FRISCO, Texas _ Concern over the Cowboys inability to force turnovers swells _ because you can only feel good about 10-1 for so long _ and the lack of pressure becomes a cause for distress.
Raising these issues is valid. You can bet the coaches have mentioned a time or two or 200 in meetings that the defense has failed to force a turnover in four games.
That sort of drought in today's opportunistic NFL usually carries consequences. The reason it hasn't is because Dallas takes such good care of the ball on offense.
The Cowboys start a rookie quarterback in Dak Prescott who has thrown just two interceptions all season.
They lean on a rookie running back who has lost only one fumble all season, and that came in Week 2.
"The coaches always say the only way they (opponents) can beat us is if they take the ball from us," running back Ezekiel Elliott said. "Honestly, we've been executing very well on offense.
"The only way we can be stopped is by turnovers."
The Cowboys have lost the ball seven times. Buffalo is the only team with fewer turnovers at six. The Bills also have 35 fewer points and four fewer wins.
Dallas averages one turnover every 102.8 offensive snaps. The Cowboys have gone 178 snaps since their last turnover and have only one in their last 296 snaps.
"It's really one of the biggest reasons why we're winning," tight end Jason Witten said. "Certainly Dak's done a really good job of taking care of the ball. Zeke has, the receivers, everybody who's touching the ball.
"We've made a commitment to that, as does every team. At the end of the day there are a million different things that can happen in the course of the game with a ball. At the end of it, you just want to have the result of not turning it over.
"That's been big for our winning formula."
Prescott had 176 pass attempts before his first interception. That set a record to start an NFL career. He's currently working on a stretch of 145 attempts without an interception.
Head coach Jason Garrett credits Prescott's poise and decision-making for this remarkable efficiency. The quarterback sets the tone. But it doesn't stop there.
Prescott has lost three fumbles, giving him a total of five turnovers. Elliott and receiver Terrance Williams are the only other players to suffer a turnover for the Cowboys this season.
"Taking care of the ball is a team thing," Garrett said. "Everybody has a piece of it.
"We really try to preach that."
The Cowboys also preach the importance of forcing turnovers. That sermon hasn't taken hold.
The Dallas defense has forced 10 turnovers in the first 11 games. Only four teams have less and none of them have a winning record.
The Cowboys have gone four games without forcing a turnover. Safety Barry Church was the last defender to pick off a pass and that came in the third quarter of the team's game against Green Bay on Oct. 16.
"You've got to control what you can control," said Church, who should return Thursday against Minnesota after missing the previous four games with a fractured forearm. "You can control the strip attempts.
"The quarterback is not going to throw you the ball, so that's kind of a hard thing to control. But you can control going in there and taking the ball away from the opposite guy, so we just got to keep our strip attempts up.
"Hopefully the ball bounces our way."
Lack of pressure is playing into the problem. The Cowboys have scraped together just two sacks in the last three games.
The bottom line: The Cowboys still have a positive turnover ratio of plus-3. But there have been too many games lately where the Cowboys haven't turned the ball over or forced a turnover.
"You want this to be a statistic that helps you win ball games," Garrett said. "You don't want to be neutral.
"We have done a good job of taking care of the ball. But for the last three of four ball games we haven't taken it away. That will be continue be an emphasis for us."
It hasn't cost the Cowboys yet because this offense places such a premium on ball security.
"Yeah, it's been really good," Witten said.
"The ability to take care of the ball says a lot about our football team up to this point."
