Coach Dan Quinn Cowboys' Defense Flirting with Takeaway History
Five Super Bowls. Twenty Hall of Famers. But never in the storied history of America's Team have the Dallas Cowboys accomplished what they are flirting with in 2021.
Doomsday defense(s) be damned, in 61 previous seasons the Cowboys have never led the NFL in turnover margin. Thanks to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, this season they have a chance.
After creating four takeaways in last Sunday's 21-6 victory over the New York Giants - and four in three consecutive games for the first time since 1994 - the Cowboys have 31 for the season against only 19 offensive turnovers. Their +12 margin trails only the Indianapolis Colts, who sit at +14 with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Cowboys finished second in turnover margin in 1971, the year they won their first Super Bowl.
These 2021 Cowboys lead the NFL with 23 interceptions after picking off Giants' quarterback Mike Glennon three times.
Asked about his team's defense, cornerback Trevon Diggs said “We’re the best defense, for sure.”
For years the Cowboys struggled to produce takeaways. In 2013, in fact, Jerry Jones hired defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin solely based on his history of creating turnovers. But where Kiffin failed, so too did Mike Zimmer, Brian Stewart and Rob Ryan before him and Rod Marinelli and Mike Nolan after him.
The Cowboys haven't had 31 takeaways through 14 games since 1987, when the coach was Tom Landry and cornerback Everson Walls led a defense that gobbled up franchise-record 43 (yet somehow finished 7-8 and missed the playoffs). The 2015 team only had 11 all season.
Quinn's defense is turning the trick with pressure up front, in the form of Micah Parson's 11 sacks and last Sunday's deflected pass and forced fumble by DeMarcus Lawrence. And complimenting it with uncanny ball skills on the back end, where eight players have made at least one interception and Diggs leads the NFL with 10.
While the defense continues to prop up a slumbering offense - prompting a friendly wager between teammates - the Cowboys are trending toward an NFC East championship, home playoff win and maybe more? The last time they had as many as 31 takeaways in a season was 2014, when they went 12-4 and lost to the Green Bay Packers on the controversial "Dez caught it."
Because of their defense, these Cowboys will make the playoffs and might just make history.
