5 of 6 Games without a Takeaway

[Nation]

As bad as the offense has been to watch at times the defense has been equally frustrating. They are playing okay from a yardage standpoint, at 13th in passing yards per game, 9th in rushing yards per game, and 19th in yards per drive. But as we are all aware, a lack of takeaways is killing them from being anything other than a below average defense.

In the past ten years only 8 teams have started their first six games played with 4+ games without a takeaway. The 2015 Cowboys and the 2013 Steelers are the only teams to have 5 or more games without a takeaway.

On the bright side, that 2013 Steelers team only had one game without a takeaway in their remaining ten games, and five with 2+ takeaways. They finished their season 8-8 after a 2-4 start. There are some disastrous seasons in there as well such as the 2013 Texans and 2014 Jaguars.

We have three more games without Tony under center and it is just far too much to ask that he win-out, which means we really need to get a couple of wins in these upcoming wins. And with a "bus driver" quarterback we aren't going to do that without racking up some damn takeaways.

 

[RunDMC]

We nearly won a game last week without any takeaways. The Cowboys offense cannot give it away three times. We know the defense doesn't have many playmakers so it's no surprise they can't create takeaways. At least they're holding teams down and not allowing an abundance of big plays and a bunch of scoring drives.

 

[cowboyuptx]

I know... It's nuts! The defense has played good, and I think they'll get even better, but I don't think we'll ever be able to count on them generating turnovers. And when we have Romo I think we can live with a defense that doesn't get many takeaways, but when we've got Weeden and Cassel having to overcome their own turnovers and not getting any from the defense, that's too much... Dallas ranks top-10 in offense and defense, but dead last in turnovers at -9... If we can clean this up, then we will be able to beat mediocre teams like the Eagles and Bucs.

 

[Aven8]

Might be the story of the season actually, on par with the Romo and Dez injuries. We go from #2 in the league to dead last is very telling of our season.

 

[dallasdave]

As bad as the offense has been to watch at times the defense has been equally frustrating. They are playing okay from a yardage standpoint, at 13th in passing yards per game, 9th in rushing yards per game, and 19th in yards per drive. But as we are all aware, a lack of takeaways is killing them from being anything other than a below average defense.

In the past ten years only 8 teams have started their first six games played with 4+ games without a takeaway. The 2015 Cowboys and the 2013 Steelers are the only teams to have 5 or more games without a takeaway.

On the bright side, that 2013 Steelers team only had one game without a takeaway in their remaining ten games, and five with 2+ takeaways. They finished their season 8-8 after a 2-4 start. There are some disastrous seasons in there as well such as the 2013 Texans and 2014 Jaguars.

We have three more games without Tony under center and it is just far too much to ask that he win-out, which means we really need to get a couple of wins in these upcoming wins. And with a "bus driver" quarterback we aren't going to do that without racking up some damn takeaways.

Good post and good points !!!

 

[JoeyBoy718]

We nearly won a game last week without any takeaways. The Cowboys offense cannot give it away three times. We know the defense doesn't have many playmakers so it's no surprise they can't create takeaways. At least they're holding teams down and not allowing an abundance of big plays and a bunch of scoring drives.

You can't excuse one group by blaming another group. The offense has contributed to our losing ways. Heck, three fumbles by WRs in the first game against the Giants almost had us at 1-5. But the fact still stands that the defense is doing all-time bad at forcing turnovers. There's no excuse for that no matter how much you want to spin it... On another note, aren't you the poster who tried to justify the recent loss against the Giants by saying had we not turned it over so much we would've won? This isn't a personal attack. You just seem to have a tendency to excuse things... We've been doing this for 15 years. We find ways to either lose or keep a team in the game that we've otherwise dominated. Sure, we could've won had the offense not turned it over three times (plus special teams once). But we also could've won if the defense had forced some turnovers. The point is, everyone is at fault. It's a collective failure and it needs to be cleaned up because Romo can't fix everything.

 

[jwitten82]

Ive experienced this same drought on my madden franchise mode, and I was still undefeated.....

 

[Bleu Star]

As bad as the offense has been to watch at times the defense has been equally frustrating. They are playing okay from a yardage standpoint, at 13th in passing yards per game, 9th in rushing yards per game, and 19th in yards per drive. But as we are all aware, a lack of takeaways is killing them from being anything other than a below average defense.

In the past ten years only 8 teams have started their first six games played with 4+ games without a takeaway. The 2015 Cowboys and the 2013 Steelers are the only teams to have 5 or more games without a takeaway.

On the bright side, that 2013 Steelers team only had one game without a takeaway in their remaining ten games, and five with 2+ takeaways. They finished their season 8-8 after a 2-4 start. There are some disastrous seasons in there as well such as the 2013 Texans and 2014 Jaguars.

We have three more games without Tony under center and it is just far too much to ask that he win-out, which means we really need to get a couple of wins in these upcoming wins. And with a "bus driver" quarterback we aren't going to do that without racking up some damn takeaways.

Our inability to cause turnovers is killing us!!! We have the talent on defense. They're just not all singing to the same sheet of music (yet).

 

[RunDMC]

You can't excuse one group by blaming another group. The offense has contributed to our losing ways. Heck, three fumbles by WRs in the first game against the Giants almost had us at 1-5. But the fact still stands that the defense is doing all-time bad at forcing turnovers. There's no excuse for that no matter how much you want to spin it... On another note, aren't you the poster who tried to justify the recent loss against the Giants by saying had we not turned it over so much we would've won? This isn't a personal attack. You just seem to have a tendency to excuse things... We've been doing this for 15 years. We find ways to either lose or keep a team in the game that we've otherwise dominated. Sure, we could've won had the offense not turned it over three times (plus special teams once). But we also could've won if the defense had forced some turnovers. The point is, everyone is at fault. It's a collective failure and it needs to be cleaned up because Romo can't fix everything.

How did I excuse it? I stated a fact. We lost because we turned the football over. Excusing would coming with an excuse for why the turnovers occurred which I didn't. I simply said we beat ourselves which we did and it can't happen and if the Cowboys wanna stay alive they have to be able to cut those turnovers down.

Defensively yeah we don't force turnovers, but we don't have the personnel to do it. That's just the reality of the situation right now. None of our secondary players are really playmakers. Carr has never been that since he's been in Dallas. Mo has had a good start to the season, but has yet to showcase the playmaking ability he showed at LSU. Church and Wilcox are amongst the worst starting safeties together. Byron Jones is the one guy who could be an elite FS, but he's not the guy starting right now.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

How did I excuse it? I stated a fact. We lost because we turned the football over. Excusing would coming with an excuse for why the turnovers occurred which I didn't. I simply said we beat ourselves which we did and it can't happen and if the Cowboys wanna stay alive they have to be able to cut those turnovers down.

Defensively yeah we don't force turnovers, but we don't have the personnel to do it. That's just the reality of the situation right now. None of our secondary players are really playmakers. Carr has never been that since he's been in Dallas. Mo has had a good start to the season, but has yet to showcase the playmaking ability he showed at LSU. Church and Wilcox are amongst the worst starting safeties together. Byron Jones is the one guy who could be an elite FS, but he's not the guy starting right now.

You say "but we don't have the personal to do it" like it makes it okay. Defenses full of mediocre players force turnovers. It just happens. It's not like we specifically targeted players who can't force turnovers. You didn't say "it's the offense's fault for turning it over too much, but we have the personnel for that to happen."

 

[RunDMC]

You say "but we don't have the personal to do it" like it makes it okay. Defenses full of mediocre players force turnovers. It just happens. It's not like we specifically targeted players who can't force turnovers. You didn't say "it's the offense's fault for turning it over too much, but we have the personnel for that to happen."

I never said its okay to do it of course I wish we could get turnovers and there are opportunities to make them, but I'm not expecting it to happen. It's been six games and there's been no indication they are gonna be able to create turnovers. Yeah they'll get maybe four or five before the season is over, but they don't have the playmakers to be consistent. You can still in this league without creating a bunch of takeaways.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I never said its okay to do it of course I wish we could get turnovers and there are opportunities to make them, but I'm not expecting it to happen. It's been six games and there's been no indication they are gonna be able to create turnovers. Yeah they'll get maybe four or five before the season is over, but they don't have the playmakers to be consistent. You can still in this league without creating a bunch of takeaways.

The stats show you can't win in this league failing to force turnovers at the rate we're going. Those teams had an average win percentage of 33%. You don't win in this league at 5-11/6-10. I'm not saying there aren't other problems. We might be the rare team to overcome this. But the odds show that this one issue alone might be too big to overcome. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[birdwells1]

The stats show you can't win in this league failing to force turnovers at the rate we're going. Those teams had an average win percentage of 33%. You don't win in this league at 5-11/6-10. I'm not saying there aren't other problems. We might be the rare team to overcome this. But the odds show that this one issue alone might be too big to overcome. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Yeah you're right, even with a healthy Romo and Dez, TOs really tilt the scales in your favor to win games. Now imagine trying to win games without those 2 players and without causing TOs, it just ain't gonna happen.

 

[Alexander]

It is frustrating, but you can see the strain. The defense is trying to avoid big chunk plays because they know the offense can't score. You do that, you eliminate chances.

All in all, the only way out of the funk is to take risks. It is not like Marinelli can suddenly wave a magic wand.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Yeah you're right, even with a healthy Romo and Dez, TOs really tilt the scales in your favor to win games. Now imagine trying to win games without those 2 players and without causing TOs, it just ain't gonna happen.

Yep. Look at the first game against the Giants. We dominated them offensively and defensively, but we needed to have the Giants make a huge mistake and Romo work his magic to win. I've never seen teams like New England need to catch breaks to beat teams they completely dominated. Happens with us all the time. Heck, you could argue we should've had such a huge lead going into the half against Atlanta that they wouldn't have been able to come back. 75% of all our games last year (won or lost) shouldn't have been nearly as close as they were.

 

[burmafrd]

random circumstances rule most turn overs. The ball bounces funny- a tipped pass drops right into someones hands- and so on. Last year the ball bounced our way- this year it has not.

 

[RS12]

5 of 6 Games without a Takeaway

You got one play maker in the back 7 (Lee) and he hasnt been making plays. Hardy might make one or two for you this week though.

 

[birdwells1]

random circumstances rule most turn overs. The ball bounces funny- a tipped pass drops right into someones hands- and so on. Last year the ball bounced our way- this year it has not.

I truly believe this, it's not like they are not trying to get turnovers but the opportunities haven't been there. It's not like the ball has been fumbled and we just didn't recover it, the other team has been fumbling at all. I do think that pass rush and interceptions are related but agree that most are by random circumstances.

 

[Hoofbite]

I truly believe this, it's not like they are not trying to get turnovers but the opportunities haven't been there. It's not like the ball has been fumbled and we just didn't recover it, the other team has been fumbling at all. I do think that pass rush and interceptions are related but agree that most are by random circumstances.

I'm not sure how you can say turnovers are random, but then suggest that the randomness hasn't been there. Kind of undermines the whole idea of randomness, doesn't it?

 

[birdwells1]

I'm not sure how you can say turnovers are random, but then suggest that the randomness hasn't been there. Kind of undermines the whole idea of randomness, doesn't it?

When I say random I mean that you can't plan for them, no matter the effort by the defense if the ball carrier is doing a good job of protecting the ball then he won't turn it over. It's not necessarily anything the defense is doing wrong or their effectiveness, just like last year, we didn't have a great defense but they did get turnovers which negated the fact that the play was poor. This year our defense is better but we are one of the worst teams at getting turnovers in the league. Turnovers come and go, we've been getting a lot of go but hopefully the ball will start bouncing our way.