Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This is the player's
Speaker 1: label broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star.
Speaker 1: Now your hosts, Barry Church, Danny McCrae, and NEWI scrugs.
Speaker 1: It is Friday, week number two of the National Football
Speaker 1: League season, Cowboys taking on the Falcons both teams oh
Speaker 1: and one. I am wearing my victory green since the
Speaker 1: Dallas Stars will begin playing the Stanley Cup Final tomorrow
Speaker 1: on NBC against Tampa Bay. So hopefully the Cowboys can
Speaker 1: get a little taste of winning from the Dallas Stars.
Speaker 1: But fellas, let's start off the show here with the
Speaker 1: fact I'm at Defcon five right now with this offensive lune.
Speaker 1: Tyrann Smith did not practice yesterday. Tyren Smith has a
Speaker 1: neck injury that popped up during individual drills this week.
Speaker 1: According to Mike McCarthy, So, Danny McCray, Ferry Church, former
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboy's Safeties, I'm merely new, he scrugs. Man, I'm worried.
Speaker 1: I'm a death coming five here. You could have two
Speaker 1: tackles not playing on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. Lell
Speaker 1: Collins is not gonna be in the game. He's already
Speaker 1: on injured reserve. Talk me off the ledge, man, take
Speaker 1: me off the ledge. I'm worried. Yeah, man, this I'll
Speaker 1: go ahead, go ahead, MC, go ahead. Yeah, I can't
Speaker 1: talk y'all this ledge. Knew you might want to go
Speaker 1: ahead and jump. Uh. I just not just have like
Speaker 1: flashbacks and I keep seeing the vision of what happened
Speaker 1: last time Tyra was not in the game against Atlanta,
Speaker 1: and I can't get rid of it. And I don't
Speaker 1: think the coaching staff matters. It's a player thing, right,
Speaker 1: So no matter who you put out there, we already
Speaker 1: got somebody being focused on on the right tackle. Who
Speaker 1: the defensive focusing it all? Now you're telling me that
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator, and actually the head coach who was
Speaker 1: a defensive guy in Atlanta gets to say, we have
Speaker 1: two subs in both tackles on both sides. This must
Speaker 1: be Christmas. So I'm nervous, man, I'm nervous. I need
Speaker 1: him to play. But you know, just like LV those
Speaker 1: neck injuries and him in the bad back, that stuff
Speaker 1: is rolling together and those are the things that are very,
Speaker 1: very harmful to the careers of NFL players. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I'm worried. I'm worried just as much as you guys.
Speaker 1: I mean deathcon five, I mean this if he does
Speaker 1: if Tyren Smith does not play in this game, I mean,
Speaker 1: this could be one of the most monumental injuries ever.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, Dani already pointed out, you got Brandon
Speaker 1: Still at the right tackle spot filling in for Lyle Collins. Now,
Speaker 1: he was an undrafted rookie free agent. He had his
Speaker 1: first NFL start last week versus the Rams, and you know,
Speaker 1: he didn't perform very well. But you know, I see
Speaker 1: as time goes on, he can only get better from there.
Speaker 1: But the only problem is, I don't know if we
Speaker 1: have time to wait for him to develop into that
Speaker 1: right tackle spot. We go to the interiors part of
Speaker 1: the line. You know, Zach Martin, I feel like he
Speaker 1: graded out low last week, But I don't see you
Speaker 1: two bad games coming from him back to back. He's
Speaker 1: just too good of a player. So that brings me
Speaker 1: to Joe Looney and Connor Williams, who both struggle mighty
Speaker 1: League against Aaron Donald. Now, Aaron Donald, you know, the
Speaker 1: defensive player of the year, most officive linemen are gonna
Speaker 1: struggle with him. But this week, I mean, they don't
Speaker 1: have a scrub over. They're in Grady Jared. I mean,
Speaker 1: this guy is a perennial pass rusher and can give
Speaker 1: them them, give them problems and force pressure on them.
Speaker 1: So they're gonna have to step up their game on
Speaker 1: the inside. And that what brings me to Tyron Smith.
Speaker 1: The left tackle. This is one of the premier positions
Speaker 1: on the officive line, usually reserved for your best offensive linemen.
Speaker 1: It's the blind side, the guy that's protecting the quarterback
Speaker 1: as he's going through his progressions. And we have already
Speaker 1: heard Dak Prescott this week talking about he wants to
Speaker 1: take more shots downfield. But I just don't understand how
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to do that if Tyron
Speaker 1: Smith's not in there. This is a guy that's protecting
Speaker 1: your blind spot. I don't see Dak Prescott bring too
Speaker 1: comfortable going through his progression and waiting for that deep
Speaker 1: rot to develop. So this injury right here, I mean
Speaker 1: it could be monumental on two phases. It can affect
Speaker 1: a passing game and it can affect how Zeke Elliott
Speaker 1: is controlled in the run game. This is Deacon five.
Speaker 1: I'm worried for the boys, Nili, I'm worried. Players Lounge
Speaker 1: brought to you by Hotels dot Com. All right, McCray,
Speaker 1: we're talking about looking at at a possibility of having
Speaker 1: Terrance Steel started right tackle again. Maybe they flipped it up,
Speaker 1: but I'm assuming he'll go to right You've got Brandon Knight,
Speaker 1: who made one start last year for the Cowboys that
Speaker 1: was at right tackle. Then Alex Light was signed on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: and that's a guy that Mike McCarthy has worked with
Speaker 1: right here, But you're talking about three your top three
Speaker 1: tackles missing action against the Atlanta Falcons because Cam Irving
Speaker 1: is also on injured reserve, So Tyrant Smith possibly couldn't
Speaker 1: be there. It could possibly not be there. Jerry Jones said,
Speaker 1: will be a game time decision. Mike McCarthy was very
Speaker 1: vague about what was gonna happen. He said he still
Speaker 1: need quote Uno more information, but we know Collins and
Speaker 1: Irving will not be there. Tat McKinley is one of
Speaker 1: the Falcons pass rushers here, a guy in the Cowboys
Speaker 1: looked at trying to possibly draft, but they couldn't because
Speaker 1: Atlanta traded up, got him in. The Cowboys got stuck
Speaker 1: with Taco Charlton and passed on t J. Watt. But
Speaker 1: that's another conversation. And they've also got one of one
Speaker 1: of buried Churches old teammates from Jacksonville and Dante Fowler Junior.
Speaker 1: So these are the guys that you've got to be
Speaker 1: looking at if you're the Cowboys, who can come off
Speaker 1: this edge here and look if you're attacking, if you're
Speaker 1: a Fowler, you're looking your chops here. If you get
Speaker 1: to go against these young and inexperienced guys. Listen, you
Speaker 1: you damn bad, bad bad Listen. I'm rusty. I'm rusty.
Speaker 1: I miss yesterday, my bad go ahead, go ahead and
Speaker 1: go ahead forty two. Oh no, no, it's all good.
Speaker 1: I was just gonna say, like, um, you know, Dante Fouler,
Speaker 1: I was a teammate of this for two years down
Speaker 1: in Jacksonville, and this, I'm like gonna said, Grady Jared
Speaker 1: was no scrub. This guy got paid for a reason.
Speaker 1: I'm mean to me, he's just as athletic as a
Speaker 1: tank Lawrence, much faster. He just doesn't have that that
Speaker 1: perennial pass rush moves that tank Lawrence has, but he's
Speaker 1: a little scrub out there. So whoever they do put
Speaker 1: out there on that right tackle spot, um, I believe
Speaker 1: it'll be still it's not going to have an easy
Speaker 1: day in the park. So all this offensive line they
Speaker 1: need to step their game up because they're not going
Speaker 1: against any scrubs out there. And if they want to
Speaker 1: implement this offense to where they where they needed to beat,
Speaker 1: you know, deep shots, play action, all that stuff, they're
Speaker 1: gonna need to secure this front line and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to do it without Tyren Smith. Listen. And
Speaker 1: to add on to that, I just remember, and this
Speaker 1: is for news and some of the other people who
Speaker 1: you know me also, when we did not protect um,
Speaker 1: you know Tyren Smith's replacement was it, I forget the same.
Speaker 1: But when last time Chad Green we did we did.
Speaker 1: We didn't protect them, and we got after the game,
Speaker 1: everybody was like, hey man, the play calling right, We
Speaker 1: should have put somebody out there to help them this
Speaker 1: and that. It's the same situation this week, except it
Speaker 1: was the same since watching last week is what we
Speaker 1: didn't see it. So if you don't find a way
Speaker 1: to run some plays to slow down those pass rushers,
Speaker 1: create some misdirection to open up some time and take
Speaker 1: a little pressure off those tackles. If we don't see that,
Speaker 1: and we're going back to whin, it's McCarthy going to
Speaker 1: snatch the play sheet, right, because if we don't see that,
Speaker 1: I'm putting it on McCarthy and Kelly Moore if we
Speaker 1: go if we go out there and we somehow have
Speaker 1: to watch the game and we're like, man the right
Speaker 1: and left left tackle or struggling, and why aren't they
Speaker 1: getting them any help? This isn't just on Keller Moore.
Speaker 1: This is on the entire offensive coaching staff, including Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 1: So we need to see specifically since we know that
Speaker 1: these are the weaknesses of our team. If these two
Speaker 1: tackles don't play well, if Turing doesn't playing, we already
Speaker 1: have a replacement that right, The game plan should be
Speaker 1: something to create misdirection and slow these guys down so
Speaker 1: they can negate that pass rushing to open up some
Speaker 1: shots down the field. All Right, a name we haven't
Speaker 1: mentioned from the coaching staff that Cowboy fans need to
Speaker 1: go ahead and remember if you don't already, the name
Speaker 1: is Joe Filbin Joe Philbin, former coach to the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: longtime offensive line coach from Mike McCarthy with the Packers.
Speaker 1: He is the Cowboys offensive line coach. Joe Philbin has
Speaker 1: got his work cut out and this needs to be
Speaker 1: his finest hour here for the Cowboys because McCarthy would
Speaker 1: not give away if they were going to go with
Speaker 1: some different types of combinations. Um if I if Tyrn
Speaker 1: was out meaning okay, could could they decide to flip
Speaker 1: Carter Williams at the tackles about he didn't want to
Speaker 1: go and give anything away here. So to me, this
Speaker 1: is gonna be really interesting on how Joe Philbin gets
Speaker 1: these guys ready to go, because this is truly what
Speaker 1: your old line coach has to do. Because also within
Speaker 1: trying to set the five guys, if Smith is out,
Speaker 1: you've also got to think about what if someone gets hurt?
Speaker 1: You know, I, if Connor Williams is hurting the game, okay,
Speaker 1: who's who's gonna go there? Um? You know if if
Speaker 1: Steele has hurting the game. Maybe these are things you
Speaker 1: have to think about and and go to and also
Speaker 1: how you change who's on special team. So there's a
Speaker 1: big challenge here for this team. And that's why I
Speaker 1: say I'm at Defcon five right now, worried about this
Speaker 1: offensive line, an area we all thought was going to
Speaker 1: be good coming into Sunday's critical game against Atlantic. Because
Speaker 1: you don't want to follow over two. It's the first
Speaker 1: Cowboys home game of the year. Mc craig, Who I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm straight up worried, man. I am worried because you
Speaker 1: should be. This could get ugly if if they don't
Speaker 1: do it right. And I think you were on point
Speaker 1: talking about all right, you you can't. You can't sit
Speaker 1: around here and run your regular offense. You got to
Speaker 1: make the adjustments. That's what coaching is is trying to
Speaker 1: cover up your awards here. So you may need some
Speaker 1: three three step drops, It may be some bubble screens
Speaker 1: that you got to go ahead and get this ball
Speaker 1: out quick. Do not let Tach McKinley and let Fowler
Speaker 1: junior mccraig get going in. If listen, if I don't
Speaker 1: see a zone read with Zeke and back to where
Speaker 1: you're putting the defensive ends in a in a tough
Speaker 1: situation and then playing off that with play action and
Speaker 1: shots down the field. If they don't set it up
Speaker 1: with that based on what we have at tackle, then
Speaker 1: I don't. I have no idea what we're doing because
Speaker 1: it's not that many ways to slow him down. But
Speaker 1: anytime you can get somebody thinking and overthinking on the
Speaker 1: football field, that is great for you. Right. So we
Speaker 1: just need to find a way to get that done
Speaker 1: or it's gonna be a long game, which really will
Speaker 1: be a short game because we'll get blown out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they just gotta kind of take a page
Speaker 1: from the Rams playbook. Like last week. I mean, we
Speaker 1: talked to Will and he told us the recipe it was.
Speaker 1: They turned it into a lateral game instead of a
Speaker 1: vertical game. Now, we know we want to see more
Speaker 1: shots from Dak Prescott, but with this package, this patchwork
Speaker 1: offensive line, if Turnsmith is out, we know they're gonna
Speaker 1: bring from within. As what Will said the other day,
Speaker 1: we're gonna promote from within. So with this patchwork offensive line,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're gonna have to turn it into a
Speaker 1: latical game, bub bubble screens, wide receiver screens, quick game,
Speaker 1: three step drop, and they're gonna have to get it
Speaker 1: out of his hands fast. Because I just don't see
Speaker 1: that offtive line holding up well against those pass rushers
Speaker 1: before it land. Did you guys watch the Cleveland game
Speaker 1: last night. Yeah, and not to be on Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: but the Cincinnati offensive line is not good. No, but
Speaker 1: Cincinnati did find a way to get the ball down
Speaker 1: the field. So it's not impossible. So I don't want
Speaker 1: us to go into the game and say, hey man,
Speaker 1: we can't do it, because you know, X, y Z
Speaker 1: teams are able to get it done. They're able to
Speaker 1: coach this stuff up, and they're able to find a
Speaker 1: way to push the ball down the field and score
Speaker 1: some points. All right, So it's not it's not an
Speaker 1: impossible task, and it's something that we should be able
Speaker 1: to do and the offensive coaching staff should be able
Speaker 1: to figure out how to get this done in the game.
Speaker 1: I tell McCraw here a loud and clear through these
Speaker 1: bows headphones. I like where your head's at. I remember
Speaker 1: last year when the forty nine ers lost their two
Speaker 1: offensive tackles for a game, and it might have been
Speaker 1: two games that they lost both starting tackles, and Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan ended up winning both of those games. I know
Speaker 1: he won one of them. For sure, but I believe
Speaker 1: he was two weeks he had to do it in
Speaker 1: the row, and he got he got through it, and
Speaker 1: of course we know the Niners ended up playing in
Speaker 1: the super Bowl. It was these injuries had happened earlier
Speaker 1: in the year, so you are on point. This is
Speaker 1: where the coaching comes in. And the way Jason Garrett
Speaker 1: had done it, it was, Hey, look, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: who we are and we're not gonna give guys help.
Speaker 1: I want Mike McCarthy to give guys help here. And
Speaker 1: so whether it's Blake Bell or it's the rookie um
Speaker 1: Sean mckinn from Michigan, who's a bet, who's their best
Speaker 1: blocking tight end, put somebody out there and help chip
Speaker 1: um do help these guys. You just cannot leave these
Speaker 1: tackles out here by themselves. You're gonna have to help
Speaker 1: him here. I just feel like that has to be. It.
Speaker 1: M not sure what the game plan is gonna be,
Speaker 1: but to me, just what I'm you know what we
Speaker 1: know of right now. If you're talking about two tackles
Speaker 1: making their second NFL starts, you gotta protect him, man,
Speaker 1: You gotta protect your You got to I mean You're
Speaker 1: completely right. Whether it be Ezekiel coming out of the
Speaker 1: backfield getting a little shoulder chipping there, or if it's
Speaker 1: one of the tight ends chipping on their way out
Speaker 1: to their route. You can't let these guys go on
Speaker 1: there on an island by themselves. One. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't see their confidence being that high to begin with.
Speaker 1: If they're on social media, they're looking at this saying,
Speaker 1: oh man, everybody in their mom thinks we're gonna give
Speaker 1: up one hundred sacks out there. So their confidence can't
Speaker 1: be that high. And but to get it to that,
Speaker 1: to get it to the point where they're successful out there,
Speaker 1: you gotta help them out. You can't leave them on
Speaker 1: an island we saw like Danny, Like Danny pointed out earlier,
Speaker 1: when you leave a guy on an island like Chads Green,
Speaker 1: bad things can happen. And we do not want to
Speaker 1: sit there and watch Dak Prescott take a five step
Speaker 1: drop and get smacked in the back of the head.
Speaker 1: We do not want to see that over and over again.
Speaker 1: We need to show up this off the line, whether
Speaker 1: it be chipping, whether it be quick step, something has
Speaker 1: to happen. But I'm sure these coaches with championship pedigree
Speaker 1: will figure out something to get ready for this Atlanta game.
Speaker 1: All right, McCray, you brought up a point here talking
Speaker 1: about the offense that I want to come back to
Speaker 1: in this and it leads into what Church and I
Speaker 1: were discussing yesterday is the offense is supposed to be
Speaker 1: the best part of this team. Their job is to
Speaker 1: also protect this defense by trying to figure out a
Speaker 1: way to hold onto the ball longer. What we've seen
Speaker 1: from the Cowboys the past two seasons is if you
Speaker 1: leave this defense on the football field for thirty minutes
Speaker 1: or more, you usually are going to have a problem here.
Speaker 1: So they also within these having these two possibly having
Speaker 1: to start, these two young tackles, how can they run
Speaker 1: the football and control the clock? Mcray, because they got
Speaker 1: to protect this DP. The more shots that Mattie Ice
Speaker 1: has on the football field with this offense, the worst
Speaker 1: off is going to be for the Cowboys. Listen, listen.
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones has been saying for years that Dak has
Speaker 1: the potential to be just like Russell Wilson, just like
Speaker 1: Cam as far as being able to run zone reads
Speaker 1: and create a new, a new type of thing in
Speaker 1: the ring game. So use it like this. This is
Speaker 1: a way for them to be able to to add
Speaker 1: another element to the run game. Add back in there
Speaker 1: as another runner. I'm not saying run the power with him,
Speaker 1: but get them some runs out there. Make the teams
Speaker 1: respect him as a runner, and that'll help you in
Speaker 1: every other aspect of the game, right because if you're
Speaker 1: worried about the quarterback being able to take it from
Speaker 1: Zeke and run around the edge, that slows the defensive
Speaker 1: end down. That also slows the defensive end down on
Speaker 1: the read if you hand it off the Zke, and
Speaker 1: that also puts the safety in the box having to
Speaker 1: come down and have to worry about tackling that, and
Speaker 1: that will help you in the play action game. Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones has been asking for this for a while, and
Speaker 1: I think this is a key thing that can help
Speaker 1: the Cowboys be able to run. You know, considering the
Speaker 1: old line maybe you know, maybe not at full strength,
Speaker 1: that's true. I can see them trying to put that
Speaker 1: wrinkle in there every now and then with the zone read.
Speaker 1: I just don't know if Atlanta is gonna respect it enough.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't see Dak Prescott in that same
Speaker 1: athletic ability as you know a Cam Newton or Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson Kenny scram won't get you some yards, of course,
Speaker 1: and I think we'll have to do that as the
Speaker 1: game progresses, especially if Tyrn Smith is out there is
Speaker 1: not out there at left tackle, so I can see
Speaker 1: them trickling a little bit of zone reading there. But
Speaker 1: for me, the most important factor to keep this run
Speaker 1: game going if those opensive linen are down is you
Speaker 1: got to just get a little bit more creative, have
Speaker 1: a little bit of counterplay to your run game started
Speaker 1: out one way to come back the other way. Get
Speaker 1: used Atlanta's aggressiveness like the Rams used are aggressiveness last
Speaker 1: week against them. Have him forced them going one way,
Speaker 1: bring it back, do a lot of you have some
Speaker 1: motion behind the line of scrimage just to get their
Speaker 1: eyes going somewhere else before the snap. So to me,
Speaker 1: I just think they have to stick with that pound game.
Speaker 1: Hopefully Zeke is at his top level and he's able
Speaker 1: to perform well against this Atlanta team, but they got
Speaker 1: to use misdirection, get this defensive lineman's eyes out of
Speaker 1: the backfield and concerned with other things. All right, we
Speaker 1: are at our SWBC Mortgage Virtual home studios for the
Speaker 1: Players Line party by Hotels dot Com. When we come back,
Speaker 1: let's address the defense here. Jalen Smith spoke to the
Speaker 1: media yesterday and cleared up a little confusion that Church
Speaker 1: and I had yesterday. So let's step to that and
Speaker 1: talk about it next right after these messages on the
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Speaker 1: We do it every Tuesday, Monday through Friday right here
Speaker 1: on Dallas Cowboys dot com. I'm gonna scrugs, longtime Cowboys
Speaker 1: reporter joined by two former Cowboys safety's Danny McCray and
Speaker 1: Barry Church. So Jalen Smith met with the media yesterday
Speaker 1: and gave us some pretty good information When Church and
Speaker 1: I were talking yesterday, when McCrae were you off, we
Speaker 1: assume that Jalen would go to the middle linebacker spot
Speaker 1: to replace Lake Vanderesh. But Jalen says no, He's still
Speaker 1: going to be a will linebacker and he will call
Speaker 1: the play. So Joe Thomas is going into the middle
Speaker 1: linebacker spot. So Church, based on our conversation where we
Speaker 1: had yesterday, now that we've got the whole deal straight,
Speaker 1: that Jalen's gonna stay at the will and Joe Thomas
Speaker 1: is in the middle, give me your opinion on Joe
Speaker 1: Thomas having to have that man that spot taken over
Speaker 1: for Vanderesh. For me, this is this is a bit
Speaker 1: of a head scratcher right here. I would assume that
Speaker 1: you know, Jalen Smith, being the most experienced linebacker, would
Speaker 1: go to the mic linebacker. That's usually a role reserved
Speaker 1: for the quarterback of the defense. Sean Lee held that
Speaker 1: down for a very long time, and he'll be calling
Speaker 1: plays but from the will side, and that's that's pretty confusing.
Speaker 1: I've never seen it done before, but I guess it's
Speaker 1: a new day. But if you got Joe Thomas at
Speaker 1: that middle linebacker spot, it scares me a little bit
Speaker 1: because he's not the biggest of statures of man. I mean,
Speaker 1: he middle linebacker position, and as we've seen last week,
Speaker 1: the officive linemen are able to get to the second
Speaker 1: level extremely fast. So that's one thing the defensive line's
Speaker 1: gonna have to correct is just to get those offensive
Speaker 1: linemen off of the linebackers. But usually that's a royal
Speaker 1: reserve for your bigger your bigger linebacker, and Jalen being
Speaker 1: that bigger linebacker, I would assume that he would have
Speaker 1: gone right in there because as a middle linebacker, you've
Speaker 1: gotta be a thumper. You gotta be able to take
Speaker 1: those pulling guards on those fullbacks on. So I'm interested
Speaker 1: to see how long Joe Thomas is gonna be able
Speaker 1: to last in those trenches. But we'll see. I guess
Speaker 1: the Cowboys know something that that I don't, but we'll see.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a little concerned, but I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: back to last week and how they've been been working
Speaker 1: through this whole offseason and maybe Jaylen Smith will not
Speaker 1: be playing will once they get into the game, he'll
Speaker 1: be playing Mike Um. It's a little confusing, and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm kind of starting to wonder and what that says
Speaker 1: about Jalen Smith that they would put the young guy
Speaker 1: in there to handle all that instead of putting Jalen
Speaker 1: Smith in there one Because we have a system now
Speaker 1: to where they say that the that the d lineman
Speaker 1: or two gathering at church. If you remember and knew
Speaker 1: it when when Rob Ryan got here, our D line
Speaker 1: was two gaping and Sean Lee was able to run
Speaker 1: all over the field and just make plays. I would
Speaker 1: see that. It's something a strength of Jalen Smith's right,
Speaker 1: So he should be playing to Mike and he should
Speaker 1: be able to play behind those those two gaps and
Speaker 1: feel wherever he wants to and play based off instinct.
Speaker 1: So I'm a little confused about the will linebacker spot.
Speaker 1: But I'm just gonna chalk that up to they're still
Speaker 1: trying to be secretive and not let the other team
Speaker 1: know what they're doing, or I don't see it lasting
Speaker 1: very long. If the D line is able to do
Speaker 1: what they're supposed to do and successfully two gall uh,
Speaker 1: you know, like they weren't able to do last week.
Speaker 1: You know they're secretive now. So so we just don't
Speaker 1: know what we used to know. But that's what Jalen said.
Speaker 1: And Jalen, by the way, you know, just listening to
Speaker 1: the press comp he was adding, he says, I am
Speaker 1: a will lineback. I'm a real linebacker me. He stated
Speaker 1: it several times to let everyone know this is my position.
Speaker 1: This is where I'm gonna be, and I guess this
Speaker 1: is where he feels feels comfortable. So if Joe Thomas
Speaker 1: is right there, mcraig, do you look for Atlanta to
Speaker 1: try and establish the run by kind of going up
Speaker 1: the middle and then also using that play action passing
Speaker 1: to try and hit their guys Ridley and Julio Jones,
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones deep Because you know, if
Speaker 1: we've seen one thing and if you can make that
Speaker 1: play action pass work with deep threats like that, it
Speaker 1: can be pretty lethal. What what's crazy is they're gonna
Speaker 1: do that anyway, because we are known as a team
Speaker 1: who overpursues Hi and gets out of position and overruns
Speaker 1: bootlegs and and and deep passes. Right, So now you're
Speaker 1: gonna put any young guy in there, and and I
Speaker 1: just don't think it's really gonna work If that's the
Speaker 1: game plan for for Atlanta. Um Like, maybe they know
Speaker 1: something and we don't know and they're really coaching them up,
Speaker 1: or maybe the scheme, the scheme that they're running this
Speaker 1: week just has Jay and fit there. But you know,
Speaker 1: it looked like he's playing something different. That's the only
Speaker 1: way I can see this working because if Atlanta focuses
Speaker 1: on running the ball based off what we saw last week,
Speaker 1: it'll be a long day for the Cowboys. And now
Speaker 1: that you put this guy in here, it might it'll
Speaker 1: be a longer day from him. And you know, and
Speaker 1: nothing against him, we just hadn't seen seeing him be
Speaker 1: able to do it. And you know, I trust Jalen Moore. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And if I'm Atlanta, I'm coming straight at Joe Thomas.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was a fact up for a reason.
Speaker 1: And as we see in the NFL, whenever the new
Speaker 1: guy comes in, offenses go straight to them to see
Speaker 1: what he's all about. So if I'm Atlanta, I'm going
Speaker 1: straight at Joe Thomas, saying if he can thump with
Speaker 1: the best of them, seeing if we can get some
Speaker 1: running game going behind him. But that middle linebacker spot usually,
Speaker 1: like I said that, you should been served for a
Speaker 1: bigger statue of guys because when they go into a zone,
Speaker 1: when they go into a cover two, even if Jalen
Speaker 1: or Vanderas who's really good at this, bites up on
Speaker 1: the run, they're able to get back and use their
Speaker 1: sides to force the quarterback if he is going over
Speaker 1: the middle on a play action to get some error
Speaker 1: underneath there. So with his small stature out there, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure sure how it's gonna work out, but you know,
Speaker 1: hats goes off to Joe Thomas. Hopefully he's able to
Speaker 1: play and play well at that mic linebacker position. Now
Speaker 1: let's let's let's also throw this in here, and remember
Speaker 1: we have Will McClay on it. He brought up Luke Gifford.
Speaker 1: Luke Gifford's bigger than this truth than Joe Thomas. So
Speaker 1: so maybe Luke Gifford is that guy. Once again, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are real secretive about what they're doing and they
Speaker 1: don't allow us to to to you know, say what
Speaker 1: what what people are seeing in practice. So so they're
Speaker 1: kind of like a hockey team. Now, hockey team doesn't
Speaker 1: give you any clue about anybody hurt or leg injury
Speaker 1: or you know, they will, they won't say anything at all.
Speaker 1: So so that's what maybe maybe that's who who's the
Speaker 1: middle linebacker is. It's going to be Gifford. So you know,
Speaker 1: all right, Gifford out there along with Jalen Smith. So
Speaker 1: Gifford at the middle linebacker spot and then then uh
Speaker 1: Jaylen Smith at the whill, so we'll see. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is kind of the this is the interesting part
Speaker 1: about this new Cowboys regime heresy. They're not telling us anything.
Speaker 1: We used to know a whole lot more so, so
Speaker 1: we'll see. And that's why we're talking right here. We're
Speaker 1: telling you Cowboy fans, um, we don't know. So we're
Speaker 1: not gonna sit anyway, not gonna sip you take we
Speaker 1: know where we don't know. We're just assuming. These are options.
Speaker 1: You know, these are the options they have. And you
Speaker 1: gotta look at all the options you have here and
Speaker 1: see what you can do there. But obviously offensive line
Speaker 1: linebacker two spots that we talked about that are our
Speaker 1: issues there. So let me ask this question. Church. I'll
Speaker 1: start with you, how many dbs are you running in
Speaker 1: your base five or six when you have Julio Jones,
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley and the Gage out there, those three good
Speaker 1: receivers plus I Hayden Hearst tight end as well. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm going in an Nickel package. I'm not even
Speaker 1: touching base. I'm going in a Nickel package. And for
Speaker 1: those who don't know the Nickel package, that's let's see,
Speaker 1: that's five defensive backs. So that's what I'm going on,
Speaker 1: and I'm doing that because for the simple fact that
Speaker 1: I don't think Todd Gurley is the same Todd Gurley
Speaker 1: we've seen a couple of years ago who was up
Speaker 1: there for MVP discussion and all that stuff. I think
Speaker 1: he's slowed down a bit, So you don't need I
Speaker 1: don't think you need that heavy front seven in there.
Speaker 1: I don't think you need all four down linemen and
Speaker 1: three linebackers in there just to stop the run. I
Speaker 1: think you can get away with having a nickel presence
Speaker 1: in there, or an extra safety, maybe a b car
Speaker 1: in there as well, who's not extremely great against the run,
Speaker 1: but can cover as well, because you have that guy
Speaker 1: in hating hers out there at tight end. Now. In Baltimore,
Speaker 1: he was not seen as that, you know, big play,
Speaker 1: flashy guy because they had Mark Andrews. But he's able
Speaker 1: to stretch the field and we saw an example of
Speaker 1: that last week when he went against Seattle and he
Speaker 1: had that diving catch. So this is a guy that
Speaker 1: can easily run past linebackers and can outstring safety. So
Speaker 1: I would have another dB on there just to kind
Speaker 1: of get an extra coverage in there. Because I think
Speaker 1: with our front six in there, those two linebackers in
Speaker 1: those four down linemen, I think we can handle the run.
Speaker 1: But I'm definitely adding another defensive back in there to
Speaker 1: help control that passing attack. For Atlanta. You're way more
Speaker 1: optimistic than I am. All right, listen, I'm rolling up
Speaker 1: there in my regular base person there unless they come
Speaker 1: out in any level, just because you know, and this
Speaker 1: may be leading into y'all might find out where I'm
Speaker 1: going with my pick later on. But I don't think
Speaker 1: we can stop the run with what we have. I
Speaker 1: just I just think we're gonna have to dedicate a
Speaker 1: lot of pieces to stop in the run and making um,
Speaker 1: you know, Maddie try to beat us. So I see
Speaker 1: us coming out there, you know, I'm matching their personnels,
Speaker 1: and then whenever they get into those pasting situations, we
Speaker 1: get out there and Nickel, you know, possibly die if
Speaker 1: b car comes out there, you know, I mean, if
Speaker 1: we need another person to come out there and cover
Speaker 1: or tight end or running back. But you know, I'm
Speaker 1: just matching because I think the main focus here is
Speaker 1: being able to stop the run, because if you can't,
Speaker 1: you're not going to be able to defend anything else.
Speaker 1: It's just going to be a very long game and
Speaker 1: the time talent possession will be on Atlanta side. So
Speaker 1: do whatever you have to do to stop the run.
Speaker 1: Mc cray, I agree with you one hundred percent because
Speaker 1: it goes back to that whole time of possession and
Speaker 1: what we've seen from the Cowboys the past few seasons.
Speaker 1: So when you leave that defense out on the field
Speaker 1: for thirty plus minutes, they've got issues. The offense has
Speaker 1: to help carry the defense. So stop and Tied Gurley,
Speaker 1: stopping the run and stopping the play action passing. I
Speaker 1: agree with it all day long because we saw the
Speaker 1: Rams with forty attempts, all right, that was one reason
Speaker 1: why they held the ball for eleven minutes and sixteen
Speaker 1: seconds longer, because they ran the football and ran it
Speaker 1: effectively had over one hundred and fifty yards in the
Speaker 1: football game. I remember when the Rams played the Cowboys
Speaker 1: last year at Jerry World, Ty Gurley only had twenty
Speaker 1: yards and didn't have a whole lot of carries. And
Speaker 1: when Todd Gurley gets his numbers up twenty one and
Speaker 1: twenty five times a game, it's almost ninety five percent
Speaker 1: of the time ends up in a victory. And now
Speaker 1: it was for the old La Rams. But you get
Speaker 1: tied Gurley's numbers up like that, you got an opportunity
Speaker 1: to win the game. And that's gonna be the same
Speaker 1: thing with Ezekie Elliot. You know, you get Zeke's numbers
Speaker 1: up there in the twenty twenty five range, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are gonna have an excellent chance to win because running
Speaker 1: the football is what they want to do. Let's get
Speaker 1: our second time out right here on the players Launchbot
Speaker 1: by Hotels dot Com. I'm newscruns joined by former Cowboys
Speaker 1: safeties Danny McCrae and Barry Charge. Hey, they're Cowboys fans.
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Speaker 1: the Gaylord Lot at the Star in Frisco. For details,
Speaker 1: visit the Star in Frisco dot com. I wonder if
Speaker 1: they'll air the Stars game on Saturday nights. The Stars
Speaker 1: get ready for the Stanley Cup. They're gonna take on
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Lightning. I am excited about this, gentleman.
Speaker 1: We do not see championships in our city very often.
Speaker 1: He Okay, the last championship we saw was twenty eleven.
Speaker 1: That was the Dallas Mavericks in a six game victory
Speaker 1: over the Miami Heat. Was a beat Lebron James and
Speaker 1: d Wade and Chris Bosh. And then a few months
Speaker 1: later the Rangers had an opportunity to win the World Series.
Speaker 1: We all know how happened in that Game six, which
Speaker 1: forced the Game seven and Saint Louis wonted. Stars haven't
Speaker 1: won the Cup since nineteen ninety nine, haven't played for
Speaker 1: since two thousand, so twenty years and here's a local
Speaker 1: team playing for a championship. I'm excited about it, and
Speaker 1: hopefully the Stars could bring this thing home. Four wins
Speaker 1: away from winning the Stanley Cup. So I'm excited about that, guys.
Speaker 1: Shout out to the Stars from Houston, off and the
Speaker 1: lately so sorry, I'm good with that. Nobody hot heaven.
Speaker 1: Stop to the Stars and shout out to the boy
Speaker 1: Dirk out there. Man. He brought that championship home back
Speaker 1: in twenty eleven. Man, So shout out to that boy Dirt.
Speaker 1: It's hard to win championships, fellas. It is absolutely hard,
Speaker 1: by the way. You know, McCray, you missed some of
Speaker 1: our NBA talk the other day. But how about Janisana
Speaker 1: Tacoupo winning his second MVP. But now there's a lot
Speaker 1: of swirling about whether or not Yannis is going to
Speaker 1: sign a lucrative deal this offseason, and maybe he'll play
Speaker 1: out his final year with the Bucks. And then you
Speaker 1: got people you know, thinking about suiting it up and
Speaker 1: just saying, figure out how can they lure Jannis to
Speaker 1: their team In twenty twenty one, Yannis will be a
Speaker 1: could be a free agent. Kawhi Leonard could be a
Speaker 1: free agent. Man. This NBA next next summer could be
Speaker 1: pretty interesting. Yeah, extremely interesting. I mean, go ahead, my bad, yea.
Speaker 1: Where's where's he going? He's going to Brooklyn. He gonna
Speaker 1: go out there with Kyrie and uh, Kyrie and KD.
Speaker 1: I mean, you need three, you need three if you're
Speaker 1: gonna win. So he better pick the right place. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't understand why he want to say I'm Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: But I mean, you know what do I know you
Speaker 1: need to get out of Milwaukee because no disrespect, but nobody, no, no,
Speaker 1: the free agents are trying to go up to Milwaukee. Man,
Speaker 1: it just gets too cold up there. Anybody trying to
Speaker 1: go out. And that's that's the issue, that is the issue.
Speaker 1: I remember Chris Bosh when he was playing in Toronto.
Speaker 1: He was like, I can't guys, I can't get guys
Speaker 1: to come here. And d Wade did not want to
Speaker 1: go to Cleveland and and that's why they all ended
Speaker 1: up in Miami. So when you start to think about
Speaker 1: teams that are there, Dallas Mavericks might have an opportunity
Speaker 1: because if you're Yannis, having a guy like Luca dont
Speaker 1: gets you the ball and then playing with a Kris
Speaker 1: STAPs portzingis because Chris STAPs likes to operate outside a
Speaker 1: lot too, so that could allow Yannis to go down
Speaker 1: low and get inside. So I mean this I'm just
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'm just saying if he decided
Speaker 1: to give a team a look, Dallas would be a
Speaker 1: very interesting look for Yannis because two other European players,
Speaker 1: guys that like to share the ball. This could be fun.
Speaker 1: You got the kool Ai going right and not annoy
Speaker 1: you got the koul a going. I know you're happy
Speaker 1: to the stars. I know you're happy about the stars.
Speaker 1: But but Yannis is not coming to Dallas with port
Speaker 1: Zingis and Luca. All right, I'll tell you where he's
Speaker 1: not going. He's not going to your Houston Rockets. And
Speaker 1: tell you that right now. You never got rust. Don't
Speaker 1: know what's going on. We don't know what's going right now.
Speaker 1: I know we do that. That's why, that's why it's
Speaker 1: possible they might just redo this whole thing and we
Speaker 1: might get Yannis. All right, So I don't know. He's
Speaker 1: definitely not playing with Harden. After after what Harden said,
Speaker 1: He's definitely not playing the Harden. Your boy, your boy
Speaker 1: Tillman for Tita's not paying that kind of money. You
Speaker 1: got Russ on one of those crazy kind of How
Speaker 1: how long is Russ making forty million bucks a year?
Speaker 1: I mean forever in the day and they've given away
Speaker 1: draft picks. No, bro, there's no improving that to You're
Speaker 1: not about to get no superstars. You're stuck with that,
Speaker 1: and good luck on the first time assistant that they're
Speaker 1: gonna hire for this job here, I mean, good good
Speaker 1: luck on that man till he's cheap. That's Lakers are
Speaker 1: six baby ke Lakers and six. I'm like, I learned
Speaker 1: to give up the Rockets two years ago when they
Speaker 1: when James Harden was choking every time he got to
Speaker 1: Game seven. So you know, I'm not I'm not worried
Speaker 1: that the Rockets did not get me excited. All right,
Speaker 1: let's step back into the Cowboys and more importantly, Danny
Speaker 1: one of your favorites your fantasy team here, Amari Cooper
Speaker 1: um did take part in the mock game today that
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy said the team held. So uh, your boy
Speaker 1: Cooper okay, held out of practice Thursday, but good to
Speaker 1: go and and expect to see him out there for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcon. So there we go, Mary Cooper should
Speaker 1: be out. God listen, I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 1: why I drafted the guy man. You know last year
Speaker 1: it was the same thing. Then all of a sudden
Speaker 1: he had a handstring even before we won, and now
Speaker 1: was a foot I'm just you know, nothing against him,
Speaker 1: but as far as as far as fantasy goes, it's
Speaker 1: too much stress, worried about him every Thursday, showing up
Speaker 1: on an injury report and watching him in the game.
Speaker 1: Watching him in the game, you know, we're not throwing
Speaker 1: no deep passes. He not looking like what he looked
Speaker 1: like when he first came here and then got him
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollars. It's just too stressful. If I
Speaker 1: might trade him, I don't know, I might trade it,
Speaker 1: but I do hope you have a good game. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start him, and I hope his foot is all right,
Speaker 1: and I hope we thought the ball, you know, deep
Speaker 1: down the field, or give him the reverse pass or something.
Speaker 1: I don't do something for the guy one hundred million.
Speaker 1: We need to see what it looked like, because right
Speaker 1: now it's not looking like that. The panic, I like it.
Speaker 1: I like the panic. Two weeks in the panic, I
Speaker 1: think you'll be okay. I really do it, because what
Speaker 1: do we always know? We're gonna get out of mar
Speaker 1: You're gonna get your thousand yards from him here, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna get your bevy of touchdowns. This game is
Speaker 1: also at home, Danny, and that's where we've seen Amara
Speaker 1: Cooper eat. Is at home, so you should be good
Speaker 1: on that. Here's something that I wanted to bring up
Speaker 1: here that has um when I think about the Cowboys offense. One,
Speaker 1: they don't get enough conversions in the red zone. That's
Speaker 1: been a problem here for the past couple of seasons.
Speaker 1: It was a problem last week against the Rams. Got
Speaker 1: to do a better job of converting those red zones
Speaker 1: because one of the things we know is that Atlanta
Speaker 1: will give them up to you. The Seattle Seahawks allowed
Speaker 1: they got themselves five touchdowns at eleven possessions last week.
Speaker 1: Cowboys got to take advantage of the fact that Atlanta
Speaker 1: will let you score. They've got to get touchdowns and
Speaker 1: not have a bunch of field goals in this football game.
Speaker 1: That's my opinion there Church which thinking, oh yeah, they
Speaker 1: gotta secure to secure, to secure to touchdown when they
Speaker 1: get into the red zone. Like you said last week,
Speaker 1: Chris Carson and them boys, Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf,
Speaker 1: they were able to do whatever they wanted once they
Speaker 1: got to the red zona, run the ball, pass the ball,
Speaker 1: whatever they wanted. So for me, for the Cowboys that
Speaker 1: have success offensively this week, they gotta put the ball
Speaker 1: in the end so they can't settle for you know,
Speaker 1: three points here, three points there, because all that's gonna
Speaker 1: do is just keep Atlanta in the game. I think
Speaker 1: we gotta put our foot on their neck and just
Speaker 1: pretty much shut them down from the start. We gotta start,
Speaker 1: We gotta start the game fast. We didn't do that
Speaker 1: last week. We la stuck around and ended up winning
Speaker 1: the game. So we just gotta step on the neck
Speaker 1: early and pretty much when we had those opportunities to
Speaker 1: cash in, we gotta go ahead and do it because
Speaker 1: either either that or Atlanta's gonna stick around and what
Speaker 1: they're passing attack, who knows what's going to happen. So
Speaker 1: we just got to put them to bed early. Let
Speaker 1: me tell you this, all right, let me tell you
Speaker 1: this just so we can clear this up. You know,
Speaker 1: whatever happened last week is irrelevant. The Dallas Cowboys are
Speaker 1: not the Seattle Seahawks, all right. So just just because
Speaker 1: you know, Seattle went down there and put a whooping
Speaker 1: whipping on Atlanta, does not mean we're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to do the same thing. So I'm not even looking
Speaker 1: for that same type of stuff that The reality is
Speaker 1: we put up seventeen points last week, all right, So
Speaker 1: we need to find a way to get our offense clicking.
Speaker 1: So I really don't even see it see it being
Speaker 1: that high scoring of a game. We need to get
Speaker 1: something rolling. Like you said, we talked about the first segment.
Speaker 1: Our old line is in trouble, so putting up points,
Speaker 1: you know, it's you know, just based off what we
Speaker 1: have going on the field. Possibly it's not going to
Speaker 1: be easy and we're gonna have to match that. I
Speaker 1: brought this up, you know, I wrote this down for
Speaker 1: we gotta hear my guy, Julio. I think y'all talked
Speaker 1: about tray Hunt Diggs, you know, and how Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: had all the faith in them yesterday. Did y'all talk
Speaker 1: about that? Yes, yes, we did, all right. Twenty twelve
Speaker 1: Julio five catches, one hundred and twenty nine yards. Twenty
Speaker 1: fifteen Julio twelve catches, one hundred sixty four yards, two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and twenty seventeen he had a we call it an
Speaker 1: off year. He had sixty fifty seven but they won
Speaker 1: the game. Twenty eighteen, he had six catches on hundred
Speaker 1: eighteen yards in a touchdown. He's averaging one hundred seventeen
Speaker 1: yards and almost a touchdown per game on us. McCarthy
Speaker 1: wasn't here. But the faith that you're showing on them,
Speaker 1: hopefully we have a way to double team. This guy
Speaker 1: is showing some extra attention because just just saying that
Speaker 1: we're gonna roll out there and do it we usually do.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's gonna work against this dude. All right,
Speaker 1: so let's get into it, fellas. What's what's the prediction here?
Speaker 1: What's the prediction for the game? Church? I'm gonna start
Speaker 1: with you here. My prediction for this game, I got it.
Speaker 1: I got a little bit different than a d MAC.
Speaker 1: I got a little more high scoring. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go thirty eight thirty two Cowboys in this one. And
Speaker 1: for me, the key to this game it has to
Speaker 1: all rely on the defense. In my opinion, got I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna come down to the defense that makes
Speaker 1: the biggest stop or makes the first turnover. And for
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys, they have to make Atlanta one dimensional.
Speaker 1: I know it's gonna be harder than or it's gonna
Speaker 1: be harder than you know, it's easier said than done,
Speaker 1: but they gotta make this team one dimensional. They have
Speaker 1: to slow down or stop talking Gurley and force Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan to go back there in his five step drops
Speaker 1: and throw the ball downfield, chuck the ball downfield to
Speaker 1: get to get their offense rolling. I feel like if
Speaker 1: they if we can do that, if we can make
Speaker 1: this team one dimensional, it brings out the best in
Speaker 1: our defensive line. It lets them to be aggressive and
Speaker 1: lets them get after the quarterback. And let's d Law
Speaker 1: Alvin Smith, Tyrn Crawford and them boys do it do
Speaker 1: they do best, and that's get after the quarterback. So
Speaker 1: we gotta make this team one dimensional. Like I said,
Speaker 1: it's easier said than done, but I believe it's plausible
Speaker 1: because I don't think Todd Gurley is that same guy
Speaker 1: from a couple of years ago. And I think we
Speaker 1: can shut down this run pretty easily. Man. Man, Okay, look, look,
Speaker 1: I'm a little nervous to do this, but you know,
Speaker 1: just based off what I saw and then and then
Speaker 1: last year, I think I might have to go twenty
Speaker 1: four to twenty one dirty birds. I just don't know,
Speaker 1: And usually usually I would be confident. And the fact
Speaker 1: that if I say we're gonna win, then we probably
Speaker 1: lose I'm gonna just go opposite. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know what we're gonna be able to stop the running
Speaker 1: based off what I've seen from our offense and our
Speaker 1: offensive line that we have rolling out there. Of Tyren
Speaker 1: Smith doesn't play, I think that is a big, big issue.
Speaker 1: So he doesn't play. I see us losing this game
Speaker 1: by three. I put out my prediction yesterday on on
Speaker 1: Channel five so here in town, so and I had
Speaker 1: the Cowboys winning and I had to score up in
Speaker 1: the thirties. This was before I dived in here and realizing, Okay,
Speaker 1: Tyrant Smith may not play in this football game, and
Speaker 1: you have to make that adjustment there Church, You and
Speaker 1: I spoke about it yesterday. Tank Lawrence has to show up.
Speaker 1: Tank Lawrence has four sacks at his last sixteen football
Speaker 1: games here, baking twenty million dollars a year. You need
Speaker 1: your star to be a star. If Alden Smith comes
Speaker 1: and plays with the intensity he did last week and
Speaker 1: take Lawrence can match that, that can help limit Mattie
Speaker 1: Ice and that passing game. They got to have the
Speaker 1: defense help out this offense here. I'm gonna go and
Speaker 1: lower my prediction here in terms of the points scored
Speaker 1: in this football game, and I'm thinking it's got to
Speaker 1: be a twenty three twenty one Dallas victory. Cowboys can't
Speaker 1: follow the O and two because next week you go
Speaker 1: to Seattle. So this has to be a game of urgency.
Speaker 1: This also has to be a game where the coaches
Speaker 1: have to help the players cover awards on both sides
Speaker 1: of the football. This is where Mike McCarthy, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: this is where he's gonna show us what kind of
Speaker 1: head coach he is. How does he get Mike Nolan
Speaker 1: the defense rolling, how do they work with Joe Philbin,
Speaker 1: how does he coordinate with Kellamore to figure out how
Speaker 1: they get themselves a win? And one thing we do know,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy kind of plays pretty well at at and
Speaker 1: T stating right, Danny, right, right, Listen. I knew the
Speaker 1: koola was coming, but based on what you just said,
Speaker 1: that kool aid is bitter again. All Right, you just went.
Speaker 1: You went from a very high scoring game to the
Speaker 1: Cowboys went about two possibly and hoping that Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: has some magic, that he had something with Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: here in Dallas, and he not even called in the place.
Speaker 1: So so the kool aid away, keep drinking it. We'll
Speaker 1: see what We'll see what happens on Monday. I really
Speaker 1: really hope we win. But but but the truth enemy
Speaker 1: and what I saw last week and building up from
Speaker 1: what we had last year, because it kind of looks
Speaker 1: the same, does not. It does not both well for
Speaker 1: me believing that will win this game. I just I'm
Speaker 1: just not understanding this, all this faith that both of
Speaker 1: you have, and Todd Gurley, I just I just that's
Speaker 1: that's the question for you. Guys are making this scene
Speaker 1: like this guy's a this is twenty seventeen or eighteen.
Speaker 1: Who have we stopped from running the ball? It don't
Speaker 1: even have to be time. One game. We had one run.
Speaker 1: We got a game, we got We have the same
Speaker 1: eyes for the most part they we had last year,
Speaker 1: with the exception of Tristan Hill, who everybody said could
Speaker 1: not play, and then he got out there and he
Speaker 1: looked just like what we thought he was gonna look
Speaker 1: like last year. So that's that's what we're rolled them
Speaker 1: out there, and we got we got a second year
Speaker 1: player playing Mike, we got Jalen playing Will. And our offense,
Speaker 1: I mean, our defense couldn't stop the run last week.
Speaker 1: It's nothing that makes me believe that we're gonna be
Speaker 1: able to stop the run next week. And they have
Speaker 1: another running back as well. But like I said, they
Speaker 1: didn't have to run the ball last last week because
Speaker 1: they were they were behind by so much so it
Speaker 1: was like, if we can stop the run. So what's
Speaker 1: your over under? You think Todd Gurley is going over
Speaker 1: one hundred or under? I think he's over one hundred
Speaker 1: total yards. I think he's gonna over one hundred total yards.
Speaker 1: I see him coaching a couple of screen passes. Okay, total,
Speaker 1: I see him gonna over over one hundred total yards.
Speaker 1: What about you? Now, I can see that I can
Speaker 1: see over an over one hundred as well. And in church,
Speaker 1: let me emphasize this. You're not They're not asking for
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen Todd Gurley, but Todd early today. Can he
Speaker 1: be as effective as Malcolm Brown and Cam Acres were
Speaker 1: last week? I think Todd Gurley can be that effective.
Speaker 1: And with the fact that the Cowboys have some awards here,
Speaker 1: if they don't plug him up, you know, I do
Speaker 1: think Todd Gurley can get himself when you use the
Speaker 1: receiving skills and the running skills. I do think he
Speaker 1: can get himself one hundred total yards in this football game.
Speaker 1: He can still give you that. He's not gonna be
Speaker 1: all pro Todd Gurley, but can he still be an
Speaker 1: effective running back in this National Football League against the
Speaker 1: defensive has some issues here. I do think he can
Speaker 1: do that. I think the Church. I think the McCrae
Speaker 1: right on that Church. That's my opinion. Okay, he can't.
Speaker 1: He can't be all pro. He can be against against
Speaker 1: against the defense. Listen, let me tell you something. We
Speaker 1: can make him look like y'all pro if if if
Speaker 1: we if we do not too gap and tapple like
Speaker 1: we're supposed to, hopefully it doesn't have him. But you
Speaker 1: know that's my story. I'm sticking to it. Okay. That
Speaker 1: is The players Lounge for this week will be back
Speaker 1: Monday in two thirty. Will you be in victory Monday.
Speaker 1: It'll be Monday morning at an O and two Cowboys start.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be scruggs as Danny Mccraieberry Church. That's been
Speaker 1: the Playoffs Lodge, brought you by Hotels dot Com on
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production
Speaker 1: of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.