The Cowboys need to eliminate turnovers in order to have a chance at winning football games

The 2024 season has been a perfect example of Murphy's Law for the Dallas Cowboys : anything that can go wrong, has go wrong. It seems like every week the injury report continues to get longer and longer with players slow to return. It is really difficult for any team to find its footing with so many impactful injuries, especially at the QB position. Injuries are beyond anyone's control and they happen to every single team in this league. There is, however, one common theme within their control that has been a large contributing factor for their six losses: turnovers.

Even with all the injuries throughout these past few games, the Cowboys have been able to keep the games within reach at the halftime mark, but turnovers made it almost impossible to overcome. Winning games with backups up and down the starting lineup is difficult. Winning games with backups trying to overcome turnovers is insurmountable.

Last week against the Eagles was the second game this season where the Cowboys had five turnovers. The last time the Cowboys had at least five turnovers in a game was more than a decade ago in 2012 against the New York Giants . With 18 turnovers this season the Cowboys rank 31st in total turnovers and 30th in turnover differential. This has been one of the more surprising outcomes this season as just last year they were ranked third in total turnovers and sixth in turnover differential.

Within the Cowboys' locker room, this is one message that is ringing loud and clear: the turnovers need to be eliminated. Mike McCarthy showcased his confidence in Cooper Rush to 105.3 the Fan on Friday morning, noting that the turnovers are a big factor to why the offense could not get in a rhythm against the Eagles.

"I felt like we were in good shape at half time as far as how we were playing the game. You know, you take away the two turnovers there, I mean those were huge plays in the first half - I mean, it's a different ball game for us, you know, we would have definitely been in the lead."

He followed up with a comment about the additional three turnovers in the second half. Trying to play catch up while committing turnovers is not the best strategy.

Trey Lance talked to the media on Wednesday about taking accountability for his role in contributing to the turnovers last week. He entered the game briefly in the third quarter before taking over at the end of the game. He ended the day with four completions for 21 yards and an interception. He believes that the team beat themselves with all of the turnovers.

"Ball security is a huge part of it, starting with me and starting with us."

In order for the Cowboys to overcome their turnover issues, he believes that confidence will be key for the rest of the season.

A major piece of the offense that will need to have that confidence moving forward is none other than Cooper Rush. He has found himself in unfamiliar territory after getting only his second loss as a starter. However, he has always been a level-headed football player, never getting too high or too low. The ability to recover from his performance against the Eagles will be crucial this week in order to see improvement against the Texans . After Thursday's practice, Rush expanded on his ability to shake it off .

"It's the NFL, you know, you're gonna win, you're gonna lose. You're going to get your butt smacked sometimes. The beauty is that it's right back to it, it's the next week... It's right in front of you and it doesn't really allow you to dwell on the last game as much."