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By Bob Sturm Oct 13, 2021
The Cowboys defense is rolling and takeaways are the fuel.
There is no football deodorant quite like getting the ball. It can make a bad defense look good and a good defense look great.
There is nothing like that, and in this Wednesday space in which we analyze the defensive performances, we have tried to study for years what makes takeaways happen more and the attributes of teams that find them, but honestly, the needle has hardly moved around here.
No matter what they’ve tried in the past decade, the Dallas Cowboys could not get takeaways. From 2011 to 2020, the Cowboys were 65 behind the New England Patriots and 19 behind the league average of 231 takeaways. Only five organizations in football had fewer takeaways than the Cowboys, and none of them are the type of organizations you want to be listed with for football excellence: the Jets, Lions, Jaguars, Titans and Raiders.
You cannot win if you don’t go get the ball. But how?
Why are the Patriots and Seahawks so much better at it?
So imagine the smiles when the information department at The Star releases this beauty:
“The Dallas defense is currently riding a nine-game streak with multiple takeaways after forcing two turnovers against the N.Y. Giants, the longest active streak in the NFL. It is Dallas’ longest string of games since a nine-game streak in the 1983 season, and the second-longest streak of games in team history.”
Nine games in a row with at least two takeaways? For a team with this offense? That, my friends, is winning football in a stat.
Here are the details of those nine games — you will notice it somehow started in Cincinnati last season when Dallas was playing with and against its share of backup QBs:
Multi-takeaway games streak
| DATE | OPP | WEEK | RESULT | TOT | TAKEAWAYS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/10/21 | NYG | 5 | W 44-20 | 367 | 2 |
| 10/3/21 | CAR | 4 | W 36-28 | 379 | 2 |
| 9/27/21 | PHI | 3 | W 41-21 | 367 | 2 |
| 9/19/21 | At LAC | 2 | W 20-17 | 408 | 2 |
| 9/9/21 | At TAM | 1 | L 29-31 | 431 | 4 |
| 1/3/21 | At NYG | 17 | L 19-23 | 336 | 2 |
| 12/27/20 | PHI | 16 | W 37-17 | 477 | 3 |
| 12/20/20 | SFO | 15 | W 41-33 | 458 | 4 |
| 12/13/20 | At CIN | 14 | W 30-7 | 309 | 3 |
Wow. For a team that has already exceeded its entire takeaway yield of 2015 (11) and has 2012 (16) and 2019 (17) close in its sights, the differences are everything.
What is more important from a global view of the Cowboys and not just centered with the defense is how one feeds the other. Mike McCarthy teams have always dominated the turnover ratio at a very high level. The best Dallas team since 2011 in this category is a plus-8 in 2013. Dallas is already a plus-7 in just five games. In Green Bay, McCarthy’s teams were a plus-97 and had more than their share of takeaways. They were also playing with several seasons way over plus-8, including a few different plus-24 seasons. A few!
So why do teams get takeaways? We submit two major reasons:
1. They are playing with the lead and forcing teams to get more aggressive (which also means risking the ball) to rally from a disadvantage. Many teams have offenses that are ill-prepared to “play from behind,” and this leads to the ball being lost.
2. They are employing playmaking pieces that go get the ball.
In this case, it appears both are beginning to emerge. The fact that Mike Nolan’s crew started this trend that Dan Quinn’s crew is continuing should overlay with the career span of Trevon Diggs quite wonderfully. Since entering the league at the start of the 2020 season, exactly two players in football — Xavien Howard and J.C. Jackson — have more interceptions than the young starlet from Alabama.
He might not be perfect, but Diggs is unbelievable at doing what matters most: getting the football back for his offense on a short field. It flips games.
Data box: Week 5 vs. Giants
The numbers are very good, but we should emphasize that playing the Giants is not a real struggle just yet and when their pieces keep falling off to injury, the mismatches become starker. Andrew Thomas did not play, Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay fell off quickly, then Daniel Jones was lost before halftime.
There are very few “easy days” in this league and Kadarius Toney did plenty of damage, but New York does not have the depth to cover those losses and the Dallas defense was never terribly stressed.
The Giants appear to be building something better, but it is based on the backs of those four pieces they lost Sunday. They had no chance.
Jones’ Next Gen throw chart
Jones has been much better this season, but Sunday did not demonstrate that. He had one pass over the top to Toney down the sideline against Anthony Brown, but there wasn’t much else to speak of before Jones’ bootleg run ended with a scary injury.
Toney’s Next Gen chart
Wow. What a day for this young weapon we loved in our draft profile. Toney is going to be a problem, and he demonstrated that as he set the Giants’ single-game rookie receiving yards record, beating Odell Beckham Jr.’s rookie record from 2014.
Toney was so good, and he has so much juice. Just like at Florida, he is a yards-after-catch machine.
Here is what Next Gen Stats says about whom he was working against:
Like DJ Moore, Toney was able to get stuff done against Diggs. We will look at a few big plays in the film room below. I would argue players such as Toney and Moore are perhaps not ideal matchups against a bigger corner like Diggs. Diggs is still great, but every player has a little weakness to attack.
Week 5: Splash plays
It’s another day with a balanced attack. The defense is getting lots of contributions from lots of places.
Here are the totals for defenders who have at least one splash per game in the past five weeks (5 minimum):
Season totals — 2021 splash plays
| PLAYER | SNAPS | TOTAL SPLASH PLAYS |
|---|---|---|
 Trevon Diggs | 278 | 17 |
 Micah Parsons | 246 | 13 |
 Osa Odighizuwa | 183 | 10 |
 Anthony Brown | 303 | 10 |
 Jayron Kearse | 278 | 9 |
 Randy Gregory | 144 | 8 |
 Leighton Vander Esch | 151 | 7 |
 Chauncey Golston | 112 | 6 |
 Jaylon Smith | 134 | 6 |
 Jourdan Lewis | 238 | 5 |
 Damontae Kazee | 283 | 5 |
Notice how the new defensive players are causing new results, along with proper coaching and coordination. You want change? You have to change.
Let’s look at five defensive snaps from Sunday.
Film study
Play No. 1
Second quarter, 4:51: Third-and-4 DAL 30; Jones’ pass short left to Toney to DAL 2 for 28 yards
The first play is why it is worth discussing the plays in which Diggs isn’t as Deion Sanders as one might assume.
The following tweet summarizes the reality of the situation pretty well:
Diggs is very good. His positives far outweigh the negatives. But on this play, we see him in Cover 3. The Giants are overloading that side, and Toney will sit between safety Damontae Kazee and Diggs. That is fine. You don’t mind giving that up.
Now in this situation, a player might say, Kazee is more equipped to make the tackle, so “I’ll just try to stay out of the way.” But in the NFL, guys are too difficult to get down and one must always assume that once the catch is made, it is always “your guy” and “your job.”
Just like against Carolina, Diggs takes no part in the tackle and pretty much has a great spectator perspective of Toney shaking Kazee and running another 23 yards after the catch.
No bueno.
Again, we are not asking for perfect, but we are asking to treat every play and every duty as a priority. We don’t need to give up easy yards because we are risking our bodies.
Play No. 2
Second quarter, 3:14: Third-and-goal, DAL 1; Jones left end to DAL 1 for no gain
Here is the crucial third-and-goal stop that cost the Giants their QB1 for the rest of the day.
Look at the right side of the Giants’ line: center, right guard, right tackle, left tackle (moved over), tight end, another tight end and a fullback behind them. They are pushing everyone to that defensive left side. As I watch it, I am saying this has to be a play-action bootleg to the weak side, and sure enough …
Fortunately for the Cowboys, two rookies — third-rounder Chauncey Golston and fourth-rounder Jabril Cox — are playing their jobs well. They have the outside and must beat Jones to the pylon. They have the speed to do so. And because Jones is right-handed, the tight end slipping behind them is probably not an option.
Here is where the collision happens, and Cox was never going to lose that race.
Play No. 3
Third quarter, 15:00: First-and-10, NYG 25; Mike Glennon pass deep left to Toney pushed OB at DAL 40 for 35 yards
These next two plays are married to each other. They are basically variations of the Yankee concept, which is built off a run-heavy look versus a single-high safety to find big plays. Both of these are Jason Garrett drive-starters as the first play out of halftime and then the first play of the very next drive.
The Yankee concept is a post and a deep-over route from the other side. The post takes the safety, and then against a Cover 3, the deep over is a killer. You can learn about the route combination here.
When you watch the video above, look at the window dressing of moving the tight ends over. Wow! This is going to be a run, and we better get ready! I feel like I know Garrett so well.
Anyway, the Giants sell the play-action, and this is where Diggs knows what is happening. Dallas is in Cover 3, so the over-route is on from Toney after John Ross (12) takes the top off the defense.
But, wait — Toney was faking the over-route and is back to his side and Diggs guessed wrong. This is the type of design that is made to attack Diggs and his aggressiveness. They want to use his smarts against him.
This is the trade-off. If Diggs doesn’t guess, he doesn’t give up 25 yards of YAC to Toney. But if he doesn’t guess, he also doesn’t lead the league in interceptions. So, is the result worth the method? Will you be willing to crack eggs to make omelets? In Week 5, yes. In the playoffs? Check back.
The Giants probably felt great about their plan. So they went right back to the well for play No. 4.
Play No. 4
Third quarter, 7:11: First-and-10, NYG 25; Glennon pass deep middle intended for C.J. Board INTERCEPTED by Diggs at DAL 23.
So now Diggs has that in his head, and so does Garrett. The next drive starts and the Giants bet the Cowboys will be in Cover 3 again. They are right:
This is the Yankee concept as it is designed, with the post and the over-route from the other side off play-action. But this time, the post is Board (18) and the over route is Evan Engram (88) from a 13-personnel look. Impressive idea.
The receiver looks open, but Glennon leaves the throw slightly short and that is all Diggs needs. He rallies to the ball like Sanders in his prime and threatens a huge return.
That’s the thing with this guy. You can attack him, but you better be right because he will destroy your day with one little mistake. Diggs is amazing when the ball is near him.
Play No. 5
Fourth quarter, 1:37: First-and-10, NYG 38; Glennon pass short right intended for Collin Johnson INTERCEPTED by Anthony Brown at NYG 45. Brown for 45 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Last play. If you go back two plays, you’ll see this exact play missed, and the Giants wanted to go back to it. The trouble is Dallas switched from zone to man and when they try this throw, Brown is ready for glory.
The thing about comebacks or stops is you better not be late with the throw at this level. Glennon is late, and Brown, who has had a nice year, gets the Cowboys’ second defensive touchdown of 2021.
