Turnaround on turnovers keeps Cowboys hopeful
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys, who were last in the NFL in turnover margin for almost half the season, are plus-7 the past two games.
They also have consecutive wins for the first time this season. Coincidence? Probably not.
Most of the turnovers came early, too. Two in the first quarter against San Francisco turned into a two-touchdown lead on the way to a 41-33 victory Sunday. Cincinnati lost three fumbles in the first quarter of Dallas’ 30-7 win a week earlier.
“To get it early definitely you can see that it brought a lot of energy to our sideline,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s two weeks in a row we’ve been able to go out with back-to-back series and have a turnover to start the game. It’d be great if we can keep that up.”
The much-maligned defense is still giving up yards — San Francisco’s second-highest total of the season at 458 — but the group under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is finally making plays as well.
Safety Donovan Wilson made a nice break on a throw from Nick Mullens to set up the go-ahead field goal early in the fourth quarter. Anthony Brown had the second interception with the Niners driving on the next possession.
“We always knew we were capable,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “We just found the ingredients these last few games.”
And those ingredients are? “Just going out there every day practicing, trying to get the ball, just flying to the ball and just understanding that we’re still in this thing,” Lewis said.
Yes, Dallas (5-9) just beat an injury-ravaged San Francisco after weak Cincinnati, but the Cowboys are still in this thing with two games remaining, needing to beat both NFC East opponents (Philadelphia and the New York Giants) while hoping Washington loses to Carolina and Philadelphia.
Anything else, and the postseason is out of reach. But the idea of it still being in reach when the team was 3-9 with six losses in seven games says something about McCarthy’s hope of building something for 2021 after a rough Dallas debut.
Key number
Minus-6 — That’s the new turnover margin and actually has the Cowboys closer to the middle of the pack than the bottom. Dallas has six interceptions in the past seven games after getting just one in the first seven.