FRISCO, Texas – There are a multitude of troubling Dallas Cowboys stats responsible for this 3-4 start, now a smidgen short of the halfway point to the 2024 season.
Start with average rushing yards per game: 74.1, ranking 32nd in the NFL.
Then opponent average rushing yards against: 154.6, ranking 31st.
Then touchdowns scored: 14, averaging two per game, and just five teams with fewer entering Week 9 of the season.
And then there is the Cowboys' inability to score touchdowns in the red zone: 8 of 19, just 42.1 percent, ranking 31st. Only the Giants are worse at 36.4 percent with the NFL average at 56.5 percent.
That they are 3-4 heading in Sunday afternoon's game in Atlanta against the 5-3 Falcons and winners of four of their last five might be remarkable, considering the injury absence of three Pro Bowl starters on defense, another on offense and two other players forced into starting roles this season.
But this stat might be the most glaring one detrimental to success, and it's having to do with the ball:
Turnover differential: minus-8, ranking 30th in the NFL. Only two teams are worse, both at minus-13. Las Vegas is sitting there at 2-6 and Tennessee at 1-6. The Cowboys have turned the ball over 13 times, nine interceptions and four lost fumbles, only three teams have more (Carolina 14, Tennessee 16, Vegas 17).
As former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett used to say, "The ball, the ball, the ball."
And this is what Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of the troubling stat, "Personally, I'm very frustrated. If you want to be known for something as a football team, it's taking care of the football and taking it away. I think my experience in this league would reflect that, and I'm thinking Marty Shottenheimer is turning over in his grave watching us play being minus-8."
Especially for a team first in 2021 with a turnover differential of plus-14; second in 2022 at plus-10; and fifth in 2023 at plus-10, the first time in franchise history the Cowboys have finished at least plus-10 in three consecutive seasons and the first in the NFL to do so since Kansas City (2015-17).
So what's the what?
Let's address takeaways first. Just five, four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Then giveaways, 13, nine interceptions and four lost fumbles.
And those two categories have become increasingly disproportionate during this two-game losing streak. No takeaways and seven giveaways for a minus-7 against Detroit and San Francisco, meaning over the first five games the Cowboys were a minus-1, a tad short of mediocre.
Now, when it comes to turnovers, the majority are generally generated in the pocket. After all, that's where the ball is. Defenses' sack-fumbles knock the ball loose. Pressure on quarterbacks force ill-advised throws or inaccurate throws for interceptions.
If you analyze a majority of Dak Prescott's eight interceptions, they have to do with pressure in the pocket. But also when falling behind he must make business decisions: Do I take a chance to fit this pass into a tight window? Or do I throw the ball away? Well, when you are behind and falling further behind, quarterbacks tend to take chances. Tony Romo taught me that.
Now then, as far as the lack of takeaways, look no further than the Cowboys. Without their top four defensive ends, they're not getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Just 16 sacks in seven games. A pinch more than two a game. And without pressure, well, there is a reason for opposing quarterbacks putting up a 99.4 QB rating against the Cowboys.
Bottom line: Keep your eye on the ball.
- 4: No, not a new radio station in DFW. That is the temperature preventing Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle from playing in Sunday night's game against the 49ers. "I wanted to play," Dowdle said. So what happens is he initially had a 100.8-degree temperature, was given some Tylenol and told to rest in the locker room. Said 30 minutes later his temperature rose to 102.4, "and I was at risk. … They had three minutes to decide" before the inactives had to be turned in 90 minutes before kickoff. So that is the genesis of his inactivity, not as some were trying to deduce that the Cowboys were trying to find a reason to insert Dalvin Cook, who already had been activated off the practice squad for the game and was scheduled to get some snaps. Don't accuse before knowing the facts.
- Adjust This: Too many times people want to make more of "halftime adjustments" than there really is, and sure came up after the 49ers recovered from a 10-6 halftime deficit to get their running game going, outscoring the Cowboys 21-0 in the third quarter and eventually running for 223 yards. Here is what San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan had to say when asked about halftime adjustments: "Honestly, people never do, that's more for movies. I mean, we only had a few minutes in there (12 to be exact). Guys break up, get into their stuff and we re-review everything that's going forward. And usually it's hectic and kind of a 'something' show. Sometimes I call the guys up and quickly break it down, and sometimes I got to go to the backroom and I tell Fred (Warner) to call them up." Nowadays, with all the video available those adjustments take place on the sideline as the games goes along. So there.
- Cornering Injuries: First it was the defensive end position. Now it's the cornerback position. Those guys keep dropping like flies. First DaRon Bland, just elevated off injured reserve since his 21-day practice window expires this week, but still not ready to play, continuing to rehab after suffering the fractured fifth metatarsal in training camp. Then his backup, rookie Caelen Carson, a shoulder injury keeping him out of the past four games. Says he's ready to go for Sunday in Atlanta. But now it's Amani Oruwariye, elevated his three times off the practice squad and added to the 53-man roster this past Sunday. But in the Niners game he suffers three fractured transverse process of his lower back (bony protrusions on the sides of the vertebrae), the Cowboys having to place him on IR, which made room for Bland on the 53. Always something.
- Side Shots: With San Francisco's previous 3-4 record ahead of the Cowboys' coming off the bye, these next four opponents starting with the 5-3 Falcons on Sunday have a combined record of 22-9, three of the teams in first place and Philadelphia but a half-game back of Washington in the East … Most everyone wanted to ask what's the big deal with the NFL now suspending Cowboys defensive Sam Williams for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy since he's out for the season recovering from his torn ACL. Well, the punishment is money, players do get paid while on IR, so the three games suspension is costing Williams $423,000 off his base salary … The Falcons come into Sunday's noon start with a 5-3 record, but having won four of their last five and have a 4-0 division record, a commanding lead on the second division tiebreaker since no other team in the NFC South has more than one division win … This game against the Falcons might become a passing fancy since Dak has averaged 263.6 yards per game, third in the NFL, and Atlanta's quarterback Kirk Cousins is right on his heels at 263.3.
Too many times Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs has been accused of being soft, of not being willing to tackle. Well, in Sunday's 30-24 loss to San Francisco, Diggs had one of his best games, finishing with five tackles, four of those solo and two touchdown-saving, not to mention a pass broken up. Definitely the two-time Pro Bowl corner's best game since returning from last year's season-ending torn ACL.
So decided to let the soft-spoken Diggs have this week's last word when talking about how much he cares about winning following a postgame dustup outside the locker room at Levi's Stadium.
"I definitely care. Definitely want to win. Definitely have a lot of emotions that I don't show, so I let that moment get the best of me. Like I said, you got to keep the main thing, the main thing. At the end of the day, we lost. We all got to play better. We all got to find out a way to win."
And then this after being asked what his message has been to his wide receiver brother Stefon Diggs, suffering a torn ACL himself during Houston's game on Sunday, just more than a year after little bro suffered his.
"Just keep his head up," Trevon said. "I know he wanted to be alone a little minute, so I just gave him his space, let him think about everything. But eventually I contacted him, talked to him, just sent him a nice message, let him know I'm there. Just told him a few jokes, put a smile on his face a little bit, so he's going to be all right. He's going to come out for this."
Now there is some brotherly love.
