Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This He's Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: Screating live from the Dallas Cowboys World Hours at the
Speaker 1: Star in Frisco. Here are Mickey Spagnola, Brian Braunis, Rob
Speaker 1: Phillips and Bill Jones. And Oh what a beautiful Monday
Speaker 1: morning it is in Frisco, Texas, in the chilly SWBC
Speaker 1: Mortgage studios. Here at the Star in Frisco. It's time
Speaker 1: for another week of Talking Cowboys. At Victory in Detroit
Speaker 1: on Sunday, and it was an early arrival back home,
Speaker 1: unlike past weeks for Mickey Spagnola and Rob Phillips. And
Speaker 1: now we get set this week to take on the
Speaker 1: defending world champion New England Patriots. This is the week
Speaker 1: I circled on the calendar when the schedule came out
Speaker 1: back over six months ago. And we'll talk about a
Speaker 1: lot about the Patriots this week, but we spend a
Speaker 1: day talking about the Detroit Lions. How was your trip
Speaker 1: to Detroit? Very good? And very good back too. It's
Speaker 1: nice to be home at eight thirty after a game
Speaker 1: like the good old days. I don't know there was good.
Speaker 1: Back in the good old days that Cowboys played more
Speaker 1: noon games and you can get back intown. But I
Speaker 1: wasn't flying on the charter back then, so that meant
Speaker 1: waking up early the next morning and you'd be landed
Speaker 1: about now back in town. How was your weekend, Rob?
Speaker 1: It was good after three straight primetime games. It was
Speaker 1: nice to be home at dinner time and we can
Speaker 1: talk about a victory. You know, once again, we can
Speaker 1: spend probably another week talking about slow starts, but they
Speaker 1: were able to overcome it against a Lions team that
Speaker 1: has definitely struggled defensively, and the evolution of Dak Prescott continues. Wow,
Speaker 1: it's pretty amazing when you think about where this team
Speaker 1: is offensively now and where the quarterback is now compared
Speaker 1: to two months ago. Not that he was in a
Speaker 1: bad place two months ago, but coming off its first
Speaker 1: three years in the league. Who would have funck it
Speaker 1: that this passing offense, but it would be where it
Speaker 1: is now. And credit to him and credit to everybody involved.
Speaker 1: Where where this team is right now because these numbers
Speaker 1: are not happening, because they are falling. They are following
Speaker 1: behind in some games, but that it's it's not in
Speaker 1: a trash time, garbage time late in a game where
Speaker 1: they're not winning. I mean, that is conducive to winning
Speaker 1: football games. And credit the front office for bringing in
Speaker 1: talented wide receivers. By the way, this group is so
Speaker 1: much better than what they put up with the first
Speaker 1: seven games of last year when they realize this committee
Speaker 1: wasn't working, and fact that they had the foresight to
Speaker 1: go get Amari Cooper, to draft Michael Gallop in the
Speaker 1: third round, to side Randall Cobb as a free agent,
Speaker 1: to stick with Blake Jarwin's progression, picking him basically up
Speaker 1: off the street when he was undrafted. Yeah, it's just
Speaker 1: absolutely remarkable the amount of talent they have on this offense.
Speaker 1: And when this offense line can protect, this team probably
Speaker 1: can score thirty points a game. And look, that's the
Speaker 1: only way they've won games, right, every game they've won,
Speaker 1: they've scored thirty points or more. And they put up
Speaker 1: another thirty five yesterday, four hundred and forty fourty yards passing. Seriously,
Speaker 1: and only let's see thirty eight comes from their best
Speaker 1: wide receiver who you know, had his managed his snaps
Speaker 1: managed clearly at some point throughout the game through at points.
Speaker 1: I think forty one for the game. Him trying to
Speaker 1: manage that knee bruise that he's had, and you know,
Speaker 1: the Lions made clear they're gonna put Darius Slay on
Speaker 1: him and try to limit what he could do. And
Speaker 1: Michael Gallup steps up and takes advantage. And I think
Speaker 1: we're seeing his evolution too. You know, people forget he
Speaker 1: missed a couple of games. Was it two games that
Speaker 1: he missed early this season? Yes, coming off of a
Speaker 1: nie scope and he's rounding back into form. But you
Speaker 1: said it, Randall Cobb, is you know he was due
Speaker 1: one of these games, really two in a row, and
Speaker 1: you know, if you're gonna make it a point to
Speaker 1: stop the run. You know, the narrative about putting the
Speaker 1: game in Dak Prescott's hands. I don't think you can
Speaker 1: talk about that anymore. That one holds no water anymore.
Speaker 1: You think it's gonna with defensive coordinators, have they seen enough? Like, well,
Speaker 1: if they're gonna beat his deck's gonna have to beat.
Speaker 1: What's gonna be very interesting is this defensive coordinator this
Speaker 1: week slash head coach this week? What's doing on Patriots
Speaker 1: and how is he going to defend with with the
Speaker 1: best defense in the league. How are they going to
Speaker 1: defend this Cowboys offense which happens to be the most
Speaker 1: productive offense in the league. What a juicy match is
Speaker 1: against the Patriots? And his understudy didn't do so well?
Speaker 1: That's right, that's Tricia yesterday. Now he doesn't have the
Speaker 1: same personnel that Belichick has acquired over the years, but
Speaker 1: that must be pointed out. Yeah, I mean there's one
Speaker 1: one ranks thirtieth in the league in defense, and um
Speaker 1: so it's going to be very interesting this coming week.
Speaker 1: But this, this receiver by committee is working as opposed
Speaker 1: to a year ago. Well, because the committee is better.
Speaker 1: The committee, the committee is better and the roles are established.
Speaker 1: I mean the first few games of last season they
Speaker 1: were trying to just figure it out, and you had
Speaker 1: five or six guys kind of with relatively equal snap.
Speaker 1: That's a great point. I mean, you know what the
Speaker 1: roles are. And there is more talent too, There is
Speaker 1: considerably more in some cases. But but you're right, it
Speaker 1: takes time. I don't care what sport it is. It
Speaker 1: could be a basketball, it could be whatever sport. It
Speaker 1: takes time for a team to develop. Now, It didn't
Speaker 1: take much time last year for Amari Cooper to fit
Speaker 1: in though. So when you got the talent that the
Speaker 1: Mari Cooper as, you can fit in nicely wherever you are.
Speaker 1: All I know is the two guys that started last
Speaker 1: year no longer in the league if you think about it,
Speaker 1: Terrence Williams and Deonte Thompson. You know, Alan Hearn's just
Speaker 1: got an extension. Yeah he didn't, Man, he didn't. I
Speaker 1: don't know that he started that first game. I think
Speaker 1: those two guys started. So yeah, you know, Okay Beasley,
Speaker 1: you know, doing fine. But you see the difference in
Speaker 1: the slot receiver position between Beasley and what Randall Cobb
Speaker 1: brings you more big plays down the field that just awfully,
Speaker 1: awfully good. And you know, four hunt, I mean some
Speaker 1: fodder for next week, Buffalo, don't don't. Don't go to
Speaker 1: sleep on four hundred and forty four yards passing after
Speaker 1: three hundred ninety seven yards passing the week before. So
Speaker 1: it was eight hundred and I forgot the number. I
Speaker 1: wrote it down. In back to back games, he became
Speaker 1: the first Cowboy quarterback to throw for that many yards
Speaker 1: in back to back game. His name was mentioned with
Speaker 1: Joe Montana last night, and that's always pretty good company.
Speaker 1: What is it, I think the first he's the second
Speaker 1: guy in NFL history, And I mean these stats are
Speaker 1: kind of weird, but three hundred and seventy five passing
Speaker 1: yards and two touchdowns in four out of your first
Speaker 1: ten games in a season, only Montana has done that,
Speaker 1: and that just tells you what he's doing. But if
Speaker 1: you're just watching the game, and I wrote about this
Speaker 1: last night, you can just tell stats aside. He's got
Speaker 1: such command back there. And that's what Kellen Moore talked
Speaker 1: about last night, is that a lot of what he's doing,
Speaker 1: it's not flashy. He's he's making his progressions, he's finding
Speaker 1: the open guy. He's got a sense for where where
Speaker 1: the pockets moving. And you saw him get out of
Speaker 1: trouble a lot of times, both on design runs and scrambles.
Speaker 1: And Mickey said it, I mean the offensive line, that's
Speaker 1: one of the top three performances they've had this season.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had a lot of time. Xavier Stuefield
Speaker 1: did a terrific job in pass protection, stepping in it
Speaker 1: left guard, so it all, it all kind of works together.
Speaker 1: But you can tell he's he is as Zeke said,
Speaker 1: he's throwing the snot out of the ball. How about
Speaker 1: the quote he comes he comes three quarter through his
Speaker 1: arms slot like a like a baseball player on the touchdown. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean he is. Mechanically he is so much better.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, I mentioned last week on
Speaker 1: the Jason Garrett Show, Um, we do an unsung Star
Speaker 1: of the week, and last week I chose coming off
Speaker 1: the three hundred ninety seven yard game at my unsung
Speaker 1: star of the week is John Kitna. And you could
Speaker 1: see you could see Jason Garrett's eyes light up when
Speaker 1: I just mentioned the name John Kidney. I don't it's
Speaker 1: not getting you know, we talked to Kittna during training camp, preseason,
Speaker 1: not so much during the season, and so he kind
Speaker 1: of flies under the radar. They don't talk about him
Speaker 1: that much during the games and stuff. But I think
Speaker 1: his impact on what this quarterback is doing cannot be underscored. No,
Speaker 1: he's had had a lot to do with it. And
Speaker 1: you know the key thing is it's you know, for defense,
Speaker 1: and it may change next week, who knows, but for them,
Speaker 1: for the defense is facing the Cowboys in this offense
Speaker 1: is like playing whack a mole. You know, you knock
Speaker 1: one of them heads down and somebody else's head pops
Speaker 1: up one of them heads. You know, it's like Michael Gallup,
Speaker 1: you know, all of a sudden, nine catches for one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty eight yards. You know. Before the game,
Speaker 1: I was told that they'll they'll use Darius Slay on Cooper.
Speaker 1: They'll probably he'll probably shadow him for most of the game,
Speaker 1: and they like to play single safety high and that
Speaker 1: safety is going to keep an eye on Cooper. And
Speaker 1: I was told if they decide that they're going to
Speaker 1: play single coverage with combination of Rashawn Melvin or Justin
Speaker 1: Coleman on Michael Gallop, that the Cowboys should throw the
Speaker 1: ball every play to Gallop. Well, it wasn't every play,
Speaker 1: but it was one hundred and forty eight yards worth.
Speaker 1: That's how good he's becoming, how trusted. I mean that
Speaker 1: one catch was a fifty fifty ball, right the forty
Speaker 1: one yard off press coverage interfered with yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and he still caught it. That's and we talked about
Speaker 1: this in training camp. That is evident of his growth,
Speaker 1: maybe more than anything, just his strength and his able
Speaker 1: his ability to make contested catches and he actually said
Speaker 1: after the game that he ran the wrong Yeah, I
Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to run that route, so he had to
Speaker 1: go up and make the play. But also speaks to
Speaker 1: his maturity too. He's not a rookie anymore. It takes
Speaker 1: time sometime for these young receivers, but arrived. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: this is a difficult month for him. You know, he
Speaker 1: lost his brother a year ago, almost exactly a year ago.
Speaker 1: And what he did last year, playing four days later
Speaker 1: after going back to Atlanta and for services and then
Speaker 1: coming back and playing us A. He's a really mature
Speaker 1: young guy. They I mean, they love his progress for sure.
Speaker 1: I don't think any team has got more quiet, humble
Speaker 1: receivers than the three guys on this team for find. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because receivers typically typically are not quite they got their
Speaker 1: hand up in the air. Come talk to me, you know,
Speaker 1: or I'll think about issues, so you'll talk to me,
Speaker 1: think about the In fact, Danny White on our pregame
Speaker 1: show on CBS eleven yesterday was talking about receivers and
Speaker 1: they're all flashy now and they celebrate after doing whatever,
Speaker 1: and his receivers back and he said that his receivers
Speaker 1: didn't do that. What about the California quake? Butch Johnson,
Speaker 1: But think about the those were confident. It's not to
Speaker 1: say these guys aren't confident in what they do, but
Speaker 1: they just have a humility about him. And they were
Speaker 1: pretty outspoken about And Tony Hill was Drew Parrison was
Speaker 1: he still to this day, Tony Hill hadn't been covered
Speaker 1: yet exactly and if you talk to him, you know,
Speaker 1: Butch Johnson was just more flamboyant with with his because
Speaker 1: he had to be because he never got the playing
Speaker 1: time that the other two guys. But you're right, um,
Speaker 1: And it was it was interesting just seeing that h
Speaker 1: dynamic in the locker room when Michael Gallup's teammates were
Speaker 1: told about the anniversary of Michael's brothers passing a year ago,
Speaker 1: and then you know, Michael's sitting at his locker and
Speaker 1: Amar he's doing interviews and he says, you did it
Speaker 1: for your brother, you know, yeah, you know, it was
Speaker 1: really a cool moment where you could see and that
Speaker 1: was you know, and and Amari, who who's usually a
Speaker 1: very quiet guy, that's just his nature, you know, and
Speaker 1: you could see him and sort of in that locker
Speaker 1: room atmosphere where he was more vocal than what you
Speaker 1: see him most times with the media too. Oh absolutely,
Speaker 1: and yeah, and you know, just overall everybody that you
Speaker 1: can throw the ball to, all their different options. If
Speaker 1: you can protect Dak, this thing will continue to work.
Speaker 1: I thought. The good thing is this was the first
Speaker 1: time they were in a close game that they didn't lose.
Speaker 1: They closed, the defense came up, even though they gave
Speaker 1: up that one drive to make it twenty seven points,
Speaker 1: thirty five twenty seven. The rest of the way, if
Speaker 1: you remember, the Lions drove down to the thirty two
Speaker 1: yard line and then they closed. They pushed him back,
Speaker 1: I think, all the way to the forty something and
Speaker 1: they had to punt, and then the offense ate up
Speaker 1: the clock after they scored that key touchdown in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. If you look at the four losses, they
Speaker 1: had opportunities to come back and win those games and
Speaker 1: they didn't do it. So once again, this was their
Speaker 1: smallest margin of victory they've had of the six games.
Speaker 1: So that shows me that this is what you have
Speaker 1: to do. You have to make plays in closing time,
Speaker 1: and they finally did it. One other note on these
Speaker 1: receivers is they are tough and they're smart, and that
Speaker 1: that's huge when you're talking about well obviously in the NFL,
Speaker 1: but the toughness and the intelligence and being on the
Speaker 1: same page with the quarterback is so huge. Yeah. You
Speaker 1: saw Cobb make a side adjustment before the snap on
Speaker 1: one of his big catches across the middle, I think
Speaker 1: before he got the touchdown in the second quarter. You know,
Speaker 1: I'd love to see what his stats are if you
Speaker 1: if you add in the penalties that have taken away
Speaker 1: some of his plays. I mean, he's three or four
Speaker 1: touchdowns they got called back. Yeah, you know, there's been
Speaker 1: some missed opportunities, some drops by the receivers this year.
Speaker 1: But you know, Dad, they like gallops play. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got guy's going to fight for the ball and
Speaker 1: trying to come back and make plays for him. And
Speaker 1: that's like, like Dak said, that gives me even more
Speaker 1: confidence when I've got receivers trying to do that. I'm
Speaker 1: a Maori's catch again on the sideline. He clearly wasn't
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. That was a That was a team
Speaker 1: victory offensively for sure, and defensively, like Mickey said, they
Speaker 1: did enough at the end to win the game. All right,
Speaker 1: We're just getting started on another week of talking Cowboys,
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Speaker 1: visit the Start in Frisco dot com. You'll have to
Speaker 1: get behind behind Mickey in the line to take that
Speaker 1: photo with Santa Claus. Right, Mickey, do you remember when
Speaker 1: you were a kid standing in line to I do, Yes,
Speaker 1: I don't, but I don't picture proof And Mickey, I
Speaker 1: guess you do. You have a smile on your I mean,
Speaker 1: how many years ago are we talking here? Oh? For me, yeah,
Speaker 1: it would be a long time. Let's hope it's a
Speaker 1: long time ago. Never not recently. Yeah, although I do
Speaker 1: remember when your parents think it was still cute and
Speaker 1: you were like, are you serious. Two of my grandsons
Speaker 1: I've already visited, did Santa They were out in riodosent
Speaker 1: in Mexico. And the youngest, who's a year old, Braden. Oh,
Speaker 1: he cries at everything, so you can imagine what he
Speaker 1: was like with Santah. Cle put his order in early. No,
Speaker 1: he didn't in control of his emotions enough to do anything.
Speaker 1: He had no idea what who this guy is? Of
Speaker 1: this big white beard and so Ford, Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: we continue on talking cowboys. We'll take your phone calls
Speaker 1: if you've got some victory Monday reaction to what happened
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We talked about a lot of the positives
Speaker 1: in the first segment. All right, what are some of
Speaker 1: the things that weren't so positive in Detroit? Well, I
Speaker 1: think defensively, the biggest issue they had was Jeff Driscoll's mobility,
Speaker 1: and we talked about it during the week. He was
Speaker 1: their leading rusher against Chicago the week before, and the
Speaker 1: zone read got him a few times, you know, including
Speaker 1: on one of the touchdown runs that he had looking
Speaker 1: up what he got officially running the the ball yesterday.
Speaker 1: But you know, his quickness was a was a problem.
Speaker 1: There were some mistackles at times. I don't think they
Speaker 1: were was eight for fifty one with a touchdown. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and both Scarborough former Cowboys drafted too, I said, untouched
Speaker 1: too untouched? Yeah, Um Scarborough signed the day before to
Speaker 1: the active roster. And you know he had some success
Speaker 1: run fourteen carries fifty five yards and a touchdown for
Speaker 1: Bo Scarborough. Yeah, but he had his first seven were
Speaker 1: forty four yards, so they did for so his last
Speaker 1: seven eleven. Yeah, he thought he was Bo Jackson. Nice,
Speaker 1: nice singer there, Bo no zing um, you know, slow
Speaker 1: start again, you know. And and six or thirteen on
Speaker 1: third downs for the Lions, and they were better than
Speaker 1: that for most of the game. You allowed them to
Speaker 1: convert some third downs and keep some drives alive. I
Speaker 1: think a third and fourteen in the third quarter when
Speaker 1: they came down and scored to keep things interesting. So,
Speaker 1: you know, defense, if it's not what they wanted overall,
Speaker 1: I don't think they did make some plays. Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: again affecting the quarterback with his rush that Byra Jones
Speaker 1: played well, but you know, I think they expect more
Speaker 1: from themselves defensively, Mick right, Yeah, and then the worst
Speaker 1: part down the stretch there, both of their starting safeties
Speaker 1: are out. You know, as Xavier Woods went out for
Speaker 1: a time, Jeff Heath didn't play. We're losing multiple players
Speaker 1: on consecutive plays. And on that on that last touchdown
Speaker 1: that Detroit scored, he had Darren Thompson and Donovan Wilson
Speaker 1: playing safety and both of them fanned on the tap
Speaker 1: Man Jones Marvin Jones, who was able to get past
Speaker 1: both of them. So I hope all the people that
Speaker 1: keep calling for Jeff Heath's head understands how important he
Speaker 1: is to this defense. Okay, speaking of injuries, we what
Speaker 1: are we hearing? On Lyle Collins sprained mcl same one.
Speaker 1: Jason said he looked like he had a good look
Speaker 1: on his face afterwards meeting. If that means anything, maybe
Speaker 1: he can play through it. I was told that sometimes
Speaker 1: when you heard it the second time, you know what
Speaker 1: it is and you can kind of play through it.
Speaker 1: So I think they were somewhat optimistic that he could
Speaker 1: get back in time for the game. On Sunday against
Speaker 1: the Patriots. The Patriots because that was a huge issue
Speaker 1: for the Eagles yesterday. You were you were flying back
Speaker 1: while that game was going on. You probably haven't had
Speaker 1: a chance to look at it yet, but Lane, we
Speaker 1: had it on her. Okay. So Lane Johnson goes down.
Speaker 1: I can't remember exactly whinning the game, and he was
Speaker 1: doing fine. The Eagles were not doing fine at the
Speaker 1: right tackle position after that. That why he'd once got
Speaker 1: sacked five times. Yeah, So after Lane Johnson went out
Speaker 1: and then they lost Jason Peters also right, so they
Speaker 1: were hopeful on Collins. It looks like Anthony Brown's could
Speaker 1: be somewhat complicated because I was told on the way
Speaker 1: towards the airport that it was an elbow injury, and
Speaker 1: Jason said this morning a tricep. So what you're worried
Speaker 1: is the tricep goes into your elbow area and that
Speaker 1: could be complicated. So we'll have to see on on
Speaker 1: that one. DeMarcus Lawrence was able to come back in
Speaker 1: the game and finish and as he told me, when
Speaker 1: he would do something goofy or get hit in the head,
Speaker 1: as Dad said, well that ain't going to bother you
Speaker 1: because you ain't got nothing between you. Sound like he'd
Speaker 1: be okay, Xavier Woods that you mentioned dislocated finger and
Speaker 1: Woods and he came back into the game. So I
Speaker 1: think it's I think it's gross. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: what you do, right. I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I never do you remember when it happened to Aikman.
Speaker 1: I think it was the same thing and he went
Speaker 1: up to uh I think it was Gogan and made
Speaker 1: him and he just told him, come on, yank it,
Speaker 1: pull it. God, that's the last person that doctor gogu right,
Speaker 1: oh Man? But yeah, I think I think Lyell and
Speaker 1: Anthony Brown are the two guys they got to recheck
Speaker 1: the day and keep an eye on. Okay, So other
Speaker 1: issues obviously defensively, and it's kind of an ongoing thing here,
Speaker 1: um that you know, the defense has struggled at times,
Speaker 1: and it varies week to week. It seems like a
Speaker 1: lot of times, um about running the football? What are
Speaker 1: we thinking about the run game right now? But it
Speaker 1: was yesterday because they the Lions devoted I don't know
Speaker 1: the extra person they did, and I have to go
Speaker 1: back and have time to look at it. They just weren't.
Speaker 1: There were no holes, there was nothing. You know. Their
Speaker 1: best play was that counter kind of that counter play
Speaker 1: where they're they're kind of going against the grain. He
Speaker 1: runs back. Um. But yeah, I think their longest run
Speaker 1: was eight yards, is that right? Well? Nine by Dad nine,
Speaker 1: but yeah, eight from Zeke, seven from Pollard who only
Speaker 1: had two carries, you know, for twelve yards. Um. I
Speaker 1: haven't watched back the entire game yet, but from what
Speaker 1: I saw, kind of agree with Mickey that Zeke seemed
Speaker 1: like Zeke made the most of what was there. It's
Speaker 1: not like he left a bunch of yards on the field.
Speaker 1: We got that screen pass at the end. I think
Speaker 1: that's what people wanted. I think that's they need that.
Speaker 1: They need to add that part back in the offense
Speaker 1: a little bit more because he is effective with it. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean they have not had explosive runs
Speaker 1: this season. I think Zeke's got one run over twenty
Speaker 1: yards this year. But I thought he did some good
Speaker 1: things and when there were holes, I mean he almost
Speaker 1: got a touchdown there and then finished it off late.
Speaker 1: But it's been a passing oriented offense these last couple games.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's all that that that
Speaker 1: teams are loading up against the run. I think there
Speaker 1: were some boxes to run against against the Vikings, but
Speaker 1: they didn't, you know, the holes weren't necessarily there. How
Speaker 1: many explosive runs did Emmitt Smith have in his career?
Speaker 1: I think you know the answer. I don't know the
Speaker 1: I don't know. He just kept plugging them off. But yeah,
Speaker 1: he wasn't known for explosive run. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the type back that Zeke is. You know, he's not
Speaker 1: He's not a guy that's gonna break off a sixty yards.
Speaker 1: He has done it, Yeah, he hasn't had the opportunity though.
Speaker 1: You haven't seen him in the open field on a run,
Speaker 1: you know, and a lot of them, you know, it
Speaker 1: was there was it was clogged up, and that's why
Speaker 1: he didn't finish. They can't seem to break him into
Speaker 1: He seemed to move well on with that. Yeah. Did
Speaker 1: you hear Jason this morning? No? I did not. So
Speaker 1: they were asking about the running game, wanting to know
Speaker 1: if you know there what a great catch that was.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, if there was still more, you know,
Speaker 1: rust on not being at training camp and missing the
Speaker 1: offseason and everything and Jason goes, did you guys watch
Speaker 1: the game just like that? That's great? And what he
Speaker 1: meant was the catch he made on that screen pass.
Speaker 1: I mean he caught it like six inches off the ground.
Speaker 1: Then he palms the ball with his left hand as
Speaker 1: he's stumbling forward, he uses his right hand to put
Speaker 1: on the ground to regain the watching right there, right,
Speaker 1: and and he goes all the way for the touchdown.
Speaker 1: And it was like, seriously, and that's when when when
Speaker 1: jameson there's the dack, when the dack hits celebration, celebration right, genius,
Speaker 1: And it's just it's just incredible. Not look at this.
Speaker 1: Look No, no one does that. And do you see
Speaker 1: anybody catch up with him. No, there's nothing wrong with him,
Speaker 1: it's just the opportunities don't seem to be there. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's an incredible play, right. I think there's a narrative
Speaker 1: being developed that he's, you know, he's running out of
Speaker 1: gas in year four, and I don't I don't see that.
Speaker 1: I'm not seeing the explosive runs. But I don't think
Speaker 1: it's you draw that it happens in the NFL that
Speaker 1: that you have games like this where I'm looking back
Speaker 1: at Emmett Smith nineteen ninety five season. He had three
Speaker 1: games that season where, including the last game against Arizona,
Speaker 1: he had twenty four carries for sixty eight yards. That's
Speaker 1: two point eight yards of carry. He had against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: which was a win, eighteen carries fifty six yards three
Speaker 1: point one yards a carry in that game. He had
Speaker 1: against San Diego, a win, twenty two carries sixty eight yards.
Speaker 1: It's three yards of carry. And now, wasn't that the
Speaker 1: season he set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns. It's
Speaker 1: since been twenty five touchdowns. Touchdowns that season had seventeen
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy three yards. But he had three games
Speaker 1: where he averaged three yards of carry. Right, it happens
Speaker 1: in this league, and so let's let's uh, let's see
Speaker 1: as we go forward. You know, if he wasn't running hard,
Speaker 1: that would be an issue. He is running hard. He's
Speaker 1: got a bunch of three yard carry, he's got some dirt, amazing,
Speaker 1: He's getting some dirty yards for sure. And a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago he had a big game against the Giants.
Speaker 1: I'm looking up right now, he's he's eighth in rushing
Speaker 1: right now, eight hundred and thirty three yards. He's getting
Speaker 1: four point three a carry, seven touchdowns. It's you know,
Speaker 1: he hasn't broken the big one yet. Maybe it's coming.
Speaker 1: But they did mix in Tony Pollard more in this game,
Speaker 1: not necessarily the running game, but especially with the Mari
Speaker 1: Bango running game though, I mean he goes as a pass,
Speaker 1: but it was a fly sweep, you know, the little
Speaker 1: little flip to him. Yeah, and so that helps. That
Speaker 1: all helps, especially when a Mari's banged up to Pollard's
Speaker 1: touchdown one was amazing. He made I think it was
Speaker 1: twenty one is at Walker their safety miss with just
Speaker 1: a little move and you know, and and we were
Speaker 1: talking about all the wide receivers, but those two guys
Speaker 1: had catches for touchdowns and they finished them off. And
Speaker 1: then the other thing would Pollard on the on his
Speaker 1: two point conversion, he got stopped and he squirmed and
Speaker 1: lunged at the right time and just barely got it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he had a nice performance. And he made
Speaker 1: a really good decision on a goofy kickoff that I
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen a kickoff do that before.
Speaker 1: Usually when the kickoff is short and bounces, it rolls
Speaker 1: into the end zone. This jumped up in the air
Speaker 1: like a punt and and he finally realized, oh, I
Speaker 1: gotta catch this, and I'm at about the I don't
Speaker 1: know what was he at the about the five yard
Speaker 1: line or so, and it's like, okay, might as well run.
Speaker 1: And then they had their best kickoff return in like
Speaker 1: we need to do that every time. Yeah, they could
Speaker 1: just get those short ones. Okay. I do have a
Speaker 1: concern about the run game, and I'm with you, Mickey
Speaker 1: on the run game in general. Okay, and might have
Speaker 1: more to do with the offensive line. Whatever it is,
Speaker 1: we're what the defense is doing. But let's I will
Speaker 1: present that when we come back here on door. Since
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride
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Speaker 1: so nice to be treated doctor Pepper, so nice to
Speaker 1: treat you. Back to talking cowboys. Hey, Rob, did Detroit
Speaker 1: crack you up? Dry you out? Well? You need to
Speaker 1: go to Jack Black because now they've got a little
Speaker 1: bit winner preservation for your skin. I've been telling you
Speaker 1: about the things that you can get for free, but
Speaker 1: they also have the best traveling companions ever. You can
Speaker 1: get industrial strength hand cleaner, also in tense therapy lip bomb,
Speaker 1: and it comes in neutral mint and shade butters shot
Speaker 1: now sh shot, don't make me laugh. A lot of
Speaker 1: snow on the ground in Detroit, and those things are
Speaker 1: called two for the road. All right, very good, little
Speaker 1: dry skin. I could have used my Jack Black snow
Speaker 1: you were there, though it did not. It was already
Speaker 1: but it wasn't going away. It was still undergro It
Speaker 1: was still very chilly there. They told us it was
Speaker 1: actually warmer than usual, but at the same time it's
Speaker 1: snowing earlier than usual, So go figure. I don't know.
Speaker 1: There was twenty five degrees when I woke up Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: By the way, I had a delivery of Jack Black
Speaker 1: on my doorstep over the weekend. Somebody's been listening, Yes
Speaker 1: and right, Actually it was. It's apparently a present for others,
Speaker 1: according to my wife. So now I'm thinking that's probably
Speaker 1: something for me in there too. You'll see that she happened.
Speaker 1: She had to say that it was for other people.
Speaker 1: Why were you snooping into the package it arrived on
Speaker 1: the doorstep. I'm sorry. All right. The run game, yes,
Speaker 1: and it's been specifically. I want to bring up the
Speaker 1: second to last possession of this football game, all right, Okay,
Speaker 1: the Lions have just scored to make it thirty five
Speaker 1: to twenty seven and eight point game because they went
Speaker 1: for two and we're not gonna get don't sidetrack this, Okay,
Speaker 1: we can talk about that later. Five forty nine left
Speaker 1: in the football game. Cowboys takeover at their own thirty
Speaker 1: one yard line, ahead by eight points. Okay, incomplete pass
Speaker 1: on first down, complete to Gallop for six, third and four,
Speaker 1: complete to Gallop for twenty two first down Zeke plus
Speaker 1: one and complete incomplete punt. Okay. Three forty two left
Speaker 1: Detroit takes over with a chance to tie the game.
Speaker 1: So you ran off, you got you ran one, two, three,
Speaker 1: four or five six plays and then punted, you got
Speaker 1: a first down, and you ran off two minutes and
Speaker 1: seven seconds of the clock. This team has got to
Speaker 1: run the football better for situations like that right there
Speaker 1: where they don't have to throw the football. As it
Speaker 1: turns out, then Detroit, as it turns out, inexplicably, they
Speaker 1: decided to punt on fourth and twenty six, and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys get the ball back just needing the first down,
Speaker 1: and they and at that point where a minute fifty
Speaker 1: eight left, Yeah, backed up at your own thirteen yard line,
Speaker 1: you have to throw the football to get that first down.
Speaker 1: I don't have any problem with throwing the football where
Speaker 1: they got the first down, especially when you completed twenty
Speaker 1: three and it's and it's such a safe play too, okay.
Speaker 1: It's my issue is three incomplete passes on that drive, okay.
Speaker 1: And the problem isn't so much throwing the football. You
Speaker 1: can't throw incomplete passes. You got to develop the four
Speaker 1: minute offense and so that you can put the game
Speaker 1: away at that point. That's a great point because that
Speaker 1: salting away the game was Zeke is with with the
Speaker 1: lead is kind of what they've exactly been a hallmark
Speaker 1: for them over the last four years, Matt. And that's
Speaker 1: where you know all these stats going back to Emmett
Speaker 1: and other teams of how many wins, what's the Cowboys
Speaker 1: record when Emmett gets twenty carries in a game and
Speaker 1: it's this astronomical number. Well, that's how it gets to
Speaker 1: be that number is because they are running the football
Speaker 1: to put the game away with a lead with five
Speaker 1: minutes left in the game. But had you run the
Speaker 1: ball in that series you're talking about, you would have
Speaker 1: taken away their time exactly. They got to use them
Speaker 1: until that last possession and and so their psion, their
Speaker 1: possession in which they got a first down right and
Speaker 1: had the ball for seven plays or whatever it was,
Speaker 1: they only they only whittled off a minute forty of
Speaker 1: the clock on their possession because they still had their
Speaker 1: time outs, right, and then they used them when the
Speaker 1: Cowboys were kneeling and right, it didn't matter, but you
Speaker 1: could have sucked those timeouts of them on that possession,
Speaker 1: You're exactly right. And that's why they put it was
Speaker 1: because they still had their time out, so careful getting
Speaker 1: pass happy. It's you have to you want to be
Speaker 1: multi dimensional, okay, and so you and yeah, it's great
Speaker 1: having this success throwing the football, but there's comes a
Speaker 1: certain time in a football game where you need to
Speaker 1: win the game by running the clock, and that means
Speaker 1: running the ball and not throwing incomplete passes. Now that's
Speaker 1: a great point, and it is kind of weird to
Speaker 1: look at the final box score and say Dak's got
Speaker 1: forty six pass attempts when you really had control the
Speaker 1: game for much of the second half. If we wait
Speaker 1: till you start studying this Patriots team this week, I
Speaker 1: mean they are they throw and throw and throw, as
Speaker 1: you know, you know, but did the stats are you know,
Speaker 1: Brady's up there forty five passes a week, you know,
Speaker 1: but thanks Tom Brady. Because of who they're going to
Speaker 1: hand it to Rex burkehead Okay, Plano's own, but that's
Speaker 1: fifteen yards us. Well, they've got well, no, they've got
Speaker 1: like they're running back by committee. You know, Sony Michelle
Speaker 1: they spent a first round pick on and James White.
Speaker 1: They've always done that exactly. They've had a million running
Speaker 1: backs for Brady. And by the way, he's not happy
Speaker 1: with his offense. I saw that last night what he
Speaker 1: happened about two minute press conference and I didn't see
Speaker 1: this post. I go, I gotta go watch it. He's
Speaker 1: frustrated with their production, you know, seventeen to ten in
Speaker 1: the game, and and I didn't still wasn't able to watch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to watch a lot of it. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of underneath stuff and throwing to those
Speaker 1: backs out of the backfield. Um, you know, it's going
Speaker 1: to take time for them to develop with you know,
Speaker 1: they got Edelman and they've got you know, some others,
Speaker 1: but their first round draft pick at yesterday was his
Speaker 1: first game. Well you think about what they had earlier
Speaker 1: the first part of the season. All Right, they've got
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon and Anthony Brown. I mean, well, and I'll
Speaker 1: go through it this week. It's incredible the number of
Speaker 1: wide receivers that they have had on their roster since
Speaker 1: the start of training camp. It's antiight ends for that matter.
Speaker 1: Ye speaking of Gronk, Yeah, you saw that he made
Speaker 1: the appearance on Fox yesterday. Yeah, what do you say,
Speaker 1: pre game he's been doing it hasn't he he's been
Speaker 1: on there a couple of times. Well, he's on yesterday,
Speaker 1: and he said the Cowboys could use that tight end
Speaker 1: like him. Basically, that tight end that could stretch the
Speaker 1: field down the field. Can you imagine that offense they
Speaker 1: had a tight end that could go vertical too? Well,
Speaker 1: they do, they do. They got Blake Charmin. They do
Speaker 1: have Blake Charmin. It was funny though. He really was
Speaker 1: so two point good version. Oh okay, all right, how
Speaker 1: he can't get it? It's the new thing in the league,
Speaker 1: and I don't get it either. So they asked Patricia
Speaker 1: after the game, I don't know if Kyle can zoom
Speaker 1: in on this, but that was his response. What I've
Speaker 1: got right there? He went on for like three minutes.
Speaker 1: That's transcribed give us. I tried to do it, and
Speaker 1: I read through it, and none of it made sense
Speaker 1: and basically only makes sense to a rocket scientist what
Speaker 1: he was trying. I think what he was trying to
Speaker 1: say is the way the game was going, and he
Speaker 1: didn't want to say this. We didn't want to go
Speaker 1: into overtime if we caught up. We wanted to win
Speaker 1: the game in regulation, so we decided we're going to
Speaker 1: go for two, and then if we score it again,
Speaker 1: if we didn't get it, we can go for two
Speaker 1: again to tie it, and then you're going into overtime.
Speaker 1: And then you're going into overt you're going to know what,
Speaker 1: I respect that you're three to five and one go.
Speaker 1: You're not supposed to win this game. But here's the problem.
Speaker 1: Here's the problem with it. If you don't make it,
Speaker 1: then you have to go for two the second time
Speaker 1: to get to overtime to have a chance. And to me,
Speaker 1: the object and these I don't have a problem. If
Speaker 1: you want to go ahead and play for overtime, play
Speaker 1: for overtime, but don't put your team in a position
Speaker 1: where they have to make this to get to overtime. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean because basically what you're saying is, well, if
Speaker 1: I don't win this gamble, I'm gonna lose exactly right, right,
Speaker 1: You're to extend the game as far as you can
Speaker 1: before not let one could play decide the game because
Speaker 1: the other team is liable to make a mistake, and
Speaker 1: you where you don't even have to make a play
Speaker 1: to win the game. Right, there are humans on that
Speaker 1: other team that are likely to make mistakes. If not,
Speaker 1: I mean, it makes no sense to me. It's one
Speaker 1: of those things where you try to judge momentum swing
Speaker 1: through the fourth quarter and figure out what's going in
Speaker 1: which direction. And certainly at that point, if we're able
Speaker 1: to score those touchdowns and be in the positions, then
Speaker 1: the offense probably would have swung things in their favor
Speaker 1: at that point, probably would have felt pretty good about
Speaker 1: a two point conversion at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: Any of that makes sense. Maybe they saw something they liked.
Speaker 1: They had, yeah, play they liked, and I mean they
Speaker 1: they success move in the ball. Aid, were you surprised
Speaker 1: by the Cowboys choice on the two point conversion? On
Speaker 1: what play? They ran? All this exotic stuff they've been
Speaker 1: doing and they just hand the ball to Pollard? That
Speaker 1: was work. That's because they do They were they were
Speaker 1: facing a rocket scientists defense on the other side. Who
Speaker 1: they were going to be ready for something. Fans out
Speaker 1: of this world? Yeah, skywars. H that's right, the skyworld
Speaker 1: was a ground attack. All right? Uh, how do we
Speaker 1: do on our picks? To click? I had zeke had amory.
Speaker 1: I must say I probably had a gallop. Huh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you did. Who did you have. I can't
Speaker 1: remember it was either. I think I think you took
Speaker 1: a receiver. I think it was Gallop. Yeah, way to go,
Speaker 1: Way to go. Wind career high nine catches, one hundred
Speaker 1: and forty eight yards. Look, this guy didn't catch one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy passes in college in two years just
Speaker 1: being a guy or whoever where was he at Colorado State? Yes,
Speaker 1: whoever they were playing, this guy had talent. It just
Speaker 1: took him a little while to get it. He was
Speaker 1: a rookie last year and he started getting it at
Speaker 1: the end of the year. If I remember, whn't he
Speaker 1: the leading receiver was anyone down against the ram Oh,
Speaker 1: people were like, well what is he? You know, he's struggling, remember,
Speaker 1: and then early this year again the couple drops and
Speaker 1: things is really good. Yes, yeah, yeah, he had a
Speaker 1: scope he had to kind of work back from. But
Speaker 1: I believe there was some talk second round should we
Speaker 1: take him then? You know, and they wound up getting
Speaker 1: him in the third. And there's another credit to the scouts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: front office, you know, I'm getting that guy. And you know,
Speaker 1: and Polar too. I know we've talked about they need
Speaker 1: to get him more involved. It's hard. It's hard because
Speaker 1: we just talked about all these guys, all these weapons
Speaker 1: they have, and you want to get Zeke going, you know,
Speaker 1: and so there's only so many that he can get.
Speaker 1: There's the other part of this with any rookie I'm
Speaker 1: not saying talking about Tony Pollard, it's learning the game
Speaker 1: and it takes time for them from a mental standpoint
Speaker 1: to grasp everything. And so you do not want to
Speaker 1: put them in a position where they're going to make
Speaker 1: mental mistakes. You don't want to overload them. The first
Speaker 1: half of the season. Well, now he's basically played an
Speaker 1: entire football season, a college football season. Now he's got
Speaker 1: a whole nother second college football season. If it team's
Speaker 1: going to go where I predicted they're going to go,
Speaker 1: which is to Miami, that you're going to see a
Speaker 1: lot of Tony Pollard the second half of the season. Well,
Speaker 1: and I think a lot of it has to do
Speaker 1: with matchups, like what are their linebackers capable of doing?
Speaker 1: And can I slip this guy in? And if you
Speaker 1: get a steady dose of him too much, then it's
Speaker 1: not a surprise. But now, oh, they threw the past
Speaker 1: to him out of the backfield on third down or
Speaker 1: whatever down. Zeke had a career day against this defense
Speaker 1: last year, or you know, some of the pieces and
Speaker 1: screens and all that they saw matchups to make these
Speaker 1: point that would work for either back worked out, all right.
Speaker 1: We turned our attention to those New England Patriots. When
Speaker 1: Talking Cowboys continues tomorrow. The break is next. This has
Speaker 1: been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys Football Club.