The differences between the Dallas Cowboys in their first two games, against Washington and Chicago, and their last game, against Houston, are not in any way subtle: after struggling woefully with penalties in the first two weeks, for example, Dallas committed a manageable eight against Houston for 49 yards. After falling to a -4 turnover ratio over the first to weeks--which is, four turnovers lost and no takeaways--Dallas forced two interceptions and a fumble from their kind-of-rivals to the south while surrendering no turnovers on offense.
Considering, it’s no wonder that Dallas defeated Houston in convincing fashion, 27-13, for their first victory of the season.
It’s also no wonder that, in listing what he sees as keys to this week’s match-up against the Tennessee Titans in a recent interview on KRLD 1080 AM, keeping the penalties down, forcing turnovers and protecting the ball on offense were ideas at the heart of owner and general manager Jerry Jones’ comments.
“It's so easy to use that "M" word ‘mistakes’... After watching all of the games at one point or another last weekend, you are reminded of how every team makes a lot of mistakes whether it be penalties or assignment mistakes,” Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News. “You also are reminded to hang onto that ball, no turnovers. So I think those areas on both sides of the ball help us get those turnovers...
“It's easy to say but you want to be conscious of protecting the ball and conscious of getting the ball (forcing turnovers) because it makes they make such a huge difference. There's just a consciousness about penalties that you want to try and work on.”
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