WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: What Went Wrong in Carolina? 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.000 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:09.160 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:12.880 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:17.239 Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that. 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:21.600 It's time for the Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:27.720 Wall with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:32.400 Derek Eagleton. It is Monday, September tenth, twenty eighteen, Season fourteen, 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:34.800 episode number thirty six, and oh have we got a 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.400 show for you today here Live on the Break, live 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.440 from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. We are 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.120 going to talk about this Cowboys game versus the Carolina Panthers. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:49.040 Cowboys lose sixteen to eight. Not what any of us expected, 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.840 far from what we expected. Probably, I think we all 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.400 probably expected that that offense would be a little bit 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.640 better than it was yesterday. And and so we're gonna 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:00.680 get into that. We're gonna talk about everything that happened 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:02.840 in the game and why the Cowboys end up losing it. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.399 But first, before we get to to just the intricate 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.280 parts of the game, I want to start with the 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:16.640 big picture here. Dallas basically blank defensively, they blanked until 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:18.800 the fourth quarter. They didn't, I'm sorry, offensively, they weren't 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.040 able to score until the fourth quarter. The defense, pretty 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.440 much after giving up ten points in the first half, 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.920 then held this team pretty steady there for the rest 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:29.640 of the game. And really it was a lot of 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.959 the damage that the Panthers did offensively happened early in 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.080 the game, before they started to figure out what was 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.280 happening with Cam Newton. Overall, what did you think of 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:43.200 the just the poor play offensively and how the Cowboys 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.440 really are going to get any better at this point. 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:49.360 I'm surprised. I thought they would beat the Panthers by 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:51.920 thirteen points. I thought Zeke would look good. I thought 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.840 the offense would look good. I was naive to think 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.080 that this team would just magically get it together, and 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.800 they didn't. They looked like they had not played with 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.920 each other before, and a lot of them hadn't, you know, 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.880 haven't because there are new players. It was really ugly, 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.640 and I'm the first one to say I was absolutely 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.880 wrong about it, and I won't do that again until 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.840 they they changed things around, because this is this is 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.040 really looking bad. And I thought last year was kind 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.600 of a well, you know, the Zeke and then the injuries. Now, 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.440 this is a this is a trend that that's been 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.160 happening for a while, and it it showed up again. 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.680 And here, I mean, I was absolutely wrong. I'm not 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.519 gonna try to pretend like I wasn't. But I keep 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.400 going back to the last thing I said on our 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.680 show Friday, which ironically a lot of people didn't hear 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.639 because it got cut off, but I heard it. I basically, 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:42.360 I mean, I said, you know, I'm gonna choose to 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:45.359 believe what I've seen over the last six weeks, and 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.320 that went for both sides of the ball, and on 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.400 the defensive side. I feel pretty good about that, honestly. 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.800 I mean, yeah, they they It took them some time 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:54.959 to get their feet wet. Shaun Lee missed some tackles. 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.160 You know, Cam ran for sixty yards. It's not great, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.680 but they buckled down two hundred ninety three yards and 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.840 sixty points should win you most football out. Yeah, not 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:05.280 bad at all. The two or three sacks through DeMarcus 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.280 Lawrence looked amazing. So I chose to believe that that 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:11.800 could happen, and it worked. And then I chose to 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.440 believe that what we'd seen at training camp would translate over. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.959 I mean, you know, Michael Gallup getting involved, Havon Austin 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.920 doing a little bit of everything, Dak Prescott not being amazing, 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.000 certainly not Aaron Rodgers but moving the ball, and Ezekiel 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:28.600 Elliott doing his thing. Literally, like none of that happened. 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:31.560 I'd like, all benefit of the doubt is gone. They 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:36.120 don't deserve it. Dak looked terrible, He looked inaccurate, He looked, 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.760 he looked flustered by the pressure. Connor Williams we said 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.440 on the show, to our credit, we're not wrong about everything. 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.760 He said. Kawan Short and Don Taripoe had the potential 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.000 to erect this game, and they did. Tyrant Smith got 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:54.800 flagged twice. Lyle Collins called like literally against a good 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:59.120 defensive front. Ezekiel Elliott ran hard and effectively in a 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.240 game where he was out of his rhythm from the 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.880 get so I'll give him a little bit of credit 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.800 for playing a decent game. Everything else sucked, and we 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:12.040 can get into it in more detail later, but all 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.200 benefit of the doubt out the window in one game. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:18.200 There you go. I really really thought that having all 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:22.520 these receivers was gonna change everything. In a way that 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.400 you were gonna get something different from this offense, and 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:29.159 Dad was go be able to, as we seen during 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:33.560 training camp, have a better connection with them, and clearly 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:35.960 that was in the case. This was a whole mess. 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.839 The offense couldn't get going, and I'm so disappointed and 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:44.520 upset because there was nothing to get you excited about. Again. 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:49.440 Ezekiel Elliott obviously a great running back. We didn't really 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.479 see him going and when you look at the stat 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.880 and we were looking at it on the plane, it's like, oh, okay, 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.240 he got sixty nine yards. Oh, we don't know how 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:02.279 that happened. And he's known to get those little yards 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.159 here and there and then they start accumulating and adding up. 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.640 But at the end of the day, it didn't help 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.359 at all. And there was one Um what play was 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.039 that Nike where we were like, they need to run 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:18.520 the freaking ball? Um? There were third and I think, yes, 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.320 the third and three play and the third quarter when 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.760 it that's what I'm thinking, Yeah, yeah, we're Dak went 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.160 in for a pass and it's like, why are they 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:28.880 calling this play? Like why not run the ball? They 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.120 just needed like three more yards to get first down. 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.880 I think it's the play in the third quarter where 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.760 we're third and three, like on the forty six, and 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.560 they hadn't done anything all day. This is like the 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.520 furthest they've gotten, and it's like, you have to decide 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.120 this is four down territory. And if you can decide that, 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.960 you know, Zeke for two, Zeke for one, you'll you'll 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.440 get the first down. They ran him throw. He just 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.040 threw it away and then ended up punting, and you know, 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.159 I just it's you you're down to nothing. It's like 0:05:55.560 --> 0:06:00.320 halfway halfway, uh second and five, Zeke makes it third three, 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.000 they throw and complete the swam and punt from the 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.840 Carolina forty six. Yeah. I mean I was thinking, you're 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.599 about six seven yards away from from trying to field goal. 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.600 And if this guy's got you know, super strong leg, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.479 which he does, not sure how accurate he is, but 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:21.200 he's got a super leg. I mean, you're down ten nothing, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.320 you might have to try fifty seven yard or the 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:24.760 fifty seven yard is why he is on the team 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.640 because he made it in Houston, and you know he 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:31.280 obviously drilled that kick. I never got a good look. 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.240 I mean, it would seem like it was pretty close 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.680 forty seven yard or yeah, he just feel like it 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.520 just drifted off to the right. Just I mean, he's 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.359 got the leg, but I mean, you know, you gotta doesn't. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.400 Forty seven yard is not a gimme, and I don't. 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.320 I don't want anybody act like it is. It's not 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.680 a gimme in the NFL. I mean, but but first kick, 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.880 you kind of want to see it. And certainly when 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.080 people are going to compare him to Dan Bailey, which 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.600 that's gonna be the refrain everything he does from this 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.280 point forward, it will be compared to Dan Bailey and 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.479 not Dan Bailey that was here when he left Dan 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:07.880 Bailey's career. That's gonna be a thing. And a forty 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.960 seven yard or was a gimme in Dan Bailey's prime exactly, 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:12.440 and that's what he's going to be compared to. That's 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.760 the problem. I'll say this. I'll say this about about 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.480 the Bailey situation. I don't know if he would have 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.600 made the forty seven yarder. I do not know that 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.480 history says that he probably would. Recent history said that 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.840 he might not. But I know this, he's not. He's 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:32.240 not given um. He's not getting four touchbacks at all 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.880 and the way that the Cowboys were covering punts um 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:37.960 that if they covered kickoffs the same way then that 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:40.720 could have been a problem. So that's one of the 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.000 reasons why they did it, is that they can't tell 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.640 Dan go get get me a touchback. They could tell 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.840 this guy and most of the other kickers get one. 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:49.880 So that's a big difference there. But I know no 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:51.720 one cares about that. They want to They want to 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.600 see him made field goals and he missed. All right, 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.440 let's move on. Let's talk about particularly about the offense. 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.000 I want to talk about Dak Prescott and the protection. 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.280 Uh Dac was nineteen of twenty nine. That was sixty 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.600 six percent completion, one hundred and seventy yards, zero touchdown, 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.680 zero interceptions, eighty one QB rating for the game, he 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.720 was sacked six times. If you watch the game, there 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:16.600 were there were sometimes it was just kind of like 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.240 guy just got beat. There were other times where it 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.320 was just like it seemed like maybe they were out 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.560 of sync and not knowing where it was coming from. 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.400 That I think about the Shack Thompson blitz where Zeke 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.040 was Sposa picked him up. It seemed like Zeke ad 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:30.080 just it too late, No way he's gonna get there 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.520 in time. Guy just gets clean shot on the quarterback. 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.160 But obviously your rookie Connor Williams had a rough day 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.719 and he gave up two of those sacks. So just offensively, 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.000 looking at the offensive line in the protections, do you 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:43.959 think that do you blame this more on the fact 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:46.400 that this unit has not did not play a lot 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.120 together during the preseason, or do you think it was 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.880 just literally they were overmatched and this defensive front was 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.280 just a ton better than they were to give up 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:58.720 six sacks, Well, a combination of both. I mean, clearly 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:05.720 they haven't had enough time playing time against another opposing team, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.719 you know, together, so that's gonna show up. And one 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.600 of my biggest things, like Dad, he's known in the 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.599 past for his confidence level and the fact that he's 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.719 able to, you know, keep it together and kind of 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.280 figure out what to do a little bit. But one 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.720 of the things that I noticed as far as him, 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:29.079 when the offensive line did give him some time, he 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.640 just wouldn't really process things and think quickly enough. And 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.440 there were times like the I think it was the 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:39.600 past to Blake Jarwin where he missed it and he 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.840 could have read, he was wide open. He could have 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:44.960 just ran the ball. And that's one of the things 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.360 he used to know. And the fact that you see 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:49.840 the opposing team doing it so much, we can and 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.959 I mean, you should be inspired to run the freaking 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.080 ball too and just go for it. A lot of 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.640 the times he just wouldn't really think quick enough, and 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.880 that obviously got to and with the offense having some 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:06.080 struggles to combine the two, it's a disaster. I got 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.520 a couple things to touch on, but and we sort 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:10.880 of argued about this in the press box yesterday, which 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.880 I'm not gonna I'm not gonna give them the didn't 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.959 have enough playing time excuse, because Connor Williams did get 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:19.760 a lot of playing time in the preseason, and so 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.839 did Joe Looney because they didn't have another option, Lyle Collins. 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:24.680 But the unit, the unit is where I'm more talking about. 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.439 You talk about offensive line, any offensive lineman will tell 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.080 you the value the offensive line is dim playing as 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.320 a unit, not about the individual. The three. The three, 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.719 I mean, first of all, the all five of them 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.040 are never gonna get a ton of playing time together 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.440 in the preseason, even if the Cowboys had done a 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.120 different even if they'd handled it differently, that's just not 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.280 gonna happen. You might get a maximum of like three 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.959 or four series in one game, Lyle, that's not true. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.640 The dress rehearsal game usually the offense usually plays through 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:53.559 the first half and sometimes comes back and gets a 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:55.680 series into the into the third. How many possessions do 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.680 you get in an NFL game? Nine or ten? Yeah, 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.320 so if you probably have about five or six in 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:04.160 one game, cool, you're quibbling, true, Lyle, Joe and Connor 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:08.440 Williams got plenty of playing time. Zack Martin and Tyron 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:10.600 Smith or supposedly two of the best players on your team. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:12.240 I don't none of us have anything bad to say 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.719 about the way Zach played right necessarily, I mean, from 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:17.679 what I know, it seemed like he played like Zach 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.960 Martin Tyron Smith. I mean, for the way we talk 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.000 about him, that's not good enough. Two flags that get 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.480 you behind the chains. I'm sorry if you didn't get 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.360 enough playing time, but you're on that level where you're 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:31.880 supposed to be better than that. And then the play calling. 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.439 Two things come to mind. One, if you're playing a 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.760 front that you think has the potential to wreck your 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.079 game like that, which we us idiots who don't get 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:44.240 paid to game plan, we saw that coming, so I 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:48.000 would hope that they did. And so it didn't seem 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.200 like there was enough creativity, not just in the sense 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.120 that Dak was in the pocket too much against the 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.319 front that had the potential to kill him, but even 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.400 the stuff that they did to combat that was so 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.920 incredibly predictable, like the waggles that Dak has become known for. 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:05.920 He had a guy in his face when he got 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.520 done with the action every single time, Like that's that's 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.960 not great. That suggests to me that Carolina watched some 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.240 tape and had a pretty good idea of what to expect, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.760 Like can I get some read option, can I get 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.079 some misdirection? Can I get I mean, I don't know, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.360 I don't remember for sure, but I'm I feel like 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:28.480 most of Dak's carries were improvised and not planned, which 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:33.880 that's stupid. I mean Carolina's offense didn't look great either, literally, 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:36.280 like the difference between them winning and losing his fifty 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.480 eight rushing yards for Cam Newton, like just give me something, yep. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:41.360 So what I say all the time up in the 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.920 press by He's got to keep this balls. Dak's gotta 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.680 keep it. I mean, give Carolina credit because Cam Newton 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:50.960 is not a good passer. To me, he can get 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.360 the job done. He's a good manager because he can 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.320 run the ball, and that they know what he is, like, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:56.920 he knows what he is. He's not trying to be 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:59.800 anything that he's not. He's a big, strong tight end 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.960 that just decides to play quarterback and he's really good. 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.679 Well no, I mean he can throw the ball better 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.679 than any tight he can throw the ball, okay, end 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:15.679 basically quarterback. He's he's like a Tebow with that's better. 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.560 He's a better thrower than Tebow. But I'm just saying 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.240 he is what he is and they don't try to 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.560 do anything different out of it. He doesn't, you know, 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:23.480 throw the ball down the field a whole lot. He 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.880 does some, but he takes his shots. But he runs 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:27.679 the ball, and that's what they need to do. Dak's 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.440 not a passer right now either. Dak is better at running. 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.400 So play off of that and kind of quit trying 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.839 to make Dak what he isn't. And maybe that's what 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.640 Carolina I'm figured out with Cam over the years, he's 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:41.800 liked play to his strengths. And that's what I think 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.160 this team is really struggling with with Dak. They're trying 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.880 to make him something that he's not. This is simplistic, 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.959 but and let like, if if this team can run 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.040 the ball, if they can do their thing with Ze, 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.920 can just crank out yard and stay ahead of the chains, 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.160 they will take the game to anybody. And fortunately for them, 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.439 there's a lot of defensive fronts in the league that 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.280 can't handle that. When they go up against the defense 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:10.320 that can take that away, they just seem scared and lost, 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.160 and like they they let the defense dictate what happens, 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.040 Like it sounds good when Jason garretts it, sounds plausible 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.120 and excuseable when Jason Garrett says it, which is, you know, 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.920 we got behind the chains. We let you know, circumstances 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.440 take us out of or in the NFL, that sucks. 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.440 Like if it being second and twelve instead of second 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:30.760 and five. Is the difference between you being good and bad? 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:35.200 You're not good, and you saw that. I mean to 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.680 let defenses dictate that to you the way the Panthers 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.600 did yesterday, it's an indictment of everybody involved in the 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:43.640 way this works. You mentioned that, but you look at 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.200 the division, that may be your hardest problem. Like there 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.320 are an there's several teams in this division that can 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.240 stop run well unfortunately for the Cowboys. I mean, there 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.160 are a lot of defenses that can't handle the way 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.000 they run the ball. There are a lot that can. 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.720 And that's I mean, the Giants have a front that 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:00.640 can do that. We've they were the first ones to 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:06.320 crack this code. The Eagles obviously, like that's disgusting. Watch 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.480 out for those those Ridskins that those two guys that 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.480 they got from Alabama, like they could become that kind 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.360 those kind of players that certainly have the ability. So 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:16.040 all I'm saying is there are going to be teams 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.720 that will be able to stop this running attack. And 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:20.920 we've been saying this back since the Cowboys made this 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.600 decision to get rid of Dez Bryant. That you can 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:25.360 go with that option of just saying we're gonna have 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.240 a lot of good receivers and not really have a 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.200 great receiver. But the problem is you're gonna get into 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.320 those games you can't run. Who's going to be the 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.040 guy to catch the ball. And yesterday they didn't have 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:36.520 anybody who could get the ball there. First of all, 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:38.240 let alone be able to make a catch and make 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.520 a play. And to be clear, I think it's simplistic 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.520 to sit here and I can hear somebody saying it, 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:46.000 like the difference between success and failure is not Dak's 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.160 ability to throw it to a receiver thirty yards downfield 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.240 and back the defense off. I don't believe that you 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.720 just have to have a Plan B that works, whatever 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:58.080 that is, and we didn't. I mean, honestly, it looked 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.880 like they didn't even have one, Like they didn't try, 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.040 and like I can't. This is what I just can't 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.680 get over, which is that Blake Jarwin had twenty two 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.360 snaps to Tavon Austin's ten. They gave Tavon Austin the 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.320 ball on the second play of the game. It was 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.600 nullified by a Tyron Smith flag. They handed the ball 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.160 off to him halfway through the second quarter, and then 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:21.760 he disappeared from the offense. Why, I mean, if everything, 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.040 if he was so good at training camp and we 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.920 would all agree that he was, where was it like? 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.200 Where I mean missed? How about if the defensive front 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.680 is collapsing on you take the game out wide. At 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.200 least try. I mean, I can't say with a certainty 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.040 that it would have worked, but they didn't even try. 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.840 They gave him the ball one yard off the ball. 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.800 He's a little guy, he needs a little bit of space. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.040 Put him in a shotgun. Give it to him from 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.960 the shotgun so he has some running start. I mean 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.840 Lyell was getting pushed back every time, so as soon 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:52.480 as he got the ball, he was getting hit right 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.000 on the line like it was too close. That was 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:56.600 a bad play call. And then and then that's it. 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:59.360 It was almost like, okay, I'll show you Tavon Austin nap. 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:01.440 It's almost like they didn't want to really do it, 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:03.440 and then they gave him a play that he's not 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.240 going to succeed at and now, like them, that's it. 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.000 And I'm pretty sure correct me if I'm wrong. I 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:08.440 know there was at least once. I think there were 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.440 twice that they ran a tight end screen in that 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.520 game twice, right, so, so the tight ends got more 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.919 screens than Tavon Austin. That to me is still a problem. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.960 It's like it's almost like they're out thinking themselves, because 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.120 if you think about it, who would you rather have 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.159 in open space with the ball in his hands, a 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.840 tight end or a guy that runs a four three forty. 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.600 I mean, it just it doesn't make sense to not 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.080 get him more involved in the Austene What's weird to 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.160 me is which two receivers. Which two receivers were missing 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.280 for most of training camp and preseason, Beyonte Thompson and 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.919 Tavon Austin. I think it would be Beasley and oh, 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.639 you're right, Beasley too, And they got thirteen targets combined, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.040 I mean, more than anybody else. And then the next 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.320 receiver with the most is Hearns at three. I mean, 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.080 so it was kind of weird to go back on 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.360 the preseason stuff like you can say, well did it matter? 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.680 Did it? I mean, I don't really blame the Cowboys 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.080 for anything. I mean, is it a factor, Yes, it 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.200 probably is. But I'm not sitting here are going to 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.360 point fingers because again I said this over and over. 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.280 I think it was a domino effect that they could 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.560 not control. They could not control what happened to Travis 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.800 Frederick and at the same time it happened, it was 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:20.160 Zach Martin got hurt. So those two things are out 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.320 of your middle. There's no reason to play Time and Smith. 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.399 Then now we're not playing Dack and we're certainly not 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.240 playing z So that kind of affected what the what 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.920 their third preseason game usually isn't. I don't blame them 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.720 for that. I do think it factored in. But there's 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:36.800 enough quick crying about it. It's time to move on 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.240 from there. Let's take our first break. When we come back, 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:41.439 we need to talk a little bit about Zeke Elliott 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:42.920 and what he was able to do. We'll talk a 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.360 little bit about three receivers, and of course we got 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:47.360 to talk something about the defense because they did play 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.280 a quality game yesterday, and I'll ask the question as 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.080 to whether these guys think this defense is for real 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.480 and they can expect to see that more throughout this season. 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:56.800 We'll talk about that when we come right back. This 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:58.679 is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. It can be hard 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.160 to find the right resource. We're learning about important financial matters. 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.600 You search how to build savings, you end up reading 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.639 about the one weird ingredient from supermarkets that can make 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.920 you taller. 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