CowboysWire: Press Play - Kris Richard set to change rhythm of Cowboys secondary

Cotton

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Press Play: Kris Richard set to change rhythm of Cowboys secondary
By: John Crumpler | 14 hours ago

Nine years.

That’s how long it’s been for Kris Richard, working on Pete Carroll’s coaching staff. Together they helped forge the historically dominant defensive backfield known as the Legion of Boom. The Seahawks play a physical, disruptive brand of defense that dictates to the offense as opposed to letting someone write the script for them.

Although Seattle’s defensive prowess suffered last season, Richard was still considered a future Head Coaching candidate, which left many puzzled when the Seahawks let him go this off-season.

The Dallas Cowboys quickly scooped him up so he could bring the successful model from Seattle with him. Richard served as defensive backs coach for three years before elevating to defensive coordinator and along the way sculpted a model of consistency.

Despite many fans’ deflation at the loss of linebackers’ coach and passing game coordinator Matt Eberflus to the Indianapolis Colts, it is impossible not to be excited by what Richard brings to the table. Richards arrives with an animated, disciplined approach along with plenty of ideas that will be new to Dallas.

Richard’s fingerprints are already evident, the biggest being former first-round pick Byron Jones moving back to his original cornerback position. In ways like this, Richard is set to have a huge impact on the way Dallas plays and how the defensive backs will be tasked at stopping the opposition in an absolutely loaded NFC.

Last year, the Cowboy’s secondary wasn’t exactly a unit to be proud of. They finished in the bottom-10 in allowed QBR, interceptions, and passing touchdowns allowed. Change is more than welcome, and Richard is set to bring just that.

A dig into Seattle’s 2017 tape outlined what changes Cowboys’ fans can expect this upcoming year.

To call Richard an aggressive coach may be a bit of an understatement.

The coach absolutely loves physical cornerbacks and the tape makes it evident as to why. In a pass-heavy NFL, timing has become the No. 1 component for most successful units. One of the main tenets of Richard’s defenses is that the cornerbacks must disrupt said timing.

Offenses are designed to put receivers in positions where they can easily win, and quarterbacks know when and where to look for those slight openings. Richard’s philosophy is to alter the normal cadence the play is designed to have.

The following plays comes from the Seahawks Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Carroll and Richard put together an excellent gameplan that held the NFL’s best offense to only 10 points. For years the strength of the Seattle secondary has been their physicality, and this game was no exception.

Here are two excellent examples of how their defensive backs were instructed to press in order to disrupt what was usually a rhythmic passing game. To begin, this is what it looked like when Richard’s secondary failed to jam the receiver properly.



On this play, the Rams come out in a trips formation on the right side with Sammy Watkins isolated on the left. From the snap, WR Cooper Kupp gets a clean release off the line to bolt across the field. Coleman is unable to jam Kupp whatsoever, and safety Earl Thomas has no time to make it across the field. for a 20-yard gain, easily orchestrated by McVay.

If the Cowboys get stuck in spots like these, they’re also in for a long season. In a loaded division featuring quarterbacks like Carson Wentz and Alex Smith, plays like this will get you killed. However, when done correctly, pressing and jamming receivers off the line led to wonderful results from Richard’s secondary. Watch how Kupp fairs the second time.



Here, cornerback Shaquill Griffin starts the play by effectively jamming Kupp at the line of scrimmage. He follows with close man coverage, buying plenty of time for Earl Thomas to slide over from the middle. Thomas’ presence forces quarterback Jared Goff to throw Kupp wide to the left as he tries to keep it out of the arms of the crashing safety.

In a game decided by inches, the precious seconds, and half seconds, an effective press can provide is imperative. The extra time generated by Griffin for Thomas to read the play got the Rams off the field on third down and ended a precarious red-zone drive. This type of play could make an astronomical difference in the upcoming Cowboys’ season.

Dallas finished No. 29 in the league in defensive third-down conversion percentage.

The physicality Richard demands from his secondary can be absolutely disruptive when properly executed in the NFL. Fortunately for Dallas, larger defensive backs such as Byron Jones and Chidobe Awuzie are more than capable of properly executing these techniques.

These seemingly negligible disruptions will only create more time for the safeties to make plays and for edge rushers like Demarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory or David Irving to get to the quarterback. Improvements in fundamental play like this could allow for a sneaky-talented defense to make great strides towards playing at a championship caliber.
 

vince

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My expectations are pretty high for the secondary this year. I'm pretty excited about it.
 

fortsbest

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Mine as well. Coaching them to actually bump someone inside 5 rather than sit 10-15 yards back just seems obvious, but these idiot coaches couldn't make it happen. Now a new coach comes in and actually preaches that and it's like a breath of fresh air.
 

ravidubey

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It makes a huge difference to a defense when opposing QB's feel there is consistently no one open in the first two seconds post snap.

Especially when the offense telegraphs pass by going empty backfield.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It makes a huge difference to a defense when opposing QB's feel there is consistently no one open in the first two seconds post snap.

Especially when the offense telegraphs pass by going empty backfield.
Yep, it's all about disrupting the rhythm of the passing game. You absolutely have to do that to give your pass rush any chance of getting home.
 
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