WEBVTT - Player's Lounge: Much Improved? 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.080 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:21.320 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This is the Player's Label, 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:26.200 broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters at the Star. 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:31.880 Now your hosts Barry Church, Danny McCray, Rick Johnson, and 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:39.520 Nui scrugs. That is what I'm talking about. Okay, my 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:41.519 name you guys said it took months and months for 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.280 you guys to get your name in the intro. I 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.640 say it one time bad. That's how did you know? 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.280 I just pay people off that They probably never cried 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.000 about it. That's probably what happened. We didn't give him 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:54.760 a hard time, you know, we you know, we were 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:56.440 okay with mine was not a hard time. I was 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.360 just like, Dan, can I get in the intro? And 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.960 I got there? Will you making stuff happen? So yeah, 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.600 I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm welcome to at the Player's 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.920 Lounge Friday Edition Post game Edition. I'm Brett Johnson. I'm 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.959 here with Danny McCray, Barry Church, and new We are 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:17.400 both out today, but we have the boss man himself. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.080 My boss is here. Just you know, you're just going 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.000 to be here reviewing, judging everything that I do. I 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:26.679 guess feel it. Well wait, wait, wait, wait, before get 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:28.679 before we get too deep into this, I gotta make 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.880 sure I put this on camera. Okay, because once again 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.640 I'm here, Barry's not here, and New he's not here. 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:38.839 All right. They made sure to make a big moment 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:40.480 of it, of the fact that I had been out, 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.200 I was on vacation. They held it down while I 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.720 was gone, Nui wasn't here on a previous show, and 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.160 then Barry and New we aren't here for this show. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.720 So that's on camera, and I want everybody to know 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.160 that I'm here and I'm wrong, and I'm pretty sure 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.640 Barry is partying right now here. You are on a 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.840 flight I saw. I saw New at in Tampa, so 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.080 I kind of understand maybe why he wasn't in the 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.200 last two shows. You know, I'm just at the game, 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:11.239 but I don't know about you. You were in Tampa, Yeah, okay, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:15.040 because you're on the show. Yeah yeah. So but I 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:17.440 will say this, I did get to fly the charter 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.320 home last night. They didn't get that out. I'm sure 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.160 if he would have had that option, he definitely would 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:23.720 have taken it. It's okay, man, I got live of 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:25.200 you and stuff, but I'm gonna get off. I'm gonna 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:26.919 get off. It's okay because I'm here. I love the 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:28.840 team that we have here is gonna be an amazing show. 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.040 So shout out. I worked my first game yesterday and 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.640 I didn't travel and I'm really tired. So I congratulations 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.200 for being here today, Nick, because I don't know how 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.000 y'all do it. I don't know. I got home at 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.960 like twelve thirty and I'm like, I'm so tired. What 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:49.040 his life? What his life? M the game yesterday? You know, 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.320 I've always been a fan of Too Short, but yesterday 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.160 I was not because we lost by two points final 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.400 score thirty one to twenty nine. Bucks win the game 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:05.639 that headline though, didn't you know? Yeah? Thank yeah, And 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.360 I was like, you know what that's like, too Short? 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:09.679 Like from California. You know, I got to do a 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.679 little West Coast Best Coast um next game is against 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.799 West Coast team Los Angeles Chargers at SOFI Stadium. I'm 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.000 honestly kind of sad that I will not be at 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.080 that game because I've been seeing so far being built 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:27.600 for years, last two years, and I have not gotten 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:29.959 to go in the stadium. Last year they did not 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.360 have fans in the stands, and I'm really sad about 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.880 that one. But that is on September nineteenth, so the 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:37.720 Cowboys have a little bit of time to kind of 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.920 work on some things from now till then. Um, but 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.640 just before we get into depth of more stuff, what 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.880 was your guys's just first initial thought after watching the game, 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.720 just your first kind of instinct. Yeah, it was. It 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:54.360 was a little tough, just because I had actually thought 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:55.839 the game was going to go that way. I said 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.280 that we would we would lose by four. We lost 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.800 about two. You did knew that we're going to come 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:02.920 out and throw the ball all over the place. I 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.040 did not expect us to run the ball as little 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.600 as we did. I thought that we would try a 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:10.240 little bit harder or get Zeke more involved in the 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.240 passing game. I think he caught two passes, so that 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.880 was a little difficult. The special teams play was a 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.240 little shaky, miss some field goals. I've watched kickoff, I 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:21.599 watched punt. You know, we gave up some yardage there. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.080 Some of the kickoffs were a little strange. But it's 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.360 week once. We got some stuff that we can fix. Um, 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.200 there's a lot of positives coming out of the game. Uh, 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.800 Dak looked great, offensive line looked way better than I 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.320 thought they would look. And we went toe to toe 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.960 with the defensive Super Bowl champions. No moral victories here, 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.200 but if you're looking for good things to pull out 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.279 of this game, there there are a few of them. Nick. Yeah, 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.560 I just wanted to see them be a better football team, 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:49.480 I mean than what we saw last year. And I 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.800 don't know if they're a good team, you know, a 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.320 great team, but I do think that they're better than 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:58.240 what we saw. And because Tampa is a perfect benchmark 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.560 to start this off. You know tom Brady's going to 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:02.800 be Tom Brady, and he was, and you know that 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.360 they're a well old oiled machine. They got twenty two 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.520 starters back. Everyone's been talking about that, and they came 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.160 out there, like you said, Danny, then went toe to 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.279 toe and they didn't win. And that's the next step. 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:15.000 That's what you want to be a really good team. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.000 You got to take that step. And they weren't there. 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.320 They left tom Brady too much time and that's what happened. 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.320 But if if that, if you play like that, you're 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.000 going to beat a lot of teams on your schedule 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:29.080 in my opinion, Yeah, especially considering we have what the 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:34.279 third easiest schedule according to ESPN and NFL, and we 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.680 don't have another playoff team that we're going to be 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.080 playing from last season until Week eleven, which will be 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.840 the Kansas City Chiefs. So hopefully with those stats out, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:46.440 don't buy buying two because the last year was last year. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.160 Teams are totally different coming into a new season. Like 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.120 you think about the Chargers who were going to play. 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:56.039 This is the second year of Herbert and he's going 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:57.680 to be we assume he's going to be better than 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:59.800 he was last year. They had some things go wrong 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.920 for them last season, so I expect them to be better. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.280 And also, I mean, think about it from the flip side, 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.440 if someone was talking about the Cowboys the same way. 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.479 They didn't make the playoffs, but from what they saw 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.680 last night, I guarantee you the Giants watching the Eagles 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.840 are like dang. I mean, they have to be a 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.760 little bit more worried about it because of what they saw. Well, 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.640 I'm excited from watching the game yesterday. Obviously sucks that 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.960 we lost, but I after watching preseason, I had no idea, 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.240 what was going to happen, you know, with the squad 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.239 this year, and you know, even just looking at like, okay, 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.000 who are they cutting? Who are they keeping? I don't 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:36.599 know if this is going to work. You know, we 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.479 had what six or seven guys make their NFL debut 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:44.360 last night played in the game. So I was excited, 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.520 especially to see what these young guys are going to do. 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.400 I was not excited about my Chris Godwin and Jordan 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.320 Lewis matchup that I had thought was going to be great. 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:55.680 It started off good but didn't turn out the way. 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.640 But we'll talk about that later a little bit. But 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.680 to go back to your point, you kind of made 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.960 it a big point of saying you hope the pass 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.400 and run game is split and Dak doesn't have to 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:12.120 do as much, you know typically I think people kind 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.200 of wanted it to stay around. Maybe he passes for 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.760 thirty five attempts or whatever, and he passed for fifty eight, 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:24.120 which was tying his career high. Zeke, we didn't see 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.400 him used a lot. He rushed eleven times for thirty 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.240 three yards and then caught three passes for nineteen yards. 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.040 What were your thoughts on that? Why? Do you think 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:38.520 that that happened. I mean, listen, this trend has been 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.040 going on since last year, and Mike McCarthy is not 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.960 known for, you know, utilizing to run that much in 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:46.760 his offense, and I think we're going to continue to 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.720 see that go the same way. I'm still going to 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:51.760 say that we have a ninety million dollars running back 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:53.640 in the backfield. I would like to see him use more. 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.360 Even if the game dictates that we're not going to 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.400 be able to run off tack or run up the middle. 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.600 I think there's still some other career the ways that 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.600 we can get Zeke the ball um. I don't. I 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:05.280 think if you're gonna use him like you use him 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:09.239 last night, then Tony Pollard should not be getting full series. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:11.920 I think that Zeke should still be in the game 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.000 getting some of those touches that Tony Pollard got because 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.040 he needs to be feeling like he's involved in the game. 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:19.880 And I think last night, you know, besides him being 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:22.680 a blocker, he was kind of a non factor. So 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.200 I don't. I don't think that we can continue to 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.160 go that way. I think we're gonna need Zeke to 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.080 carry us through the rest of the season, but you know, 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.920 I don't really have confidence in seeing seeing that many changes. 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:36.240 I kind of appreciated the fact that that Kellen Moore 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.640 didn't try to just you know, run the ball, just 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:42.040 because we've seen that here before, Like it's not working. 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.240 But let's just we do what we do big on 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.160 big and it's like, well, you're not big enough, you know, 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.600 big enough to go big on big and that happens 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:50.920 too many times. And so I like the fact that 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.880 they went sideline to sideline and they try to you know, 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:58.160 stretch it out. Now you know, the run to Zeke 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:01.280 at the goal line. I mean, I've said this for 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.720 a long time. The tight ends can catch the ball, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.360 but they're they're a problem when it comes to blocking, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.360 especially on Darwin. Like, yeah, that that play, we saw 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.360 that in the preseason though we did see a play 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.360 and he didn't. He just barely got a hand on it. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.320 And that's a block in space. It will so not 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:18.120 even just you know, somebody on the end of the 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:19.880 line of scrimmage. And this is a safe game in 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.959 a linebacker, so you know you need to just just 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:24.960 chuck them just a little bit, get him off, and 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.720 then you would think that that Zeke would could do 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:29.400 the rest, but I mean, the guy, you gotta give 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.600 him credit. The guy made a great play, made a 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:33.680 great play, and that that I mean, that was a 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:39.040 game changing play for them. Being in this building yesterday 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:41.920 seeing that play, all the guys in the room were like, 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.320 what how do you miss that? Tac Like, how do 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.400 you not do something there to kind of at least 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:48.920 get him a step back to whereas Zeke has a 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.320 little bit of time to you know, get into that 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.959 end zone. Um. I thought it was unfortunate, it was sad. 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:57.920 I'm never going to be happy with how we usually 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.079 last night, just just just to be clear, eleven rushes, 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.360 two past two catches, never gonna be happy with. That's 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.040 why I say when Tony Polar got in the game, 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:08.040 we went first down, second down, I believe, in the 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.840 second quarter, and on the third down we ran it. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:12.680 We ran like a draw, didn't get it and we 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.400 had to punt. And I'm just like this, the flow 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.680 of that just doesn't make sense. You best, well, just 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.560 going to throw it all three downs and you're gonna 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.679 do it that way, right. I didn't understand that that series. Yeah, 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:24.880 you know, I'm like this, And then it's a whole 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.600 series of Tony Poler. So you got Zeke in here 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.680 blocking for for six seven downs, you know, picking up 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.880 these rushers, and then you put Tony Poler in there. 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.080 He gets a screen pass, he's pitching and doing all 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.840 type of stuff, and then Zeke is you know, he's blocking. 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.439 I mean he also ran them from the fullback position. 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.880 I was like that, I had never seen that one before. Yes, 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:49.040 it's literally confusing that you would. He's slimmer, he's faster, 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.520 he's quicker, so you assume that he's going to get 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.600 a screen maybe lining up at the one and catch up, 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.880 you know, whatever didn't happen. You see Leona Fournette out 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.079 there catching screens and running too the flat. You've seen 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.360 the same thing Ronald John, Giovanni, benr And they still 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.480 got their running backs involved in the game. And I 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:09.000 feel like we totally took Zeke out besides him being 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:13.040 used as a blocker. Right, I agree, But I think 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:18.959 you know, the Bucks run game yesterday kind of reminded 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.600 me of that old school Giants team that had like 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.040 they called him Earthwind and Fire with a mod Bradshaw, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.440 Derek Ward, and Brandon Jacobs because you do have like 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.120 the different sizes and speeds, and they all can do 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:35.400 different things. And I want Tony Pollard to do what 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.240 he does, and I want Zeke to do what he does, 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:40.440 and I want to be able to utilize both of them. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:42.800 I think both of them should be able, you know, 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:44.760 to be in the game even at the same time, 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.119 doing different kind of things. And I don't think that 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.160 that necessarily is being done. But I like Tony Pollard 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:52.040 a lot, and I think he's a great running back. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.360 And I know everybody's like, oh, give Zeke the ball, 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:57.679 feed Zeke because we're paying him, you know, But I 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.000 like Tony Pollard a lot, and I liked the way 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.120 and more kind of honestly confused everybody a little bit. 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.920 He had so many different unique play calls and stuff, 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.120 and I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was just 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.680 from a fan perspective, it was really fun to watch 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.280 the game. Even though you know, there were times whe 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.080 were like what is happening here? Like oh, why did 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:18.559 we miss that? And whatever? I thought it was really 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.840 fun and exciting and it wasn't something so left fill 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.199 that you're like, bro, like, don't do that. Because I 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:28.160 feel like last season, we took maybe more chances in 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.840 certain times where we shouldn't have, like you know, going 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.000 forward on fourth down or whatever, different things like that, 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:34.480 And I don't think we did that. I think we 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.120 played smart still and we were just trying to figure 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.439 out because we didn't get that in preseason. We did 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.600 not get those opportunities to kind of play with stuff 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.600 as much because a lot of the starters weren't playing. 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:45.559 And so I was excited to see all of the 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.840 stuff that we did yesterday. Yeah, I mean, you're right 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:53.199 about the Pollard and Zeke and mix it up. And 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.520 Kellen Moore did a nice drop. He really did, because 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:57.840 because again, like I said, I don't I just don't 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.199 think he looked at that matchup and said we're not 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.320 gonna win this one. Not not right now Zack Martin 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.000 comes back, it could be, it could be a different 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:09.120 story somewhat, But but still think you know, when and 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:10.760 I said this on the last show, when you get 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.280 down in the red zone, you still have to be 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.320 able to knock them back, and they that is going 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.000 to be a problem, and I think that they need to. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:21.400 I mean, why why do the Bucks put Vita v 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.440 a defensive tackle why don't think Cowboys do something like that. 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.080 You know, if you need some beef in there in 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.040 the middle, do something different. And that's one thing I'd 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:30.400 like to see them on the red zone. So so so 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.880 if you go like, I'm going to go back and 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.199 watch all eleven of Zek's runs because I don't feel 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.400 like we were getting killed. You can do that in 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:42.000 the break well, but I don't feel like we were 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.040 getting killed in the ring game like that. Like he 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.480 broke for a thirteen yard run. One of his runs 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.760 was from fullback. He was falling forward on some of 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.120 his runs. You're not going to break every single one, 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.320 but he was making something happen. I feel like if 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.679 you give him a little bit a few more opportunities, 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:58.800 then you also have the option when you get in 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.360 the red zone, which is holding us back. Again, you're 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:03.560 saying that you think that they kind of just gave 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.400 up before they even started, like they just went in 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.240 saying they were not I think it was more like 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.280 a third and fourth thought to run the ball. I 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:10.720 think it was like, oh, yeah, we haven't rented a 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.240 long time, let's go ahead, and let's go ahead and 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.480 get a running. I feel like they did what they 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.360 had to do. I mean, you could clearly see pass 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.480 protection was on point. I you know, I was the 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.520 only one actually on the show on Wednesday that gave 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.360 Connor McGovern like a little bit. I'm like, you, guys, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.400 he should be getting better from last year. He was 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.240 already getting better towards the end of last year. I 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.520 get preseason he wasn't the greatest, but I had faith 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.240 in him, and he, I believe showed up very well. 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.600 I think our offensive line as a whole did very well. 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.720 But our run game, I don't know. Our run protection 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:43.600 just was not there for me. I didn't even just 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:45.960 watching and just re looking back at like when they 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.600 would show different angles of the plays and stuff. I 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.560 didn't see even space to go. I didn't see openings 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:57.720 very often. And vitave I had people literally doing the matrix, 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.320 you know, like he people were all the way back 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.960 trying to like stop him, and he was just unstoppable 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.240 past protection, good run. I just think it was a 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.760 little stretch to try to do something there. And I 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:12.680 don't know if we find if we if we find 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.000 a team that we can run against, I don't think 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:16.840 that we're going to run the ball. We saw this 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.880 last year as well, when we thought that there were 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.040 teams that we can that we can out muscle on 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.680 the offensive line, take advantage of zeeking the run game, 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:25.560 and we didn't do it in those games either. So 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.840 I mean, I'm gonna keep saying that we got the 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.320 same offensive coordinator and his coach. The call it's the same, 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.840 it's not. It's not going to change. It's not going 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:37.800 to change. But you know, like I said, at the 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.280 end of the day, we lost, and if we would 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:41.800 have played a little bit more keep away, I think 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.480 we we would have been okay. But it's a it's 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.280 a it's a good game. When you say keep away, 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.240 you mean at the end of the game. I really 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.640 think that if we shortened the game by establishing the run, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.560 then we have a better chance of winning that game. Well, 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:57.960 even at the end of the game, I didn't like 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.600 on that last drive that that first even though it 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.360 was in complete pass, that shouldn't have been a pass. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.240 It should have been a run right away that first 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:09.920 on the first drive, their first play was and you know, 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:15.080 Felled attempted to throw it, but it wasn't that back 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:16.760 on their eight yard line. You're talking about like after 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.400 they got the fumble like or you or you mean 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.800 once they got past midfield and we're really like in 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.760 field goal range because I know it's I know it's 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.800 it's hard to all these plays. Kind yeah, I don't 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:29.480 remember it, but I'm still going to be the one 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.040 banging on the table to say, hey, run it a 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.600 little more, especially when you're going up against a team 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.160 like that and you know your defense is giving it 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:38.320 up at that point because Tom Brady hasn't figured out 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.440 figure out a way. I have you established the run 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.760 at the beginning, and then you kind of have something 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.520 in your back pocket to go to and I don't 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.520 think we had that. And I'm you know, I'm still 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.520 sitting on the price tag right. Zeke's making ninety. I 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:51.520 know Zeke is great. I've seen him carry us for 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.000 a lot of years, and I still think that he 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.240 has that in them, especially when you're in training camp 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.640 and everybody's saying, hey, he's he's bigger. I mean, he's 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:01.160 a slimmer, he's faster, he's quicker. We saw none of 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.800 what we expected to see from z And yes, we 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.840 stayed in the game and we passed the fifty eight 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.359 times and all that I don't think that's a recipe 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.639 for us to get to the super Bowl. Well, what 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.880 do you think about this offensive line? Let's get let's 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.280 get into that a little bit more. And you know, 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:19.680 that's what we were talking about all weeks. Zach Martin, 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.960 he's not going to be there. He's I thought Connor 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.520 did great in place of him. Yes, it's you're not 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.640 replacing Zach Martin. And I would never say something like that, 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.679 but I do think that he did his job. Obviously, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.960 um Connor Williams had a couple penalties, but to me, 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.199 I feel like, pick your poison, take the penalty instead 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.639 of getting your quarterback hurt. And I think that it 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:42.720 was he was in that position where it's like, okay, 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:45.120 well if I don't do a holding call here, they're 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.480 getting to my quarterback. So to me, that's I'm fine 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.200 with both with both of his penalties that were called 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.760 on him. But what are your guys's thoughts? Nick? On 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.879 the offensive line yesterday? I thought I thought they protected him, 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.040 Like I said that, they protected him pretty good there. 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.919 They didn't even try to just you know, run the 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.119 ball behind them. But but McGovern and what it looked 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.400 like to me that he was doing like a lot 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.000 of the calls. I mean, I guess that's what happens 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.919 when he puts his hand out there and then all 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:13.439 of a sudden, be out of snaps it, so it 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.919 looks like he's the one making a lot of the calls. 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.720 I thought he did a nice job, and they think 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:23.840 he possibly could be in their top five as as 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.199 as their lineman when Zach comes back, and so, you know, 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.440 maybe he gets more work at center. Maybe he's a 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.600 guy that eventually is the center, or you know, Connor 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.199 Williams is on a one year deal. I'm not one 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.160 year deal, but this is his last year of his contract, 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.600 so maybe this is a good opportunity for McGovern to 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.560 kind of show that he's the future here as as 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.439 an offensive lineman. But it was a great test, and 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:46.440 I thought he did a nice job. Yeah, I thought 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.280 the offensive line play will They played better than I 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.199