WEBVTT - Talkin' Cowboys: What Now? 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.360 The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:18.320 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This He's Talking Cowboys, 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.479 screening live from the Dallas Cowboys Worldwhours at the Star 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:34.720 in Frisco. Stay now, Your hosts, Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips, 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:44.240 Everson Walls, and Everson Walls officials officially joined Talking Cowboys. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.120 I'm not needing the bands now. I'm just stop getting 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.839 stock at the door and that's coming today. You got cookies, yes, sir, 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.320 you are. They gave me the Heisman every morning. Welcome 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.880 to the show, Everson, Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips filling in 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.200 for Bill Jones. I think you didn't the first That's 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.440 what I wanted, though, Why you face? Because I invented 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.120 this show? How excuse me? Wow? You anything to say 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.680 about that? He's kind of right about that, but that's 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:14.360 kind of a flex, Mick. Welcome into Talking Cowboys. It's 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.400 a blue Friday for sure. Cowboys lose to the Chicago 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.320 Bears at Soldier Field last night, thirty one, twenty four. 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.759 We're here with you for the next forty five minutes. 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.640 A lot to unpack, a lot of frustration from the 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.919 fan base and guys, that's um, that's warranted. Jerry Jones 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.000 is frustrated. We just heard him on the fan with 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:38.039 his his his weekly Friday hit, and there's just a 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.200 lot of a lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.920 inside this building right now and outside this building. Cowboys 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:45.720 at six and seven, ever soon they still have a 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.000 half game lead in this division. But it's the second 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.240 three game losing streak of the season. I'm wow, It's 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.760 it's really wow. I did not know that. It's really 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:55.720 hard to believe, isn't it that they're at this point 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:58.360 right now? It feels like it's a beautiful day outside. 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:00.320 I mean it's a beautiful day. It's all right, a 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.080 t g if I feel like a Monday and feel 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.280 like it's storming outside. So like that's that's the way 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.400 my body feels right now. That's the body language. This 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.519 is bad. That's after. That's because you just watched the 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.600 night Maryland. Well, you know, it reminds me this this team, 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:22.720 this feeling reminds me of A eighty three the Rams 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.280 took us out. I think that was in the cold 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.000 end zone. It was one of the coldest games of 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.760 Texas Stadium. Ice in the end zone. Here comes to 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.239 La Rams if I'm not mistaken, Dickerson comes in runce 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:41.800 for almost two hundred yards. Actually that was the second time, 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:46.520 but no, no, right, but before that it was that 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.040 was eighty three when it was ice in the end zone. 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:54.359 And what I mean is the comparison is that season. Yeah, 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.320 we started off hot, yeah, like seven, and oh we 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.280 we just we just couldn't be stopped. And the thing 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:04.440 that we did, and we we were the best I 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:09.360 think twelve and four team I think we had we 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:12.360 had going into the playoffs. And we didn't feel it. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.040 You couldn't feel it if you you wouldn't know from 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:17.040 the state in the stands. It was a home game. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.359 Everyone was cold. We played like we were cold, like 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.760 we never got out of warm ups. And you know, 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.760 besides the first drive of the last two games, that's 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.639 the only promise, that's the only promise this team has 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:36.280 had is two drives. Just two drives. Those those are 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.840 the ones. That's the only norm that we have at 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.560 this point for this Cowboys team, not just offensively. I'm 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:46.600 named for this Cowboy team. Period. Yeah, it was you know, 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.680 you you sat there and watched it and you're going, Okay, 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.320 at some point this was gonna kick in. It's gonna 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.040 get kicked in. And then it's like getting ready to 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.120 start the fourth quarter and you're going, no, this is 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.000 not gonna kick in. This is so we knew woth 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:06.400 quarter that is not kicking gosh. It was just I mean, defensively, 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.680 they couldn't get off the field. That's that's our no, 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:13.040 this is our normal. And you know that they had 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.720 at one point they finished seven of twelve on third down, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.480 but the last three that they didn't convert. That was 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.400 in the fourth quarter when all they were doing is 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.200 running clock and let's run three times in punt. Right, 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.920 they were they were six of fifteen third down six 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.080 or fifteen, started four for four on that. I thought 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:34.400 it was the best drive they had. Was seventeen plays, 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.799 almost nine minutes off the clock, great mix of running 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:44.880 pass ten runs, six passes, no penalties, touchdown, and it's 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:46.920 ever so I wrote it last night. It was like 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.560 Thanksgiving two point zero. They have this great first drive 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.000 and you think, all right, they've they've got it going. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:57.920 They've got the first drive. You showed your entire game 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.040 plan basically on the first drive. You had to It 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:05.400 was the longest possession they had all season, seventeen plays. 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.920 It's got to be one of the tops in the league. Yeah, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.440 eight minutes. Yeah, no, I was referring to the Bears 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:16.360 third down converted. I'm sorry. And at one point they 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.560 were they were at one point they were seven of nine. 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:24.159 It was one after another after another after another, and 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:26.920 they and it didn't matter what the down and distance were, 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:32.960 they could not get off the field. Um players, game plan, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.920 I mean, point of finger at everything, because the Bears 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:41.520 had this defense figured out. And after the game, you know, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.200 when I spoke with Rod and Mirinelli, you know, he's 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.080 kind of a stand up guy, and he blamed himself. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:51.080 He said, my my bad one. He goes, they're not 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.359 listening to me. I'm not getting through to him. But 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:56.320 you know, at some point you got to go out 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.640 and play. That's very noble. That's what I wrote. Coach 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:04.080 is a very noble, very noble. I love that in 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:08.760 old school coaches. But the accountability, as I've always said, 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.279 I just have to look at the players. Yeah, I 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.680 just have to look at the players. Whatever defense you're 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:18.320 putting them in, that's the defense that you've run all year. Long, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.039 that's the defense you ran last year, defense you ran 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.120 the year before that, and it seems as if we 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:27.640 are just learning it. And that's what's scary. So now 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.760 sudden you look at all these numbers that we keep 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:35.920 talking about for the score itself, numbers by Dak offensively, 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.560 just just really the entire offense. Maybe the numbers for 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.799 defense may have looked good. They might still be number 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.679 seven in the league. That's what's what's amazing. Stats. Number 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.520 one offense too in terms of yards per game, but 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.839 they're not turning in. It doesn't mean yeah, and as 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.400 they ended up, you know with the garbage time stuff, 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:56.320 four hundred and eight yards of offense. But does that 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.040 remind you of that reminds you the Remo years when 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.640 he's just you know it down the field. We put 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.719 ourselves in trouble with early turnovers and then here comes 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.799 Romo with numbers out of this world, but it doesn't 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.880 really indicate just how bad we may have played, even 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.920 in the passing game alone. So this is this is 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.880 that time of year. This this team is showing me 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:24.480 that they just don't have any continuity or it seems 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:30.480 like belief in anything that they're doing. And one thing 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.840 that happens when your defense plays the way they played 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.800 is you end up taking Ezekiel Elliott out of the 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:41.040 game twice. You can't hand keep handing him the ball 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.240 he had he had seventy two yards in the first half. Wow, 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.600 and he finished with eighty one. Really running the ball. Well, Yeah, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.560 two games in a row he's got he's got back 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.720 to some explosive runs, and that's some of that's a credit, 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.040 you know, to the offensive line creating some holes for him, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.160 which hasn't always been the case. I don't think in 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:00.640 the running game, you know, consistently they'll tell you that. 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.880 But yeah, I think he had two carries in the 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.440 second half against Buffalo and six in the second half 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.800 last night. And they just Stephen Jones preached balance to 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:12.720 us in the pregame show, and it just goes out 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.640 the window when you find yourself down seventeen seven and 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.480 then twenty four to seven. And Mick, we talked about 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.880 this on the plane last night. You mentioned what Rod 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:24.440 said about the defense. It's it's kind it's been kind 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.360 of the same thing we talked about when they've struggled 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:28.720 defensively this year in terms of there this up the 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.000 field defense ever since, and they're aggressive and they come 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:33.960 at you, and teams have been able to counter that 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.880 with the screens and the swing passes and getting the 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.760 Titans involved, and it's just been used against them. And 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:44.120 again I have been you know, I mean, this is 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.839 our job to try and find out what the problem is, right, 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:48.360 So I've been trying to find the problem. If I 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:53.440 want to look at one group defensively, it's I was 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.520 talking with a buddy of mine and he said, by 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.199 the way secondary, and I couldn't agree with that. Even 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.240 though we're not getting the turn those and things that nature, 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.280 we're not just getting toasted up and down the field. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.040 That's just not the way we're playing right now. I've 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.719 always talked about even though lack of interceptions, we got 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.560 very athletic dbs. We know that, but that's not the 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.480 problem on this team. I remember going back to the 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.520 Vikings game and I try and compare it to what 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.040 I know and what I know that's when I was 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.240 on the number one defense in the NFL nineteen ninety 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.640 Giants played the same defense we have here. Now. You 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:31.200 have the linebackers in the bubble we had, granted we 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:35.760 had two guys that in the winter in Jersey, Pepper 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.600 Johnson and Steve Josey. That pretty much, you know, been 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:40.439 drinking all night heavy. You know, it might be a 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.720 little heavy to ate all night. So they're gonna come in. 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:44.640 They're not losing weight this time of year. They're gonna 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.959 come in there around two sixty five, almost two seventy, 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.920 depending on what they ate last night. Okay, And when 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.560 they hit that, when they hit that guard, when they 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:59.920 hit those exposed offensive linemen, it's a stalemate. There's nowhere 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.960 for you to go. Barry Sanders nowhere. We had running 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.320 backs running scared. You know, with just lt just being 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:12.200 over there was enough. But I noticed that the philosophy 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.920 was to have a quick read from those offensive linemens 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.160 and when they come off that line, we are going 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:24.400 to meet him, meet them with violent force. And Dioce 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.720 and Pepper Johnson and Gary reasons they did that. When 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:34.079 I looked at hours, totally different defense. It's like watching 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:40.320 a lion versus cheetah. We have cheatahs as linebackers, and 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.640 when you take it whether those cheatah's legs, they got nothing. 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.560 They can't do anything without the legs. Okay, it's like 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.480 watching the flex defense get taken over by the Washington 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:55.520 Redskins when zone blocking made it obsolete. Whatever they're doing, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.600 whatever we're doing, we're taking ourselves out of every running defense. 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.960 You know, the strength of every running defense. We're getting 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:07.760 gashed because our linebackers are not stepping up and creating 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.600 that resistance at the line of scrimmage that we need. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.360 I don't care if you're getting cut off when they're 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.280 trying to run outside the tackle or even between the tackles, 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.840 when they're sometimes coming at their legs and sometimes they 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.280 are just so big. I mean, that's the problem to 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.920 deal with all the time. It's nothing new. You got 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.880 three hundred pounds lineman. You have to use what you use. 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:29.520 And they always said, same thing, make you laugh, make 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.280 you cry. If you got big offensive linemen right there, 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.520 you better be quicker than him. You better beat him 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.360 to the punch. We're not doing that. And what they're 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.000 doing make the same thing, make you laugh, make you 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:46.720 cry fast quick? How can I go fidgety? We almost 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.400 have fidgety linebackers. They're always ready to run, They're always 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.880 ready to go. They alays ready to go. Well, yeah, 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.520 they're quick to go. And then when you go too fast, 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.760 then here comes to screen passes, and then here comes 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.600 the jaw place or the quarterback keeper. And I think 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:03.199 if you just look at the touchdown run that Trubisky 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.360 had twenty three yards, I think I thought this was 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.760 emblematic of how the team, the defense played. They had 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.920 a play fake to Cohen going to their right and 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.360 to Marcus Lawrence crashed down the line of scrimmage as 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.720 hard as he could well. Cohen didn't have the football, 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:26.280 and Trubisky went left and there was nobody there. The 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.840 linebackers did the same thing. They start chasing. And I 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:36.000 think that was maybe the the best tangible explanation Jason 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.839 had after the game, is that we're not disciplined. We 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.720 were desperate. It's like everybody's trying to save the day 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:48.480 instead of playing in coordination. And look, Trubisky had run 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.120 for eighty one yards in twelve games. He went ten 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:57.280 for sixty three in this game. But that Triscoll did it, 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.520 you know, name the Quarterbosh on Thanksgiving? Yeah, of course, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.360 absolutely no doubt. And so they've had trouble with these 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.679 quarterbacks who are gonna keep but they're using their aggressiveness 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:10.920 against them because they're trying to get up the field 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.320 us their speed. Like you talking, One thing that you 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.640 have to have is poise. You just have to have it, 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.679 especially this time of year and when you're in panic mode. 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.120 That is not going to happen. I've been there eighty seven, 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.040 eighty six. You know we had that. This is the 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.679 game eighty four when we been making an eighty four, right, 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.360 you know, there were certain games we needed. Couldn't stop 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.240 the Redskins. They came into our house and blew us out. 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:38.720 They came in, uh in, cameo get yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.880 yeah yeah. So you know, been there, done that. That's 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.199 why I know what the problems are. At this point. 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.559 Everyone is out of position. No one trusts the person 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.640 next to them because even though you're aggressive defensively, they're 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.680 still and organized chaos you have to deal with. There's 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.160 still gaps that you know, regardless of how much you do, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.400 what you do and how fast you're coming off the line, 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.319 are certain keys that they're gonna tell you, Okay, hold up, 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.120 I gotta be careful wait, I see that now. You know, 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.120 these are kind of things. As much as you talk 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:11.800 about the LT being the great athletic player that he 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.440 was by the time Belichick was done with him, that 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:19.360 finished product. He was that organized chaos guy. He knew 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.440 he could see the tips, you know, he could see 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.520 it held. The keys were right there for him, and 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.200 he believed them. He played against the Cowboys one time. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.280 He played so well. That was Jimmy's first year, Jimmy 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.920 and Jay's first year. He said, everything looked so easy. 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:36.720 He thought it was they were fakes, and he thought 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.800 everything was a trick. I mean, we like we were. 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:41.960 We were horrible. We were horrible. We didn't do anything 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.600 in that game. Jimmy pretty much cursed me out after 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.440 that game because he thought it was my fault. And 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.160 just let you know, guys like that could put pressure 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:53.000 on everyone. Positions like this is putting pressure on everyone. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:58.640 Everyone's doing either too much or not enough, you know, 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.720 going the wrong direction, you know, not reading the signs, 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:07.760 so that that's paranoia. Okay, there's doubts. You can see 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.400 the doubt in how we played. Tackling in the open 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:14.520 field was an issue. Jason Garrett expounded a little bit 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.120 on what you guys were saying this morning when he said, 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.760 you know, we're not We're not a defense that that's 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.360 going to give you a variety of different things. Necessarily 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.240 that it's you know, they've got those Seattle principles where 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.640 Seattle's defense historically, they kind of do what they do 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.080 and it's a very discipline based defense. And when you 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.320 get outside of that, and he hadn't watched the tape yet, 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.000 but that's that's what happens. They struggled there. Well, think 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.400 about this when you look at so Trubisky ends up 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.800 throwing for two hundred and forty four yards. He completed 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:50.240 twenty three passes, right, and this wasn't out of reading 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.640 or whatever. This was the game plan. Thirteen of those 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:58.720 twenty three completions were two running backs, tight end, fullback. 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.080 What does that tell you? So they were saying, okay, 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:06.440 right exactly, and you know they targeted Jalen Smith. They 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.400 don't think he can cover. Now, he had the one 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.120 possession where he broke up the ball uh in the 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.280 end zone, but they kept coming there, right, So their 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.480 plan was we're attacking him and we're gonna make him cover. 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.280 And I think we knew going into this season that 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.680 that was one of his weaknesses. He's better going forward 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.920 than he is going backwards. And I always thought when 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.680 they got in that situation, especially in Nickel, that it 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.840 would be Layton Vanderish and Sean Lee on that Nickel. Well, 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:37.920 now it's him and Joe Thomas. They miss Vanderish, They 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:42.120 miss his athleticism that he and he could run with 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:46.000 those guys, right, they these guys can't run to tight end. 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.080 I didn't even know who they're tight end. Well, they're 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.360 banged up as down their depth chart. And that's some 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.440 guy named Holtz is kids in the ball. I thought 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.680 it was the guy went to college with, you know, 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.560 Randy Holtz. The He was like, what is this guy 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.200 doing three catches for fifty six yards and a thirty 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.560 yards screen catching run? Yeah, you know that's passed. It 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.000 was just just ridiculous, you know. And so you know, 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.240 and you look at the final stats for the Cowboys, 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.919 speaking of dbs, Everson, dari and Thompson, who's filling in 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.199 for Jeff Heath, another guy I think they miss in 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.639 terms of run defense. He finishes with nine tackles and 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.000 that's not what you want to see from your defense 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.240 where he's making those tackles. True, he's designated to feel 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.199 if he's to be up and and forcing as a 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.320 strong safety tack then that's great. But if he's your 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.080 free safety as a way to me, actually he does field. 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.960 He spent most of the time on the line of scrimmage. 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.359 They were playing single safety high the majority of the 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.040 time with woods deep, and he was lining up because 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.240 I a couple of times I thought they had gone dime. 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.520 I go, it's like, oh twenty three, it's the safety. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.000 He's up on the Yeah, they did win the turn, 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:53.360 unfortunately not you know what, Unfortunately it would have been 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:57.200 better to let him score a touchdown than they intercept 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:01.760 the field at all, extended the field and what and 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.359 basically what it did was they they they went three 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:09.080 and out punted and they got the ball back at Yeah, 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.840 the field position game is still the same. I thought 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.360 about you when it's like Murphy's long with you get 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:21.479 a takeaway, but field positions flipped and then you know, 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:23.560 a kick out of bounds late in the game that 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.199 leads to a touchdown for Chicago three plays later. I 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.200 think the Bears average starting position was the forty yard line. 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.119 There just wasn't really anything about this game that they 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.280 could hang their hat on that they had success. The 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.800 first drive. We seemed like an entirely different team offensively. 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:41.639 That's pretty scary. Cowboys have been trying and I know 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.520 Paula being out really didn't help at all. But we 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:48.160 talked about Zeke. As we run Zeke in the first half, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.080 I could imagine the game plan. He is, Okay, we 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.120 run him in the first half. He's doing well, he's 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.760 controlling the pace defensively, will not make it happen. Okay, 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:58.560 let's change it up. Let's get him in space. Yeah, 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:00.280 so now they've been trying to get him out of space. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.520 They're trying to use Zeke as much as possible because 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:07.000 he's not really breaking that that fifty yarder like we're 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:09.720 accustomed to, and like a lot of other backs who 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.440 are not even better than him or having the opportunity 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.080 to do so, they're trying to create that for him, 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.040 and they just can't seem to be on the same page. 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:23.119 See he's like whether he dackers, they cannot connect. It's like, 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.200 actually gap earlier in the year, the thirty thirty yard 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.480 run that he had, Yeah, it was thirty one thirty one. 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.679 That was his longest run of the of the season, 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.000 and he had a thirty yarder on Thanksgiving, he's you know, 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.480 hitting those explosive plays, but again he's taken out of 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.760 the game basically in the second half. Defense won't effective defense. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:45.399 I said it before the game. Now look at these 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.600 other than the weather assist in New England. When you 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.280 held them to thirteen points, it's twenty eight, twenty seven, 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:57.080 twenty six, thirty one. You can't expect your offense. And 0:19:57.119 --> 0:19:59.520 you knew this was going to be difficult going against 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:01.880 that ch all go defense. So you knew you weren't 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.840 going to score thirty points. You can't score. You have 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:07.560 to score thirty points every game to win. And that's 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:10.720 the kind of the situation they've been in. Your defense 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.320 has to match the opposite of defense, and they did 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.200 have to. They needed to step out and you knew that. Yes, 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.040 you know, they're they're good. They're good. I give it 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:22.560 to him. And Buffalo's defense is a top ten defense 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:26.160 and New England's been at a historical level. So your 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.640 points well made. And you know the worst part, look 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.040 at what we have though, I know, I'm so tired 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.159 of hearing about what everybody else that's that's fair, you know, 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:37.240 if what we have that we have this so a 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.639 bit established coaching staff. You know, head coach has been 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:42.040 in place for a while. It's been a little bit 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.040 shuffling going on underneath. You know, players themselves been locked 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:50.520 down contract wise. I mean, come on this, we have 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:52.960 We're supposed to be the ones that they're saying. Man, 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.439 these guys have they have, they're a good team. They 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:57.560 just came in and beat us. Well why are we 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.679 saying that all the time? And they're speaking to the 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.040 fan right now. And they played with out two of 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:07.680 their starting players, two of their better starting players. Their 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.680 their top corner basically was out, Um and they had 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.320 to play a backup that hadn't played very much, Tolliver 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:17.800 and then Danny trevad In, one of their linebackers. He's out, 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:19.560 and they had to play what was the guy I 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:23.240 couldn't pronounce his name because oh yeah, kit Wowski or 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:25.680 something like that. Okay, but I got somebody you never 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:30.520 heard of, right right, you know, just one last thing. 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.639 I just think we were just I know we've been 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:34.400 labeling the point. I just want to dump on them 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.240 just a little bit more. It doesn't take a team 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.720 full of superstars to beat a team full of superstars. 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.320 It just takes a heck of a team. That's that's 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:49.600 a good track to get back to when we come 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:51.719 back from break. I want to touch on that more. 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.480 When we come back, we'll continue breaking down Cowboys Losing 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:58.640 to the Bears thirty one, twenty four from Thursday Night 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.520 Next on Talk from Cowboys. Selor is a proud sponsor 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:05.840 of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.520 more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.080 a world more beautiful than you can imagine. 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