Wednesday, July 22, 1998

Cowboys need defense to force more turnovers

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Defensive coordinator Dave Campo needs playmakers. Any position will do.

The Cowboys forced only 18 turnovers last season, the second-lowest figure in franchise history.

They must do better to avoid another poor season.

"We just didn't make enough plays last season," Pro bowl safety Darren Woodson said. "I dropped some balls last year and didn't do some of the things I could have, but we have too much speed in our secondary not to make plays this season. I guarantee it."

Teams that win the turnover battle win in the NFL.

Each of the top five teams in turnover differential made the playoffs. Denver, which won Super Bowl XXXII, tied for second in the league with a plus-10 ratio.

NFL statistics show teams that were plus-1 in turnover margin won 67 percent of the time last season, and teams that were plus-2 (83 percent) and plus-3 (91 percent) won even more frequently.

"I think last season was an enigma because the four years I've been here, we've always had between 19 and 22 interceptions," secondary coach Mike Zimmer said. "I think a lot of things contributed to that."

The Cowboys didn't generate many turnovers because they couldn't stop the run or pressure the quarterback.

That's a bad combination.

The Cowboys tied a franchise low with seven interceptions last season because they allowed a division filled with mediocre quarterbacks such as Washington's Gus Frerotte, Philadelphia's Rodney Peete and New York's Danny Kannell to operate in a pressure-free environment.

"We didn't force them to make mistakes," middle linebacker Fred Strickland said. "We let them get too comfortable and throw the ball in safe spots."

With Chad Hennings (injury) and Leon Lett (suspension) missing for most of the season, Dallas finished 24th in the NFL against the run. Its last nine opponents rushed for more than 100 yards, including six who gained more than 140.

That forced Campo to play strong safety Woodson so close to the line of scrimmage that he basically was an extra linebacker and to commit former free safety Brock Marion to playing the run first.

In a defense designed for the middle linebacker to make tackles, Marion had a team-high 158 tackles. It marked only the second time in the past nine years that a middle linebacker has not led Dallas in tackles.

"What we had to do to hide our shortcomings at defensive end and our youth at linebacker was come with more eight-man fronts, and we had to drop our free safety out of coverage and make him support the run," Kevin Smith said. "That means you don't have as many people available in the secondary to make plays."

Campo committed nine defenders to stop the run because he trusted Smith and Deion Sanders to play bump-and-run, man-to-man coverage most of the time.

But it also limited their opportunities to intercept passes.

Teams that play zone can create a lot more turnovers because their safeties can read the quarterback and break on the ball because they're not covering a particular receiver.

Against man coverage, overthrown passes and tipped balls often flutter harmlessly to the ground. Against zone coverage, they can result in turnovers.

"When you're playing man, you're turning and running with a guy," Smith said. "A lot of times, you don't even see the ball until the last minute. There's not a lot of opportunity for an interception."

LOW TURNOVERS

Here's a look at the Cowboys' lowest turnover figures in franchise history:

YEAR NO.

1989 17.

1997 18.

1988 19.

1991 23.

1979 23.

X X X

The Cowboys lowest interception totals in team history:

YEAR NO.

1997 7.

1989 7.

1988 10.

1990 11.

1991 12.

X X X

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.