FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys enter Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers leading the NFL with 667 penalty yards, according to The Associated Press, and Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Friday that avoiding errors is at the top of the keys to the game.
At Indianapolis on Nov. 8, Dallas was flagged 14 times for 153 yards, with nine of the penalties on offense. The Cowboys still won 27-23.
Schottenheimer spoke before Friday’s practice at The Star in a press conference the Cowboys streamed on YouTube.
The work starts with film study and a check on how players are communicating. Schottenheimer said that in his 25 years, the way NFL games are decided has not changed.
“Again, we look at the film and we study it and we just see how the communication is,” Schottenheimer said. “But it’s a big part of it. I think we’ve said this very clearly and I think it’s real. It’s never changed in my 25 years. More games in this league are lost. They’re not won, through errors or lack of communication, turnovers, whatever it may be.”
Keys To Beat The San Francisco 49ers
Schottenheimer described the 49ers as a run-first offense that also gets the ball to the perimeter, paired with a defensive front he called elite.
“And so we just talk about kind of the keys to win the game, and the keys to win the game are playing smart, playing physical,” Schottenheimer continued. “It’s going to be a very physical football game. It’s a very physical football team coming in here that wants to run the football, pound the ball, get the ball on the perimeter, and then on defense, obviously their front seven is elite.”
“But we talk quite a bit about keys to victory and not shooting yourselves in the foot,” Schottenheimer added.
San Francisco is 7-1. The 49ers’ backfield includes Christian McCaffrey and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, with George Kittle at tight end.
Quinnen Williams And The Cowboys’ Mistakes
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams put the defense’s problems on the players, telling reporters the defense was beating itself, Dallas Sports Journal reported Nov. 5.
“It tells you that we’re beating ourselves as a defense,” Williams said. “We’re the problem. We’re the reason why we’re losing these games.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott addressed the penalties this week after an inactive DeMarvion Overshown drew a 15-yard flag for running onto the field at Indianapolis.
“We’ve got to clean it up,” Prescott said. “Simple as that.”
Dallas (4-5) hosts San Francisco (7-1) at 3:25 p.m. CT Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with the game on Fox.
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