Dallas Cowboys: 3 ways Dallas is striking fear in the hearts of opponents
By Reid Hanson
Dallas Cowboys Spooky Quality No. 2: Opportunistic big-play defense
On the other side of the ball is Dallas Cowboys defensive unit. Despite losing the best player one week into the season, Dan Quinn’s defensive unit has been rather impressive. While they may look pedestrian or even weak in those cumulative total columns, yardage totals don’t tell the full story.
The Cowboys defense is often playing with a lead, as such, they happily embrace the “don’t give up the big play” strategy that comes with protecting a lead. There’s been a lot of yardage gained in the fourth quarter when the game has largely been out of reach.
But let’s get to the scary part of this tale – the opportunistic big play nature of the defense.
With 14 takeaways Dallas currently ranks 3rd in defensive turnovers this season. Keep in mind, that’s with one game less than most teams. Dallas also has the longest current streak of forcing two or more over the past 10 games. In other words, they aren’t just getting lucky with turnovers, they are forcing them. These are consistent results.
Led by Trevon Diggs, the Dallas Cowboys are happy to bide their time and strike when the opportunities arise. The Cowboys defense doesn’t get flustered after a long drive or two. They watch, wait, and plan their attack, and at some point seemingly every week, they pounce and make big plays at extremely critical times.
Offenses are starting to notice this and the fear of falling into a trap is becoming more and more real by the day.