Speaker 1: Smith fires over the middle, great grand By Metcalf out
Speaker 1: in front, and he will go all the way for
Speaker 1: a touchdown seventy three yards to the left. Look short
Speaker 1: Lamb shoulder shake throws. That's gonna be caught by Fergusson. Touchdown.
Speaker 1: Locket comes to the slot. Here comes Partiinge and he
Speaker 1: forces the patch incomplete and that will wrap it up.
Speaker 2: That will wrap up a forty one to thirty five
Speaker 2: Cowboys victory on Thursday Night football. Maybe you couldn't tell
Speaker 2: it from Al's voice there, but we got the best
Speaker 2: Thursday night game of the year, and we got there. Ever,
Speaker 2: maybe ever, who knows I'd have to go through it.
Speaker 2: We got the perfect guest for it too. It's Steven
Speaker 2: Ruiz of the who's been doing yeoman's work all around
Speaker 2: the podcast land. It's Stephen Ruiz Week. And what better
Speaker 2: game to have him on for than the Geno and
Speaker 2: dak Our Gods among Us showcase. Thank you, Steven.
Speaker 3: I texted you right after that Geno touchdown to open
Speaker 3: the game. He knew I was coming on today. He's
Speaker 3: gonna give us a show.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the last time you came on was the
Speaker 2: you know he don't write back game for Gino. So
Speaker 2: it's been too long and this was a great Geno game,
Speaker 2: but it does feel a little beside the point. To
Speaker 2: start with Gino, the Cowboys put up forty one points
Speaker 2: in a shootout in a game that there were no punts.
Speaker 2: According to Scott Hansen's researcher at red zone and whom
Speaker 2: I had to doubt his researcher at red zone, it's
Speaker 2: only the fourth game in the history of the NFL
Speaker 2: to have no points five if you include the Colts
Speaker 2: Chiefs Peyton Manning versus Dick for Meal and Trent Green
Speaker 2: show down in two thousand and four. That was like
Speaker 2: my first season covering the league that was exciting. This
Speaker 2: was just a preposterously great offensive performance by both quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: both teams. But to me, we start with just like
Speaker 2: the majesty, I would guess of Dak Prescott right now
Speaker 2: that he just has an answer for everything opposing defense,
Speaker 2: especially the Sea Hawks defense, was trying to do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought Seattle played well defensively. There was a
Speaker 3: lot of talk.
Speaker 2: About they didn't get a stop.
Speaker 3: I mean, considering that they were putting him under pressure
Speaker 3: and now he was making tight window throws. I really
Speaker 3: think there's an alternate universe where you put two other
Speaker 3: quarterbacks into this game and they have to handle that
Speaker 3: pressure that both quarterbacks had to deal with all day,
Speaker 3: and it looks horrible, and we don't get anywhere close
Speaker 3: to thirty five to thirty one or whatever the final
Speaker 3: score ended up being. That was I thought the two
Speaker 3: quarterbacks were the story of the game. And do you
Speaker 3: watch do you watch on the Prime vision that they did?
Speaker 2: I do enjoy that. Again, I thought schwartztein action in
Speaker 2: my life right right.
Speaker 3: I love that. It was just a magical performance. From
Speaker 3: that view too, It really allowed you to appreciate what
Speaker 3: these guys were doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, early on, you know, I'm thinking, man, these Cowboys
Speaker 2: receivers are open. As the game we're on, I'm with you,
Speaker 2: the pressure built up, the windows got a little tighter.
Speaker 2: But Dack specifically, and I misspoke by saying they didn't
Speaker 2: get a single stop the Seahawks defense. There was one
Speaker 2: stop all night by the Seahawks defense, and that was
Speaker 2: in I'm counting it now nine drives, not counting the
Speaker 2: Neil down drives. And that was just when Ceedee Lamb
Speaker 2: dropped the ball a wide open just you know, short
Speaker 2: pass on fourth down, otherwise there literally would not have
Speaker 2: been a drive that the Cowboys did not score on.
Speaker 2: And the thing that impresses me is he just he
Speaker 2: just has answers for everything. Like I think of actually
Speaker 2: a fourth and one situation where he checked out of
Speaker 2: the play two different times where they were clearly gotta
Speaker 2: to stop the sneak up the middle. Then I don't
Speaker 2: know what he saw the second time, but he checked
Speaker 2: it again, and he checked it, you know, to the
Speaker 2: perfect play a run to the outside, and they get it.
Speaker 2: So even on plays where he's not throwing the ball,
Speaker 2: he's just kind of seeing everything you're doing, and he's
Speaker 2: making all the right decisions and he's not missing any throws.
Speaker 2: I mean, he was just on the money with it
Speaker 2: with just about every throw tonight.
Speaker 3: And then I think he's adding on top of that,
Speaker 3: like the old school Dack creation stuff. Out of structure.
Speaker 3: He is the best quarterback in the league statistically out
Speaker 3: of structure, Not Josh Allen, not Patrick Maholmes, not Lebar Jackson,
Speaker 3: none of these guys. Dak Prescott, what.
Speaker 2: Do you mean like out of the pocket or plus
Speaker 2: two and a half seconds, how do they measure that out.
Speaker 3: Of the pocket and PFF. According to PFF, when the
Speaker 3: defense the pass russ forces the quarterback to move off
Speaker 3: of his spot, so it's not a straight dropback. He
Speaker 3: is the best in the NFL by PFF grade. He's
Speaker 3: got like a low nineties grade. The next highest guys
Speaker 3: like in the seventies.
Speaker 2: It is ridiculous. And I do think his season changed
Speaker 2: on that Sunday night game against the Chargers where he
Speaker 2: ran for that touchdown, and I think he ran the
Speaker 2: play before on a play that actually he normally wouldn't
Speaker 2: of this year, he scrambled, he came up just short
Speaker 2: on like a third and nine or something to set
Speaker 2: up a fourth and one, and he put his head
Speaker 2: down and I was like, ooh, there's Dak running again.
Speaker 2: That's what we always want. And I swear since then
Speaker 2: the rushing yards aren't crazy like tonight. It's twenty three.
Speaker 2: But there's four plays where he helps himself with his
Speaker 2: legs running, which is just a really important four plays.
Speaker 2: And then, as you say, also just making great decisions
Speaker 2: outside the pocket, which he did, you know, on a
Speaker 2: number of throws tonight. It was just like there, unless
Speaker 2: you have just an elite pass rush and the Seahawks
Speaker 2: just don't. It's hard to think of how you're gonna
Speaker 2: get this guy down, and it's tough against this Cowboys
Speaker 2: offensive line, which is playing really well.
Speaker 3: That's why I would say, like, I thought the defense
Speaker 3: didn't play too badly, and I didn't think the defensive
Speaker 3: game plan was too bad because I thought the way
Speaker 3: they got to Dak Prescott was blitzing. There was a
Speaker 3: lot of like corner pressures, a lot of like zone pressures,
Speaker 3: and I thought Seattle's approached the game. They're thinking going
Speaker 3: into the game was we're not going to get to
Speaker 3: Dak unless we play like a reckless style and that's
Speaker 3: our only chance of being in this game. It didn't
Speaker 3: work out, but I think it makes sense as a
Speaker 3: strategy going into it. And I think if they would
Speaker 3: have just rushed four and dropped back seven, Dak would
Speaker 3: have picked them apart.
Speaker 2: I mean, we're both geno fans, and because of that,
Speaker 2: I've become a quasi Seahawks fan. Maybe you haven't gone
Speaker 2: that far, and so the defense was frustrating me. Yes,
Speaker 2: they're setting a lot of blitzes, but they can never
Speaker 2: finish them. They're just bouncing off of them. There's that
Speaker 2: play Darryl Taylor, who's that like a safety, I mean,
Speaker 2: he's a defensive end, has him in a bear hug
Speaker 2: and I don't know what happened the play, Dak just
Speaker 2: like shrugs him off and that would have been like
Speaker 2: there were so many plays like that. Adams had another
Speaker 2: one whereas like if they could just bring him to
Speaker 2: the ground or bring some of the receivers that that
Speaker 2: caught the ball behind the line of scrimmae occasionally to
Speaker 2: the ground, It's like they would have them in big time,
Speaker 2: negative yardage situations and they just couldn't do it. And
Speaker 2: so again, once that Chargers game happened, I was like, Wow,
Speaker 2: he played just about perfect game that game, and then
Speaker 2: the next week he's like perfect that week and people
Speaker 2: weren't really picking up on it yet because they were
Speaker 2: playing lesser teams and the record wasn't as good then.
Speaker 2: But he's he's almost been throwing like a perfect game
Speaker 2: every week since Week six. It's great. He at this
Speaker 2: point is I think gotta come out of this week.
Speaker 2: You know, one of, if not the MVP front runners
Speaker 2: are just crazy because he was like plus three thousand
Speaker 2: three weeks ago.
Speaker 3: And it's high degree of difficulty. It's not like he's
Speaker 3: like Dinking and Duncan out there. He's throwing like these
Speaker 3: covered seam balls, these tight window passes. He's throwing on
Speaker 3: the run. He's throwing out of structure. He's throwing with
Speaker 3: guys hanging off of him, like we saw tonight. He's
Speaker 3: up to his game another level, and I think he's
Speaker 3: finally starting to get credit for stuff he already did well,
Speaker 3: Like he's finally starting to get credit for like the
Speaker 3: pre snap stuff and being that brain before the snap,
Speaker 3: like you heard Kirk Herbstreet and I kind of compare
Speaker 3: him to Peyton Manning in the presnat phase, and I
Speaker 3: think that's app and I think it's something he never
Speaker 3: got credit for. And one of the reasons I think
Speaker 3: he's so polarizing as a player, even though he's been
Speaker 3: this like steadfast winner and guy who produces at a
Speaker 3: high level since he's entered the league beyond being a
Speaker 3: Dallas Cowboys quarterback and everything that comes with that, is
Speaker 3: that it's kind of hard to appreciate the things he's
Speaker 3: really good at because they're so subtle, especially if you're
Speaker 3: not watching week to week and you're not watching like
Speaker 3: the film and you're you don't really like understand what's
Speaker 3: going on pre snap. I just think like, if we
Speaker 3: gave him that credit, I don't think we would be
Speaker 3: having these debates about Dak Prescott every offseason.
Speaker 2: I've been trying to I've been trying to give him
Speaker 2: that credit. I brought up the Manning you know that
Speaker 2: he I don't think he's Manning or Brady, but as
Speaker 2: that generation was still playing but aging now, I was like, well,
Speaker 2: he's the he's the guy that's of the young generation
Speaker 2: that's like the most like that, Like he's the he's
Speaker 2: the quarterbacks, quarterback, He's he's how you know, Greg Cosell
Speaker 2: wants the game to be played inside the pocket and
Speaker 2: figuring it out out mentally and it's all coming together
Speaker 2: and he's he's at an age where it's all perfect.
Speaker 2: He's got an unreal number one receiver, and I think
Speaker 2: this game is going to be important for him, just
Speaker 2: in the way, not important for him in terms of
Speaker 2: what you're saying. He's playing great, nothing needs to change,
Speaker 2: but MVP race and then their playoff race, and even
Speaker 2: as a team, they were really tested in this game
Speaker 2: by a good opponent. I know Seattle was struggling coming
Speaker 2: into this game, but their oftense certainly wasn't struggling tonight.
Speaker 2: Like I don't know if a team's gonna beat up
Speaker 2: this Cowboys defense any better than the Seahawks did tonight,
Speaker 2: and so Dak was really pushed in this game. The
Speaker 2: score was twenty eight to twenty coming out of halftime.
Speaker 2: Once Gino got the kickoff and to start the second half,
Speaker 2: went right down the field to go twenty eight to twenty.
Speaker 2: Cowboys get it closer, and then the Seahawks score again
Speaker 2: to DK start the fourth quarter, and so it's thirty
Speaker 2: five to twenty seven. He has to make a fourth
Speaker 2: quarter comeback. They have the field goal drive, they have
Speaker 2: another touchdown drive there by Dak, and then they tack
Speaker 2: on the field goal late. So it's just kind of
Speaker 2: like those situations that I know, like they shouldn't need
Speaker 2: to pass these tests, but they do need to because
Speaker 2: they need to win some close games. It's not just
Speaker 2: gonna be blowouts in the playoffs. And they found a
Speaker 2: way to do that, even though I have some issues
Speaker 2: with Mike McCarthy's game management, and we can get to
Speaker 2: that in a minute. It sort of doesn't matter when
Speaker 2: you only face I think they only had four third
Speaker 2: downs in the second half. I mean, that's the thing.
Speaker 2: These two teams put up the score with very few possessions.
Speaker 2: You know. It wasn't like a thirteen to twelve possession
Speaker 2: game where they put up these numbers, like they had
Speaker 2: almost no margin for error. And he hit it and
Speaker 2: he could have actually had more. There was that CD
Speaker 2: drop on fourth down, and then one of the best
Speaker 2: throws he had the night, which was was the field
Speaker 2: goal drive in the fourth quarter that came up short,
Speaker 2: which looked like a crazy pass. He put it between
Speaker 2: three people, but it got to CD and he actually
Speaker 2: didn't bring it down in that scenario.
Speaker 3: That's why I was like watching the end of the
Speaker 3: game and I was like, no matter how this ends,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be very disappointing for one of these teams.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be very disappointing for us for having to
Speaker 3: like come up with losers in this game. Because I
Speaker 3: just thought it was played at such a high level
Speaker 3: that even if Dallas had lost, I don't think I
Speaker 3: would have come on here and been like, oh, they're
Speaker 3: frauds or everything. We thought they were. Like Gito just
Speaker 3: played so well in under pressure too. It's not like
Speaker 3: Dallas made it easy on him. At one point in
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter, he was like eleven for twelve under
Speaker 3: pressure and averaging ten yards per ten. Yeah, let's say
Speaker 3: nobody does that.
Speaker 2: Let's get to the Jada portion. We've put it all
Speaker 2: off long enough. But I'm with you, like there are
Speaker 2: no big losers here. I'm gonna I'm gonna be a
Speaker 2: little annoyed about the Seahawks defense later, just in terms
Speaker 2: of roster construction and everything and some of the game
Speaker 2: management stuff, and Jason Myers missed another important kick in
Speaker 2: this game, but just in terms of the way this
Speaker 2: season shapes up. Before we moved to Juno, it's like
Speaker 2: it was absolutely vital. Though they got this win to
Speaker 2: stay in the NFC East race, I still think they
Speaker 2: can win this division because I just think, you know,
Speaker 2: the Eagles are underdogs this week, and then the Cowboys
Speaker 2: are probably playing for for our playing for first place
Speaker 2: next week, and so that's like it doesn't get much
Speaker 2: bigger than that they had. They actually do have it
Speaker 2: right there in front of them. I know their schedule
Speaker 2: is brutal, so it'd be hard to finish that out.
Speaker 2: But there's a very real chance that they're in first
Speaker 2: place in the NFC East and they're gonna have extra
Speaker 2: rest going into that Eagles game in ten days. Whereas
Speaker 2: the Seahawks felt like this was their chance to sneak
Speaker 2: one in here during this brutal stretch, and they couldn't
Speaker 2: get it done. And it's so surprising to me, Steven
Speaker 2: that they put up thirty five points in the first
Speaker 2: fifty minutes of this game. Their offensive line and everything
Speaker 2: going into this game and their offensive cohesion did not
Speaker 2: indicate that this performance was coming.
Speaker 3: No, I did not expect this performance, and I didn't
Speaker 3: expected because of that matchup the offensive line versus the
Speaker 3: defensive line and Dallas's defensive line. Despite not getting a
Speaker 3: lot of sacks, they did get pressure and I thought
Speaker 3: they won for the most part.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: I thought Shane Waldron, the offensive coordinator, called a great game.
Speaker 3: I didn't like the calls at the end. I thought
Speaker 3: he kind of That's one thing. I that's my one
Speaker 3: thing against Waldron is that he gets a little galaxy
Speaker 3: brained a time. He kind of outthinks himself a little bit.
Speaker 3: I don't know what that last play was, but it
Speaker 3: kind of looked like a screen pass, like a late
Speaker 3: slip screen pass, which is an interesting call. And fourth
Speaker 3: and what was it fourth and five with.
Speaker 2: The game on the line, fourth and two, Yeah, fourth
Speaker 2: and two and it gets blown up and it never
Speaker 2: really had a chance and though yeah, Parsons got there
Speaker 2: and the next and stats measured in one point three seconds.
Speaker 2: I mean it was Parsons.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they tried to like totally blocked.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure where the protection went wrong, whether that
Speaker 2: was supposed to be the running backs, it went wrong
Speaker 2: somewhere they needed to reset. I don't know like who
Speaker 2: that's on that. That's happened more than you would want
Speaker 2: to for the Seahawks this year. And yeah, to get
Speaker 2: into that position. And there were a couple drives in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter where they turn it over on downs
Speaker 2: and they were in short yarded situations. After having such
Speaker 2: a good night on third down. Finally, they've been a
Speaker 2: terrible third down team all year. They kind of went
Speaker 2: back in the crucible to just a couple bad plays
Speaker 2: there on third and one, fourth and one. I'm also
Speaker 2: thinking about the drive before the same thing happened.
Speaker 3: It was it was good to see Geno adjust because
Speaker 3: there has been talk about him getting the ball out quicker,
Speaker 3: and I think that is one thing you saw. You
Speaker 3: saw him make that adjustment, and I think it would
Speaker 3: have been a big red flag if you heard that
Speaker 3: talk from Gino, you heard that talk from the offensive coordinator,
Speaker 3: and then he couldn't do it. So I think that,
Speaker 3: like I think this was a I don't think it
Speaker 3: obviously it derails whatever playoff hope Seattle had or kind of.
Speaker 3: But he still got it.
Speaker 2: They still got it, but they but it didn't help
Speaker 2: hurt they had an opportunity tonight.
Speaker 3: But I think this is a good sign for the
Speaker 3: for the team going forward. Like I think like that
Speaker 3: Geno still has these moments when he can he can
Speaker 3: light up a game and he can match a MVP
Speaker 3: candidate throw for throw right.
Speaker 2: And you know, statistically he's been getting rid of the
Speaker 2: ball about the same time this year. The pressure has
Speaker 2: just been getting there faster. He's been avoiding sacks much better. Actually,
Speaker 2: he's that used to be, you know, one of the
Speaker 2: worst parts of his game last year, even in his breakout,
Speaker 2: was still like blow average but not terrible. This year,
Speaker 2: it's pretty good and you saw that tonight, Like if
Speaker 2: you had looked at the box score, you would have
Speaker 2: no idea. And I know Parsons got three QB hits,
Speaker 2: but you would have no idea that Parsons kind of
Speaker 2: dominated this game. And Lawrence had a good game too,
Speaker 2: because Gino was getting rid of the ball, I mean,
Speaker 2: some of those dimes early to DK. It was also
Speaker 2: great to see DK have a game like this because
Speaker 2: I think that the Thanksgiving game kind of encapsulated what's
Speaker 2: been a really disappointing season for DK, not winning contested catches,
Speaker 2: just being kind of a little lazy with his routes
Speaker 2: on the sideline stuff like that. And tonight he was
Speaker 2: like he was DK what you imagine him to be.
Speaker 2: That first dime that Gino threw to him just felt
Speaker 2: like it like kind of free the two of them,
Speaker 2: and he threw so many good passes to it was
Speaker 2: it was a beautiful thing. I mean, being Geno guys.
Speaker 2: To have him have this night in an Island game,
Speaker 2: it did feel like a release for me, a weight
Speaker 2: off my shoulders, you know.
Speaker 3: And I like how you got to see him thrive
Speaker 3: under pressure, like you got to see that this is
Speaker 3: what he's been dealing with all year. He's been dealing
Speaker 3: with this type of protection and receivers that I don't
Speaker 3: think have been running great routes. And it's kind of
Speaker 3: hard to say when you're outside of the building, but
Speaker 3: there's been a lot of miscommunications. I think that's the
Speaker 3: best way you could put it. And you didn't really
Speaker 3: see that tonight, Like you saw Geno get rid of
Speaker 3: the ball, and the receivers ended up where they were
Speaker 3: supposed to be and the ball ended up where it
Speaker 3: was supposed to be. I think if this team could
Speaker 3: find any consistency, they might look like the team we
Speaker 3: see when they're at their highest, like when they have
Speaker 3: these breakout performances, because they are capable of it. We've
Speaker 3: seen it like a handful of times over the last
Speaker 3: two years, just stringing them together right.
Speaker 2: And defensively, they have so many players you would think
Speaker 2: that they can have some better games than the ones
Speaker 2: that they've had. And I'll get into it a minute,
Speaker 2: but they've just been a sub mediocre defense, like a
Speaker 2: very below average defense, and you saw it tonight. But
Speaker 2: I they can if they can get their offense going
Speaker 2: like this. They did have Abe Lucas back in the
Speaker 2: run game, which you know, maybe that helps Zach Charboney
Speaker 2: though is nineteen for sixty. He did have a thirty
Speaker 2: nine yeard catch too, but he left late with a
Speaker 2: knee injury and was immediately ruled doubtful, which that is
Speaker 2: not a great sign. Maybe Kenneth Walker's back next week.
Speaker 2: But Smith and Jigbab made some plays until he had
Speaker 2: the miscommunication on the turnover on downs on the on
Speaker 2: the drive before the last one, and and lock it.
Speaker 2: I think one of the plays Seahawks fans are gonna
Speaker 2: remember is the Seahawks are up thirty five to thirty,
Speaker 2: they're driving, I mean right, they had the ball up
Speaker 2: thirty five to thirty to possibly kick a field goal,
Speaker 2: the go up eight halfway through the fourth quarter or
Speaker 2: even you know, score a tight and kind of put
Speaker 2: the game away, and Gino, as one of his best anticipation,
Speaker 2: throws the night it gets there, you know, after Lockett
Speaker 2: you know, makes his turn and it hits him right
Speaker 2: in the helmet and Gino gets sacked the next play.
Speaker 2: It was maybe it was a pressure and a throwaway
Speaker 2: the next play, but that drive ended right there and
Speaker 2: they would have been in field goal range on one
Speaker 2: of the better geno passes of the night, the Robin
Speaker 2: our boy Steven.
Speaker 3: They really are and I feel like we're talking about
Speaker 3: how well these quarterbacks played. I don't think the receivers
Speaker 3: played all that well outside of DK.
Speaker 2: Now we're sounding like we're just like it's a pro
Speaker 2: g know thing. I mean, there a lot of drops.
Speaker 3: There were a lot of balls.
Speaker 2: There were there were some drops.
Speaker 3: Nice catch both sides, I mean on both sides.
Speaker 2: Yeah, on both sides. Certainly there were there were some drops.
Speaker 2: I mean Smith and Jigba. I like that he's getting
Speaker 2: more consistent. He had the touchdown that was overturned on review,
Speaker 2: but at least he drew a long PI on that call.
Speaker 2: There were a lot of PI calls and we'll hit that,
Speaker 2: but first we're going to take a break. Okay, we're
Speaker 2: back in. You know I mentioned before the break. I mean,
Speaker 2: the penalties were a huge story of this game. There
Speaker 2: were two hundred and fifty seven penalty yards Steven in
Speaker 2: this game. That is the most and for a game
Speaker 2: in regulation since Bear's Bills twenty eighteen, which I don't
Speaker 2: it was in November. I don't have an immediate recollection,
Speaker 2: but I do likely likely I met Trubisky. Josh Allen
Speaker 2: showed ow Nathan Peterman, Oh was it? Wait? Really?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think it was a Nathan Peterman special.
Speaker 2: Al Michael's commenting tonight on the penalties. Let's listen, we're
Speaker 2: going to take the rush.
Speaker 1: Of the night of La Cliqe Blakeman pulling the game.
Speaker 1: You buy him? Sure?
Speaker 2: I was getting so mad. I don't know if he
Speaker 2: was having occasionally has like senior moments, but like he
Speaker 2: literally said, like, oh and guess what's next? When when
Speaker 2: the flag came out, like on four straight plays at
Speaker 2: one point in the third quarter, he was just like
Speaker 2: beside himself.
Speaker 3: I mean, Al, this was a great performance, a throwback
Speaker 3: performance for Al in my opinion, he was and Gino
Speaker 3: and Dak he was right there with him.
Speaker 2: I'll buy that. I would like a little more excitement
Speaker 2: there at the end. I would like it's more of
Speaker 2: a Herb Street thing. But there were a lot of
Speaker 2: game management situations at the end of the game that
Speaker 2: were very interesting, and they didn't really like go over
Speaker 2: ahead of time or even afterwards. You know, the Cowboys
Speaker 2: had the ball, we might as well, you know, talk
Speaker 2: about it now. They had the ball, after they turned
Speaker 2: the Seahawks over on downs, and they get it with
Speaker 2: two let's see how long was left in the game.
Speaker 2: They get it with one forty three to go, and
Speaker 2: they basically or no, sorry, they get it with three
Speaker 2: eleven to go. That makes more sense at the Seahawks
Speaker 2: forty nine yard line and two first downs basically wins
Speaker 2: the game there. And they immediately get into the red
Speaker 2: zone on that drive, and they get into situation where
Speaker 2: it's third and three, the Seahawks are all out of
Speaker 2: timeouts and there's one forty maybe a little more left
Speaker 2: on the clock, and they throw a pass from I
Speaker 2: think it was the fourteen into the end zone. I
Speaker 2: know it's one on one Ceedee Lamb and he's been
Speaker 2: so great tonight, but it wasn't really close. He was
Speaker 2: well covered, the ball was you know, it was kind
Speaker 2: of threw it a safe pass to make sure it
Speaker 2: didn't get interception, and it's incomplete and I was I
Speaker 2: love being aggressive, but that's actually not being aggressive. That's
Speaker 2: just that was just bad game management. If they run
Speaker 2: the ball there, it goes under a minute, and you
Speaker 2: run the ball there because it's fourth and three, and
Speaker 2: you kind of plan on you run the ball twice
Speaker 2: and you win the game and it's over with. And
Speaker 2: if if you don't get it the second time, it's
Speaker 2: under a minute left and they're inside like the ten
Speaker 2: yard line or the thirteen airdline. I thought that was
Speaker 2: crazy by McCarthy.
Speaker 3: Now that that's always the thing with McCarthy, right, Like
Speaker 3: every time, I'm starting to think McCarthy's turning it around,
Speaker 3: like getting back to play, like this is an accomplishment.
Speaker 3: I have to give him credit. I'm not gonna take
Speaker 3: credit away, yes for doing yes, but these are the
Speaker 3: moments where you're like, uh, like that's gonna come up
Speaker 3: in the playoffs and I don't think he's gonna make
Speaker 3: the right decision. Like there was even like a two
Speaker 3: point conversion chance earlier in the game, and I don't
Speaker 3: know what the analytics say about it, but a lot
Speaker 3: of people are wondering why they didn't go for it
Speaker 3: to tie you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was twenty twenty six. It was like, why
Speaker 2: were you not going for two at that moment? And
Speaker 2: then I for me for it later and they got
Speaker 2: it later.
Speaker 3: It's not just McCarthy, Like I got questions about Dan
Speaker 3: Quinn hmmm, okay, and it's the same questions that anyone
Speaker 3: would have about Dan Quinn in that like style of
Speaker 3: defense that we've seen, like we see it in Seattle,
Speaker 3: like that cover three, line up and play. We're not
Speaker 3: going to like do anything to trick you. I just
Speaker 3: think it's a defense that could be schemed up, and
Speaker 3: it's a defense that can be exploited by the best
Speaker 3: quarterbacks in the NFL. And in order to win a
Speaker 3: Super Bowl, you have to beat the best quarterbacks in
Speaker 3: the NFL. And that's my worry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a fair point that, like the Cowboys defense
Speaker 2: has been great this year. I mean, it hasn't been
Speaker 2: like Ravens Browns level, and it's got great talent, but
Speaker 2: this is the first game in a long time, and
Speaker 2: granted they haven't played many great offenses. You know, they
Speaker 2: did a pretty good job. I thought against the Eagles. Overall,
Speaker 2: they give more points than they should have, but it
Speaker 2: was they played well. It was disarming to see like
Speaker 2: a team go up and down the field throwing the
Speaker 2: ball in them. I mean, Deron Bland Michael said, give
Speaker 2: up more yards in that first half than any cornerback
Speaker 2: in any half of football all year. So his defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year candidacy was always silly to me.
Speaker 2: I mean, give him an All Pro, that's fine, But
Speaker 2: people were trying to talk that up this week, like
Speaker 2: that's over with now, even though he had an electric
Speaker 2: interception that was not even a bad throw by Gino.
Speaker 2: I didn't think, if anything, Bland just kind of bodied
Speaker 2: Locket out of position on a play. Lock It like
Speaker 2: had position when the ball was thrown, and Bland made
Speaker 2: a great play. But Bland got cooked in this game.
Speaker 2: And you're right, maybe the secondary, like do you think
Speaker 2: there are holes here, like in the back seven essentially
Speaker 2: for Dallas.
Speaker 3: I do think it can be attacked, and I think
Speaker 3: if you can mitigate the pass rush, which I don't
Speaker 3: think Seattle did in any shape or form tonight. But
Speaker 3: I think there are teams that are capable of doing that,
Speaker 3: like San Francisco as we've seen, then I think it's
Speaker 3: gonna be an issue. And I don't think like dan
Speaker 3: Quinn's style of defense offers you like schematic help. It's
Speaker 3: really reliant on execution and talent, and I think fundamentals,
Speaker 3: which is like a great way to play and it
Speaker 3: makes sense with their talent. It's just when you run
Speaker 3: into offenses that can match your talent, it becomes a problem.
Speaker 2: Then, yeah, because you know who, like Bland is playing outstanding,
Speaker 2: Gilmour is still a really solid starting corner, but Diggie
Speaker 2: Zua and the guys insider are good. Parsons is just outrageous.
Speaker 2: I think I might as great as Garrett's been. I'm
Speaker 2: still I'm still holding out my vote there that it's
Speaker 2: like we got a long way to go, and like
Speaker 2: in my heart, i still feel like Parsons is actually
Speaker 2: better and having a better season even though it's not
Speaker 2: quite there. So I'm I'm allowing the possibility that he
Speaker 2: might just close really strong. And then Lawrence had a
Speaker 2: huge fourth down stop on Charbonny. It's just those little
Speaker 2: moments of the game where like their best players stepped
Speaker 2: up like Jake Bobo on a on a screen to
Speaker 2: play before it looked like he had more yards to
Speaker 2: pick up. I mean, these are what you think about
Speaker 2: when you're a Seahawks fan. I'm a quasi Seahawks fan.
Speaker 2: Now what happened to me?
Speaker 3: You don't get to claim that, aren't you a Patriots fan?
Speaker 3: You don't get to claim.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've I jump on different teams depending on
Speaker 2: the year, and this, uh, this Patriots team was.
Speaker 3: Des attle bit.
Speaker 2: I mean, are my great friend Chris Westley and I
Speaker 2: mean they already made fun of me. I remember saying,
Speaker 2: even as the Patriots run was over, I was like,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be as into it
Speaker 2: once Brady's gone, just like because I know it'll never
Speaker 2: be the same. Like what's the point of chasing that.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're a Panthers fancy. You've had a tough week.
Speaker 2: That's why.
Speaker 3: That's how it was with Cam. That's how once Cam left,
Speaker 3: I'd like, I'm a Panthers fans. A strong word is
Speaker 3: how I'll put it.
Speaker 2: You've been busy. They got you, just like doing the
Speaker 2: whole podcast circuit. You did Mina show. We should have
Speaker 2: coordinated me and Mina. So it's like it's maybe too
Speaker 2: much ruiz u for the people.
Speaker 3: No, it's not enough. Do people need more? Yeah, they're
Speaker 3: like truck me out playing like Sarah McLaughlin music with
Speaker 3: the sad puppies, Like that's who I am.
Speaker 2: Uh, it is tough. What is what is your opinion
Speaker 2: of the Here we go? Sure, yeah, here we go?
Speaker 2: Like do you hear it while you're walking around. Is
Speaker 2: it just like part of your life like it is
Speaker 2: mine at this point?
Speaker 3: It is I and I didn't really notice it until
Speaker 3: people started pointing it out. I always felt like Cam
Speaker 3: Newton had a weird one too, so I'm like kind
Speaker 3: of partial to them, and I don't hate.
Speaker 2: It like everyone what were Cams? He was always high
Speaker 2: in my Cadence rankings. He had a nice deep voice.
Speaker 2: But I can't think of him right off.
Speaker 3: I think it was similar. I think it might have
Speaker 3: been here we go.
Speaker 2: Mmmm, yeah, no, no, no.
Speaker 3: There's like it was.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 3: It was like ready. It was something like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ready, but nice and deep and and DA's just
Speaker 2: got that base. Yeah. It really started for me in
Speaker 2: the Rams game. I don't know why I didn't notice
Speaker 2: it before then. I still want to get on Pete
Speaker 2: Carroll before we go, just because of the way they've
Speaker 2: built this team, Like as I see Jamal Adams getting
Speaker 2: pressures but not really finishing the play on those blitzes,
Speaker 2: and when I see him like in position but not
Speaker 2: doing anything about the ball when the ball's in the
Speaker 2: air and they're throwing it to Jake Ferguson to win
Speaker 2: the game, and there were there were other plays like that,
Speaker 2: and I think about what they gave up for Adams,
Speaker 2: and I know he's gotten hurt and Wagner it has
Speaker 2: been good, but you know he'll get frozen a little
Speaker 2: bit and coverage like on that first tight end and
Speaker 2: that first touchdown, he's not even moving and then you
Speaker 2: know Darryl Taylor's bouncing off him. And I just think
Speaker 2: of all the picks, and they traded that pick for
Speaker 2: Leonard Williams's second round pick, and I just think they
Speaker 2: came into this game twenty third in DVA. I know
Speaker 2: it's the Cowboys, but the Cowboys looked as good or
Speaker 2: better against this defense then they've looked against anyone. So
Speaker 2: that net number is going to go down to like
Speaker 2: twenty six. It's a defensive coach. They've been above average
Speaker 2: one time steven since twenty seventeen in terms of DVOA,
Speaker 2: and they were thirteenth that year in the COVID year.
Speaker 2: So even that year, it's not like they were great.
Speaker 2: It's like, I don't know, I don't really believe in
Speaker 2: building around defense anyways, but they've put too much into
Speaker 2: it to me for this whole thing to make any
Speaker 2: sense because the offense, like it's you've got like a
Speaker 2: good quarterback, but you don't have you don't have a
Speaker 2: top five quarterback, need your defense in running game to
Speaker 2: help out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough. I think Pete Carroll's a good head coach,
Speaker 3: but I agree with it's kind of like the Belichick
Speaker 3: thing where you got to separate the coach from the
Speaker 3: team builder.
Speaker 2: I think he's a good coach too, And it's not
Speaker 2: like a total thing. It's just their defense is disappointing,
Speaker 2: Like it's very often less than the summer of their parts.
Speaker 2: And he's a defensive coach. It's never certain more than
Speaker 2: the some of their parts. You would think just by
Speaker 2: randomness they would luck into like a number six defense
Speaker 2: season one of these years, but they don't. I'm really
Speaker 2: surprised they're below average. I'm surprised.
Speaker 3: No, Like, And that was kind of the point I
Speaker 3: was gonna make. I think, like the thing that we
Speaker 3: kind of overrate with Carol maybe is his defensive mastery
Speaker 3: or whatever you want to call it. Like, I think
Speaker 3: that's the overrated part. I think the way like he
Speaker 3: motivates a locker room and keeps a team together, I
Speaker 3: think that's the secret stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But like his best defense is I mean, give me
Speaker 3: five Hall of Famers and I give you like a
Speaker 3: top fifteen defense at least, Like he had Earl Thomas
Speaker 3: and he had Richard Sherman and that like that wasn't
Speaker 3: even how his reputation was built. His reputation was built
Speaker 3: on like the nineties forty nine ers who had like
Speaker 3: ten Hall of Favors on their roster.
Speaker 2: Well, he did it at USC two, and it was
Speaker 2: like it was the right defense for that time.
Speaker 3: They had talent on that team too, though.
Speaker 2: Right, right, And it's the it's the Belichick Brady argument.
Speaker 2: It's it's the Walsh like Montana. It's always symbiotic, like
Speaker 2: that's football. That was the right He was the right
Speaker 2: coach for those groups of players and he and he
Speaker 2: was right to target the certain body types and any
Speaker 2: hit he hit the lottery and he made it like
Speaker 2: maxed it out, you know, except for finishing out that
Speaker 2: Super Bowl against Patriots, but you know he maxed it up.
Speaker 2: But that was a five year run in the in
Speaker 2: the defense. You know, it's it's no longer happened.
Speaker 3: By the way, did you notice the moment then they
Speaker 3: had fourth and one at the end of the half.
Speaker 3: No threw it. They threw it, Seattle threw it again,
Speaker 3: and they threw the slant. It was like the same
Speaker 3: route combination too. They threw the slant genolant. Russ couldn't
Speaker 3: complete it. Difference in the Super.
Speaker 2: Bowl, right and uh man, now I forget because I
Speaker 2: was running around at one point and then caught back up.
Speaker 2: The Seahawks also ran like the same concept as the
Speaker 2: Patriots go ahead touchdown in the Super Bowl. Like pretty
Speaker 2: I mean that the Cowboys ran the same concept right
Speaker 2: against the seahawkss. But basically the Patriots had run to
Speaker 2: go ahead. So it was like a it was a
Speaker 2: fun little vintage night. We got dan Quinn, we got
Speaker 2: it all. This was beautiful. We didn't have a punt,
Speaker 2: we got all these penalties. This was it. This was
Speaker 2: the game to have. Stephen ruiz On, I appreciate it. Steven.
Speaker 2: Where can we check out your work? I know where
Speaker 2: it's the Ringer? What day? What days are your podcasts on?
Speaker 2: Give give me the give me the.
Speaker 3: Lowdown Wednesdays and Monday mornings.
Speaker 2: Okay, In the Ring of NFL feed, you've got the
Speaker 2: quarterback rankings yeah, Wednesday, we should have like a quarterback
Speaker 2: rankings off between you and our new QB Index writer
Speaker 2: Nick Shook.
Speaker 3: I read his every week. I keep an eye on
Speaker 3: the competition.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he's great and he helps us out on
Speaker 2: our Sunday nights because look, you you've been doing this
Speaker 2: while he's been doing it a while, not too but
Speaker 2: just started the QB thing. But he's bigger than you.
Speaker 2: Like he's just like an intimidating looking guy. Like he's huge.
Speaker 3: So all right, then his quarterback rankings are the best.
Speaker 1: Just know that.
Speaker 2: No, I just want I just wanted to know. You've
Speaker 2: probably never seen him. Just like check out, check out Shook.
Speaker 2: We call him the Pipe, just check out like his
Speaker 2: little av I. But yeah, people should check out Steven.
Speaker 2: I've been following his work now for a while. Stephen
Speaker 2: is young and yet now he's a veteran. He's been
Speaker 2: in the game a while and people should, uh should
Speaker 2: read everything he writes and check him out on the podcast.
Speaker 2: That will do it for tonight. It was a on one.
Speaker 3: It was a great one. It was it was great
Speaker 3: talking to talking to you about it.
Speaker 2: Uh, it's Stephen Ruie's week is over. But the podcast
Speaker 2: never ends. We will be back on Sunday with the
Speaker 2: flagship show. Until then, Heed the call, h
Speaker 3: M.