Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This he's Talking Cowboys,
Speaker 1: Screaming live from the Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the
Speaker 1: Star in Frisco, et flowing to the sty and now
Speaker 1: your hosts Isaiah Stanback, heck My Harrison, Rob Phillips, and
Speaker 1: Kyle Yeoman's It's a Wednesday edition of Talking Cowboys from
Speaker 1: the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star in Frisco.
Speaker 1: Hunt Day edition here on week eleven of the NFL season.
Speaker 1: The Minnesota Vikings coming up on Sunday afternoon, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna break it down for you today as Vikings offense,
Speaker 1: Cowboys defense, and we're gonna hit some of the recent
Speaker 1: store winds surrounding this Dallas Cowboys ball Club. But first
Speaker 1: let me introduce the panel. As always, Isaiah stand back,
Speaker 1: our residence super Bowl champ are Great Cowboys insider, mister
Speaker 1: Rob Phillips and the always incredible, always smiling heckm Harrison
Speaker 1: on the top right hand corner of your scream the
Speaker 1: whole show. Now, just because I said you smile all
Speaker 1: the time, Yeah, why you're you're a happy guy. You're
Speaker 1: a happy dude that there's nothing wrong with smile. Let
Speaker 1: it happen. Let it happen, Kyle, just let it happen. Well,
Speaker 1: we've we've found nicknames, and I've found like a go
Speaker 1: to saying for every guy on this show, but the
Speaker 1: one that I've loaned known the longest. It's harder to
Speaker 1: get the right thing because I could call you so
Speaker 1: many good things, but I got to find something that
Speaker 1: that comes to me naturally. Well we've Kyle, y, I
Speaker 1: got a nickname for you, don't you say? You say yeah,
Speaker 1: don't sell come on, let's go. I think Twitter has
Speaker 1: figured it out. We just we just haven't been able
Speaker 1: to announce it on this show. Oh no, this one,
Speaker 1: this one would be like FCC rules, like not not okay,
Speaker 1: Like if if you were to say this nickname on
Speaker 1: you have no idea. Robbie, are you peanut butter and
Speaker 1: jelly guy or a peanut butter and jam guy? Oh
Speaker 1: my god, say that again? Are you a peanut butter
Speaker 1: and jelly guy or a peanut butter and jam guy?
Speaker 1: Just wondering, just random question. All jelly baby, jelly rope? Yeah, same,
Speaker 1: I'm more of I'm more of a jam guy myself,
Speaker 1: if I have to say so, more of a jam guy.
Speaker 1: But anyways, with that Ding said, let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: move on. Robi, I was just asked on the fan
Speaker 1: a moment ago, and there's been a report that surfaced
Speaker 1: around the Dallas Cowboys and in surface around Jalen Smith.
Speaker 1: I want to first know if you've read this, because
Speaker 1: it came out early in the wee hours of the
Speaker 1: morning today, But Jaylen Smith potentially moved on from depending
Speaker 1: on a contract, Sitch and depending on the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. Have you heard anything like this report and
Speaker 1: what do you think about what was said? I have
Speaker 1: not heard that report. What exactly was the report? So
Speaker 1: the report came from Dallas News today and ultimately it
Speaker 1: said that depending on the rest of the season, the
Speaker 1: last seven games, that if Jalen Smith's play continues at
Speaker 1: the at the rate that it has been over the
Speaker 1: first nine games of the season, then ultimately they would
Speaker 1: either have to take a pay cut or Jalen Smith
Speaker 1: would have to take a pay cut, or they would
Speaker 1: move on from his contract and that would be a
Speaker 1: lot of deadweight on the cap, but they would still
Speaker 1: do it regardless. That's a report, like I said, not
Speaker 1: confirmed from anybody here at Dallas Cowboys dot com. But
Speaker 1: that's ultimately what Dallas News was saying. What do you
Speaker 1: think about the prospects there on the topic of conversation, Well,
Speaker 1: that's that's actually kind of been out there as like
Speaker 1: scuttle butt. You know, I think Albert Breer had a
Speaker 1: report a couple of weeks back that, you know, if
Speaker 1: things like the same thing, if the production or the
Speaker 1: way things are going continues the rest of the season,
Speaker 1: you could see him being an offseason cap cut, you know.
Speaker 1: And that's not again, yeah, you're right, that's not confirmed
Speaker 1: by the team. In fact, every time a coach or
Speaker 1: an executive is asked about Jalen Smith, it's he's a cornerstone,
Speaker 1: as Jerry said last week, or he's having an outstanding
Speaker 1: season for us. So publicly, what they're saying about him
Speaker 1: is they love his effort and overall they like his production.
Speaker 1: I think when you look at what the defense has
Speaker 1: done overall this season, it hasn't been good enough. And
Speaker 1: you know, he's he says it himself, he's the leader
Speaker 1: of the defense, especially when Laton Vanderesh is out. So
Speaker 1: it's interesting I mean, we'll just see how it goes
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. There is a lot of
Speaker 1: time left. There are seven games left for this defense
Speaker 1: to build on what they're doing, and he's got to
Speaker 1: be a big part of that. And we're going to
Speaker 1: get into this matchup and he's got to be a
Speaker 1: big part of this particular matchup too against Minnesota EMA.
Speaker 1: That's interesting, Kyle. I mean, I hadn't heard that, but
Speaker 1: I believe that from the contract that Jalen has, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be really difficult to move him. And I don't
Speaker 1: see a Jaylen Smith taking a pay cut, especially with
Speaker 1: the new contract that he just signed, so that I mean, look,
Speaker 1: that would be an interesting dynamic the way that we
Speaker 1: handled that. But man, this defense has been so bad
Speaker 1: that everybody's just finding something to one guy after another
Speaker 1: to get rid of it. Jaylen Smith has the life
Speaker 1: shine on him and has been for a while, and
Speaker 1: so I'm hoping obviously with it. If it's he's got
Speaker 1: an audition for the next seven games. If this rumor
Speaker 1: is true about that, then man, he's got to play
Speaker 1: with his hair on fire. And it's hopefully a lot
Speaker 1: of swiping from the Smith speculation and speculation. Man, until
Speaker 1: we get some kind of confirmation, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: much much to say there. Everybody knows that Jayalen hasn't
Speaker 1: been playing up the part, nor has anybody else on
Speaker 1: this defense. So I think everybody's up on notice. And
Speaker 1: that's that's the word now, Isaiah. With that being said,
Speaker 1: and you're talking about not only Jalen Smith playing bad
Speaker 1: on this defense. And yes, the defense is put together
Speaker 1: back to back great games, We've already addressed that on
Speaker 1: this show, but overall the defense is still a bottom
Speaker 1: five defense in the NFL. Is it a little unfair
Speaker 1: to to kind of give that kind of pressure, the
Speaker 1: chip on the shoulder to a guy like Jalen Smith?
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean we each have been critical of
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith throughout the year, but at the same time
Speaker 1: as it all warranted, Yes, it is warranted. A reason
Speaker 1: why it is because the check warrants it. Soon as
Speaker 1: you get that check, there's an expectation level that comes
Speaker 1: with the check. That's facts, whether you like it or not.
Speaker 1: And when you don't meet those expectations, that's the reason
Speaker 1: why you're starting to hear Zeke's name come up now, right,
Speaker 1: Because Zeke got paid and all of a sudden his
Speaker 1: production goes down. So people start saying, well, he's not
Speaker 1: playing up to what we you know, he's not he's
Speaker 1: not meeting what his duties are for for his check.
Speaker 1: You know, if he was making six hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 1: a year, nobody's gonna say nothing, right, but they're not
Speaker 1: making that reason why Crawford's names coming up because he's
Speaker 1: not playing nine mien dollars worth of credibility. So these
Speaker 1: are the reasons why. That's what comes along with getting
Speaker 1: a big payday. As everybody knows that as a player,
Speaker 1: you just gotta show up and show out because you're
Speaker 1: proving yourself whether you're playing for a contract or you're
Speaker 1: playing underneath the contract, every single day, you got to
Speaker 1: show up, you know, and debark. You can throw to
Speaker 1: Marcus Lawrence into that mix in terms of, you know,
Speaker 1: the criticism for him, and I think he's overall had
Speaker 1: a good season, even though the sacks aren't there, the
Speaker 1: stats aren't there, and I think early in the season
Speaker 1: the knee was bothering him and nobody cares about that.
Speaker 1: You know that fans don't care about that, and that's
Speaker 1: just that's just comes with the deal, comes with the money,
Speaker 1: as Isaiah said, And you know, we'll just see with Jalen,
Speaker 1: you know how he can progress the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: And you know, this is always what happens when the
Speaker 1: team struggles. I think we've talked about offensively. I think
Speaker 1: they're just looking at it from the standpoint of you
Speaker 1: can get healthy, we'll be back to being a number
Speaker 1: one offense. Defense can they build on what they're doing,
Speaker 1: But they've got potential for a lot of changes defensively
Speaker 1: because especially in the back end, you've got a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys up on expiring deals. So, like Isaiah said,
Speaker 1: like Heck said, this just comes with a territory when
Speaker 1: you're struggling. Heck, when whenever it comes to two tackles,
Speaker 1: I mean we're talking about production. Yes, the film doesn't
Speaker 1: lie whenever it comes to Jalen Smith, especially because whenever
Speaker 1: you look at the film, he looks lost, he looks
Speaker 1: out of communication. He just doesn't look like the leader
Speaker 1: and the guy that you need to step up on
Speaker 1: that defense. But on the stat sheet, I mean, he's
Speaker 1: fourth in the NFL and tackles right now with eighty nine,
Speaker 1: But tell me why tackles don't always equal production. That's
Speaker 1: that's tough, I mean, because his numbers are up there.
Speaker 1: But then you turn on the film and you're like, well, okay,
Speaker 1: I mean that's a tackle, but it's a tackle ten
Speaker 1: yards passed the line of scrimmage where you're tackling the
Speaker 1: god's hip. You know, well, there's still counts as a tackling.
Speaker 1: So I think for Jayleen Smith, it's just been all
Speaker 1: of those stakes that we've talked about, not getting any
Speaker 1: push in the front line, having guys in his face,
Speaker 1: not being able to get to the ball. The penalties
Speaker 1: have also plagued them. You know, you watch the Vikings
Speaker 1: in Chicago game. There was I think there was a
Speaker 1: time where Folds was hitting the head and there wasn't
Speaker 1: any flag and someone tweeted a head. If that was
Speaker 1: Jayleen Smith, that would have definitely been a flag. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, he just hadn't gotten any breaks at all.
Speaker 1: But you know, tackling wise, he is a guy that
Speaker 1: makes a lot of tackles, and I think that what
Speaker 1: kind of convolutes the whole subject of whether he's good
Speaker 1: or whether he's bad. But as you talk about those
Speaker 1: communication eras and assignment alignment kind of deals. That's everybody,
Speaker 1: the whole defense. I mean, pre snap, you're seeing these
Speaker 1: guys trying to point and move guys around to get
Speaker 1: things aligned, and it just hadn't been there for the defense.
Speaker 1: But Jalen is the guy that's definitely taken the brunt
Speaker 1: of the criticism. Now, what I would say is you're
Speaker 1: talking about the tackles, and yes, a lot of them
Speaker 1: are just down the field tackles, right, But I do
Speaker 1: think some of that's not on him, you know, And
Speaker 1: you know, there's if we got a point to one
Speaker 1: thing that has really been the biggest issue, you could
Speaker 1: argue it's the interior defensive line. Yeah, some of that's
Speaker 1: been injuries, some of that's been production, and it's not
Speaker 1: all one guy. But I do think there's there's been
Speaker 1: situations where you know, there's running backs and tight ends,
Speaker 1: they're they're up on Jalen Smith very quickly, and sometimes
Speaker 1: he's he's not getting off blocks, but sometimes he doesn't
Speaker 1: have much of a chance. And I think you know
Speaker 1: Neville Gallimore coming in, maybe you know Antoine Woods, we
Speaker 1: talked about him a couple of days ago. Maybe they're
Speaker 1: shoring that up and that will only help the linebackers
Speaker 1: going forward. Isaiah, Yeah, I mean Rob just said, Rob
Speaker 1: pe just say it is true. I mean it's not
Speaker 1: It's not all on them. I think we've we've Randy's
Speaker 1: just deef as a line into the ground. So we
Speaker 1: know that, I mean, we know where where the problems are.
Speaker 1: And we know that linebackers can't do their job of
Speaker 1: actively if they don't have a presence in front of them. So, um,
Speaker 1: he does not deserve all the flat um. But you know,
Speaker 1: there's other things aside from just tackles that that you
Speaker 1: that you that you're hell responsible for or just coverage.
Speaker 1: There's communication. Um, there's you know, assignments in terms of
Speaker 1: being a line properly. There's so many things that don't
Speaker 1: show up in the stat sheet. Um. And I know
Speaker 1: it's hard for fans to understand because they just look
Speaker 1: for stats. There's so many things. I mean, there's there's
Speaker 1: a reason why guys make special teams, you know, as
Speaker 1: guys make rosters based off a special teams. There's personal
Speaker 1: protectors back there that literally that's all they do and
Speaker 1: they do it so well and they communicate so well.
Speaker 1: But guess what. You never see their names show up
Speaker 1: on a stat sheet, But why are they on a
Speaker 1: team Because they do their job effectively. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot more than just tackles that come with playing a
Speaker 1: linebacker position. Is you know, Kyle, let me let me
Speaker 1: say this. Let me say this, Kyle. The thing about
Speaker 1: Jaylen Smith is in the NFL, you have so many
Speaker 1: great linebackers, good linebackers to judge him against. Uh, we
Speaker 1: got two really good linebackers coming uh with this Sunday
Speaker 1: and that's yeah, Hendricks and Wilson. I mean, these guys
Speaker 1: are doing everything that you need from a linebacker position.
Speaker 1: That's covering guys, getting interceptions, sacks, all of that. And
Speaker 1: so those are the things that when you look at
Speaker 1: Jaylen Smith and you look at late vander As, you go, well, wow,
Speaker 1: why aren't our linebackers playing like that? When you see
Speaker 1: a guy like Roquan Smith, you're like, wow, look at
Speaker 1: him running downhill making tackle. So that's the thing that
Speaker 1: we are looking at with his defense and saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: why aren't we getting any of that? But when you
Speaker 1: turn the tape on and you see a defensive lineman
Speaker 1: getting pushed ten yards down the field, and that is
Speaker 1: the reason. So I mean, I don't want to be
Speaker 1: the person who dumps all on Jaylen Smith at one point.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you know, you have that,
Speaker 1: like you said, the unfair assessment of the job that
Speaker 1: he's doing based off of the causing effect of other
Speaker 1: people not doing their jobs. Hey, I can tell the
Speaker 1: holiday seasons right around the corner you up here window
Speaker 1: shopping already, the talk I ain't got that TV? Why
Speaker 1: they't got that TV? And antist you know, I'm just saying, man,
Speaker 1: you got plenty of up there to look at, and
Speaker 1: it's like, wow, that's a linebacker, you know. So I
Speaker 1: want one of those two nass Santa Claus could bring
Speaker 1: you a linebacker this year maybe if you want, I
Speaker 1: mean potentially, but whenever, and Rob, I want you to
Speaker 1: start us off on this, but I want to all
Speaker 1: of you to answer this question. But whenever it comes
Speaker 1: to the most disappointing player specifically on the roster. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, we could talk about Don try Poe, but
Speaker 1: he's not on the roster anymore. He's not necessarily a
Speaker 1: problem moving forward. But is Jalen Smith that player? And
Speaker 1: if it's not Jalen Smith, who would take that place. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's a good question. There a good question. Ka why,
Speaker 1: I mean, hey, you gotta be careful, p be careful.
Speaker 1: Pe he trying to get you to the principal's office. Pee, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean why not? I guess final, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess if you're talking about a guy that's, you know,
Speaker 1: the leader of the defense, and like I said, and
Speaker 1: what they've the way they've struggled against the run, the
Speaker 1: way they've struggled in space, I think you know, you
Speaker 1: might have to say that. Heck, Bun, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with what Rob said exactly what Rob just said. It's
Speaker 1: word for word. Just doesn't heckma just doesn't want to
Speaker 1: be called into the principal's office. We can talk negatively
Speaker 1: about players on this show, Guys, we can do that.
Speaker 1: That's a possibility. It's a part of this I understand.
Speaker 1: But when it's I get it. Man. It's just the
Speaker 1: thing about it is, when you're just historically bad, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of fingers to point at everybody. It's
Speaker 1: not wrong. I mean, that's the It's just a thing
Speaker 1: about Jaylor Smith. He's just taking the brunt of it.
Speaker 1: Like five weeks ago done, Terry Paul was taking the
Speaker 1: brunt of it. So I mean it ain't just him.
Speaker 1: If you want to look at Xavier Woods and talk
Speaker 1: about Thompson, you know, we can even go to our
Speaker 1: rookie that we pray so much. He's giving up a
Speaker 1: bunch of big plays as well. So I mean that's
Speaker 1: enough blame to go around without just patting it all
Speaker 1: on one guy and saying you are the biggest disappointment.
Speaker 1: My man. That's good point, Isaiah. I'm gonna goal with
Speaker 1: with heckma said, okay, so now let's I'll bring positivity
Speaker 1: back into this just so everybody can can have some
Speaker 1: more fun. But I'll bring positivity into it and flip
Speaker 1: that script. Who's been the most impressive and most improved
Speaker 1: player whenever it comes to this football team that's still
Speaker 1: on the roster right now. And I'm not talking about
Speaker 1: from year to year. I'm talking about from week one,
Speaker 1: hang on to week nine. What's that you're gonna drop
Speaker 1: that grenade? You gotta fall on it too. Yeah, has
Speaker 1: been the most disappointing for sure. Yeah, No, he's That's
Speaker 1: why I asked the question, is because I think he's
Speaker 1: been the most disappointing. I would throw Zeke into that
Speaker 1: conversation as well, especially because of like Isaiah said earlier,
Speaker 1: you get that contract, you're gonna have to have the pressure,
Speaker 1: and I think Zeke would definitely be in the conversation
Speaker 1: for most disappointing through the first couple weeks of the season.
Speaker 1: But even with that being said, I have more that
Speaker 1: Zeke is somebody who could turn it around. Then I
Speaker 1: have faith that Jalen Smith could turn it around. So
Speaker 1: there's me falling on the grenade. But let me go
Speaker 1: ahead and ask that question again in terms of positivity,
Speaker 1: who's the most improved player on this team, Isaiah? And
Speaker 1: is it on the offensive side or the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the football most improved? Yeah, this is great radio here,
Speaker 1: my friend. Yeah, I know, you gotta give me that
Speaker 1: question before we get on the air. Okay, hack my
Speaker 1: goe for it. Yeah, man, I'm stuck too. I mean,
Speaker 1: if I'm looking at a guy that's the most improved,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go out here. And this may not
Speaker 1: be the question the guy for this question, but Albinn Smith,
Speaker 1: I mean, you've been out of the league before and
Speaker 1: a half years, so he's the most improved that comes back.
Speaker 1: He says, you know, the leader and the team in sacks,
Speaker 1: So I guess that's most improved. I can go with
Speaker 1: because everybody else if you're talking about a guy from
Speaker 1: last season, yeah, I mean, that's really not a lot
Speaker 1: to go on, especially with all the injuries that we've
Speaker 1: had offensively. If I even go and say Michael Gallant,
Speaker 1: you know, he's having a pretty good season even with
Speaker 1: all the quarterback changes, then you know, I'm just wishing
Speaker 1: on the star at this point because I don't have
Speaker 1: a lot to go on. Give me Cedric Wilson nice said,
Speaker 1: good one. Yeah, big said, I mean the volume of
Speaker 1: plays isn't the same as some of the top three receivers.
Speaker 1: But what he's done when he's been in there and
Speaker 1: his name and number has been called has been impressive
Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways special teams obviously is
Speaker 1: a pass catcher, a quarterback in a couple of plays
Speaker 1: and running into rounds and a lot of different ways
Speaker 1: they've used him, it's been impressive. See if anything round
Speaker 1: The thing is I wasn't gonna say in back of
Speaker 1: my head, I'm like the only person that was coming
Speaker 1: to my mind was was Noah Brown's. That's literally the
Speaker 1: only person that when he asked that question, I'm like,
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to run through my roller decks to plays.
Speaker 1: Every time he comes to the game. He's effective, he's
Speaker 1: been affective, both of those guys, right, So that I
Speaker 1: guess if I know Ah Brand would be my answer. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: he hasn't seen a lot of plays, but when he's
Speaker 1: in there, he's blocking. When he's in there, he's making
Speaker 1: nothing but first downs right in some critical situations for us. So, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's my I guess that's my pick. I'll tight
Speaker 1: end mister Dalton Shoultz. I mean, come on, Kyle, Like,
Speaker 1: it's like I'm with I'm with Isaiah. If we had
Speaker 1: had this question before the show. Well, that's why we
Speaker 1: talk about it on the show, because we can think
Speaker 1: through it and we can have these different conversations bring
Speaker 1: up these names. I like Dalton Shoultz a lot. What
Speaker 1: about d Law? Do you think d Law could be
Speaker 1: in that conversation from week one to week nine in
Speaker 1: terms of maybe the fire that he's played with and
Speaker 1: the energy. No, why, no, no, because that's a decision.
Speaker 1: It's twice. That's the decision. Playing with fire and playing
Speaker 1: with energy is a decision you make. I'm gonna show
Speaker 1: up today and play with energy or I'm not. That
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with your effectiveness. And I know
Speaker 1: he plays hard, no no ifs answer buts about it.
Speaker 1: He plays hard, but from last time I check, playing
Speaker 1: hard don't get you picked first on the dog on playground.
Speaker 1: So um, you know, you know, we appreciate his effort,
Speaker 1: and I think he's getting better, but you know that's
Speaker 1: not what you That's not the conversation you want revolving around,
Speaker 1: you know, your franchise player. It's a good point. What
Speaker 1: about and Rob brought up Cedric Wilson? What about Donovan
Speaker 1: Wilson on the defensive side? Do you think Donovan Wilson
Speaker 1: could be in that conversation? Yeah? Yeah, I mean the
Speaker 1: thing about Donovan is we haven't really seen him. You know,
Speaker 1: we've seen we've seen Noah Brown, we've seen we've seen
Speaker 1: Cedric Wilson before. He's gotten hurt a couple of times.
Speaker 1: But yeah, absolutely. Now, I they're still kind of rotating
Speaker 1: guys back there at safety. But he just he did
Speaker 1: this at A and M he just finds a way
Speaker 1: to be around the football, and they need more of
Speaker 1: that at the safety position, at the cornerback position, for sure,
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. I like Donovan. I like Donovan.
Speaker 1: I like Donovan is tackling ability coverage. I think sometimes
Speaker 1: he it's lost in space. But you're right. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that you could say is
Speaker 1: an improvement, it's making improvements on the defense. Isaiah, h Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're the worst. You're the worst rain today? What are
Speaker 1: you are? You? Are you awake? Isaiah? Can we can
Speaker 1: we get some energy out? You're trying to You're trying
Speaker 1: to force me to say something amazing about people that
Speaker 1: I just don't know. If you disagree, agree, my friend,
Speaker 1: just just let it ride. I don't. I don't agree.
Speaker 1: I mean we're trying to these guys are secondary is
Speaker 1: not good. So yeah, I mean that's that's what I got.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not going to talk about most improved
Speaker 1: when they haven't improved under coverage skills. Yes, your job
Speaker 1: number one is to cover. Number two is to tackle.
Speaker 1: So if you're if your number one job isn't going well,
Speaker 1: I can't say that you're most improved. That's just our facts. Sorry,
Speaker 1: but I got you can disagree. That's that's allowed on
Speaker 1: this show. Isaiah, don't worry. Yeah, drop that sharp, You're
Speaker 1: like it's going to drop the mica. Drop that like
Speaker 1: it needs to be the mic. Anyways, we're gonna take
Speaker 1: a break. We're gonna give Isaiah five hour energy, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna be right back here on talking Cowboys. There's
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Speaker 1: into segment Numero dose. Here on this Wednesday, fantastic day
Speaker 1: outside and continuing the beautiful weather here this fall and
Speaker 1: it's football weather here in Texas, but not really. It
Speaker 1: really hasn't gotten cold yet, which is kind of interesting.
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for that cold front to come through and
Speaker 1: then it doesn't really let up. It has not gotten
Speaker 1: that cold. It's gotten cold for like the one day
Speaker 1: we were outside that was like the coldest problem and
Speaker 1: then that was about it. I mean, I like the cold,
Speaker 1: so I like wearing jackets and whatever the gear is
Speaker 1: that we end up having and stuff like that. But
Speaker 1: Isaiah stand back, Rob Phillips, heck my Harrison, I'm Kyle
Speaker 1: yeomens and guys, we got an up close and personal
Speaker 1: look at that Monday night football showing from the Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins led Minnesota Vikings offense. And of course today we
Speaker 1: are previewing the offense and talking about their matchup with
Speaker 1: this Cowboys defense. We just ran through a bunch of
Speaker 1: names defensively that we're either impressive or not so impressive
Speaker 1: on that side of the football. But whenever he comes
Speaker 1: to this offense from the Vikings, you gotta start with
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, right, I mean that's where the beginning, the
Speaker 1: middle of the end is whenever it comes to the
Speaker 1: Vikings attack. And Isaiah, I mean whenever it comes to
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook. You talk about a dominant back and someone
Speaker 1: that scares you to death. In terms of the rush
Speaker 1: defense that the Cowboys have flashed throughout the first nine
Speaker 1: weeks of the season, he might be the number one
Speaker 1: candidate to torch that right. Yeah, he's pretty dangerous. So
Speaker 1: when you cat running backs and all the intangible was
Speaker 1: that you want them to have, he literally checks every box. Um,
Speaker 1: he's compacts, he's he's he's he got some size to him,
Speaker 1: he has, he has quickness, he has you know, long speed,
Speaker 1: he has power. Um, he can run routes, he can
Speaker 1: catch the ball. I mean he literally checks every box
Speaker 1: and he provides a problem for every team that he faces. Um,
Speaker 1: you match that up with with the offensive scheme that
Speaker 1: works perfectly for him in terms of the zone blocking
Speaker 1: scheme with these office alignment that are aggressive and nasty
Speaker 1: and their discipline and they do their job and they
Speaker 1: work not only they work from the first level all
Speaker 1: the way up to the third level. I mean, he
Speaker 1: provides a problem. And even when he's not running the
Speaker 1: ball on the ground, they want to spread you out
Speaker 1: and use all their weapons that they have a receiver
Speaker 1: that will get to as well. And then you all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're isolating him on a linebacker like
Speaker 1: Jaylen Smith or a eye linebacker like Vander esh and
Speaker 1: you're expecting those guys to cover him with you know,
Speaker 1: fifty three yards of with ut the field, you know,
Speaker 1: for him to work with it's it's a problem. And um,
Speaker 1: you know we have our hands full this week. Once again,
Speaker 1: good old Dalvin cook Man tell you when he came, Hey,
Speaker 1: they call him, they should call him cookie cutter because
Speaker 1: that's the way he goes through defenses. He's very patient.
Speaker 1: I love that about him, and then I mean it's
Speaker 1: his sudden explosiveness is one thing that makes him a
Speaker 1: difference for the Minnesota Vikings. But you know, they have
Speaker 1: the perfect offensive scheme for him. That zone run is
Speaker 1: just you know, all about picking up three four and
Speaker 1: then next thing you know, he's busting one for forty yards.
Speaker 1: And so I'm really interested to see how coach Nolan
Speaker 1: attacks this offense and just knowing how a patient they are.
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is one of my least favorite quarterbacks. I
Speaker 1: think he's been overrated for a very long time, and
Speaker 1: not best because he played for the Washington football team,
Speaker 1: but I just think that he's overrated. And I've never
Speaker 1: liked the comparison between Cousins and Dak, and I was
Speaker 1: really looking forward to this matchup so that Dak could
Speaker 1: just outdule him in this game. But we old Minnesota
Speaker 1: from last year because man, when they were at AT
Speaker 1: and T last year, they ran it down our throat
Speaker 1: and they did a really good job of making our
Speaker 1: linebackers and defensive line look like they were there. So yay.
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook is the is the number one Russia in
Speaker 1: the NFL. So he has to be licking his chops
Speaker 1: and looking across the line at ed Ezekiel Elliott like
Speaker 1: I'm what you used to be. So Zeke has got
Speaker 1: to have to take some pride in this game. Also
Speaker 1: because Dalvin Cook is the league leading Russian. I love
Speaker 1: this matchup. I don't know if the Cowboys love this matchup,
Speaker 1: but I love this matchup because we're gonna find out
Speaker 1: just how far the defense has come in the last
Speaker 1: two weeks, right just I mean, you talk about a
Speaker 1: litmus test. He is the best back in the NFL
Speaker 1: this year in terms of production. And you watch him
Speaker 1: on tape, how explosive he is, how the yards after contact.
Speaker 1: You know, he got met at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: on Monday night by Rocan Smith, who's a top linebacker
Speaker 1: in this league, and just dragged him forward for three yards.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got a perfect blend of everything you
Speaker 1: want in a running back. And heck mentioned the game
Speaker 1: last year when the Cowboys lost twenty eight twenty four
Speaker 1: to Minnesota. I thought they did a pretty good job
Speaker 1: against him running the ball. I think he was under
Speaker 1: one hundred yards, just like he was on Monday night. Still,
Speaker 1: he had still ninety seven. It took him almost thirty carries.
Speaker 1: Get it. However, he had two screen catches early in
Speaker 1: the game of almost thirty yards. That led to two
Speaker 1: touchdowns early for Minnesota, and they kind of didn't look back.
Speaker 1: And that's that's the whole part of his game that
Speaker 1: you've got to be ready for. And if you guys
Speaker 1: watched Isaiah's film room on yesterday, that's that's something you
Speaker 1: got to count for. Two, there was a play you
Speaker 1: guys drew up where you get we talked about linebackers
Speaker 1: in the first segment. You get a linebacker in space
Speaker 1: on Dalvin Cook and that can be a major problem.
Speaker 1: So they've got to be ready for a lot of
Speaker 1: touches for him, you know, maybe upwards of thirty carries
Speaker 1: potentially to pick on who the game goes. But they're
Speaker 1: also going to try to give him involve than the
Speaker 1: screen game too. He had thirty carries on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football had twenty six last year against the Cowboys for
Speaker 1: ninety seven yards. So they did like you said, Rob,
Speaker 1: they held him under four yards to carry. He did
Speaker 1: have a touchdown on the ground. But you mentioned his
Speaker 1: threat as a receiver seven receptions eighty six yards in
Speaker 1: that football game. So he was up over one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy yards in terms of total offense plus Alexander
Speaker 1: Madison behind him. Not a bad one two punch whenever
Speaker 1: it comes to the substitutions that you have tailback wise.
Speaker 1: But that's the thing about Dalvin Cook is that he's
Speaker 1: a threat out of the backfield. He's a great runner
Speaker 1: at the same time, and you're not going to take
Speaker 1: him down on the first hit. Isaiah you talked about
Speaker 1: that yesterday on your film session that you can go
Speaker 1: find on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. But you can go
Speaker 1: and look at just the pure running, the pure strength
Speaker 1: and then the speed to close from Dalvin Cook. Is
Speaker 1: this the most dynamic back? I mean, it's probably an
Speaker 1: easy question to answer, but is this the most dynamic
Speaker 1: back that we've seen this season in terms of out
Speaker 1: of the backfield along with just pure running ability? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean for people in Dallas Nation, I mean,
Speaker 1: reminds you of Zeke from a couple of years ago, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, you know, when Zeke had that juice,
Speaker 1: nobody was questioning his breakaway speed. Right when you know
Speaker 1: Zeke will he would running over you. If you want
Speaker 1: to meet him in the hole, Um, he'll beat you
Speaker 1: to the outside. He'll he'll he'll bend the block on
Speaker 1: you and take it all the way to the house.
Speaker 1: But he's he's like a younger Zeke with better hands, right.
Speaker 1: I mean this guy not only are you know, whenever
Speaker 1: we talk about running backs catching the balls, usually in
Speaker 1: the context of screens, they're not just throwing the screens
Speaker 1: to him. These guys were lining him up wide as
Speaker 1: a receiver, as a split out receiver, and running routes
Speaker 1: slants and outs and under routes and and option routes,
Speaker 1: and they're giving He is versatile, and he presents a problem.
Speaker 1: Man like a I don't know what you do against
Speaker 1: this dude aside from trying to play underneath his own
Speaker 1: and try to make sure that you keep as many
Speaker 1: guys in the box as possible. But then you start
Speaker 1: running into issues with their passing game. So yeah, you
Speaker 1: give it up scheme right now. Boy, that underny zone
Speaker 1: may be the only thing that may be the only
Speaker 1: thing that works for you. But he's not a he's
Speaker 1: they're not disguising him when they split him out wide.
Speaker 1: He has a viable option in this offense. But Kyle,
Speaker 1: when you asked that question about have we seen anything
Speaker 1: similar to it, we have to. I don't want to
Speaker 1: thank our lucky stars because the guy got hurt. But
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb when he went out versus Cleveland, he could
Speaker 1: have been that guy. But then they pulled in another
Speaker 1: guy after him that was just as good. And I
Speaker 1: think then another guy and another guy and another guy
Speaker 1: and so and so. When you talk about comparisons between
Speaker 1: something we've seen before, we talked about this before the show,
Speaker 1: and that being the Kevin Stefanski offense with Cleveland and
Speaker 1: just a zone scheme and how much trouble we had
Speaker 1: with that. So that was that was a nightmare game
Speaker 1: for the cow Blays defense. But just knowing what they're
Speaker 1: going to present to us, that you know, our defense
Speaker 1: has got to play very sound and very discipline in
Speaker 1: this game just scared me. Heck, he just scared me
Speaker 1: pretty good on that comparison, because that's a good one
Speaker 1: because I mean, they're both kind of old school style
Speaker 1: offenses where they are they make no bones about it.
Speaker 1: Cleveland in Minnesota, we're gonna run first, We're gonna run
Speaker 1: at you, and then we're gonna use play action and
Speaker 1: try to get our receivers to beat you deep. And
Speaker 1: boy that happened against Dallas against Cleveland a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks back, for sure. Yeah, yeah, definitely Who on this defense,
Speaker 1: whenever it comes to specific players has to play the
Speaker 1: game of their life to try and slow down And
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say stop because you're not gonna stop
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, but slow down Dalvin Cook to the tune
Speaker 1: of under one hundred yards total in the game. Who
Speaker 1: has to play the best game they've had of their
Speaker 1: career in order to do so? The entire defensive line.
Speaker 1: I can't go one player, Vic. When when you're playing
Speaker 1: against a zone, a zone running scheme, the entire defensive
Speaker 1: line has to play discipline and they have to play
Speaker 1: stout right. They can't get moved either back or laterally.
Speaker 1: You cannot. You can't. You can't just let these guys
Speaker 1: have their way and move you around on this office.
Speaker 1: The line and also the linebackers had to play discipline.
Speaker 1: We were talking about it before or the show. You
Speaker 1: know that the thing that's that goes along with his
Speaker 1: zone scheming for those are football kind of souris think
Speaker 1: about um, you know Terrell Davis right back in the day,
Speaker 1: and you know it. You know, like, hey, I'm alluded
Speaker 1: to his three yards. It's four yards. It's two yards, right,
Speaker 1: And they're patient and they're patient, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, as a linebacker, you're like, man, I'm tired
Speaker 1: of being patient. Man, I'm going to make the play.
Speaker 1: And as soon as you overpursue on the zone right
Speaker 1: out the backside, and that's when you That's why you
Speaker 1: see Cook with all these big runs, right, It's not
Speaker 1: it's not by chance, it's not lucky that he just
Speaker 1: keeps having these big forty seventy eighty yard runs. He
Speaker 1: that is by scheme. They are going to wear you
Speaker 1: down and wear on your patients and to the point
Speaker 1: where you're like, man, I forget this. I'm going to
Speaker 1: make a play. I'm tired of these guys getting four
Speaker 1: yards of pop. And then that's when they that's when
Speaker 1: they get you. Oh and how many times have we
Speaker 1: talked about that with the Cowboys defense man, things are going, well,
Speaker 1: it's free, it's freelancing, and it's not gap integrity and
Speaker 1: all that good stuff. So yeah, you got to be
Speaker 1: under screw this week. No doubt. I think Rob, you
Speaker 1: brought up the best point about how yes we've seen improvement.
Speaker 1: I mean that's obvious just based off of the first
Speaker 1: seven games of the year than what we've seen in
Speaker 1: the last two weeks now with Philly in Pittsburgh and
Speaker 1: even then, whenever it comes to the rush defense or
Speaker 1: the rushing defense, you look at Philadelphia and Boston. Scott,
Speaker 1: sure he's a matchup problem, but he's not a top
Speaker 1: level back. Same thing with James Connor. Like James Connor
Speaker 1: could be a top level back, but he's having a
Speaker 1: down year. Specifically, this is where you're gonna find out
Speaker 1: just how impressive this defense, or not even impressive, but
Speaker 1: just improved this defense has been over the last couple
Speaker 1: weeks of the season. We're gonna step aside for our
Speaker 1: final break. When we come back, we'll look at the
Speaker 1: passing game for Minnesota and just how scary is justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson and Adam feeling on the edge. When we return
Speaker 1: here on Talking Cowboys, we're back in the Tasty treat
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Speaker 1: twenty Bank of America Corporation. Dear, it's nineteen oh eight.
Speaker 1: Don't you think we should get electricity and stop using
Speaker 1: candles to see it night. It's just electricity lights up
Speaker 1: the room fast. It's more reliable than candles blowing out,
Speaker 1: and people seem to love it Nationwide, candles dare did
Speaker 1: you just run into the wall? I have a new
Speaker 1: candle please. Historically, switching to new technology is a no brainer.
Speaker 1: Today it's AT and T five G fast, reliable, secure,
Speaker 1: and nationwide. Switch to AT and T five G. It's
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Speaker 1: for you for details. To talk in Cowboys, whether you're
Speaker 1: listening to music while you work out, watching highlights or
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Speaker 1: are the official earbuds of the Dallas Cowboys. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: Esselore has the goggles and then a Heckma's given the
Speaker 1: bows point on the screen. I like that. I guess
Speaker 1: we've got it both ways. Now. Anyways, final segment here
Speaker 1: talking cowboys, and we just got some news that some
Speaker 1: guy who might be the head coach of the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys decided to move up his press conference. So just
Speaker 1: interrupting our streaming time unfortunately. So I'm gonna ask a
Speaker 1: quick question whenever it comes to this offense, and we'll
Speaker 1: even hit this a little tomorrow just to get it
Speaker 1: all taken care of. But when it comes to Justin
Speaker 1: Jefferson and Adam Feeling, this is another duo that's scary
Speaker 1: on the edge. But just how scary are they? Heckma
Speaker 1: in terms of the matchup that they've got with our secondary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson twenty second pick in the draft, man, and
Speaker 1: he may be coming into this game a little piss
Speaker 1: off thinking about us taking cde Lamb over him. I
Speaker 1: mean he's a guy that was coming off of a
Speaker 1: national coming off of a chip, you know, and they
Speaker 1: beat Oklahoma actually in the playoffs. So Justin Jefferson is
Speaker 1: smooth man, he plays with you know, he's a lot
Speaker 1: to get the gap, and that's my guy, Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 1: But also Feeling, it's also very incredible. I mean I
Speaker 1: comparison comparing him to the receivers for the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's smooth, he's a tactician, he does it all.
Speaker 1: So I mean they're our secondary, which is already a problem.
Speaker 1: These guys are gonna have to play together and do
Speaker 1: a really good job of just zoning these guys out
Speaker 1: and keeping things in front of him. But still, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a challenge. And also they're tight end
Speaker 1: for our linebackers, so uh, this is not a matchup
Speaker 1: that you go into with a lot to hope for.
Speaker 1: You just want your guys to be assignment sound and
Speaker 1: hopefully uh, you know, stop the big play, which they're
Speaker 1: pretty much number one and making big plays. Rob, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna say, scary, that's it, scary, I have We'll
Speaker 1: get to the rest tomorrow. Scary, scary, I concur double scary,
Speaker 1: scary scary? Did I take up all the time? Now?
Speaker 1: Take all the time? I thought I was talking pretty fast. Nodded.
Speaker 1: We didn't really have that much time anyway to start,
Speaker 1: So it's unfortunate you didn't take up all the time.
Speaker 1: We just didn't have any But that's gonna do it.
Speaker 1: Here for Talking Cowboys, we've got to get away because
Speaker 1: of Mike McCarthy's press conference coming up in less than
Speaker 1: five minutes here on Dallas Cowboys dot com and the
Speaker 1: various streaming platforms. But for today, for Chris beam In,
Speaker 1: the back for heck Ma Harrison, for Rob Phillips, he'sa
Speaker 1: stand back. I'm Kyle Yeoman's We'll see it tomorrow, nine
Speaker 1: fifteen on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club