The 3 best moves the Dallas Cowboys made this offseason

2. Firing defensive coordinator Mike Nolan

One of the best moves that were made this offseason for the Dallas Cowboys was firing defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. In his first season with the team, Dallas’ players didn’t appear to get his defensive scheme down.

In the first six games of the 2020 season, America’s Team was historically awful to begin the year. They gave up a total of 218 points (36.3 points per game) in those games, which was on pace to shatter the single-season record for most points allowed in a season. Although the Cowboys didn’t quite break that record, they did allow the most points in franchise history with 473.

This move seems like one that needed to happen. According to footballoutsiders.com in a poll, Nolan finished as the third-worst coach/coordinator in the league. He received 4.5 percent of all votes.

This could have been due to how poor this defense was in every category, from defending the run to defending deep passes through the air. The Dallas Cowboys ranked in the bottom half in the league in yards per pass attempt allowed (7.4) and passing touchdowns allowed (34).

On top of that, they finished 30th in yards per carry allowed (5.0), 31st in rush yards allowed (2,541) and 30th in 20+ runs allowed (18). A big reason for the Cowboys being so terrible against the run could have been the change to linebacker Leighton Vander-Esch.

In 2020, the former Pro Bowler once again played the middle linebacker (MIKE) position.  Although this could be one of many reasons why this defense wasn’t very solid last season, returning Vander-Esch to weakside linebacker could certainly help. Remember, the 25-year-old former Boise State star had 140 tackles as a rookie as a right linebacker.

Furthermore, bringing on a former Super Bowl-winning coordinator, Dan Quinn, should help this team immensely. The main thing that the Cowboys needed to do this offseason was probably improve the defense and firing Nolan was the first step.