WEBVTT - Player's Lounge: Must Win In Washington? 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:07.000 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:17.240 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This is the Player's Level, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:22.119 broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star. 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:27.800 Now your hosts Barry Church, Danny McCray and Knew He Scrugs. 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:34.240 Here we are a Friday. Everybody, Welcome to the Players Lounge, 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.760 brought to you by Hotels dot Com. I'm knew He Scruggs, 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:41.680 a longtime Cowboys reporter, joined by Danny McCray, former Dallas 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:46.159 Cowboys safety or other running buddy. Barry Church has decided 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.720 that he's gonna take a little getaway vacation. Man. You know, 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.240 Barry just rolling outlet like that. Send us to emails wanting, hey, 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:56.480 fellas out hey when you when you listen listen when 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.120 when when you get paid? How Jacksonville pay them? You 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:04.600 could take a vacation anytime you want, first any time exactly. 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.000 I mean he just you know, he rolled around like 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.360 ti telling his wife you can go wherever you lie. 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:14.360 I mean yeah, yeah, Church and the Church gone. You 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.080 know what he was really doing, He said, he was 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:18.440 trying to celebrate that one win that he got last night. 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.640 He's he's officially won and oh on this on the 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:24.160 straight up picks, but he's on one on his cover 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:25.880 and the spread picks, and he just trying to celebrate 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.000 any win he could get it. And I understand because 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.679 it's been rough for him, all right. So so follow 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:33.880 me on Twitter. I'm at NEWI Scruggs. It's n E 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:39.080 w Y Scruggs. I tweeted it out yesterday. I'll retweeted again. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:41.800 So I make picks every week in the Dallas Warning 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.959 News with several other people, and this week I decided 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:48.040 that I would have Barry Church do all my pics. 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.040 So we did it on the show. So we can 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.760 go back and check out yesterday's show. So Barry did 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.720 all the picks for me, and or it's Wednesday. I 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.360 did it was Wednesday, and so Barry did all the pics. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.200 So it's there in the paper. So I retweeted it 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.640 and I had a media remember hit me up and 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.240 D and me says, really, you were going with the cowboys. 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:14.359 You still believe in the hot boys, and and so 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.239 I sent him the D and back, I said, you 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.040 didn't see my tweet. Barry Church did the picks this week. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.120 I've already made my pick, I said, and then I 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.280 sent him the link to my TV pick. I said. So, 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:28.840 so here's where where I went, and just so you 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.120 all know, and let's just get the predictions right out 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.959 of the way. Church went twenty eight seventeen Cowboys to 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.000 beat Washington. The Cowboys are one point favorite. I went 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.520 with Washington to win twenty four twenty three. So that's 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:42.680 what I did. So so Dmac, let's get it out 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.280 of the way right away. Let'stop wait till the end. 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.040 Let's go ahead, get your prediction right here for this 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:50.239 football game between the one in five Washington football team 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.600 and the two or four Cowboys. Man, you know, I 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:55.520 think it's gonna be one of those games here. Then 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:56.840 we used to have back in the day where it 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:58.720 was a lot of field goal kicking. So I'm looking 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.200 at low scoring, something around the twenty three to twenty 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:07.120 range for the Washington Oh sorry, the Washington football team. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.280 Make sure I get that right, so so we don't 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:10.960 get in trouble here. So yeah, I'm going on Washington. 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.280 I just don't believe that we'll be able to stop 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:16.040 the run. Our secondary still having problems. You know. I 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.360 went back and watched something that that last played by 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.040 Kenyan Drake when he ran sixty nine yards, and I 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.639 just could not figure out why they were aligned the 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.120 way that they were aligned. And then Nolan comes out 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:27.959 and he's still a little frustrated and mad because he 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.240 doesn't understand leither and that is a big issue. If 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.320 he doesn't if he doesn't know what went wrong, that 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:34.880 is a true serious problem. So I just don't think 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.760 we can get it fixed this week. So you're going 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:42.520 twenty three twenty Washington. Yeah, okay, So you and I 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.040 are basically right there together in terms of this of 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.000 this win. I got twenty four to twenty three. I've 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.160 got I've got Washington winning on a lake field goal. 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:54.440 And I'll give the folks who are checking us out here. 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.880 My biggest reason, which is what I said on my 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:01.360 TV prediction, was the offensive line is a massive concern 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.000 for me. I mean, this is another game in which 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:07.920 the Cowboys are going to roll out another different set 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:12.880 of offensive lineman. And look, I'm no professional football player. 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:14.960 I just played a little bit, you know, just played 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:16.600 the high school thing, and I was a center, and 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.400 I can tell you for sure, when you start having 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.800 different combinations of guys and says this is a high 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.520 school level. You know, there can be some confusion, you know, 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.760 when we weren't going against anybody good like you know, 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.560 Chase Young and Mantest Sweat, like the Cowboys are gonna base. 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.839 So when you roll out these different combinations and there's 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.480 just little things where you know how to tell guys, well, 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.240 how you need some help and what you need to do. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:41.960 You know, you may tell a guy, hey man, I 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:43.919 need you to give me a longer chip here. I mean, 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.000 there's there's these little things within a football game to 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.240 go on. And oh, by the way, you've got a 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.120 different starting offensive line combination and this is Andy Dalton 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.120 second start. There's just a lot of things that you're 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:57.200 looking at here from a continuity standpoint that hurt the Cowboys, 0:04:57.440 --> 0:04:59.640 and this has been a strong point for the Cowboys 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.480 all game. I bring this up also with the fact 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.720 that Zack Martin is probably not gonna plot. I mean 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.479 that's coming from the head coach Mike McCarthy, also Jerry 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:09.960 Jones who said it on one to five three the 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.560 FAM he's been in concussion protocol. So their whole telling 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:15.760 you probably it's pretty much in data. You know, the 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.560 code words. He's not playing. Okay, So you're not going 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.520 to have your all pro guard. You don't have your 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.720 all pro, all decade left tackle, and Tyres Smith, who's 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.040 out for the year. You don't have le College your 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.800 right guard. I mean, this thing is just falling apart. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.599 You don't even have your former starting center Joe Looney. 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.480 You've got the rookie Tyler Beyond So connormer governor is 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.839 going to step in for Zack Martin against Washington and Danny. 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.800 You take that and look on the other side. What's 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.400 the strength of Washington even though they're wonder five football team, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.200 what is their strength? It's their d line that five 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.160 first round picks over there. Man, I will, I will, 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:55.120 I will say this. You know you listen. You know 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:59.120 our new commendations on the offensive line, and then you 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.080 also have the plugged that in like you said, with 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.360 Andy Dalton, a new signal caller out there making the calls. 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.280 And I can guarantee you one thing. We will get 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:11.080 blitzed all night. They will test our offensive line, and 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.640 we have not shown that we can pick up those blitzes. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.800 And we also haven't shown that we're willing to help 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.600 out some of those old lineman with the chips and 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.760 bringing those tight ends in to help out. So all 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.120 that adding up, we're gonna have a long day with 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.240 our offensive line, so that I think that will be 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:27.560 a serious issue. That's why I think that we need 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.160 to run the ball twenty five thirty times, a lot 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.800 of zeke, a lot of Tony Pallor, a lot of 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.800 jet sweeps with Ceedee Lamb, a lot of jet sweeps 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.200 with the Mark Cooper, some some bubble screens, some things 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.120 to get the ball out quick to help these guys out. 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.200 If we don't do that, then it's a for sure loss. 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:44.960 And I don't have any faith that we're going to 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:46.960 do it because we haven't switched up. And we heard 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:48.800 Killer Moore say last week that he doesn't think he 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.880 need to change anything with Andy Dalton the game versus 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.640 having back in there. So you know that that's why 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.560 I'm leaning towards the decision that I made for Washington 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.680 won in the game twenty three to twenty. I'm still 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.240 on this time of possession kick for the Cowboys, and 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.760 I look at this defense and some of the issues 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:09.600 they've had, and I go back to what you said 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.760 in terms of trying to establish the run and using 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.840 Ezekiel Elliott, take some time off the clock, help your 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.800 defense out in this football game, and let me keep 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.120 hammering away on this Washington football team. So I went 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.760 and I checked it. Danny Washington Is got sixteen sacks. 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:31.320 So they got sixteen sacks and that's by nine different players. 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.720 Ryan Kerrigan, who always seems to have some good games 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.679 against the Cowboys, has three sacks this year. Montes Sweat 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.000 has three sacks, and then their first round pick, Chase 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.480 Young from Ohio State has two and a half. And 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:44.880 when I look down there and I see that they've 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.240 had nine different guys get sacks, that tells me that, 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.360 going back to what you said, Jack del Rio is 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.160 not only going to send the heat, He's got a 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.520 lot of different guys who can get home. What we 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.880 saw in that Atlanta game was really Tat McKinley. Ta 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:59.160 McKinley was the best pass rusher that they had, and 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.960 once Tat McK only went out, they were okay. And 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:04.400 Miles Garrett was really that one guy that Cleveland had. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:07.920 Washington's able to send several different guys at you, and that, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.800 to me is something that worries me. So they not 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:12.880 only need to run the football, but if you decide 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:14.440 that you do want to pass, you know, if you 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.240 get yourself caught in a third nine or third level 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:19.480 situation and he don't got to get rid of football 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.240 really quick because these guys are gonna be able to 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:23.200 get home. So they Kella Moore has got to make 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.200 sure he gained plans for that. You gotta get rid 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.600 of that football quickly when when you're in these third 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:31.480 long situations. Man, So so listen, and I want to 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.559 clear this up. I want to make sure everybody understands this. 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.680 No matter what we have on offense, no matter who's 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:42.120 playing quarterback, I still firmly believe in basing your offense 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.000 off running the ball first and then having everything off 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.120 play off that. So no matter no matter how we 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.480 were playing, I will still say that Zeke needed to 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:51.840 touch the ball twenty five times and then we need 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.839 to do everything based off that. So it's just it's 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.760 just more more to it now, like it has to 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.160 be done because you don't have Dack. You don't have 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.280 the healthy offensive line to hold up and and and 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:05.880 play a different way if you wanted to. So that's 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.160 this is not just based on what we have now, 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:10.880 this is what I believe in, you know, from from 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.480 my days of playing and when when Jason Garrett was here, 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.079 when Wade feels here, we ran the ball. We focused 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.319 on that. So that's the way I see it, and 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.439 unfortunately other people don't see it that way. And you know, 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.680 that's why we're sitting here, you know, movie a second 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.520 place in the two and four, because we just can't 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.640 figure out that that is the strength of our team. 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.280 And it's I think it's ironic that we can't see that. 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.000 And we look at the production of Zeke and and 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.240 somebody that we pay ninety million dollars and you don't 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.360 say you don't the light bulb doesn't go off in 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.199 your head lights it and say hey, we need to 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:43.920 get this guy to Bostimore and get them involved in 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:49.760 different ways. It's interesting you say that because you and 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.520 I are looked at as these dinosaurs when we say this, 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.880 and the so called analytics guys um that all throw 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:58.920 the ball. Throw the ball. Okay, Andy Dalton, throw the 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:01.839 ball was fifty four times night football. I mean, you know, 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.400 when you start looking at the Cowboys guys in quarterbacks 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.280 through the games from from Prescott to eight min to Romo. 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.800 When you're throwing at fifty plus times, I'll tell you 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:11.599 what comes along with that. Pretty much every time you 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:15.200 look at that those games and L and L, you've 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.240 got to figure out how to run the football and 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.160 with this defense to keep them off the field. Man, 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.160 I mean, you have to play complimentary football. You've got 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.000 to call plays that compliment not just your offense but 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.319 your overall football team. And when you don't do that, 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.280 you just want, hey, let's just run plays. Run plays. 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:35.640 Then I think you find the Cowboys and where they're at. 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.079 You got a lot of big stats, you got a 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.599 lot of garbage time points and garbage time yards. But 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.480 the competitive phase of the football game, you find yourself 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.920 out of it where all of a sudden, if you're 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.240 behind like this and double digit leads, they know what's coming. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.400 They're not worried about the run. They're just gonna sit 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.280 around here, drop back, and then just say, hey, now 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.800 guys are sitting around here hunting for interceptions. And we've 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.679 seen that happen too. So I'm with you a hundred 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.760 percent about running the ball. But what's crazy is even 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:05.839 when you're down double digits, depending on what points you 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:07.480 are in the game, you still don't have to abandon 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.680 the run. We've seen teams come back from down fourteen 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.760 to twenty one points by still sticking with the run 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:14.920 and then hitting those big players over top because you 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.480 get some of those defensive backs and linebackers to step up, 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:20.520 you know, trying to defend those those guys. Right, I'll 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.480 tell you this. Defensive backs and some linebackers they do 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:27.040 not want to necessarily take on blocks and get pounded 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.760 on by guys like Ezekiel Ellett. Derek can read. These 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:31.480 guys that run hard and punish you at the end 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.400 of runs and always fall forward. They do not want 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.240 to do that the entire game. So the more that 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:36.559 you can do that, the more that you can get 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.120 in their head and wear them down, the more that 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:40.839 you open up those deep shots so you don't have 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.000 to abandon the running. You get down fourteen points and 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:45.640 you're in the first quarter. Yeah, the game is not 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.240 dictating that you do that, and we seem to do 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.800 that often, and that's why you see us with fifty 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.319 four fifty four attempts and sixty attempts and forty five 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.000 attempts because we abandoned it too early. Well, that's been 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.480 a problem under Mike McCarthy. It's also as a problem 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.839 under Jason Garrett, where the offensive coordinators decided that, you know, 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.320 just get away from the run as quickly as possible. 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.199 I go back to the Atlanta game, and when the 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.760 Cowboys ended up making that comeback, they ram the football. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.200 Zeke had ten carries in the second half. Okay, ten 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.199 and that may not seem big to you, but he 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:18.920 had over twenty in the football game. But they did 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:20.880 not abandon the run, and they did exactly what you did, 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:22.640 what you're talking about day. They were able to kind 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.080 of get themselves back in the football game and eventually 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.599 win it. But they haven't done that since he's not 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.840 getting those carries. Now, go back to the last game 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:32.920 against Arizona. You're not getting carries because you're putt the 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.520 ball on the ground, and so, yeah, they've lost their 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.840 faith in him. But at this point in the season, 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.840 no matter how frustrated anybody may be with Ezekiel Elliott, 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:43.880 he's the best of what you got left. You're going 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.440 to have to figure this out. And when it comes 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.520 to ball security, let me read you what Mike McCarthy 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.199 had to say today. He said, if anything, we've probably 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.280 leaning towards over coaching in that area of ball security. 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.960 Something I'm conscious of the question is the answer says, 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.120 you gotta make sure you stay on top of it. 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.319 So this is and I'll give I'll give Mike McCarthy 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:06.800 this one thing. You go back to his record in 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.240 Green Bay. They were good when it came to turn 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.360 over margin and right down the Cowboys the worst in 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.319 the league at fifty minus fifteen. Listen, and then and 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.319 this whole thing with Zeke and the fumbling and all that. 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:18.400 I do not understand how people could all of a 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.679 sudden lose faith. And we can talk about, you know, 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.400 putting Tony policy and all this stuff. Listen, the guy fumbles. 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:26.600 He's going through a rough patch. But if you put 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.520 together his body of work and and and you see 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.200 what he's done previously, and this is all it takes 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.319 for you to give up hope on Zeke, then you 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.080 haven't really digested what he's been able to do as 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:38.840 a running back for us. They didn't pay him ninety 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.040 million dollars for him to fumble, you know, five or 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:42.959 six times, and didn't give up on him. The guy 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:44.839 is still an elite running back. If you watch the 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.240 way that Tennessee plays, no matter what the score of 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.040 the game is, they believe that Derek Henry can always 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.599 break the long run. Zeke is still that guy. He 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.040 can still get you a seventy eighty yard run or 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:56.640 forty yard run and get you down on the other 0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:02.120 teams side of the field quickly. So it's not like 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:04.640 he's not able to still do that. Yeah, he fumbled, 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:06.199 he can get over that and he can still be 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.599 the same guy. This does not take away from what 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:10.880 Zeke is, the type of player that he is. He 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:12.480 can still get this stuff done, and I think we 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:14.719 still need to lean on him no matter what he's 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.440 done in a previous few games. He can still carry 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.880 this team and we've seen him do it before. I 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.240 go back to what Mike McCarthy took the football job, 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.440 and I was there at the Presscomberence. So at the time, 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:30.000 Mike McCarthy thought, you know, he'd have Travis Frederick, he 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.680 doesn't Travis retired. Thought he'd have Lell Collins. He hasn't 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:36.840 hadn't played all year long. So if there's your your 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:42.320 center gone, your right tackle gone, thought he'd have Tyr Smith. 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.760 He's out for the season now, so your left tackle's gone. 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:48.040 Thought he'd have Zack Martin this week. Your right guard 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:51.640 is gone. Thought he'd have Blake Jarwin as his tied end. 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:55.280 And Blake Jarwin ends up going on the injured reserve 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.600 of the torn acl Thought he have Dak Prescott is 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.800 a quarterback. Dak Prescott breaks scle quarter is going. You 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.960 start looking at all these guys you thought you were 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.320 gonna have, and we're talking about Pro Bowl players here 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.320 that are gone. You start looking around at what's left. 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.000 You better figure out how to take advantage of what 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:15.240 you have and who's there. And to me, this would 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.120 be and should be a feed Zeke game plan. Man, 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.600 we're not good on the defensive side of the ball. 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.200 We gotta go ahead, in my mind and take face 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.480 in your Washington team. That's a one win team. You 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.040 gotta figure out how to make Ezekiel Elliot a major 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:31.880 part of the game plan. You and I are right 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:36.720 there together here, because, dude, how sad is it that 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:38.520 you and I don't believe they could be the one 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:45.800 win football team at who? I don't think I really 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.760 don't think it's that it's not rocket science, right Listen. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.400 Like for all the stuff that we don't have on offense, 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.400 we still have a lot of weapons, you know what 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.080 I'm saying, that we can go to. So you can 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.680 still get the ball to Cede Lamp quickly. We saw 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.320 the Rams do that with Robert Woods and Cooper. You 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.720 can still get the ball to Amari Cooper quickly, get 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:04.040 it in their hands and see what they can do 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.600 with it. After they get the ball in the hands, 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:08.360 you can still get the ball to Zeke. You can 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:09.840 throw it to him, you can pass it to him, 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.000 you can do whatever you want to. It's creative ways 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:13.720 to get these guys the ball to where you don't 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.400 have to necessarily throw it down the field fifty or 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.680 sixty yards. You can still get this done because when 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.400 you run a jailbreak screen or a two yard out 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:23.560 or you know what I'm saying, a quick hitch, that's 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:25.800 an extension of your run game. We still count that 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:27.680 as run plays where you can you know, saying you 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:29.680 get four or five yards on first down, that that 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.080 is positive yards and Zeke is still getting four yards 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.160 to carry. So it's not rocket signs. We can still 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:35.680 get it done. We just have to focus on it. 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.680 All right, let's get in a break right here. You're 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.480 check out the Players Lounge. We are in our SWBC 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.680 Mortgage Virtual Home studios. I'm new He Scruggs. He is 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:50.400 Danny mccraig. When we come back, there's some news that 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:56.040 I've found kind of interesting. Some people were celebrating it, thinking, hey, 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.160 look this shows you how effective to take lawrence has been. 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.320 And I've got a different opinion. So let's get to 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.240 that after the break right here on the Players Lounge 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:09.320 on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Hey, they're Cowboys fans 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.040 with Tight Cleaners at Home pickup and Delivery. Cleaning your 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.280 clothes has never been more convenient. Simply sign up at 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.000 your local store, set out your dirty clothes, and one 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.679 of our Tight Cleaners professionals will come directly to your 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.560 home for a totally contactless experience. 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