One thing the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys have in common, in terms of this offseason anyway, is that they’re hearing a whole lot of questions about the differences between a 4-3 defense and a 3-4.
Dallas will transition from the 3-4 to the 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who is bringing his Tampa 2 system to town. The Eagles were reportedly going the other way, from a 4-3 to a 3-4, earlier this year. But it might not be as simple as all that.
New Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is now being asked which one it’s gonna be--and he says the distinction itself is overblown, that every team in the NFL employs both alignments through the course of each game. (This is a fair point. Dallas played in a 4-3 quite a bit last season under Rob Ryan.)
“No. 1, it hinges on the players that we have. Then No. 2, it hinges on the situation of the game,” Kelly said, per CSNPhilly.com. “There are no purists. No one runs a 3‑4 defense every single down. No one runs a 4-3 every single down. People have elements of both in there.”
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