Improving turnover plus/minus would be a plus for Cowboys
Posted by: Anthony Bialy on April 1, 2008
www.realfootball365.com
As complex as football appears, and as many factors seemingly enter into either victory or defeat, games often simply come down to ensuring possessions end with either a score or punt while forcing the other team to fork over the ball. Winning the turnover battle usually means winning the game, something reflected in the fact that seven of the top nine teams in the plus/minus battle last year made the playoffs.
For this case, nine is the cutoff because that's where the Cowboys finished. While that's reasonably decent, they only ended up plus-5 in the category; San Diego topped the list with an admittedly extraordinary plus-24. It might not be easy to accomplish, but it's simple to recognize: Dallas could propel itself even higher by improving that margin this season.
To be fair, their final tally was skewed on a single Monday night, as the Cowboys committed six turnovers in what famously turned into a win against the Bills. Counting the lone interception the Cowboys defense obtained that evening, the team turned in an overall minus-5 performance, which was horrid enough to affect their rate for the entire year.
Of course, what happened in that lone freaky contest still counts toward the overall sum, but everyone has an occasional lapse: Even the National Honor Society president should be allowed to mix up the a.m./p.m. on his alarm clock and miss his bus once on a school day. That one night where Tony Romo often wasn't quite seeing or throwing straight should be kept in mind when discussing this team's ratio.
Even with that single obstacle in mind, the pass defense did its part over 2007 to push the team into plus territory. Those who were less than pleased with the secondary this past season may be surprised by the revelation that the unit finished tied for sixth with 19 interceptions, although the squad's tremendous pass-rushing pressure certainly helped. The unit was closer to mediocre at recovering fumbles, as it stole away a live ball 10 times; that put the Cowboys in a group at 18th place in the NFL, which is too low for both an elite team and one of the most aggressive 3-4 defenses around.
Similarly, the offense was half-decent. The rushers and receivers held their own at holding the ball, as they only fumbled away five drives to the opposition, tied for the league's fewest with the Colts. What was glaring is how often Romo threw to the bad guys: The Cowboys lost 19 passes to interception in 2007.
Twenty teams had fewer of their own throws picked than Dallas; they tied for the Jets in that aspect, which wouldn't precisely be considered elite company. That said, there's a crucial difference: The Cowboys managed nearly twice as many touchdowns, 36, than interceptions, while New York's junior team had more aerial turnovers than throwing scores, tallying a puny 15 of the latter.
Dallas' 531 pass attempts were only 18th most in the NFL, although Romo supporters will rightly note that he was proficient when it came to completions that ended up in the end zone. A somewhat high total of interceptions is a vaguely acceptable trade-off for a quarterback who throws more than two touchdowns per game over a season, but it regardless remains a subject where the still-emerging Romo can improve personally while helping enhance his team in an area that's often coupled with general success.
Naturally, it doesn't always work out that way. Take the champion Giants, who only finished 26th with a minus-9. But then again, it eventually does: New York only got into the playoffs as a fifth seed, but it was fantastic in the category during the postseason, including leading all participants with five fewer balls lost than gained.
While the Giants relinquished 14 fumbles and threw 20 interceptions during the 16 regular games, they turned around their turnover situation in the postseason. They've already won four games this calendar year in large part thanks to the way they maintained control themselves while forbidding efforts by opponents to do the same.
Trying to match that approach is certainly a worthwhile point of emphasis for the Cowboys as they look to gain just the slightest bit more edge. Best, all it would take is faintly better accuracy from Romo along with stressing getting a second tackler to the running back or receiver, a defender whose main task will be to attempt to punch, pry, claw, rip or hinge away the ball.
The positive subtraction in the passing game and a tad more hostility on defense would be manageable tweaks for a team that can cure its ailments with a trip to the drug store, not the emergency room.
www.realfootball365.com
As complex as football appears, and as many factors seemingly enter into either victory or defeat, games often simply come down to ensuring possessions end with either a score or punt while forcing the other team to fork over the ball. Winning the turnover battle usually means winning the game, something reflected in the fact that seven of the top nine teams in the plus/minus battle last year made the playoffs.
For this case, nine is the cutoff because that's where the Cowboys finished. While that's reasonably decent, they only ended up plus-5 in the category; San Diego topped the list with an admittedly extraordinary plus-24. It might not be easy to accomplish, but it's simple to recognize: Dallas could propel itself even higher by improving that margin this season.
To be fair, their final tally was skewed on a single Monday night, as the Cowboys committed six turnovers in what famously turned into a win against the Bills. Counting the lone interception the Cowboys defense obtained that evening, the team turned in an overall minus-5 performance, which was horrid enough to affect their rate for the entire year.
Of course, what happened in that lone freaky contest still counts toward the overall sum, but everyone has an occasional lapse: Even the National Honor Society president should be allowed to mix up the a.m./p.m. on his alarm clock and miss his bus once on a school day. That one night where Tony Romo often wasn't quite seeing or throwing straight should be kept in mind when discussing this team's ratio.
Even with that single obstacle in mind, the pass defense did its part over 2007 to push the team into plus territory. Those who were less than pleased with the secondary this past season may be surprised by the revelation that the unit finished tied for sixth with 19 interceptions, although the squad's tremendous pass-rushing pressure certainly helped. The unit was closer to mediocre at recovering fumbles, as it stole away a live ball 10 times; that put the Cowboys in a group at 18th place in the NFL, which is too low for both an elite team and one of the most aggressive 3-4 defenses around.
Similarly, the offense was half-decent. The rushers and receivers held their own at holding the ball, as they only fumbled away five drives to the opposition, tied for the league's fewest with the Colts. What was glaring is how often Romo threw to the bad guys: The Cowboys lost 19 passes to interception in 2007.
Twenty teams had fewer of their own throws picked than Dallas; they tied for the Jets in that aspect, which wouldn't precisely be considered elite company. That said, there's a crucial difference: The Cowboys managed nearly twice as many touchdowns, 36, than interceptions, while New York's junior team had more aerial turnovers than throwing scores, tallying a puny 15 of the latter.
Dallas' 531 pass attempts were only 18th most in the NFL, although Romo supporters will rightly note that he was proficient when it came to completions that ended up in the end zone. A somewhat high total of interceptions is a vaguely acceptable trade-off for a quarterback who throws more than two touchdowns per game over a season, but it regardless remains a subject where the still-emerging Romo can improve personally while helping enhance his team in an area that's often coupled with general success.
Naturally, it doesn't always work out that way. Take the champion Giants, who only finished 26th with a minus-9. But then again, it eventually does: New York only got into the playoffs as a fifth seed, but it was fantastic in the category during the postseason, including leading all participants with five fewer balls lost than gained.
While the Giants relinquished 14 fumbles and threw 20 interceptions during the 16 regular games, they turned around their turnover situation in the postseason. They've already won four games this calendar year in large part thanks to the way they maintained control themselves while forbidding efforts by opponents to do the same.
Trying to match that approach is certainly a worthwhile point of emphasis for the Cowboys as they look to gain just the slightest bit more edge. Best, all it would take is faintly better accuracy from Romo along with stressing getting a second tackler to the running back or receiver, a defender whose main task will be to attempt to punch, pry, claw, rip or hinge away the ball.
The positive subtraction in the passing game and a tad more hostility on defense would be manageable tweaks for a team that can cure its ailments with a trip to the drug store, not the emergency room.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:28 PM
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