When the Cowboys hired Monte Kiffin in 2013 as defensive coordinator, one of the first things he told his players was to go watch film of the Seahawks defense, because that was what the Dallas Cowboys new 4-3 defensive scheme was going to look like.
Kiffin’s tenure was mercifully short, and once Rod Marinelli (some people still insist on calling him a Tampa-2 coach) took over, Marinelli morphed the defense into a man-heavy Cover 1 defense, but also used a lot of the Seattle-style Cover 3 zone defense.
Now that former Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard is calling the defensive plays in Dallas, the Cowboys defense has more than just a passing resemblance to the Seattle defense.