Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This is the player's label,
Speaker 1: broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters at the Star.
Speaker 1: Now your hosts Bury Church, Danny McCrae, and new He scrugs.
Speaker 1: All right, everybody, is Thursday, week number two of the
Speaker 1: NFL season coming your way out. Knew he scrugs, a
Speaker 1: long time Cowboys reporter, joined by my man, Barry Church.
Speaker 1: All right, Church, Cowboys face the Atlanta Falcons. This is
Speaker 1: going to be the Cowboys initial home opener that will
Speaker 1: be fans in the stands. Here's the question we got
Speaker 1: to ask right out of the gate. Is this a
Speaker 1: must win? Because if you lose your O and two,
Speaker 1: if you win one and one, man, that's that's a
Speaker 1: tough question. Man. Is it a must win? I mean,
Speaker 1: it's only the second week of the season, so I mean,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna lean towards yes. And here's why. I mean,
Speaker 1: I just think this, this defense and this offense they
Speaker 1: both disappointed in how they performed in Week one. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think we can all say that they're both disappointed.
Speaker 1: I think the offense didn't put up as many points
Speaker 1: or many yards they wanted to. In the defense, they
Speaker 1: just played pretty much off balance all week one. So
Speaker 1: I think it's a bounce back game for both of
Speaker 1: those growth of those units. But being as it, it's
Speaker 1: only the weeks two, and if you look at our division,
Speaker 1: I mean, they haven't fared that well so far. I
Speaker 1: mean the Eagles lost the Philly loss, and then I
Speaker 1: don't think anybody trust in Washington long long term, even
Speaker 1: though they did win Week one. So the division I
Speaker 1: think is still up for grabs. But for confidence wise
Speaker 1: and just going forward with momentum, I think this is
Speaker 1: definitely has to be a bounce back game. It has
Speaker 1: to be a momentum shifting type game. Has to be
Speaker 1: a confidence building type game. I mean, if we go
Speaker 1: out there and we go up there and lay an
Speaker 1: egg offensively with all this talent, all the I mean
Speaker 1: throughout the whole offseason, that's all we heard was we
Speaker 1: got so many it's talent we got, you know, Dak
Speaker 1: is the reports of Dak getting mentioned for MVP, and
Speaker 1: then we got all this talent we added on defense.
Speaker 1: So I just think this has to be a must
Speaker 1: win as far as confidence and momentum momentum building because
Speaker 1: this this offense has the capabilities of being one of
Speaker 1: the top five offenses in the National Football League. But
Speaker 1: we got to start playing late, and I think we
Speaker 1: gotta get more creative when it comes to play calling. Now. Defensively,
Speaker 1: we got everything set, I believe in tune, a couple
Speaker 1: of things here and there just to get that pass
Speaker 1: rush going, and we got to stop the run. But offensively,
Speaker 1: I think we gotta go out there and have a
Speaker 1: huge game. And I'm gonna lean towards yes, saying that
Speaker 1: this is a month must win game even though it's
Speaker 1: only Week two in the National Football League. All right, Church,
Speaker 1: for me, I want to touch on something that Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy said before at today's press conference, which is to
Speaker 1: go where you want to go, you gotta win your
Speaker 1: home games. And this is the Cowboys first home game.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy's pretty good at at and T Stadium. He's
Speaker 1: won a playoff game, their Divisital playoff game, and he's
Speaker 1: also won the Super Bowl at this very stadium. So
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy has he has some success in this building.
Speaker 1: But they gotta win because you need to protect the house.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's as simple as it gets. Very you
Speaker 1: play for the Cowboys, you know what it's about. Winning
Speaker 1: at home. There will be some fans, McCarthy said, a
Speaker 1: twenty five percent capacity. And coming off this rams game,
Speaker 1: to me, not only do you have to win it,
Speaker 1: but next week you gotta go to Seattle. I mean
Speaker 1: we're talking about a team that if you lose this game,
Speaker 1: you could be oh and three. If you win this game,
Speaker 1: you could be one in two. I mean, these are
Speaker 1: scenarios that are real for the Cowboys. And if you're
Speaker 1: trying to get where you want to go, you gotta
Speaker 1: start winning your games at home. And they can talk
Speaker 1: all day long about cleaning up things, but they need
Speaker 1: to leave Sunday with a w in their pockets. I
Speaker 1: am going to call this a must win from the
Speaker 1: standpoint of you can't fall behind you know, O and
Speaker 1: two and maybe go oh and three, And you're right
Speaker 1: about that. I don't even think about that. They have
Speaker 1: to go to Seattle next week, and then these are
Speaker 1: all three NFC opponents that they're facing. If they go
Speaker 1: down oh and three. It's not just you know, oh
Speaker 1: and three in the National Football League, it's the NFC.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is all playoff. You know, you're trying
Speaker 1: to position yourself for a playoff and if you go,
Speaker 1: you know, it ends up being like a tiebreaker or
Speaker 1: anything like that. You look back at the first three games,
Speaker 1: those are three NFC, three NFC opponents that you let
Speaker 1: you know, slip by. So you know what, you've convinced me.
Speaker 1: You've got me going in the right direction that this
Speaker 1: has to be a muscle win because Seattle is it's
Speaker 1: just not going to get any easier with Seattle. We
Speaker 1: saw what they were at capable of doing week one,
Speaker 1: so you don't want to go up there too. And two.
Speaker 1: So you know what, you convinced me, know, you got
Speaker 1: me thinking that this is a must win game from
Speaker 1: McCarthy and the Cowboys they talked so much about. We
Speaker 1: looked at take We saw some things that we need
Speaker 1: to clean up here. Bear you played this game, Tell
Speaker 1: our audience what goes into that when they talk about, hey,
Speaker 1: there's some mistakes that we had here, some prestat things
Speaker 1: we weren't doing correctly of guys not in position. How
Speaker 1: do they go about that? What's the teaching process and
Speaker 1: the practices like during a game week to look at
Speaker 1: last week's take and how you get better off. Well,
Speaker 1: for going back to my days as you know, as
Speaker 1: a Cowboy and a jackquar, I mean they're pretty much
Speaker 1: the same. As you go off through any any team
Speaker 1: in the National Football League, especially coming off of a loss,
Speaker 1: you go in. You got that some teams have Mondays off,
Speaker 1: some teams have Tuesdays off. But whichever day that you're
Speaker 1: in the facility, that first day after a game, you're
Speaker 1: going into film, whether it be good, bad, or indifferent,
Speaker 1: you're going into film study. And when I was with
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, we used to call it Garrett vision because
Speaker 1: before you broke off to you know, your defensive meetings
Speaker 1: and your offensive meetings where you watch it as a group.
Speaker 1: You sat there as a whole team in front of
Speaker 1: the whole entire team and staff, and were put on
Speaker 1: There's these ten plays and five of them were good
Speaker 1: and five of them were bad. And Garrett we called
Speaker 1: it Garrett vision because he was be the one that
Speaker 1: breaks it down. And if you were part of those
Speaker 1: bad plays, I'm telling you you did not want any
Speaker 1: parts of that because, I mean, you're pretty much getting
Speaker 1: embarrassed in front of the whole team. So they're coaching,
Speaker 1: the head coach, they break it down for you that way,
Speaker 1: and they pick out the five good, they pick out
Speaker 1: the five bad, hopefully just to teach their teaching moments.
Speaker 1: They're trying to get teaching moments to better correct the
Speaker 1: mental mistakes that were that were made out there. Now,
Speaker 1: once you break off and you break off in your
Speaker 1: offense and defensive meetings, usually you don't break off into
Speaker 1: your you know, position groups, like everybody pretty much stays
Speaker 1: the same. So when we were there, and that's when
Speaker 1: it really got you know, it really got heated. If
Speaker 1: it was a it was a bad game because the
Speaker 1: coaches they're calling you out on everything and they have to,
Speaker 1: I mean everyone, everyone has to be coachable when you
Speaker 1: get to this level. So it don't matter if you're
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Lawrence or if you're you know, CJ. Good went
Speaker 1: on special teams, you're going to get coached the same.
Speaker 1: So when they break that film study down, the first
Speaker 1: thing they do is look at those mental mistakes. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the first thing they point out. It's you know,
Speaker 1: where were you aligned right here? Why didn't you go
Speaker 1: to this gap or why didn't you stunt to this gap?
Speaker 1: And whether it be good batter and different, they're gonna
Speaker 1: break it down and they're gonna have you right afterwards. Now,
Speaker 1: once they break it down, they kind of you know,
Speaker 1: stash it away and they kind of say, you got
Speaker 1: to forget about it until you know the next or
Speaker 1: they forget about it and get ready for the next week.
Speaker 1: So right now they're probably going through that process of
Speaker 1: you know, breaking down film and all that good stuff,
Speaker 1: and then on on today's Thursday. So this is Thursday.
Speaker 1: This is a practice week, so they're definitely working with
Speaker 1: a secondary and going over the passing scheme for Atlanta,
Speaker 1: which is probably extremely intensive because Atlanta has one of
Speaker 1: the premier passing attacks in the National Football League. So
Speaker 1: today they're going over as a secondary, going over the
Speaker 1: passing attack and we'll see what they have in store
Speaker 1: for Atlanta. All Right, these Bury Church former Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: safety underwey scrugs and you are checking out the players
Speaker 1: Lounge brought to you by Hotels dot Com. We are
Speaker 1: in our SWBC Virtual swc BC More home studios, virtually
Speaker 1: not in studio yet. One of the things that I
Speaker 1: look at for the Cowboys in this game that I
Speaker 1: want to see them do offensively, Barry is go deep.
Speaker 1: So went back looked at my notes here, and Atlanta
Speaker 1: gave up four plays of over twenty plus yards to
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks and the seahawkstion rolling out DK Metcalf
Speaker 1: and Tyler Lockett. I think the Cowboys have three better
Speaker 1: receivers to go at this Atlanta Falcons defense. And one
Speaker 1: of the corners for Atlanta is aj Terrell, who was
Speaker 1: taken before Cede Lambs. So he's a rookie corner out
Speaker 1: of Clemson. And I'm just thinking, if I'm Kellamore, if
Speaker 1: I'm Mike McCarthy, if I'm sitting here in the offensive room,
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at this tape of the Atlanta Falcons,
Speaker 1: and I'm saying to myself, Okay, look they're gonna give
Speaker 1: up some big plays here, Let's attack them. The Falcons
Speaker 1: are better up front, they're not as good at the back,
Speaker 1: and to me, that's where I feel like they've got
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to attack. I don't think
Speaker 1: they attacked enough of the Rams in terms of going deep.
Speaker 1: That one play that could have turned the whole game
Speaker 1: around the Michael Gallant was a deep pass. Why didn't
Speaker 1: we see more of that when the Cowboys took on
Speaker 1: the Rams. I want to see some more of that
Speaker 1: against the Atlanta Atlanta Falcons. I would love to see
Speaker 1: more of that as well. I mean, I don't think
Speaker 1: they attacked the Rams vertically as much as I would
Speaker 1: have liked, but I mean it was tough when you
Speaker 1: got you know, Aaron Donald in there breathing down your neck,
Speaker 1: Michael Brockers, you got Floyd on the outside. I mean,
Speaker 1: the trenches were pretty much owned by the Rams that
Speaker 1: last game, so he didn't really have that much time
Speaker 1: to pretty go back, go through his progressions and let
Speaker 1: it rip. So hopefully this week we have a you know,
Speaker 1: more stable situation at the offensive line, and we're going
Speaker 1: against some some ballers on the Atlanta side of the
Speaker 1: ball too. I mean, they got Dante Fowler, who I
Speaker 1: was a teammate within Jacksonville. They got Attack McKinley and
Speaker 1: especially Grady Jared on the inside, So I think they
Speaker 1: the biggest thing with this offense in my opinion, I
Speaker 1: think they have to establish dominance on the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: and I think that starts with Ezekiel Elliott. I mean,
Speaker 1: we love to see them take shots, and we'd love
Speaker 1: to see them keep this defense off balance. But in
Speaker 1: my opinion, you to do that, you have to start
Speaker 1: with the running. You have to own the trenches. If
Speaker 1: they can get that going, then I think they can
Speaker 1: take those deep shots down the field to Cde Lamb,
Speaker 1: to Michael Gallup, to to a Mark Cooper. But I
Speaker 1: think but I think it starts in the trenches. And
Speaker 1: like you said, with A J. Terrell out there at
Speaker 1: that corner, I think you know he was a first
Speaker 1: round pick and he was a high pick, but I
Speaker 1: think we can take advantage of him on the outside.
Speaker 1: Like you said, they gave up multiple deep passes to
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks last week, so hopefully we can replicate
Speaker 1: that that formula to replicate that game plan to go
Speaker 1: and go and defeat the Atlanta Falcons. But let me
Speaker 1: ask you a question here, Nui, do you believe our
Speaker 1: offensive line has what it takes to pretty much slow
Speaker 1: down that pass rush of the Atlanta Falcons. They're gonna
Speaker 1: have to figure that out. I mean, this is this
Speaker 1: is what you have practice for, and you have to
Speaker 1: scheme up forward all week long. I think you got
Speaker 1: to look at some of the things that you didn't
Speaker 1: do enough of in the Rams game. And to me,
Speaker 1: just going back and looking at my notes, I looked
Speaker 1: at the Rams forty it's just for one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty three yards, and they controlled the clock. The Rams
Speaker 1: had the ball for eleven minutes and sixteen seconds longer.
Speaker 1: Going over here, look at the Cowboys run game. You
Speaker 1: look at the numbers and Bury the numbers were pretty good.
Speaker 1: Twenty seven rushes for one hundred thirty six yards. They
Speaker 1: averaged five yards to carry. They didn't have the ball
Speaker 1: enough to keep it going. So to me, you've got
Speaker 1: to actually get out here, run the football and your
Speaker 1: defense because there's a question you would ask before in
Speaker 1: the preshow meeting, who's got more pressure this week? To me,
Speaker 1: the Cowboy offense has more pressure because they have to
Speaker 1: carry the defense. How do you help the defense, it's
Speaker 1: by running the football. With Ezekiel Elliot, Bucky Brooks was
Speaker 1: on the break earlier today on one of our Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys podcasts, and he spoke about how Seattle and beating
Speaker 1: Atlanta and they controlled that football game pretty much from go.
Speaker 1: They were using Chris Carson and they were using that
Speaker 1: screen game to help out there, help them out there.
Speaker 1: Let me go back here and I see my notes here.
Speaker 1: Who we talked about was how the swing routes to
Speaker 1: Chris Carter early. He said him going, and he thinks
Speaker 1: that the Cowboys need to go with that with Ezekiel Eli,
Speaker 1: Chris Carson ended up scoring him. I think we about
Speaker 1: a thirteen yard touchdown run on a screenplay. We know
Speaker 1: Ezekiel Ellick can catch the football. You had three catches
Speaker 1: in the Rams game here. And another thing Bucky talked about,
Speaker 1: which I believe is on point. He said, you gotta
Speaker 1: win first down to help your offense, especially your right
Speaker 1: tackle steal. So if you're not in third and longs
Speaker 1: where you can allow a tack McKinley to rush off
Speaker 1: the edge, if you can control Grady Jared up the middle,
Speaker 1: if you guys can win first down, then you got
Speaker 1: an opportunity to do a whole lot of things you
Speaker 1: want to do. Because Barry, we saw the Ram game,
Speaker 1: third downs for them were easy because they were so
Speaker 1: effective on first downs with the quick passes, and that
Speaker 1: just sets up a whole different kind of a play
Speaker 1: calling for Kellen Moore if he's dealing with third in
Speaker 1: shorts versus third and loans, and that's how you protect
Speaker 1: your tackle, your right tackle out here. And Grady Jarrett,
Speaker 1: we know he's going to be able to come up
Speaker 1: the middle. He's not in or don't Okay, nobody else
Speaker 1: in here that fl is. But they've got a better
Speaker 1: job of securing things up front. Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think that that would be a start in the great
Speaker 1: direction if they were secure that interior part of that
Speaker 1: offensive line. I look, we know Zach Martin's gonna do
Speaker 1: what he does. I mean, he's all pro, he's you know,
Speaker 1: probably going to go to the Hall of Fame one day.
Speaker 1: We know he's gonna do his job. We know Tyren
Speaker 1: Smith is going to do his job on the left side.
Speaker 1: I think it just comes down to Joe Looney, Connor
Speaker 1: Williams and what Brandon Steel's going to be able to
Speaker 1: do on the outside versus a Dante Fowler or versus
Speaker 1: attack McKinney on there to pretty much see what his
Speaker 1: offense is going to be able to do. UM. I
Speaker 1: would like to see just a little bit more creativity
Speaker 1: when it came to offensive play calling. UM. I felt
Speaker 1: like sometimes we were just too stagnant. We would come
Speaker 1: out in eleven personnel. Here's a slot, here's the two
Speaker 1: receivers outside. I mean I want to see some more
Speaker 1: you know, bunch bunch, bunch situations or stack the receivers,
Speaker 1: just creative different ways to get Amari Cooper the ball,
Speaker 1: or to switch up your offenses. You might run the
Speaker 1: same routes as you ran before, but just have them
Speaker 1: situated in a different type of formation to catch the
Speaker 1: defense off guard. I just think we need to get
Speaker 1: a little bit more creative offensively, which takes on those
Speaker 1: We could talk about creative things all day long here,
Speaker 1: but it comes down to execution. Now you look about
Speaker 1: that fourth down play and where cd Land didn't go
Speaker 1: deep enough here they got to some of the things
Speaker 1: you gotta do is you know, not so much creativities,
Speaker 1: execute And to me, they've got to keep the football.
Speaker 1: I mean, if we see, if it's one thing we
Speaker 1: know and we've seen in the past couple of years,
Speaker 1: is the offense has to protect the defense. And how
Speaker 1: do you do that by making sure you are holding
Speaker 1: onto the football with some long drives here use the
Speaker 1: run game. So if they can do that, then I
Speaker 1: think they could be pretty dug on effective here. I
Speaker 1: know people talk so much about pre snap motions, and
Speaker 1: if you heard a minor guard this press conference today,
Speaker 1: it was all about Hey, pre snap, this, pre snap
Speaker 1: that Barry you played this game. They can try to
Speaker 1: disguise things all day long, but if you can't execute
Speaker 1: the play, who gives a rip of who ran where
Speaker 1: it looked like it was going to be a direction there?
Speaker 1: You gotta go out execute. You can have holding penalties,
Speaker 1: you can't get bull rushed you. You can't allow a
Speaker 1: guy like I mean Aaron Donald was wrecking guys at
Speaker 1: the at the line of scrimmage. Cowboys got to win
Speaker 1: up front. So so we can talk about moving people
Speaker 1: all day long, but if Grady Jared is busting Connor Williams,
Speaker 1: then that's gonna be a problem here. So those things
Speaker 1: have got to get fixed, and we got to talk
Speaker 1: more about that. Hey, we have Will McClay join us
Speaker 1: on the Players Lounge yesterday, So let's hear from Will McClay. Next.
Speaker 1: For some of you folks out there to want a
Speaker 1: whole lot of changes on the offensive line group, we'll
Speaker 1: do that right here on the Players last brot to
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Speaker 1: See more, Do More to the players loud No. We
Speaker 1: believe in the people that we have and they have
Speaker 1: to improve what they're doing. We have to help them
Speaker 1: out with some of the things we're doing and with
Speaker 1: It's like riding a bike. The first time you wrote it,
Speaker 1: you might have scanned your needa first time. Now the
Speaker 1: second time you got better. The third time you got better.
Speaker 1: We feel good about the group. No it's not Leo
Speaker 1: Collins out there and some of the stuff. But these
Speaker 1: guys are paid to do, you know, to do their
Speaker 1: jobs and that's what we expect to do. You can't
Speaker 1: just switch everything around. It's not fantasy football. You can't
Speaker 1: take a piece and put it into place and think
Speaker 1: that everything runs consistently from the beginning. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: it was like you go into your job, if you've
Speaker 1: got somebody new working next to you you, you have to
Speaker 1: figure them out and you still have to do your job.
Speaker 1: And that's that's where we're at right now, and we
Speaker 1: feel better about it. And we have to continue to
Speaker 1: do things to you know, work to use our strengths
Speaker 1: to you know, to the positive and overcome some of
Speaker 1: the negatives by doing some things that way schematically. And
Speaker 1: that's what all our teams are going to have to do.
Speaker 1: The teams that are wanting to know, they're gonna have
Speaker 1: problems next week and then everybody will be talking about them.
Speaker 1: So it is a marathon, not a sprint, all right.
Speaker 1: That's Cowboys Player personnel director Will McClay. He is the
Speaker 1: man who gets the guys and Will's done a fantastic
Speaker 1: job here. Look, I know, Cowboy fan, you're frustrated right
Speaker 1: now because you're seeing the injuries and you worn't happy
Speaker 1: with the Rams loss. But everybody is talking about trying
Speaker 1: to make these wholesale changes on the offensive line after
Speaker 1: one week. That's just not how you do it. Okay.
Speaker 1: They've been working at training camp all summer long here,
Speaker 1: and after one game in which you lose by three points,
Speaker 1: you don't just scrap the whole thing. Aaron Donald is
Speaker 1: a two time NFL Defensive Player of the Year for
Speaker 1: a reason. This week, when the Rams take on the Eagles,
Speaker 1: I think Cowboy fans are gonna say, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: they weren't as bad as we thought, because the Eagles
Speaker 1: gave up eight sacks to Washington last week, and Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald could be a one man wrecking crew. You're checking
Speaker 1: out the players. Last brought to you by Hotels dot Com.
Speaker 1: I'm NEWI Scrukes, longtime Cowboys reporter, joined by former Cowboy
Speaker 1: safety Barry Church, who got us Will McClay yesterday, and
Speaker 1: I just thought Will McClay trying to be the voice
Speaker 1: of reason here when people talk about we'll move Carter
Speaker 1: Williams right out to right tackle, take steal out of
Speaker 1: the game, put Joe Lounian center, and put Conor McGovern center.
Speaker 1: Like no, no, you can't go make all these changes. Maybe, no,
Speaker 1: you can't do it. I mean, and he broke it down.
Speaker 1: I think what he said was perfect. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think he broke it down perfectly for all the Monday
Speaker 1: morning GMS and all the Monday morning quarterbacks out there,
Speaker 1: because I was one of them. I was one of
Speaker 1: those people that were like, man, what is going on.
Speaker 1: We need to move this guy here, We need to
Speaker 1: put this guy tackle, or we need to be doing this.
Speaker 1: You just can't do that. I mean, it's just frustrations
Speaker 1: and if and if you build upon your frustration, you're
Speaker 1: just compounding the problem. So we'll put it perfectly, man,
Speaker 1: you can't. This isn't fantasy football. This isn't where you
Speaker 1: can just go, let me go pick up from this
Speaker 1: group over here and put him at tackle and put
Speaker 1: him at guard and move him from center over here
Speaker 1: because he's a little bit heavier. You can't do that.
Speaker 1: I mean, these guys have been practicing at these positions
Speaker 1: for all of camp, for thirty some days they've been
Speaker 1: gelling together to become a very strong unit for this team.
Speaker 1: So you can't just say, let me move this guy
Speaker 1: to guard. He can probably play a little bit better
Speaker 1: over here. I mean, you can't just throw him out there,
Speaker 1: especially the first game of the season. After that, I mean,
Speaker 1: you just can't do that. I think will broke it
Speaker 1: down perfectly for us. This isn't fantasy football teams. This
Speaker 1: offensive line has to gel together to be able to
Speaker 1: perform at a high level. And we're getting Lyo Collins
Speaker 1: back in a couple of weeks, so all is not lost.
Speaker 1: And like you said, Nui, Aaron Donald is a premier
Speaker 1: pass rusher in the NFL. He's probably going to go
Speaker 1: down in the Hall of Fame. I think when they
Speaker 1: play Eagles the next week. Like you said, we'll see that.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys officive line, it struggled, but it wasn't as
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Speaker 1: dot com. So I went back and was checking out
Speaker 1: Tank Lawrence here and look, Barry, he's got to be
Speaker 1: better because we could take a hundred and five million
Speaker 1: dollar contract. People are expecting results. Aaron Donald was a
Speaker 1: difference maker for the last Angels Rams. That's why they're
Speaker 1: paying him the big bucks around here. Tank Lawrence did
Speaker 1: not show up enough. He didn't leave the team with
Speaker 1: four quarterback hurries. He was credited with one solo tackle,
Speaker 1: two assists, so a grand total of three tackles. But
Speaker 1: that's not you need more from Tank Lawrence, okammy, That's
Speaker 1: about you need more for him. And he was asked
Speaker 1: by the media what he could have done better in
Speaker 1: this game and how can he get better after that
Speaker 1: Rams loss. Here's Tank Lawrence yesterday. Always think I can
Speaker 1: play better, especially coming out the game with the loss.
Speaker 1: Always try to, you know, critique myself on how I
Speaker 1: can get better at how can help my team be better.
Speaker 1: But overall playing the new defense, new schematics of things,
Speaker 1: and just looking back on the game, I think I
Speaker 1: played decent. But like I said, I always think I
Speaker 1: can get better, all right, Church, So so my feeling
Speaker 1: is Tank Lawrence get he has to be better. I
Speaker 1: need more from Tank Lawrence on Sunday. I need Tank
Speaker 1: Lawrence to be the guy. I mean, we were yucking
Speaker 1: up having some fun yesterday, joking about playoff pee and
Speaker 1: Paul George not getting it done. If this is what
Speaker 1: comes with when you take one hundred and five million dollars, Okay,
Speaker 1: we have a right to sit up here and say
Speaker 1: we need production. I'm wearing his Dallas Stars cap here.
Speaker 1: And you know they paid Jamie Ben a truckload of
Speaker 1: money over eighty million bucks, and they came out. Ownership
Speaker 1: came out and said early in the contract said what
Speaker 1: are you doing. We need to see a return on
Speaker 1: our investment. And right now, when you start looking at
Speaker 1: last year, five sacks for Tank Lawrence. And I know
Speaker 1: we're just starting to hear, but Tank Lawrence has got
Speaker 1: to be better. Can't be out here on the first
Speaker 1: play jumping outsides. He's got to rise to the level
Speaker 1: of what you expected. And let's be honest here, Barry.
Speaker 1: The best defensive player they had on Sunday was a
Speaker 1: dude who hadn't played in five years in Olden Smith.
Speaker 1: What does that say about a guy like Tank and
Speaker 1: other guys who've been with the Cowboys. I mean, you're right,
Speaker 1: it's he's he's got to step it up. I mean,
Speaker 1: with great pay like that comes great expectations, and right
Speaker 1: now he's he's just not fulfilling those expectations. Right now,
Speaker 1: if you hit the you hit the point right on
Speaker 1: the head. I mean last year, he's coming off of
Speaker 1: him five sack performance after getting that huge, huge, huge,
Speaker 1: huge bag he got from the Dallas Cowboys. In now
Speaker 1: this year he's starting He's only one game, I'll give
Speaker 1: it to him, is only one game, but he's starting
Speaker 1: off slow. He's just not having that impact that we
Speaker 1: thought he would have with his other counterparts right there
Speaker 1: and you and you said it already. Alvin Smith, a
Speaker 1: guy who hasn't played in five years now. Granted, when
Speaker 1: he was playing, he was one of the premier pass
Speaker 1: rushers in the NFL, but he came off a five
Speaker 1: year hiatus and he was the best defensive player we
Speaker 1: had on the Dallas Cowboys. Not the guy that you're
Speaker 1: paying twenty seven million dollars a year or two. So
Speaker 1: this is a guy that has to step up if
Speaker 1: he's seeing these double teams, or if he's if if
Speaker 1: the offense is starting to get the ball out too
Speaker 1: quick and not letting him use his pass rush abilities
Speaker 1: to get to the quarterback. He has to find another
Speaker 1: way to affect the game. If that's jumping up, batting
Speaker 1: down passes, if that's playing great against a run. I mean,
Speaker 1: he has to do something to negate not being able
Speaker 1: to get to the quarterback and not being able to
Speaker 1: make those huge splash plays. He has to find a
Speaker 1: way to help this defense out, even if it's not
Speaker 1: creating a pass for us, it's tackling, it's batting passes down,
Speaker 1: it's doing something creating more opportunities for his other d lineman,
Speaker 1: taking up too offensive lineman. It's just something that he
Speaker 1: has to do to step his game up because right
Speaker 1: now we're not seeing that or the Cowboys aren't seeing
Speaker 1: that return investment in there one hundred and twenty seven
Speaker 1: million dollars man, So he's gonna have to step it
Speaker 1: up along with the rest of the defense. But he's
Speaker 1: their main guy. He's their main focal point of the defense.
Speaker 1: He I mean, he took on that bear, he took
Speaker 1: on that responsibility when he took that humongous bag the
Speaker 1: Cowboys gave him. So he has to step his game
Speaker 1: up for the Cowboys defense to be successful. You and
Speaker 1: I love watching inside the NBA with Kenny, Charles and
Speaker 1: Shack and Ernie. Those guys are good. And one of
Speaker 1: the things Charles Barkley kept talking about and he's like, hey,
Speaker 1: your playoff guys, your best players have to be your
Speaker 1: best players here and Sunday Tank wasn't one of their
Speaker 1: best players. And to me, that's where I would go
Speaker 1: and look at the focus. As you start to go
Speaker 1: get ready to play the Atlanta Falcons, He's like, hey, Tank,
Speaker 1: we need ninety to be in the backfield. And yes,
Speaker 1: I know it was a new defense and Tank reference
Speaker 1: at and yes I know Jared Golf was out here
Speaker 1: getting the ball quick, get rid of that ball quickly,
Speaker 1: But you need ninety to show up. Alden Smith was
Speaker 1: showing up. And if Alden Smith is showing up like that,
Speaker 1: and you could get ninety to show up too. Now, Barry,
Speaker 1: you're starting to cook with some you cook it with
Speaker 1: some gas right there. If these two don't ye get there, okay,
Speaker 1: if you got that and with what Atlanta wants to do.
Speaker 1: They want to go deep with the ball. Matt Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan had four on the yards over four yards of
Speaker 1: passing against Seattle on Sunday. Now, the game was out
Speaker 1: of hand when a lot of that went down, but
Speaker 1: still they were putting the ball in the air. So
Speaker 1: if they're gonna put the ball in the air and
Speaker 1: he's taking five step drops, then you gotta see fifty
Speaker 1: eight Olden Smith and ninety tank lords in the backfield.
Speaker 1: These guys have got to get home. And this is
Speaker 1: the time you put the pressure on your best play.
Speaker 1: You say, look, I need you to get better here.
Speaker 1: I need you to step up your game because defensively
Speaker 1: there I mean, I expect this game to be a
Speaker 1: high scoring I don't know about you, but I expect
Speaker 1: both teams to have at least four touchdowns each in
Speaker 1: this game because they have that those kind of offenses.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be who, in my opinion, who can figure
Speaker 1: out how to control the game with the clock and
Speaker 1: if you can find a way to get the get
Speaker 1: off on third downs, because very third downs for the
Speaker 1: Cowboys against the Ramslers a troaches nine to seventeen. That's
Speaker 1: a recipe to get beat. That's a recipe to get beat.
Speaker 1: You got to figure out how to get off the field.
Speaker 1: And to me, that's these guys doing their job and
Speaker 1: finding a way to either knock Matt Ryan off his
Speaker 1: spot or go ahead and put him down with a sack.
Speaker 1: I mean, I agree it, and it really quick before
Speaker 1: we got to take another break. But we can't have
Speaker 1: two years back to back where our highest paid defensive player,
Speaker 1: you know, highest paid defensive player that the Cowboys have
Speaker 1: ever put paid in history. We can't have back to
Speaker 1: back years where he's outplayed by the opposite defensive end.
Speaker 1: I mean, last year it was m quinn who basically
Speaker 1: took over that mantle as the premier pass rusher. This
Speaker 1: year is starting off so far it's looking like Aldon Smith.
Speaker 1: So I'm just hoping that Tay can step up his
Speaker 1: game because we cannot as a defense. We cannot afford
Speaker 1: two back to back seasons where our premier pass rusher
Speaker 1: is only second or third best option to get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And that's just telling it like it is.
Speaker 1: That's not picking on anybody, that's just that's the expectations. Now.
Speaker 1: I know a whole lot of people have been want
Speaker 1: to jump on Jalen Smith, and a lot of people
Speaker 1: have jumped on Jalen Smith. Let me at least say
Speaker 1: this and Jalen's defense, We all thought that Laton Vanderush
Speaker 1: was the better linebacker up the two. He was the
Speaker 1: first round pick in this first year making the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl um and so he goes out of the game
Speaker 1: and they switched him back. I mean they took Jalen
Speaker 1: out of the middle four reason. Okay, they made the
Speaker 1: switch for a reason. And so that this is true,
Speaker 1: and and you know, some of the some of the
Speaker 1: things that you didn't like to see, like that Chicago game,
Speaker 1: they were I felt like McVeigh was picking on him
Speaker 1: and they made they were making some plays against Jalen
Speaker 1: Smith even though they said he played well. But folks,
Speaker 1: Jalen is not tank. And also the defensive line has
Speaker 1: got to be able to hold the point of attack
Speaker 1: and limit the other team from running the ball. Forty
Speaker 1: rushes by the Rams was too much. You have to
Speaker 1: help Jalen out. Jalen Smith is not junior, say out,
Speaker 1: He's not Laton Vanderesh. He's a good player, he's not
Speaker 1: a great player. And they got to help him out
Speaker 1: a little bit. He also has to be better at
Speaker 1: diagnosing some plays here. But Jalen's taking a lot of heat.
Speaker 1: So vander esh is out. He's gonna be gone six weeks.
Speaker 1: We found out yesterday Sean Lee had sports attorney surgery.
Speaker 1: So Sean Lee is gonna be out six weeks. So
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith is gonna be calling the plays for the
Speaker 1: Cowboys on Sunday. Joe Thomas is gonna go in there. Look,
Speaker 1: they got warts at the position, and that's why I
Speaker 1: come back and I say, look, that's where you need
Speaker 1: the tank Lawrence to go ahead and do his thing here.
Speaker 1: They've got to help each other here and the offense,
Speaker 1: I'll say this until the Cows come home. Offense has
Speaker 1: got to have the football longer than the defense. Being
Speaker 1: on the field eleven and a half half minutes is
Speaker 1: what the Rams have the ball for longer, not hurt.
Speaker 1: The Cowboy defense can't be out there thirty minutes. Arry
Speaker 1: They can't win games out at all. They can't. They can't.
Speaker 1: They've got to help the defense. It's just not a
Speaker 1: formula for success. I mean, if you're if you're there.
Speaker 1: I just don't think having their defense out there that long.
Speaker 1: This is a defense to me that's that's hungry for
Speaker 1: splash plays and they need to make those slash plays.
Speaker 1: And like you said earlier, the best defense in my
Speaker 1: or not opinion for this Cowboys is the Cowboys offense
Speaker 1: staying on the field. I mean they if they can,
Speaker 1: If they can basically just milk that clock and just
Speaker 1: drain that Atlanta defense and our and our defense only
Speaker 1: has to stay on the field for a short amount
Speaker 1: of time, I think we'll have great success. But really quick,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you a question is did they
Speaker 1: move Jalen back to middle or is he playing will
Speaker 1: even with um LV being out. Hey, man, you can't
Speaker 1: have Joe Thomas playing the middle. You know they can't.
Speaker 1: That's why you can't. He's got he's got, Yeah, he
Speaker 1: has to go back to the middle. He's just it
Speaker 1: would be unfair to Joe um And Yeah. Will McClay
Speaker 1: talked about Luke Gifford and Mike McCarthy said, the other
Speaker 1: you know, the other linebackers are gonna come in and
Speaker 1: basically take a lot of those snaps that Joe Thomas
Speaker 1: was doing all specials and try and help out that way.
Speaker 1: But Look, you've got warts. And one of the things
Speaker 1: about coaching, and the best coaches they figure out how
Speaker 1: do we cover up the warts? And when you talk
Speaker 1: about that, I look at Bill Belichick, dough The issue's
Speaker 1: that a fantais out there so um. But but to
Speaker 1: protect the linebackers, the d line has got to be better.
Speaker 1: They can't, you know, up the middle. You've got to
Speaker 1: be able to solidify, you know, you gotta be able
Speaker 1: to solidify the run and not let Todd Gurley just
Speaker 1: run up the middle on you. And they got to
Speaker 1: force some third downs. Okay, that's one thing they weren't doing.
Speaker 1: They were losing first down all game along against the Rams,
Speaker 1: and the Rams had control Berry that entire football game then,
Speaker 1: and that just cannot happen. It cannot happen. The Falcons
Speaker 1: are a good offensive team, but they're bad defensive teams.
Speaker 1: So the Cowboys have got to take advantage of that. This,
Speaker 1: I mean truly, this has to be a team victory
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Offense got to help the defense out. Defense
Speaker 1: can't make keating mistakes. They got to clean up what
Speaker 1: they did against the Rams and be ready for this
Speaker 1: Atlanta defense. Because if you make one mistake here, you know,
Speaker 1: Julio can burn it. Then when we come back, let's
Speaker 1: get in. Let's get into Julio Jones and Trey Bond
Speaker 1: Digs and what Mike McCarthy had to say about the
Speaker 1: Rookie Corner from Alabama. You are checking out the players
Speaker 1: allounce with Barry Church and Newis Scrugs. Danny mccraig got
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Speaker 1: do it every Tuesday right here on Dallas Cowboys dot com.
Speaker 1: I'm knew he Scrugs, longtime Cowboy reporter joined by Barry Church.
Speaker 1: Former to Dallas Cowboy safety our boy Danny McCrae has
Speaker 1: the day off here. Okay, Um, the Falcons bring in
Speaker 1: three guys who had over one hundred yards of receiving
Speaker 1: last week. So Julio Jones the the perennial All Pro.
Speaker 1: Then he got Calvin Ridley, and then they brought in
Speaker 1: another kid here. Um, and I think he played at LSU.
Speaker 1: So I hate that Danny's not here is he can
Speaker 1: go down all day long, but but he had a
Speaker 1: hundred Um. Mike McCarthy says, Trayvon Digs, the rookie from
Speaker 1: Alabama will start for the Dallas Cowboys, and he says
Speaker 1: it's not any disrespect the Julio, but that's what they're
Speaker 1: gonna do. Here's Mike McCarthy today. Well, I think that
Speaker 1: you know, the fact you noted his wide receiver type skills,
Speaker 1: I mean, his his his ability to make plays on
Speaker 1: the ball is exceptional. That's something that jumps off to,
Speaker 1: uh you know, going back to Alabama. Um, but you know,
Speaker 1: outside of his obvious uh you know, high skill set
Speaker 1: to play the position in the physical measurables. The thing
Speaker 1: that I'm so impressed with, you know, off his college
Speaker 1: state and and he's and he's brought it here to
Speaker 1: Dallas is you know, he has such a patience and
Speaker 1: calmness to him when he's in coverage and that and
Speaker 1: that breeds, you know, to me, the confidence that he
Speaker 1: plays with and the understanding that he plays with not
Speaker 1: only would expect it of him and how he fits
Speaker 1: into the coverage scheme, but his his ability to understand
Speaker 1: route running, you know, the breaking points of a route,
Speaker 1: you know, the stem of a route. But he plays
Speaker 1: with with with with a lot of maturity, uh in
Speaker 1: his coverage um and and that's that's something I've been
Speaker 1: impressed with from day one. You don't see him, he
Speaker 1: doesn't panic out there, which you know when the inexperienced
Speaker 1: players sometimes gets in a in a tough spot. That's
Speaker 1: you know, that goes back to that timing and rhythm
Speaker 1: and being insane that you're always trying to improve on
Speaker 1: as a football team. But he's he's a very confident
Speaker 1: young man. That is Mike McCarthy talking about the rookie
Speaker 1: Trey Diggs from Alabama. Thanks Christian being for getting that
Speaker 1: cut from us from the Mike McCarthy press conference today. So, Barry,
Speaker 1: you played this league as safety. You understand what corners are,
Speaker 1: what they can do. Give me a grade, And how
Speaker 1: did you feel about Diggs against the Rams Week one? Well,
Speaker 1: Diggs against the Rams week one, I mean it wasn't perfect.
Speaker 1: I mean he gave up a couple of catches. But
Speaker 1: what I did love about his game is that he
Speaker 1: was always right there in coverage. I mean, the receivers
Speaker 1: weren't wide open, they weren't butt naked free out there
Speaker 1: just catching anything. Every time the quarterback through at him,
Speaker 1: it was it was it was a contested catch or
Speaker 1: was an incomplete pass. And what I loved about this
Speaker 1: kid coming out and what made him, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: a first round pick and a second round steal for
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys is his ability when the ball is
Speaker 1: in the air to become that receipt. I mean, you've
Speaker 1: heard it from him time and time again, is that
Speaker 1: when that ball's in the air, it's just not all
Speaker 1: the way, you know, just give it to the receiver.
Speaker 1: It's it's mine, it's mine as well, it's my property
Speaker 1: as well, and I have just enough right to it
Speaker 1: as anybody else. So and that's what I think we've
Speaker 1: struggled with as a secondary for these past couple of years.
Speaker 1: It's just taking the ball away and go and getting
Speaker 1: the ball at the highest point. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what he brings to this secondary. He brings that physical
Speaker 1: nature that being able to press at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: He's a bigger He's a bigger corner, kind of reminds
Speaker 1: me of that Byron Jones type build, and he can
Speaker 1: pretty much get after the bigger receivers in the league.
Speaker 1: And then he won't back down from a Julio Jones.
Speaker 1: So I think he is the perfect candidate for the
Speaker 1: secondary to kind of throw at Julio. I'm sure he
Speaker 1: won't travel with him all over the field, but I
Speaker 1: think if they throw him at Julio, it'll give him
Speaker 1: a different look. He's bigger than they other corners, and
Speaker 1: I think he can abode well. Now, will he shut
Speaker 1: out Julio Jones. I don't think so by any stretch
Speaker 1: of the imagination, because I just don't think any corner
Speaker 1: in the NFL can do that right now. But will
Speaker 1: he have a good chance. I believe so, and I
Speaker 1: think McCarthy doing it right by putting him in the
Speaker 1: starting lineup and seeing what he can do it against
Speaker 1: the NFL's best. How do they help out TREYE. Diggs
Speaker 1: Because you don't leave a rookie one on one with
Speaker 1: a premier talent like Julio Jones. Now you can't. I mean,
Speaker 1: even if that was Jalen Ramsey out there, I'm sure
Speaker 1: they're gonna do something to kind of give him help.
Speaker 1: And what the Cowboys defense, in my opinion, should do
Speaker 1: is they should at least shade a safety over there
Speaker 1: just in the early downs, just to see where they're going,
Speaker 1: if they're going to attack him, or how they're gonna
Speaker 1: play Digs out there. But I would have a safety
Speaker 1: shade over top of him. I would let Diggs be
Speaker 1: as aggressive as he wants to get in the face
Speaker 1: of Julio Jones. Go ahead, jam him up at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, get him off of that rhythm that
Speaker 1: he and Matt Ryan have, because I think that's your
Speaker 1: best opportunity at slowing down this passing attack. You have
Speaker 1: to get up in his space. You have to jam
Speaker 1: it met the line of scrimmage. And the reason I
Speaker 1: say have a safety shaded over there, because Julio he's
Speaker 1: a big guy and he swats corners around left and right.
Speaker 1: So if he's able to miss that jam, you at
Speaker 1: least have a safety over the top to help him
Speaker 1: and deter the quarterback from just launching a deep throw
Speaker 1: down the sideline. So to me, they have to shade
Speaker 1: a safety over there. They have to let digs become
Speaker 1: aggressive and pretty much just distruct that whole rhythm that
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan and Julio Jones has. Now. Will it be
Speaker 1: a tall task, of course it will, because he's the
Speaker 1: best receiver in the game in my opinion, But just
Speaker 1: shade a receiver over there, just give him some help
Speaker 1: early in the downs and then maybe once or twice
Speaker 1: trickle in just some single play. But for the most
Speaker 1: part of the game. I would definitely shade a safety
Speaker 1: over top of him. All Right, what's one advantage you
Speaker 1: think the Cowboys have against the Falcons? And what's one
Speaker 1: disadvantage you think the Cowboys have going against the Falcons? Well,
Speaker 1: one advantage I think the Cowboys has. I think it
Speaker 1: has to do with the offensive line or not the
Speaker 1: offensive life. Thing has to do with the offense. Period.
Speaker 1: They have that bell cow back in the back name
Speaker 1: Ezekiel Elliott, I think if they're able to win those
Speaker 1: trenches offensively and get him the ball going early, get
Speaker 1: him his touches, whether that be out of the backfield
Speaker 1: as a receiver or running the ball, whichever the way,
Speaker 1: they can do that to grind this Atlanta defense down,
Speaker 1: I think they'll have to do so. They have to
Speaker 1: get him going in the running game early, and I
Speaker 1: think they will be able to do that. I mean,
Speaker 1: this defensive line for the Atlanta Falcons is more known
Speaker 1: for its pass rushing abilities. Yes, the Seattle Seats didn't
Speaker 1: do much on the ground, but that's because they had
Speaker 1: whatever they wanted in the air against Atlanta, So I
Speaker 1: think for us it'll be the exact opposite. I think
Speaker 1: Zeke should be able to eat well on this Sunday afternoon,
Speaker 1: and hopefully we'll be able to get after this Falcons defense.
Speaker 1: But the disadvantage, I will say, I think it's going
Speaker 1: to be just the passing attack overall. The Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 1: is a better one than the Cowboys, So I think
Speaker 1: the disadvantage is even though we might shade a safety
Speaker 1: over there to help Digs out on Julio Jones, what
Speaker 1: about the rest. I mean, they got Calvin Ridley out there.
Speaker 1: They got that kid from LSU, like you said, and
Speaker 1: really we cannot sleep on him. This is one of
Speaker 1: the better route runners in the NFL. We've seen what
Speaker 1: he did to Sealoty the other day. I mean he's
Speaker 1: making people fall left and right, and there was nobody
Speaker 1: around him for his touchdown. I mean it was like
Speaker 1: somebody maybe twenty yards away from him. So this is
Speaker 1: an extremely dangerous receiving corps and I think that's one
Speaker 1: advantage that they do have over the Cowboys. But overall,
Speaker 1: I got a lean towards the Cowboys to get this
Speaker 1: victory on Sunday. All right, So one week for Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy in his new staff to kind of go ahead
Speaker 1: and work out the kinks here and understand what it's like.
Speaker 1: A lot of teams who had coaching staffs already intact
Speaker 1: had advantages. And you look at the Cleveland Browns. They
Speaker 1: got to be thirty eight to six by the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: And we know the Ravens are a good team, but
Speaker 1: that's the new staff led by head coach Kevin Stefanski
Speaker 1: and just that's not an excuse. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: we can't act like it's not an advantage because we
Speaker 1: spoke about that how the new coaches who didn't have
Speaker 1: all the kind of time that they need the offseason
Speaker 1: would have some issues in The Cowboys definitely had theirs.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Browns, they play Cincinnati tonight. They're going
Speaker 1: to have that game in Cleveland. Both teams are over one,
Speaker 1: uh the brown six point favorites. Who do you like
Speaker 1: and why in this game? Barry Church, I'm gonna I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna lean towards Cincinnati on this one. I you know,
Speaker 1: I like what I saw early from from Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had some rookie struggles out there, but
Speaker 1: it didn't seem like the moment was too big for him.
Speaker 1: I mean he went out there and I feel like
Speaker 1: he played to the best of his abilities. So I
Speaker 1: think um Aj Green and him will get even better
Speaker 1: as the season progresses. Um I think they have the
Speaker 1: better running option now, Nick Chubb. You know, I feel
Speaker 1: like he is one of the better running backs in
Speaker 1: the NFL. But I think he's getting his carries eight
Speaker 1: into by Kareem Hunt. So I mean, I don't think
Speaker 1: their running attack is as strong as just Joe mix
Speaker 1: him by himself. Um So that's what I'm gonna lean towards.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna lean towards Cincinnati. I just think the Cleveland
Speaker 1: right now is a dumpster fire, and I gotta lean
Speaker 1: towards Cincinnati on this one. All Right, Cleveland's at home.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati's gotta show me they can go out and win
Speaker 1: games on the road. Um So, I'm not gonna tell
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take the Bengals. What I want to do
Speaker 1: and see tonight is how Baker Mayfield responds to a
Speaker 1: bad first game. He's got to find a way to
Speaker 1: make some connection with Odell Beckham Jr. He's too good
Speaker 1: of a weapon to not put up some better numbers
Speaker 1: in Cleveland with all sorts of help around him. So
Speaker 1: can Baker Mayfield see down the football field? Because I'm
Speaker 1: getting to that point in time where if Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: doesn't have a good year, you gotta sit around here
Speaker 1: starting to ask yourself, is Baker Mayfield really the guy?
Speaker 1: He was a number one pick in the draft, and
Speaker 1: right now I'm not seeing Baker Mayfield played to the
Speaker 1: level of what I think he could do and be
Speaker 1: for the Cleveland Browns. But I'm gonna go ahead and
Speaker 1: pick the Browns, all right, I'm gonna pick the brown
Speaker 1: I'll say. I'm gonna say the Browns went at home,
Speaker 1: because when you have two teams that are bad, and
Speaker 1: to me, the difference in good teams is can you
Speaker 1: went on the road. I don't know if Cincinnati can
Speaker 1: do that just yet. I think it would be a
Speaker 1: close game, these Thursday night games and you played in
Speaker 1: a barry there turn the turnarounds are tough. The and
Speaker 1: I know Cincinnati is not far from Cleveland. I used
Speaker 1: to live in Cleveland. I've been down to Cincinnati before,
Speaker 1: so it's not like trying to fly across the country
Speaker 1: like Seattle, having to go over to go over to Cleveland.
Speaker 1: But still it's a one less day. You've got to
Speaker 1: prepare here, and the whole team has an advantage on
Speaker 1: these Thursday games. You're right, the home team does have
Speaker 1: the advantage. They don't have to travel, they don't have
Speaker 1: to spend spend the previous night in the hotel, they
Speaker 1: get to relax and all that good stuff. But I
Speaker 1: tell you this much, Baker, he better do something this
Speaker 1: game because he's he's about one or two weeks away
Speaker 1: from people starting to consider a Gardner mits you as
Speaker 1: a better quarterback option than him. So I mean, he
Speaker 1: better do something this week. If it ain't if it
Speaker 1: ain't a win, he gotta put up huge numbers. He
Speaker 1: has to get Odell involved. I mean, he just has
Speaker 1: too many weapons out there to be this abysmal in
Speaker 1: the offense. So he better get something going on or
Speaker 1: they're gonna start he's gonna start hearing the chance for
Speaker 1: putting him on the bench. But we shall see, all right, Church,
Speaker 1: good stuff. We'll get out of tomorrow. We'll have our
Speaker 1: picks for the Cowboys and Falcons. We appreciate everybody part
Speaker 1: of the Players Lounge, brought to you by Hotels dot Com,
Speaker 1: especially our man Chris Bean, who's producing getting everything done
Speaker 1: to make sure this show gets out here to you.
Speaker 1: I'm nui scrugs. Thank you for checking us out. We'll
Speaker 1: be back tomorrow right here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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