There is only one NFL team that has recorded multiple sacks in every game it's played this season. That team is the Dallas Cowboys, who sport a pass rush so dominant at this point that it is barely worth mentioning alongside that of other teams.
Dallas has generated pressure on a league-best 43.7% of opponent dropbacks, according to TruMedia. That pressure rate is a full 6% higher than that of the next-closest team, the New England Patriots (37.7%). The distance between the Cowboys and the second-place Patriots is larger than the one between the Patriots and the Buccaneers (32%), who reside in 22nd place. That Dallas has accomplished this despite blitzing only 26.2% of the time -- a rate that checks in slightly below the league average of 26.6% -- makes it all the more remarkable.
The Cowboys simply come at opponents in waves. They have arguably the best pass rusher in all of football in Micah Parsons, another elite rusher in Demarcus Lawrence, plus three more players who rank among the top 40 in pressure rate out of the 233 players that have rushed the passer 90 or more times so far this season. Among Dallas' seven defenders who have done so, only Neville Gallimore ranks outside the top 75 (i.e. the top third of the league) in pressure rate, and Gallimore is a 1-technique defensive tackle who is on the field primarily to stop the run.
| Player | Snaps | Pressures | Rank | Pressure % | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micah Parsons | 284 | 54 | 3 | 19.0% | 5 |
| Dante Fowler Jr. | 144 | 23 | 79 | 16.0% | 16 |
| Demarcus Lawrence | 250 | 37 | 27 | 14.8% | 26 |
| Dorance Armstrong | 208 | 30 | 47 | 14.4% | 30 |
| Sam Williams | 99 | 13 | 141 | 13.1% | 40 |
| Osa Odighizuwa | 201 | 22 | 88 | 10.9% | 75 |
| Neville Gallimore | 119 | 6 | 205 | 5.0% | 193 |
And of course, Parsons is only a part-time pass rusher. He's rushed the passer far more often this season than he did a year ago (83.6% of passing snaps vs. 51.8% last season), but he still checks in just 49th in the NFL in pass rush snaps. Despite that, he's third in total pressures, largely because he gets to the quarterback so often when he is sent toward the backfield.
Both Parsons and Lawrence have been among the top pressure players in the league this season despite being double-teamed more often than almost any other edge rushers in the NFL. The attention paid to them has allowed the other rushmen to consistently work one-on-one, and they are each capable of taking advantage in those situations.
But defensive coordinator Dan Quinn doesn't just passively let his top guys get doubled. He's aggressive about generating matchups and one-on-one opportunities, varying formations and relying heavily on stunts to get players in the right position. With the exception of Lawrence, who plays almost exclusively on the left side of the line (344 snaps compared with 76 on the right side, per Pro Football Focus), Quinn moves everybody else around a decent amount -- and he plays them in all different combinations. (Note that the below table includes only snaps played when lined up as a defensive lineman, so Parsons' snaps as an off-ball linebacker are not accounted for.)
| PLAYER | LOLB | LEO | LE | LDT | NT | RDT | RE | REO | ROLB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micah Parsons | 197 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 230 |
| Demarcus Lawrence | 128 | 166 | 45 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 25 |
| Osa Odighizuwa | 0 | 2 | 27 | 89 | 32 | 208 | 37 | 1 | 0 |
| Dorance Armstrong | 36 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 20 | 65 | 171 |
| Neville Gallimore | 0 | 1 | 14 | 115 | 54 | 61 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Dante Fowler Jr. | 81 | 50 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 47 | 36 |
| Quinton Bohanna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 93 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Williams | 35 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 62 |
| Chauncey Golston | 3 | 17 | 22 | 48 | 5 | 27 | 24 | 15 | 2 |
| Carlos Watkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 17 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnathan Hankins | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 22 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ask the Vikings how terrifying it is when these guys are coming after you, and how thoroughly they can wreck your entire offense. Minnesota was dead in the water trying to accomplish anything against Dallas, so utterly dominated the Vikings were up front. No matter from where Quinn sent pressure, it seemingly hit home by the time Kirk Cousins was at the top of his drop. On the rare occasions where it didn't, the coverage on the back end was so good that it gave the rushers time to hit home anyway.
That's hardly the only team this group has dominated, and it certainly won't be the last. The Cowboys have their next opportunity to demolish an offensive line this Sunday night, when they take on the Indianapolis Colts -- (8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, stream it on FuboTV.) -- a team that once featured a dominant offensive line but now has one that has underperformed throughout this season. Matt Ryan might want to watch his back.
