the Cowboys can bring in Alan Ball, who since the injury to Hamlin has had to play free safety.
 
When Ball is in the game, you can run cover 0 or cover 1 as he could be either a corner or safety (you don't know on offense).  He can play man coverage better than Hamlin which has allowed us also in the package to blitz Scandrick off the edge more. However, he can also drop into deep safety and we can be in cover 1.
 
Anyway, all of this has led to a lot of confusion for opposing offenses which is why we are shutting people out, etc. These schemes can be beat however especially when a team has a running back that can come out and line up as a receiver at the last minute, etc like Westbrook. This is the type of thing that gets guys pointing at each other wondering where to line up, etc because now the other interior LB has to go out with him leaving only one LB to blitz, The other easy way to beat this scheme is to have a very athletic TE - which is why you saw Celek running around with the ball so much last week.
 
Anyway - the game will be starting shortly. Look for Philly to try to attack Dallas with a LOT of crossing routes and if they are smart a heavy dose of passes to the RBs. Look for Dallas (hopefully) to be prepared for this and run a few more zone blitzes than usual with cover 0 mixed in to confuse McNabb into making some mistakes.
 
Anyway - hats off to Dallas for implementing and executing an attack style of pass defense this year. Here's hoping we take it to Philly tonight and continue to play great football all the way through the playoffs...
 
GO COWBOYS!!!!!!