Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Clubs. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a Break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is Tuesday, December twenty second, twenty twenty, season sixteen,
Speaker 1: episode number eighty five. Welcome to the latest edition of
Speaker 1: The Break, presented by Geico Got My Crew, Nick Amber, Dave, Dave.
Speaker 1: I really don't know what's what that is he's wearing,
Speaker 1: but it is helping him. Look, I guess a little
Speaker 1: more festive, Sanahan, isn't You don't know what I'm wearing?
Speaker 1: You live in America. Oh, it is a sad I
Speaker 1: mean it's it is like a ubiquitous symbol of American culture.
Speaker 1: But yes, sure it's our local Santa. Dave's gonna be
Speaker 1: our Santa for the show. That's good work, trying to
Speaker 1: brighten the mood around here. Good. I appreciate that, Dave.
Speaker 1: It is Christmas week. We will have a different schedule
Speaker 1: this week, Just so everyone knows We got our shows
Speaker 1: today and tomorrow as normal. On Thursday, though, there will
Speaker 1: be a couple of joint shows, will mix in some
Speaker 1: different different people on different shows, but we'll do two
Speaker 1: shows that morning, and then there will be no shows
Speaker 1: on Christmas Day this Friday, and then back on our
Speaker 1: normal schedule on Monday, so make sure you check the
Speaker 1: website for more information on that. Lots of football coming
Speaker 1: up this weekend. The NFL has games on Friday Saturday,
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys play on Sunday with the normal Sunday
Speaker 1: till for the NFL, So lots of football, lots of
Speaker 1: stuff to talk about today though on the break, we
Speaker 1: are going to get into a lot of different topics.
Speaker 1: We're gonna catch up on some updates. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the Pro Bowl, some interesting
Speaker 1: things there, not for the Cowboys, but interesting things there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it will be as will the playoff talk. Well, we'll
Speaker 1: let you know what's what's going on as far as
Speaker 1: the playoff picture and what has to happen this weekend
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys to either still be in or be eliminated.
Speaker 1: And then we'll talk a little bit about the Dallas offense,
Speaker 1: defense and special teams have a few questions for these
Speaker 1: guys on each of those three parts of the team.
Speaker 1: Let's start first injury updates. Dave, give me an update
Speaker 1: on the guys that got hurt in this game. You
Speaker 1: got Layton Vanderesh, you got Michael Gallup, Antoine Woods, Xavier Woods.
Speaker 1: What do we know about them at this point? We
Speaker 1: know that Layton vander esh is probably dealing with a
Speaker 1: multiple week issue, which obviously you know, there's only two
Speaker 1: weeks left in the regular seasons, so it seems like
Speaker 1: a long shot that he would be available, especially since
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy was willing to say that. You know, he
Speaker 1: basically said, I don't have a ton of optimism. He'll
Speaker 1: be ready for Philly. The other guy, it sounds like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be you know, the more typical. See how
Speaker 1: they go through the week, so you know, we'll follow
Speaker 1: their progress as the practice reports come out. But it
Speaker 1: sounds like everybody else at least has a shot to
Speaker 1: play Sunday. Layton not so much. You know. I'll add
Speaker 1: this about Antoine Woods, and I understand that you have
Speaker 1: boots on your ankle feet. You know, sometimes that's just
Speaker 1: to kind of you know, get things. You know, healed quicker,
Speaker 1: but he doesn't look like he's he could play this week.
Speaker 1: If I'm just guessing, just based off the lamp, based
Speaker 1: off the size of the boot on his I guess
Speaker 1: it was his ankle. I'm not really sure what his status.
Speaker 1: I mean, which injury it was, but I would say
Speaker 1: Antoine Woods is probably gonna be tough to make it. Oh,
Speaker 1: were you talking about Xavier Antoine? Antoine Antwine? Okay, got it,
Speaker 1: got it all right, let's nick. You didn't mention yesterday.
Speaker 1: I think it was off the air. You and I
Speaker 1: were talking a little bit about Ezekiel Ella. Do we
Speaker 1: know anything more about kind of how he ended up
Speaker 1: in the position where he didn't play, because it seemed
Speaker 1: like last week that was real optimism that he would play,
Speaker 1: And what do we know about that and how it
Speaker 1: may stretch into this week or next week. It was
Speaker 1: a bruise for two weeks now, and then on Saturday,
Speaker 1: he said before the game, he said he felt a tug.
Speaker 1: He said he felt like it was kind of more
Speaker 1: of a pool and the calf. He said, I can
Speaker 1: do everything. I can play through the bruise and the pain,
Speaker 1: but when there's a when there's like a pool and
Speaker 1: a strain, I can't be as explosive as I want
Speaker 1: to be. And that's why they shut it down. He said,
Speaker 1: he's not for that game. He's not shutting it down
Speaker 1: for the season. But if this thing persists, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it was that was what Zack Martin had
Speaker 1: and so you know, he didn't come back. And I'm
Speaker 1: you know, obviously the difference between a calf strain and
Speaker 1: a calf bruise and so you know, and with what
Speaker 1: we saw out of Tony Pollard, I mean, I would
Speaker 1: just imagine it did not going to rush Zeke back
Speaker 1: at all. Yeah. I actually we talked a little bit
Speaker 1: yesterday about the about this team, in particular about Tony Pollard,
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott. There's a narrative that I've heard, and I've
Speaker 1: heard of from some people that cover the team here
Speaker 1: with us for Dallas Cowboys dot Com that kind of
Speaker 1: rubs me the wrong way, and I wanted to get
Speaker 1: your opinions on it. I've heard of several people mentioned, well,
Speaker 1: if you take out the forty yard run, then he
Speaker 1: was only averaging two point three yards per carry. And
Speaker 1: my thought is, when you talk about Tony Pollard. That
Speaker 1: is why you like Tony Pollard is because he has
Speaker 1: the ability to make that forty yard run. He might
Speaker 1: have that two point three yard average throughout most of
Speaker 1: the game, but when he has that big forty yard run,
Speaker 1: he can turn games. And that's what you're not getting
Speaker 1: from Zeke Elliott. Do you guys find that same is
Speaker 1: that the same analysis or do you buy into the
Speaker 1: idea that you know you're not getting enough consistent runs
Speaker 1: from Tony Pollard so he may not be as good
Speaker 1: an option. I'll start with you, Hamper. I'm just honestly
Speaker 1: getting a little tired of trying to compare these two
Speaker 1: guys because they are just two different backs with different
Speaker 1: type of talent. And the thing is that the real
Speaker 1: problem here is the old line. I think that that's
Speaker 1: the real problem, and that's why neither of these two
Speaker 1: guys have been able to be as consistent as you
Speaker 1: would want them to be. And Pauler and we saw
Speaker 1: in that game, regardless of those explosive moments that he had,
Speaker 1: they were having problems trying to run the ball. They
Speaker 1: still had problem with the running games. So it just
Speaker 1: comes to me, it just comes to the old line
Speaker 1: and Pauler, he's just gonna give you something different that
Speaker 1: Zeke is not gonna be able to give you, maybe
Speaker 1: not anymore, but Zeke at the same time, it's gonna
Speaker 1: provide you other things that Pauler is not gonna be
Speaker 1: able to give you. So I'm just started trying to
Speaker 1: compare these two guys. I think that we should just
Speaker 1: be happy that the Cowboys have these two bags and
Speaker 1: hope that they just find a way to utilize them
Speaker 1: better next year. Dave, Hey, gee, if everybody's happy, then
Speaker 1: we don't have anything to talk about. So I guess
Speaker 1: we can't have that. For I've always hated that idea that, well,
Speaker 1: if you take away the eighty yard run, he didn't
Speaker 1: have a great day, like, well he went eighty yards
Speaker 1: like that that counts, right. So I've always hated that,
Speaker 1: and for that matter, I'm looking at it right and
Speaker 1: like Zeke's a good player, Like I always feel self
Speaker 1: conscious that people are going to think that I like
Speaker 1: hate Zeke or don't think he's a good player. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's a good player. He's not living up
Speaker 1: to the contract. And another point of evidence of that
Speaker 1: is Zeke is not even averaging four yards per carry
Speaker 1: on the season, like that is the baseline of what
Speaker 1: you're supposed to do to be considered a good running
Speaker 1: back in the NFL, and Zeke's not even doing that.
Speaker 1: So it's not like he's got this crazy good average either.
Speaker 1: And he also hasn't been creating explosive plays, so that
Speaker 1: criticism doesn't ton of hold does not hold a ton
Speaker 1: of water for me, because you know, and you know,
Speaker 1: that's the narrative on Zeke is that maybe he's not explosive,
Speaker 1: but he's steady and physical, and that's true. But I
Speaker 1: still want better than four yards per carry from my
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars running back. So no, Yeah, I even
Speaker 1: wrote that in the column after the game that I
Speaker 1: don't like that. You can't take you know, plays off,
Speaker 1: you can't take that out because it happened. But but
Speaker 1: I think that what you can see is that, you know,
Speaker 1: where did the forty yard run happen? It happened, and
Speaker 1: he got out and he got out in space with
Speaker 1: Richard Sherman. I believe it's who it was. He made
Speaker 1: the move on and they need to spend and all that,
Speaker 1: so he made an outstanding play. I think it's clear
Speaker 1: that that where he's doing his damages in the outside,
Speaker 1: which is fine, that's that's what you would expect now,
Speaker 1: but it won't work if you don't run up the
Speaker 1: middle every every now and again. And they do that,
Speaker 1: they run him up in there, but that's not gonna
Speaker 1: be his bread and butter. That's not what where he's
Speaker 1: gonna make a living. And that's fine, Like Amber said,
Speaker 1: they don't have to like this. These are two good backs.
Speaker 1: That's what they need to do all offseason and figure
Speaker 1: out some good ways to utilize both of them. And
Speaker 1: you know, I think he could be a dangerous he
Speaker 1: is a dangerous player on the outside. Now. I did
Speaker 1: see his stat on I think it was on Twitter,
Speaker 1: and this is one of those where like you can
Speaker 1: make a stat anything you want, and it was average
Speaker 1: per touch for Pollard and Zeke and it's like night
Speaker 1: and day. I forgot exactly what it was, but it's
Speaker 1: like they factored in kickoff returns and come on, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the twenty that's twenty five yards. You know, twenty
Speaker 1: five yards is not really that great if a kickoff return,
Speaker 1: if you're taking it four yards back, you know, in
Speaker 1: your end zone, So he's had some big ones. But
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that that is one of those narratives
Speaker 1: of like, oh, we're really gonna hammer this thing home,
Speaker 1: and that's not really fair to yep. But you know,
Speaker 1: the one other thing I'll add to that, Nick, and
Speaker 1: I kind of agree with you from the standpoint that
Speaker 1: I don't know that Pollard is the running back. Do
Speaker 1: you look at and say, Okay, he's gonna be pounding
Speaker 1: the rock like regularly. What I do think though, is
Speaker 1: that particular play that forty yard he broke tackles like
Speaker 1: it was it was a physical run. Um, Yes, he
Speaker 1: did make a guy miss, but there were two guys
Speaker 1: that were there that that got to him, and he
Speaker 1: broke the tackle least fun out of the tackle and
Speaker 1: then sprint it forty yards to get to the end zone.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the part to me where I
Speaker 1: look at him and I say, that's what I would think.
Speaker 1: We all know And he goes back to what Amber said,
Speaker 1: we all know. This offensive line isn't great blocking as
Speaker 1: far as the run game is concerned. But if you're
Speaker 1: gonna have if you're gonna be a really good back,
Speaker 1: you have to have the ability. Even when you're running
Speaker 1: your blockers aren't having their best season, you still gotta
Speaker 1: find ways to make guys miss. You gotta find ways
Speaker 1: to break tackles, and you gotta find make ways. When
Speaker 1: you do that, then don't get caught. And that's what
Speaker 1: Paula did. That's what we haven't seen from Zeke. And
Speaker 1: again this is not to me, this is not so
Speaker 1: much a referendum on Zeke. I think it's more a
Speaker 1: referendum on the offensive coaching staff and the fact that
Speaker 1: they haven't figured out how to get Tony Pollock more involved.
Speaker 1: And if that means that Zeke gets a little less involved,
Speaker 1: I'm okay with that because Paula brings you that explosiveness
Speaker 1: that you just don't get from Zeke. Right now, Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, here's what we're gonna do. We're going to
Speaker 1: take our first break really quickly, and we'll come back.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little Pro Bowl, We'll talk a
Speaker 1: little playoff pitch. You'll then we'll come right back. This
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Speaker 1: your Dallas Cowboys. Here it's nineteen o eight. Don't you
Speaker 1: think we should get electricity and stop using candles to
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Speaker 1: Back to the break, Santa is back and is Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys Cottage at the Star and Frisco Appointments are available
Speaker 1: to take your socially distance holiday photo with Santa through
Speaker 1: December the twenty fourth. Look now at the Star in
Speaker 1: Frisco dot com slash Santa. You know if we put
Speaker 1: some pounds on Dave and whiten his hair. We actually
Speaker 1: might have Santah here on this show, Like it actually
Speaker 1: might work. What do you think? I appreciate you saying
Speaker 1: that I need to put some pounds on, because like
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm getting there all on my own
Speaker 1: during this quarantine, especially you know it's Christmas with all
Speaker 1: the goodies and stuff. It's it's been a rough month. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it doesn't help. It doesn't help there that you got
Speaker 1: the big favor bag behind you. It looks like you're
Speaker 1: just kind of like, yeah, all in, you know, all day,
Speaker 1: every day, more food and get free deliveries for two
Speaker 1: weeks if you sign up shout out favor. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: good to know. All right, let's uh, why what do
Speaker 1: you want? Oh? Just because we have like eighteen other
Speaker 1: sponsors on here that like, you know, we got this
Speaker 1: sponsored by Geico and this over here by which is great.
Speaker 1: That's how we make money. Yeah, but that's for Dave's show,
Speaker 1: that's for the Star Night Favors their sponsors. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm good looking out. All right, here's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about let's look a little
Speaker 1: bit about Pro Bowl. No. Cowboys made it. I think
Speaker 1: first time since nineteen eighty nine. I think it is Yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't want to do anything since nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, yeah, gotcha, point yeah yeah. But here's my
Speaker 1: question for you guys. Were you at all even mildly
Speaker 1: surprised that not at least one guy made it? Like
Speaker 1: I was looking at the list and I look at
Speaker 1: the special team and I talked yesterday about C J.
Speaker 1: Goodwin and how much I think he has been a
Speaker 1: like a really really great special teams player. Not even
Speaker 1: a guy like him makes it like, are you at
Speaker 1: all mildly surprised? And who would be the guy that
Speaker 1: maybe you think had an outside chance? Nick, Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: surprised just because it hasn't happened. There's been bad teams before,
Speaker 1: and you just think somebody's gonna, you know, would would
Speaker 1: would get in, but you know didn't. When you get
Speaker 1: a little closer and you're like, okay, but who, then
Speaker 1: you're like, I don't, I don't know. I mean, it
Speaker 1: just depends on what people view of Zach Martin. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, but that would be the one. I mean,
Speaker 1: did you deserve it? I don't know, that's debatable. Because
Speaker 1: there's not a better offensive lineman that we've seen. I mean,
Speaker 1: look what he did this year. I mean he's he's
Speaker 1: an All Pro players. Just unfortunate that he didn't play
Speaker 1: enough games, but yeah, to play a number of games, right, yeah? Yeah, Amber,
Speaker 1: What do you think? Um? I think I would have
Speaker 1: been surprised had the Cowboys had a player who made
Speaker 1: it into the Pro Bowl, if I'm being honest. I mean, yes,
Speaker 1: you talk about Sack Martin, but then the whole thing
Speaker 1: about how many games he's missed and all that, I'm
Speaker 1: sure that goes into play. But and also you mentioned
Speaker 1: you mentioned c J. Goodwin. Even if a guy like
Speaker 1: that would have made it into the Pro Bowl, that
Speaker 1: would have surprised me because usually those kind of players
Speaker 1: don't usually tend to get that kind of recognition, at
Speaker 1: least from the Cowboys that I've seen in previous year.
Speaker 1: Usually it's someone with like a bigger spotline, someone with
Speaker 1: a bigger name, bigger recognition. So it's just it's it's
Speaker 1: hard to pick anyone when you've seen the kind of
Speaker 1: season that the Cowboys have had this year. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure when people are voting and things, I'm sure they're
Speaker 1: not necessarily thinking of the Cowboys players this year. So
Speaker 1: if I'm being honest, I wasn't really surprised, Dave. I
Speaker 1: was surprised very briefly because I know that the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl voting system is flawed and a lot of guys
Speaker 1: get voted in more on reputation than anything. And then
Speaker 1: I realized that the big two reputation votes are Tyrn
Speaker 1: Smith and Zach Martin, and they just not to say that.
Speaker 1: You know, those guys deserve like they're great players, but
Speaker 1: once you kind of especially as an offensive lineman, once
Speaker 1: you start getting voted in, it kind of snowballs on itself.
Speaker 1: But Tyron hasn't played for most of the year, and
Speaker 1: it's kind of amazing if you go look at it,
Speaker 1: Like Zach has missed almost half the season, you know,
Speaker 1: because he got knocked out of two games very very early,
Speaker 1: Like he got hurt in the first quarter of two
Speaker 1: different games, and he's missed another four, so he's really
Speaker 1: missed six of fourteen games. It's basically half a year.
Speaker 1: So when you once you think about the fact that
Speaker 1: you know, Zach and Tyron really haven't played a lot
Speaker 1: this year, it's not surprising And and truth be told.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think they really deserve it. Zach
Speaker 1: would have deserved it if he'd played more. But that's
Speaker 1: about it, you know. I mean, Jalen Spans obviously leads
Speaker 1: the league in tackles. Okay, okay, I'm good. Get a
Speaker 1: headache if you do that too, If you do that fast,
Speaker 1: you get a headache. Yeah. Sorry, I'd get in trouble
Speaker 1: when I was a kid. You're doing that rolling of
Speaker 1: that anyway. But what the linebacker position at the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowls is flawed anyways, you know, and is an out
Speaker 1: side linebacker in a four three it's it's it's really impossible.
Speaker 1: And that's why I think they need to make a
Speaker 1: change there. And I'm not saying that if that happens,
Speaker 1: he would get in. I don't think he is. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's having a Pro Bowl season at all.
Speaker 1: But I just think that the outside linebacker spot are
Speaker 1: for three four guys and and those guys have sacks,
Speaker 1: and so I just think that, you know that they
Speaker 1: need to they need to make those pass rushers. Actually,
Speaker 1: and I'll ask you this this year, they're not sorry.
Speaker 1: I was just gonna say that this year they're not
Speaker 1: selecting alternates. So yeah, I mean that's how he made
Speaker 1: it last year. Yeah, yeah, I mean, and this is
Speaker 1: a I bet you there were a small snates. I
Speaker 1: mean they probably did. They probably had three or four.
Speaker 1: But I don't I mean, Amari probably was a was
Speaker 1: an alternate. I would guess what's Evan ingram stats. I
Speaker 1: really don't know that he's not. Evan Ingram does not
Speaker 1: belong does not know. But but how many Evan Ingram
Speaker 1: does not belong in he's I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1: It can't be great. I had him in fantasy he
Speaker 1: was I know, I know I had him in fantasy.
Speaker 1: I don't even want to it was. It was very pedestrian.
Speaker 1: I would nobody cares people's fantasy at least, but nobody
Speaker 1: had a worse bad beat than me last night. I
Speaker 1: mean nobody. You don't I had to steal his defense now? No? Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: go ahead, no, never mind, go ahead, um no, And
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I mean I think there were
Speaker 1: some different I was like the Cheltz is what I
Speaker 1: was saying, Okay, what is Ingram's numbers? Because I mean
Speaker 1: Schultz has got fis five catches and four touchdowns. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know what Ingram's numbers are, but I'm just
Speaker 1: saying I'll tell you. I'll tell you what Evan Ingram's
Speaker 1: numbers are fifty four catches for five seventy two and
Speaker 1: one touchdown. Like it's a joke that he's there. Yeah, there,
Speaker 1: he isn't joking. I wonder who else is. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I know that Schultz would be close. God,
Speaker 1: if he made the Pro Bowl wouldn't have been They
Speaker 1: had the pullback Amber's clip from like August person. She
Speaker 1: was like, he needs to be cut, and we were
Speaker 1: all I didn't think that. I said the same thing.
Speaker 1: I said, I don't even know why he's still here.
Speaker 1: I said that we all were. I mean we were like,
Speaker 1: I remember it was like week two. I was like,
Speaker 1: I think Schultz is gonna play a little bit better
Speaker 1: this week because it was against the Ram The Rams
Speaker 1: he filled in for Jarwin didn't play very well. And
Speaker 1: I was like, right, yeah, And I was like I think,
Speaker 1: you know, just because he was ready to be cut,
Speaker 1: and but he's had a good Dalton Schultz has one
Speaker 1: fewer catch, fifty fewer yards, and three more touchdowns than
Speaker 1: Evin Ingram, Like, I'm not saying he should be in
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl, but he's got a better case to
Speaker 1: be there than Evin Ingram does. I'm trying to think,
Speaker 1: you know, he's not a first round pig. What are
Speaker 1: the tight ends are in the NFC? The best two
Speaker 1: tight ends in the league or in the AFC. There's
Speaker 1: no doubt about it, and yet most of the season
Speaker 1: so um, I don't know. I can't think when you
Speaker 1: think about it, I mean, it's it's really hard to
Speaker 1: get in usually in the NFC because you have Kittle
Speaker 1: and you had Hurts catches all these passes. But he
Speaker 1: just missed a lot of season anyway, he hasn't played
Speaker 1: great this year. Statistics no, no, and then because he
Speaker 1: has Goddard get some of those catches sued, he didn't
Speaker 1: had that great of a season either. He's been injured.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 1: the other tight ends. I mean, Tampa Bay, haven't anybody.
Speaker 1: Oh Gronk, did Gronk make it? I don't think wrong,
Speaker 1: But I mean if he mayn't looking at I'm trying
Speaker 1: to pull up the rosters right now. Yeah, but that
Speaker 1: it is amazing that we're even talking about like it
Speaker 1: was possible snub for Shultz, TJ, TJ. Hockinson, and Evan Ingram.
Speaker 1: I don't. I didn't know t J. Hockinson had that
Speaker 1: good of a year, right, Yeah, but it doesn't sock
Speaker 1: you had to have a great year to get to
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl as a tight end the NFC, it
Speaker 1: didn't seem like there's a ton of competition there, Dave,
Speaker 1: just real quick before we move on another topic where
Speaker 1: you'd all surprised your boy Jefferson got in. No, I
Speaker 1: mean he's he's killing it. He's like, I mean, he's
Speaker 1: he's been absolutely amazing. He might win Offensive Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year as a wide receiver. So no, I wasn't surprised,
Speaker 1: all right. I was just a little bit. And I
Speaker 1: went to look at his numbers, and that's when I
Speaker 1: was like, I didn't realize he'd had that good a
Speaker 1: season with the numbers that he'd put up. I thought
Speaker 1: he was. I thought he was kind of on that cusp.
Speaker 1: I was also I was thinking, like, are there other
Speaker 1: guys that that maybe got snubbed here, that that maybe
Speaker 1: it had been ahead of him? And I think there
Speaker 1: may have been one other guy that that could have
Speaker 1: made a claim that maybe they should have been in
Speaker 1: that spot. But yeah, he was right up there with him.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's right there in the mix, and I was,
Speaker 1: I was pretty pretty surprise. He he ain't. He ain't
Speaker 1: Randy Moss, but he is putting up Moss like stats.
Speaker 1: I mean, I like Randy Moss was so much more talented,
Speaker 1: Like I'm not I want to compare him, but his
Speaker 1: stats are pretty crazy for a rookie wide receiver. There's
Speaker 1: not a narrative that he wasn't surprised. Is there being
Speaker 1: Is there a narrative that they should have drafted him
Speaker 1: over a CD Land I haven't heard. I haven't heard
Speaker 1: that either. I haven't heard No. I think the narrative.
Speaker 1: I think the narrative is just the you know, the
Speaker 1: wide receiver classes as advertised. I mean, yeah, for the
Speaker 1: most part, all of those guys are really kicking. But
Speaker 1: I mean CD was, CD was on an insane pace
Speaker 1: before Dak went down. Jefferson's doing his thing. Um you know,
Speaker 1: I you is having a nice season for San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Judy's been pretty good. You know, Rugs and Rager haven't
Speaker 1: been great, But there's more to it than that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it looks really good. If he got a good trigger man,
Speaker 1: he might have. Yeah. True. I'm just saying, all right,
Speaker 1: let's let's move on. Let's talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: the playoff picture. Right now, it's very clear for the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys. They gotta win out. Washington has to lose out.
Speaker 1: Washington will be playing the Carolina Panthers um this Sunday, UM,
Speaker 1: and then they got Philly the final week of the season.
Speaker 1: Dallas has Philly this week and the New York Giants
Speaker 1: next week. Right now, I like each of you to
Speaker 1: give me your percentage chance you think the Cowboys get
Speaker 1: into the playoffs knowing that they gotta win out and
Speaker 1: that Washington has to lose out. Let's start with you. Amber.
Speaker 1: I don't know about percentages, but I think that I
Speaker 1: do think that the Cowboys can win this this last
Speaker 1: two games. But at the same time, I do think
Speaker 1: that Washington can also when when this last two games.
Speaker 1: So it's it's gonna be one of those things that
Speaker 1: I hate when this happens with the Cowboys, that it
Speaker 1: gets like, oh, it's out of their control. Now, it's
Speaker 1: out of their hands, and our faith depends on someone
Speaker 1: else's faith. So once again we're seeing that kind of
Speaker 1: scenario here, and I just I think that even if
Speaker 1: the Cowboys play better and keep carrying on what they've
Speaker 1: done this past two games, it's just not gonna be enough,
Speaker 1: because Washington is gonna win this two last games, all right, Dave,
Speaker 1: I think. I mean, you know, the stats say that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys have a five percent chance. It feels higher
Speaker 1: than that to me. I mean, I know, you know,
Speaker 1: math is not really negotiable, but it just feels more
Speaker 1: likely than five percent. I still think I would say
Speaker 1: it's unlikely, though, because I mean, you know, this is
Speaker 1: a flawed team. You're going you know, Philly clearly has
Speaker 1: a spark since they put Jalen Hurts back in the lineup.
Speaker 1: And then if you even if it stretches the week
Speaker 1: seventeen again, Washington with that defensive front going against Jalen Hurts,
Speaker 1: you'd think the Giants probably have Daniel Jones back for
Speaker 1: the Cowboy game. I don't trust the Cowboys. I don't
Speaker 1: trust the Cowboys to win four straight games, which is
Speaker 1: what they would need to do to be in that position.
Speaker 1: And even then Washington gets two cracks at two flawed teams,
Speaker 1: so I leaned toward thinking it won't happen. But I
Speaker 1: think it's more likely than five percent. I would say,
Speaker 1: like twenty five percent chance it happens. Okay, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean that seems right. I mean I saw the five
Speaker 1: percent as well, and it doesn't you know, that doesn't
Speaker 1: seem it seems a little low. Um, I mean, is
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey playing see out because that difference, that makes
Speaker 1: a big difference for Carolina to go win that game.
Speaker 1: I don't know his status. We obviously trying to figure
Speaker 1: out our own team. But um, you know, I just
Speaker 1: I agree with them. I don't think Washington's gonna lose two.
Speaker 1: I mean defense travels. I mean, defense is always there,
Speaker 1: and they played well against Seattle. I mean they had
Speaker 1: they had shots in that game. So I just I
Speaker 1: just don't see those two teams both beating you know, Washington,
Speaker 1: but or the Cowboys went in four straight. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's they just haven't shown a level of consistency.
Speaker 1: So it's not stacking up to do it. But you know,
Speaker 1: the NFL is making sure that you have to tune in.
Speaker 1: You know, they they flexed the game up for Washington,
Speaker 1: so it's not noon anymore. So now it's all happening
Speaker 1: at the same time. So because because if if Washington
Speaker 1: would have won at noon, Philly and the Cowboys will
Speaker 1: both be out. And then all of a sudden, you
Speaker 1: just like, wait, why is Gilbert playing? You know, like
Speaker 1: what's going on? You know, it's like, oh, we've seen
Speaker 1: that before. There's nothing worse than being in the stadium
Speaker 1: for a game that that. Now it doesn't matter, even
Speaker 1: though you thought it did earlier. That's terrible. That's happened
Speaker 1: a few times. I'll tell you this. I actually think
Speaker 1: I'll do two different percentages if if if Haskins plays,
Speaker 1: I think that percentage is higher. You look at what
Speaker 1: he's done this year, even with that good defense they has,
Speaker 1: he's only won one game. He started one, two, three, four, five.
Speaker 1: He started five games and they've won one of them. Um,
Speaker 1: I think if if he's the guy, that's your starter. Now, again,
Speaker 1: a lot of those were against good teams, so you
Speaker 1: gotta give a little bit to that, and these last
Speaker 1: two games they're not playing teams that, statistically from their
Speaker 1: win loss records, are good teams. But I will say this,
Speaker 1: if Alex Smith. I feel more comfortable with the idea
Speaker 1: that Washington will will win this thing. If Alex Smith
Speaker 1: is a quarterback, then I do I Haskins at quarter Well,
Speaker 1: do you think that Ron rivera Queen Haskins has bigger
Speaker 1: stuff to worry about? Right? I wasn't gonna even get
Speaker 1: into that, even going to play, I would guess. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's apologized for those that don't know. He was supposedly
Speaker 1: was seen in a strip club on Sunday night after
Speaker 1: their loss with no mask on. So a little bit
Speaker 1: of a little bit of drama coming out of that,
Speaker 1: not protecting his team and those kinds of things. But
Speaker 1: which I mean, I don't know the answer to this,
Speaker 1: But what I mean, what if he what if that
Speaker 1: leads to him testing positive for COVID? I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just so unbelievably stupid. Never mind like the immature, like
Speaker 1: the immaturity. But then all I mean, what are they
Speaker 1: gonna do? What are they gonna do if he liked
Speaker 1: tests positive for COVID and Alex Smith isn't ready? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I that is that is unfathomably bad decision making. Yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely borrow bend Nucci. I guess it definitely was a
Speaker 1: bad decision, and he's apologized for it. I don't know
Speaker 1: how he came to the conclusion that he thought it
Speaker 1: was a good idea in the first place, but he's
Speaker 1: apologized for it him. Maybe we're to keep an eye
Speaker 1: at this point. Maybe where he went to was was
Speaker 1: you know they test there? Maybe it was clean. They
Speaker 1: test everybody walking in the door. Maybe I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know you know this? How do you know this?
Speaker 1: I don't. I wouldn't know any I wouldn't know anything
Speaker 1: about that. I wouldn't know anything about talking to one
Speaker 1: of the beat writers though that and I know a
Speaker 1: couple that that might see what he thinks they might know.
Speaker 1: Um oh um oh. I was just talking about Ron Rivera.
Speaker 1: You know, he would love nothing more than to clinch
Speaker 1: the division against Carolina. You kill me. I mean now
Speaker 1: he doesn't get to play. Yeah, no doubt, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter what a coach, how motivated the coaches. But you know,
Speaker 1: maybe the I just don't see it happening. I see
Speaker 1: it him winning this week, Washington winning. Yeah, I honestly,
Speaker 1: I do believe it's going to be about whoever's playing quarterback.
Speaker 1: And I think if You're right. If McCaffrey's back, that
Speaker 1: changes everything because that's their big that's their big horse.
Speaker 1: They get him back for this week, but that changes everything.
Speaker 1: But why would you play him? You know? I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the flip side of that, they don't
Speaker 1: want Rivera to come in there and get that win, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's it goes both ways, right, true? Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I don't know, we'll see all. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: our final break when we come back. I have a
Speaker 1: couple of questions for these guys. I don't know that
Speaker 1: we'll get to offensive, defense and special teams, but we
Speaker 1: will start with one of them and see how far
Speaker 1: we get, and maybe we'll say some of those other
Speaker 1: questions for tomorrow. We'll do that when we come back.
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Speaker 1: the final segment of The Break, presented by Geico. We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about the Cowboys offense for
Speaker 1: the remainder of the show, and we'll say defense and
Speaker 1: special teams for tomorrow. But let's talk first about this offense.
Speaker 1: And I want to start by focusing in on the
Speaker 1: offensive line. We did, Nick. I know you mentioned something
Speaker 1: yesterday about the offensive line, but I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from reg guys, how you assess the offensive line play
Speaker 1: as a whole versus the forty nine ers. They did
Speaker 1: some things decent, but obviously again not a great performance.
Speaker 1: I don't think you're at a point now where you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: the offensive line is fixed. That being said, how do
Speaker 1: you assess their play? Let's start first with you, Dave.
Speaker 1: The amount of stunting that the forty niners did in
Speaker 1: that game was crazy, and it makes sense because it
Speaker 1: confused those guys a lot. You know, there were, you know,
Speaker 1: just a handful of plays where guys had free runs
Speaker 1: at the quarterback just based off of stunts. And that's
Speaker 1: understandable when you think about the number of guys who
Speaker 1: were playing their first season. Um, I mean it was
Speaker 1: it was a tough day, you know, like, you know,
Speaker 1: the run game wasn't really there all day. Tony Pollard's
Speaker 1: long run counts, but it's way more on Tony Pollard
Speaker 1: than anything else. I mean, he did the legwork there,
Speaker 1: and you know, the offense was just not very attractive
Speaker 1: in the second half of the of the game, and
Speaker 1: I think the offensive line play has a decent bit
Speaker 1: to do with that. So you know, they played well
Speaker 1: enough to win, and you know, you think about, you know,
Speaker 1: there's talent on that San Francisco front even with Nick
Speaker 1: Bosa not being there, so good for them for hanging
Speaker 1: in there. But yeah, I mean that was that was
Speaker 1: a tough day at work. I thought, you know, they
Speaker 1: looked like a bunch of first year players going against
Speaker 1: a more experienced line. But what he thin. I think
Speaker 1: that what they're doing right now, I mean, with what
Speaker 1: they have, it's something that can allow you to still
Speaker 1: get a win. But at the same time, it's not
Speaker 1: an area where you go in thinking, Okay, this is
Speaker 1: our strong point. We feel confident and secure with this
Speaker 1: old line, but it's still I've seen some improvement week
Speaker 1: to week. But at the same time, I mean, and
Speaker 1: yesterday you talked about a specific play that Random Night
Speaker 1: did that was bad, and there are bad moments here
Speaker 1: and there, but just overall, I think that we've seen
Speaker 1: an overall little improvement to where they don't necessarily stand
Speaker 1: out every single play where you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this old line is absolutely terrible. They still do enough
Speaker 1: to where you can still find yourself getting a win,
Speaker 1: whether it's even with the passing game, not necessarily with
Speaker 1: the running game, because that's another story there, but it
Speaker 1: is what it is right now. I think that they're
Speaker 1: doing what they can. And I am surprised to say this,
Speaker 1: but still he's been making some improvement. I'm not ready
Speaker 1: to say he's the right kind of starter for you
Speaker 1: just yet, but to give him credit after receiving so
Speaker 1: much criticism throughout this whole season, I think it's it's
Speaker 1: good that at least at this point of the year,
Speaker 1: we're finally getting to see some little bit of improvement
Speaker 1: from him. Yeah. I mean I think the line, you know,
Speaker 1: it was a tough battle um Sunday, and they you know,
Speaker 1: they hung in there and they you know, they it's
Speaker 1: not it's not perfect, but you know, I do think
Speaker 1: that that Steele has played better. I mean night. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're talking about some some backups now that you know,
Speaker 1: if you get through this season and you get to
Speaker 1: next year and and and your guys come back, and
Speaker 1: then you're like, you're gonna think totally different about these
Speaker 1: these year depth because you're like, well, these guys were starting,
Speaker 1: you know, and then they weren't that great, but they
Speaker 1: can start and they have and so if those or
Speaker 1: if six through ten has got a lot of starts
Speaker 1: on your offensive line, and maybe you don't play ten guys,
Speaker 1: but I mean, you know, if you're if your second
Speaker 1: line is gonna be talented, I mean, are experienced, then
Speaker 1: then that's a good thing moving forward. Do you think
Speaker 1: any of these guys that are on the offensive line
Speaker 1: have made a case, a strong case for heightened roles
Speaker 1: next season? Obviously most of them will not be starters,
Speaker 1: although I do have one question for you about a starter,
Speaker 1: and let's start there. Do you think McGovern has done
Speaker 1: enough to where maybe he could get some consideration for
Speaker 1: that left guard spot over Connor Williams will start with you, Nick, Well,
Speaker 1: I mean he might, he might do that, but he
Speaker 1: also might spend the summer being a center. You know,
Speaker 1: one of those Connors could be actually be playing center,
Speaker 1: and maybe they're better than be Oddish or literally well possibly,
Speaker 1: you know mcgovernor. That was something that was mentioned from
Speaker 1: McGovern when when he was drafted, that he could play
Speaker 1: some center. So that that I mean, now Connor, you know,
Speaker 1: Carthon said he had his best game, you know, Connor Williams,
Speaker 1: So that's good, I mean competition. But I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that might need something that you look at to see
Speaker 1: if if can one of these guys play center, and
Speaker 1: if so, can they be better than Beottish? Yea, So
Speaker 1: it's a good problem to have, Dave. I think Tyler
Speaker 1: Bottish will be the starting center next year. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure whether it's Connor McGovern splitting time or you know,
Speaker 1: they signed you know, maybe they bring Joe Looney back.
Speaker 1: But I mean, he played well. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting, Kellen Moore said last night.
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore, which he's not the head coach, but he
Speaker 1: basically was like, you know, we really feel good about Tyler,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna stick with Joe Looney because and I
Speaker 1: think that's because of the continuity, you know, finally having
Speaker 1: a chance to start the same five guys for a while.
Speaker 1: But I still, like, I was so impressed with Tyler
Speaker 1: Beiottish and again like follow the money, the cheap fourth
Speaker 1: round draft pick who's got three years left on his deal.
Speaker 1: So I you know, I would say he's the prohibitive
Speaker 1: to start. Um. I think, you know, we keep trying
Speaker 1: to take Connor Williams job away and he just keeps
Speaker 1: getting more snaps he's the only member of this line
Speaker 1: that's played all year. You know, that's that's invaluable. He's
Speaker 1: gonna get, you know, a thousand snaps at left guard,
Speaker 1: and he's had to do it with lesser players, so
Speaker 1: stands to reason he'll, you know, he would probably look
Speaker 1: better if he gets to go back to play with
Speaker 1: Tyron Smith. So we keep trying to take his job,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna stop assuming it'll happen. So Tyler beattest, Yes,
Speaker 1: but I know, I mean, you know, I would be
Speaker 1: surprised if anybody else claims the starting job. If we
Speaker 1: can assume that Tyrn and Lyell will be back next year,
Speaker 1: which you know, I hope, I hope, So I hope
Speaker 1: that's the case. Amber, I'm still fixated on the idea
Speaker 1: of wanting to see Connor Williams move to tackle and
Speaker 1: give that position a try. Now every time if you
Speaker 1: look at that scenario, I find it hard to actually
Speaker 1: imagine that the Cowboys would do this, because then that
Speaker 1: would mean you would be given a starting job to McGovern,
Speaker 1: a younger guy, and take away a veteran guy, and
Speaker 1: he put him as a backup essentially to whatever tackle
Speaker 1: because you're assuming that you're gonna have Lyle Collins and
Speaker 1: Tyren Smith Smith back in the lineup. So it's hard
Speaker 1: to imagine that a scenario like that where they take
Speaker 1: a starter like Colonel Williams and just move him as
Speaker 1: a backup. But I still want to I still would
Speaker 1: want to see that. I still would want to see
Speaker 1: the Cowboys resigned Joe Looney because I still see him
Speaker 1: as someone who is reliable. He's someone that can still
Speaker 1: get the job done. And I just don't feel confident
Speaker 1: enough about the injuries, and we keep assuming that they're
Speaker 1: gonna all be healthy at the beginning of the year
Speaker 1: next year for the next season, but you cannot trust
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen because we've seen it over and over
Speaker 1: and over again. So it's just one of those that
Speaker 1: it scares me, the idea of getting comfortable about thinking, oh,
Speaker 1: these are the guys that we're going to have back
Speaker 1: because of what might happen. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. I think that's a tough one, Derek,
Speaker 1: because it's like you can see it going very very good,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, you got in a taste
Speaker 1: of what this year can look like. And me, I
Speaker 1: want to see a successful running game. We keep talking
Speaker 1: about that Prescott coming back and all these wide receivers
Speaker 1: and all that, but I need I need a good
Speaker 1: running game, and so therefore I need a good online
Speaker 1: that has good backups in case any of these injuries reoccur. Again.
Speaker 1: All right, let's flip over to the wide receiver position.
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about it yesterday. We didn't
Speaker 1: actually get into the subject though, of Noah Brown and
Speaker 1: how they're really using the wide receivers from the standpoint
Speaker 1: of number of times I got them on the field
Speaker 1: for snaps, how many staffs are getting in addition to
Speaker 1: how many targets are getting. Yesterday and that I mean
Speaker 1: a Sunday. In that game, nor Brown gets six targets
Speaker 1: and only one reception. Amari Cooper, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: has three targets and two receptions. My question for you guys,
Speaker 1: is is it normal? Is this a normal way to
Speaker 1: rotate receivers, particularly your primary targets, and particularly in situations
Speaker 1: of the game, whether they are critical third downs where
Speaker 1: you don't have your best best receivers on the field
Speaker 1: you're opting to have. And this is not about Noah Brown,
Speaker 1: but just you don't have your best players on the field,
Speaker 1: and you're certainly not targeting your best players to try
Speaker 1: to give them opportunities to be able to make plays.
Speaker 1: Let's start first with few, Dave. I will let me
Speaker 1: let me preface by saying this, because I think there's
Speaker 1: two different there's two different ideas here. I really I
Speaker 1: hate hate the idea that like everybody on the offense
Speaker 1: has to have a big day for it to be
Speaker 1: a successful day. I think fantasy football has worked people's brains.
Speaker 1: You know, there's only one football and oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: you have a backup offensive line and a backup quarterback.
Speaker 1: If Ceedee Lamb is having a great day, that might
Speaker 1: not mean Michael Galloper Amari Cooper is going to have
Speaker 1: this huge day. And that's okay, especially if you win
Speaker 1: the football game. Now, what I don't like is that
Speaker 1: Noah Brown is a focal point of this offense when
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper's not. Like, if Amari Cooper is quiet because
Speaker 1: everybody else is balling out, that's a okay. If Amari
Speaker 1: Cooper is not getting targeted because they're making this crazy
Speaker 1: concerted effort to get the ball to Noah Brown, I
Speaker 1: do not understand that. And I love Noah Brown. I
Speaker 1: all like I've been one of the few people I
Speaker 1: feel like I've backed his entire career. I wanted him
Speaker 1: on the team when nobody did. But that doesn't mean
Speaker 1: I don't I want him getting six targets in a
Speaker 1: game where Amari Cooper goes by the wayside, Like, I
Speaker 1: don't get it. No, I don't think it's normal the
Speaker 1: way they rotate these receivers where any one of the
Speaker 1: big three might be out of the game for a
Speaker 1: pro period of time. And I know Michael Gallup got
Speaker 1: hurt in this game, so maybe that's part of it,
Speaker 1: But no, I thought it was bizarre. Kellen Moore was
Speaker 1: kind of asked about it yesterday and he was like, well,
Speaker 1: it stands to reason you want to go with the
Speaker 1: favorable matchup. Can't the favorable matchup be ceedee lamb? Then
Speaker 1: like just Noah Browns like Noah Brown six targets, and
Speaker 1: it certainly seemed like a lot of those were like
Speaker 1: a concerted effort, like this is a Noah Brown play,
Speaker 1: and it baffled me. So Amara Cooper doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be great every week if the offense is still good,
Speaker 1: but I still thought that that was really perplexing. I
Speaker 1: didn't get it. Amber No, I agree with everything that
Speaker 1: Dave said, it didn't make any sense to me. And
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's just my own memory or what,
Speaker 1: but I feel that not just in that game, just
Speaker 1: in general throughout the whole season. This is a year
Speaker 1: where I feel that Amari Cooper has been very forgettable.
Speaker 1: Like there's nothing that necessarily stands out in my head
Speaker 1: when I think about the passing game and him, and
Speaker 1: I just I feel that I would I don't know why.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I would want the Cowboys to
Speaker 1: utilize him a lot more. And I know you've got
Speaker 1: Ceedee Lamb and he's been a great player. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's made some amazing catches. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I mean, why not use all your best wide receivers.
Speaker 1: And it's not a matter of just one game specific
Speaker 1: I just think that that's how I see it throughout
Speaker 1: the season as a whole. So in this game specifically,
Speaker 1: I have no idea why the Cowboys choice can't even
Speaker 1: speak now, chose to target Noah Brown so many times
Speaker 1: instead of other receivers. I don't know what Noah Brown
Speaker 1: gives you you know, and he's a physical guy that
Speaker 1: can be a blocker. And I don't know if I
Speaker 1: said this on this show or somewhere else, but there's
Speaker 1: one particular play where it's just like you ran a
Speaker 1: bubble screen to Noah Brown for for a block. I mean,
Speaker 1: Cooper is not a blocker, and Noah Brown is not
Speaker 1: really a playmaker like that. He can block, I mean
Speaker 1: flip it like you know. Yeah, I did say them
Speaker 1: there because I said him, you know, I thought that,
Speaker 1: yeah him, it never blocked for Moose, Like, well, why
Speaker 1: you have to flip this around like that? So you know,
Speaker 1: he just doesn't seem like a guy that's gonna go
Speaker 1: up and just make a great catch and contested play.
Speaker 1: He's just a your fourth or fifth receiver, big body
Speaker 1: guy can block something for you on the running game,
Speaker 1: maybe play some special teams. Yeah, I just I didn't
Speaker 1: get that either. Yeah. It's a bit baffling. And especially
Speaker 1: when you see the number of targets that that a
Speaker 1: Mark Cooper got, you would think the reason why Mary
Speaker 1: Cooper is making the money that he's making is because
Speaker 1: he is an appreciably better wide receiver. So to me,
Speaker 1: it seems like in critical situations of the game, I
Speaker 1: want my best wide receiver on the field, and if
Speaker 1: he's not your best wide receiver, then don't pay him.
Speaker 1: But if he's that guy he needs to be on
Speaker 1: the field in those critical situations, then you need to
Speaker 1: make a concern. If you're gonna make a concerned effort
Speaker 1: to get anybody the ball, make a concerned effort to
Speaker 1: get him the ball, because you're if I'll tell you this,
Speaker 1: if No Round was a good matchup for them, I
Speaker 1: guarantee you, in the exact same situation, you replaced No
Speaker 1: Brown with Amark Cooper. Mark Cooper isn't even better and
Speaker 1: even better match Joe right, So give him more opportunities.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, I just I didn't get that. That
Speaker 1: was completely baffling. I mean, what do you got, Dave.
Speaker 1: I just want to I mean, maybe I have a
Speaker 1: soft spot for Amari Cooper because I like the guy
Speaker 1: and I do, but I just, I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: want to dog him too much. Like I think it's
Speaker 1: actually amazing Amari Cooper is probably going to set a
Speaker 1: career high for catches and if he has, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's fifty yards away from a thousand, So
Speaker 1: I would like, you know, as long as he doesn't
Speaker 1: have two more games like Sundays, he should hit that mark.
Speaker 1: And to do that in a year where he's had
Speaker 1: to play with four quarterbacks and hasn't had his starting
Speaker 1: quarterbacks since early October, I think he's had a really
Speaker 1: nice season. And I mean, I think Amber's got a point.
Speaker 1: He hasn't had any of these crazy two hundred yard
Speaker 1: days where he just took over a game like we've
Speaker 1: seen him do. But I think he's had a remarkably
Speaker 1: productive season for the cast that he has been forced
Speaker 1: to work with. Um, it doesn't mean he had a
Speaker 1: great game on Sunday. I don't know how much of
Speaker 1: that is his fault. They didn't seem very interested in
Speaker 1: targeting him, So I just, you know, I don't I
Speaker 1: don't want this to turn into a narrative of like,
Speaker 1: why why did you pay Amari Cooper because he's actually
Speaker 1: had a pretty damn good season for not having a quarterback. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And just to be clear, and I wasn't accusing you
Speaker 1: of saying that, Yeah you know, I'm not, Yeah, this
Speaker 1: is I'm just saying that for yeah, Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: would just saying I agree with you. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that for people at home. Yeah, I agree with Mark.
Speaker 1: Cooper has had a really good season. That's even more
Speaker 1: of the reason why it's so baffling, Like, get him involved.
Speaker 1: The guy has been playing really well this season. Even
Speaker 1: in games when a lot of other people weren't showing up,
Speaker 1: he was playing pretty well. And so I just didn't
Speaker 1: understand why they would throw so many balls into a
Speaker 1: Brown and so few to Amari Cooper in that kind
Speaker 1: of situation. But they won the game. So going back
Speaker 1: to Day's original point, when you win the game, it worked.
Speaker 1: But I just again, I just don't get why. I
Speaker 1: don't get why they did. Hey, maybe he thought it
Speaker 1: a CD A couple of those times. They do look
Speaker 1: very similar sometimes out there in the field. All right,
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys. You wantus back tomorrow, we'll have Bucky
Speaker 1: Brooks joining us. He'll give us a breakdown of the
Speaker 1: upcoming Cowboys versus Eagles. We'll do that when we on tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Till then for Nick even Dave Helmet, amber Garcia, I'm
Speaker 1: Derek Eagleston. This has been the break live on Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys dot Com Radio This has been a production of
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.