DQ Report, Wk 9: No Takeaway, No Take 1st Place

The Eagles put four long impressive drives together and secured the win.

“We must make big plays to win this big game.” - Everyone

It may sound like one of the most common clichés in football, because it is. But, it is also pretty important information.

For Dan Quinn’s defense, it is fair to offer praise on most occasions. Week in and week out, they are the foundation of this entire operation and if the Dallas Cowboys are to climb any mountains, we assume it will be with the Cowboys defense doing more than half the work.

Saying that this team can go as far as the defense can take them does not seem ridiculous at all. They are a very talented group with all sorts of high-end investment. And most every week, they bring it.

Now, earlier in the season, we told you about one of their calling cards of dominance. It was the truth (at the time) that the defense “led the NFL in sacks and takeaways since the day Dan Quinn was hired.” That is an unbelievable accomplishment and it clearly gets people worked into a frenzy of anticipation. If they can lead the entire universe in those two most vital and related stats, there may be no stopping them now.

Unless….

Well, unless, when you need those takeaways the most, they disappear. It is sort of like depending on home runs or even 3-pointers to be your entire offense in other sports. It is all well and good until that night where you can’t find them anymore. Then what?

Well, apparently, you start losing. At least according to our records, where we can find nine games since 2021 when the Cowboys have had zero takeaways. They have won a few of them, but overall, they are a 3-6 (.333) team when the number is zero.

Considering that they are 26-7 in all games since 2021 in which they get at least one takeaway (.787), we can quickly see how this thing is built. Get the football, there is a 4-in-5 chance you win. Don’t get the football and it quickly turns into a 1-in-3 opportunity.