Dallas Cowboys’ D: Where did the takeaways go this season?

FRISCO, Texas — It just seemed so easy, didn’t it?

Somehow the ball would somehow fall to a Dallas Cowboys defender for a takeaway. From 2021 to 2023, the Cowboys created 93 takeaways, easily the best in the NFL. They intercepted 59 passes and forced 34 fumbles. The Buffalo Bills were second with 80 (54 interceptions, 26 fumbles).

The Cowboys also turned turnovers into touchdowns with 15 of them during that stretch, also a league high.

This season it wasn’t so easy.

Entering Sunday’s game against the 5-3 Atlanta Falcons (1 p.m. ET, Fox), the 3-4 Cowboys rank 26th with four interceptions and one fumble in seven games.

“It’s football, man,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis explained. “Honestly, it’s just not going our way. But you know they come in groups. And I know some guys who can get them, so….”

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, some of them are injured.

When Wednesday’s practice started, Cornerback Da Ron Bland worked on the cords and continued his rehabilitation after foot surgery in August as he approaches playing for the first time this season. Linebacker Micah Parsons was preparing for a session on the cords as he moved closer to a return from a high left ankle sprain suffered on September 26.

Last season, Bland set an NFL record with five interception returns for a touchdown while leading the league with nine picks. Parsons had 40.5 sacks in his first three seasons and his pressure led to takeaways.

The question remains when everyone will take action again. Neither practiced on Thursday. Bland has yet to play this season. Parsons is in danger of missing his fourth game in a row.

“I think their individual stats in that category speak for themselves,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “They’re impact players for sure, and what DaRon accomplished last year was the best and the best ever. Micah is that impact pressure player. They would definitely help.”

The Cowboys were also missing at cornerback on Wednesday Trevon Diggswho had calf pain. He is one of four Cowboys with one interception this season. One of the others, cornerback Amani Oruwariyewas placed on injured reserve on Wednesday with a back injury.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was recovering from a metatarsal sprain and is still a few weeks away from returning to the field.

Despite missing the past 3 1/2 games, Lawrence still leads the Cowboys with three sacks. And despite missing the past three games, Parsons still leads the Cowboys in quarterback pressures with 21. Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa is second with 12.

“You go back and talk about turnovers and stuff like that. A lot of that stuff comes from pressure on the quarterback, and we didn’t get a lot of that,” defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said. “But hits on the quarterback usually result in turnovers. And sometimes tapped balls, and we didn’t get that many of those either.”

Last season, the Cowboys had scored 13 points in seven games, including nine interceptions and four fumble recoveries. Last season’s quarterback sacks aren’t that different (18 to 16), but the Cowboys jumped out to big leads last season, forcing teams to pass, which helped the pass rush.

This season, the Cowboys have fallen behind big time in losses to the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. There is less risk for the opponent.

The Cowboys work daily in practice on drills designed to take the ball away, either with interceptions or fumbles, such as hitting the ball from ball carriers.

“We’re not only monitoring takeaways, but takeout options as well,” McCarthy said. “You have to be in position for the takeaway first. And that’s the energy and the footwork and the right angles. When you’re talking about chasing and finishing the defense and your covering units, that’s how we train.

“We have been executing takeaways at a higher level over the last three years, but our chances are not far off from those of the last few years. We are getting there, but we are not converting. We have to keep working.”

The only fumble recovery the Cowboys recorded came on the final play of their Week 5 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on a series of laterals. There have been 130 plays since then without a fumble recovery, with only two fumbles.

The Cowboys have completed 81 pass attempts since their last interception. According to ESPN Research, that is the eighth longest drought ever. The New York Giants have completed 206 pass attempts. Of the seven teams with an extended dry spell, only the Arizona Cardinals do not have a losing record. The Giants, Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans are a combined 10-36.

Diggs blamed some of the schedule changes between Zimmer and Dan Quinn, the Cowboys’ coordinator from 2021 to 2023.

“Much less visibility on the ball,” Diggs said. “Only we can read our man, much less man (coverage).”

Under Quinn, the Cowboys played man coverage 62%, 56.9% and 61.3% of the time between 2021 and 2023, while employing 37.8%, 43.1% and 38.7% of the time, according to ESPN Research had.

This season, the Cowboys have played man 47.8% of the time and used 51.8% of zone coverage. Since 2007, Zimmer’s defenses have finished in the top 10 in takeaways five times. Eight times they finished in the bottom half of the league.

“Definitely a very unique defense, a lot of calls,” Diggs said. “We have a lot of formations, changes and different calls. It requires you to play a little slower, think more, rather than knowing what you have.

“Like knowing, ‘Okay, I got this guy. I can play faster. I can be on my guy, I know what I got,’ instead of reading things and reading players. It takes a little more effort, but it is still ultimately a good defense. We all have to believe in it and put our best foot forward.”