Why do you think our defense no longer has the ball-hawking statistics of last year? Consistently losing the turnover battle has greatly contributed to our losing record. Is this something we can regain this season? Very few teams can lose the turnover battle and still win. – Les Hoffman/Pell City, AL
Patrik: Based upon what I'm seeing on film, it's because the scheme doesn't support it, to put it plainly. The difference between the Dan Quinn era and the Mike Zimmer era is in how both deployed their weapons, with Quinn often placing defenders in position to take the ball away while Zimmer's scheme is more keyed in on trying to keep things in front and to (desperately) try and stop the run. Keep in mind, Quinn's defense also struggled at stopping the run and the addition of Zimmer was with the goal of repairing that, but it's come at a cost. Defensive players are being asked to play more slowly and less with their hair on fire, as they did in seasons past, and it's all but deleted the takeaways by virtue of how and where the assignments are. So, there's your answer, and it's going to take a full revamp, in short order, for it to likely change with only nine regular season games remaining.
Tommy: From what we've heard, it feels like Mike Zimmer's scheme differs the most from Dan Quinn's in that turnovers may not be as high, but the run game and big plays are taken away from opposing offenses. The problem is, the Cowboys have struggled against the run and giving up big plays, so the entire defensive scheme isn't as effective. That's not to say that Zimmer has a bad scheme, the Cowboys have had their moments defensively this season, but it appears that the way it's set up just doesn't result in as many takeaways. Obviously, every defensive play caller in the NFL is going to emphasize getting turnovers and playing complimentary football. When you can't do either of the aforementioned things defensively though, you're not going to generate turnovers regardless of what scheme you're in. As I've said all year: having success across the board defensively starts at the line of scrimmage, and the Cowboys have not been able to win there for a majority of the season. With all that pressure on the secondary, there aren't as many opportunities for turnovers to come, which leads to the decrease in ball-hawking stats.
