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Who is the toughest defense the Cowboys will face in 2016?

By Lauren Draper-Wood

Nov 15, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; A general view of Dallas Cowboys helmet on the field during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; A general view of Dallas Cowboys helmet on the field during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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We try to determine which defense will be the toughest for the Dallas Cowboys to face this upcoming season.

The Dallas Cowboys are confident they can challenge this coming season. They’ve a triple headed monster offensive threat in Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and Ezekiel Elliott. It’s the Minnesota Vikings defense that will be the most difficult to overcome.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings, Week 13

Running back Adrian Peterson may well be the face of the franchise in Minnesota; but it’s their defense which are perhaps blossoming into a dominant force while AD enters his twilight years.

Three of their defensive unit made last seasons Pro Bowl; Anthony Barr, Everson Griffen and Harrison Smith. Linebacker Barr was a personal favorite of mine heading into the 2014 draft, and his opening two seasons with the Vikings have been nothing short of sensational.

While their defensive unit isn’t packed with superstar names, the performance of Everson Griffen the past two seasons in particular will definitely give the Cowboys something to think about. He led the Vikings in sacks for the past two years with a combined 22.5.

DeMarcus Lawrence and Jeremy Mincey were the Cowboys sack leaders for 2015 and 2014 and totaled 14 sacks.

"“Griffen is one of the steadiest, most underrated pass rushers of the past five years.” – Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com"

Griffen was the only player to put up double digit sacks, yet they rank 7th in the NFL for number of sacks- the load was shared with a dozen different players contributing to that. By comparison the Cowboys only had 9 players contribute to their 31 sack count; just three had five or more.

Alongside their impressive sack count, they also ranked 5th in points allowed. A playoff loss of 9-10 against the Seahawks is an indicator of their ability. The Cowboys will want to mix up their playing style to try and come away victorious. The Vikings ranked 12th against the pass and 17th versus the rush- very resilient.

Head coach Mike Zimmer had a rebuild on his hands when took over two years ago, but with the defense in particular they’re in a very stable place.

"“If you look at the snap counts from last year, the Vikings defense was on the field for 1,070 plays. Given that there are 11 players on the field for each play, there was a total of 11,770 defensive snaps last season.Of the players who accounted for those snaps, the Vikings still have on their roster players that accounted for 11,342 of them – a whopping 96.4 percent of the snaps.” Scout.com"

While the Cowboys seem to be constantly weaving bridge players in and out of the defensive unit, the Vikings have sifted out the deadwood. The Cowboys selected Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence in the second rounds of 2014 and 2015.

Next: Five free agents to replace Rolando McClain in Dallas

Lawrence has flashed, and will be relied upon for sacks this season. In this time the Vikings picked up Anthony Barr in the first round of 2014 and last years rookie Danielle Hunter proved to be a third round steal.

There’s nothing flashy about the Vikings defense. It will take a strong performance from the Cowboys to walk away with the win. Tony Romo will need to Zeke and Deztroy.

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