‘They Have 11, We Have 11’: Brian Schottenheimer Confident Dallas Cowboys Can Handle Nick Rallis’ Blitzes, Arizona Cardinals’ Multiple Fronts

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Friday he is very confident in the Cowboys’ plan for the pressure Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis will send Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Rallis has run Arizona’s defense since 2023. He came over with former coach Jonathan Gannon, and first-year coach Mike LaFleur kept him in February. On Oct. 18, the Cardinals blitzed a season-high 13 times and recorded 3 sacks in an 18-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Arizona sacked Dak Prescott 5 times the last time the teams met, a 27-17 Cardinals win at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 3, 2025.

Brian Schottenheimer Expects Cowboys To Make Arizona Pay For Blitzing

The Cowboys have seen their fair share of blitzes this season, in Schottenheimer’s view, and they have not made defenses pay enough for sending them.

“Very confident. I mean, we know Nick’s going to blitz getting off the bus. That’s what they do,” Schottenheimer said. “And, again, we’ve certainly seen our fair share of those. But, again, I think it does go back to, like we’ve talked about, when you blitz, you open yourself up for big plays. And we haven’t hurt teams enough. But the expectation is this week we will.”

Dallas put up a season-high 416 yards Monday in a 38-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Prescott went 15-of-27 for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns, and the Cowboys ran 38 times for 204 yards.

Arizona allowed 30 or more points in four straight games earlier this season before holding the Rams to 16. The Broncos scored 30 against the Cardinals on Sunday in Denver’s 30-16 win.

Schottenheimer Says Cowboys Will Take Their Playbook To The Stadium

Arizona can line up in a nickel 5-1, a nickel 4-2, or with three safeties, and Dallas does not know which one it will see first.

“The question’s real. I mean, they do. I mean, we don’t know whether they’re going to come out in nickel 5-1, nickel 4-2, three safeties. They’re very multiple,” Schottenheimer explained. “But at the same time, I think that that’s hard to be good at everything. So they create chaos. That’s what they try to do, and they do a good job of creating chaos.”

“But what we talk about is taking our playbook to the stadium, because they’re going to have chaotic schemes. But we have rules. The rules are they have 11, we have 11. So unless they find a way to play 12 and 13, our rules should handle it as long as we’re on the same page. When we’ve struggled at times, we haven’t been on the same page. And the rules take care of itself,” Schottenheimer continued.

Rallis coached linebackers for Gannon in Philadelphia in 2021 and 2022 before following him to Arizona. The Cardinals allowed 28.7 points per game last season, 29th in the NFL.

Dallas (3-4) is coming off a win that snapped a two-game losing streak. Arizona (2-5) has won both of its games this season on the road. Kickoff Sunday is set for noon CT on FOX.