WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: What Went Wrong vs. LAR? 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:10.160 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.360 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:17.079 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.439 Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:26.800 It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:31.920 wall with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:37.680 Derek Eagleton. It is Monday, October two, twenty seventeen, Season thirteen, 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.240 episode number forty eight. Welcome to another edition of The Break, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.840 live from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:47.040 in Frisco, and today we're talking about the Cowboys loss. 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.559 Cowboys lose to the Rams thirty five thirty in what 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:52.960 I would call an unexpected loss. I think all of 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.480 us picked the Cowboys to win. Um. I don't think 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.400 anybody really expect to see you yesterday. But I will 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.720 say this. It was twenty four to thirteen at in 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.520 the second quarter with one fifty one fifty one left 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.959 in the second quarter, and then for that yeah, and 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.600 then the wheels fell off. So I'll answered, I'll ask 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.600 you guys the question. We can go around the table. 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.520 What happened? Just in your own brief synopsis and we'll 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.600 get into the details, but in your own brief synopsis 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.880 what happened from that point to the Cowboys final of 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:25.399 thirty five thirty Well, I think, you know, I picked 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.520 the Cowboys to win by three touchdowns, and and I 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.840 definitely overestimated the Cowboys and more than anything, more than 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.360 the Rams or anything, they overestimated this team of what 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.640 they could do. They didn't make any adjustments either that 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.080 they should have. They kind of got got, you know, 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:41.959 set in their ways. The Rams did a nice job, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.559 but they dominated up front on Brilli on both sides 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.640 of the ball. And you know, there's the Cowboys had 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.760 no business losing this game, and they did, and that's 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.440 this is gonna hamp them. This this loss will definitely 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.680 hamp them. Amber Well, clearly, they like Nick just said, 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:02.400 that didn't make any adjustments coming back after the first 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.080 half of the game. And then I was listening to 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.600 Dak Prescott and he answered that question. He basically said 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:12.600 that the Rams didn't do anything differently. It was just 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:17.040 on them that they weren't finishing plays and making the 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:22.200 right moves, which not that is true. But the Rams 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.440 did make some adjustment and they did come back stronger 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.680 I don't know what the Cowboys did in halftime. I 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:32.040 don't know. Dave, stop me if you've heard this before, 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.600 because it's gonna sound really similar to every time we've 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.720 ever talked about a loss in the five years i've 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.840 been here. This is a defense that isn't equipped to 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.680 carry a game if their offense isn't clicking. And that's 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.960 I mean, that's what I put it on. Clearly, the 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.440 offense looked great. Honestly, the first half of this game 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.600 looked like twenty sixteen. They did all of the stuff 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.280 that we got used to seeing last year on that 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:59.960 eleven game win streak, and you know, honestly, defensively, at least, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.200 I was just watching the tape upstairs with Brian. The 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.280 Rams defense didn't look like they changed a whole lot. 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.680 It didn't look a lot different. But when you're not 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.240 hitting open receivers, when you're not secure in blocks on run, 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.200 not catching passes, and you're getting flagged on you know, 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.240 crucial two point conversions, this type of stuff happens. And 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:22.959 I don't I don't know if if you want to 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.040 say they came out of the locker room flat because 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.760 they thought they had everything under control. Or whatever. They 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:33.440 just forgot how to execute. But this offense lost all 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.840 semblance of competency coming out of the break, and when 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.280 you put it on your defense to carry the game 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.120 against an offense like that, it's probably not going to 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.000 go very well. Yeah, we were upstairs before the show 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.120 and we were watching some of the tape with with Brian, 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.920 and that was what the one thing this did to me, Dave, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.280 was that they were they were all these little things. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.560 Like every play it seemed like we're as we were 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:56.480 watching this, every play, it seemed like there was a 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.440 little thing. Oh that got missed the block right there, 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.320 Oh that guy, that guy's routes should have been Cooper 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.160 had a rough day, but that guy should have gotten 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:04.880 a little deep run his route, you know, Oh, Da 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:06.680 should have made a better throw there. It was it 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.839 was all these little and it happened play after play 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.720 after play after play. So Amber, getting back to what 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.560 you said, I do wonder to some degree if there 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.320 was a situation where it wasn't that the Cowboys needed 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.720 to do something different, they just weren't executing. They At 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.360 one point they had two offensive linemen, one of them 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:27.120 being they're all pro guard that were trying to block 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.359 Aaron Donald and move him off the point and could 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.120 not move him one step. I mean, it wasn't It 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.280 was a situation where they just weren't executing. And where 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.040 you gonna I was just gonna say, we know that 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.200 the Cowboys strength is the running game. Based on what 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.840 they did in the running game, they should have won 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.000 this game. They did. They did pretty well. One hundred 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.279 and eighty nine yards. That's not a whole bunch, but 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:54.719 it's still good a lot. Oh it could have been higher. 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:58.279 It could have been higher. But again, I'm just saying 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.000 I remember you, Derek saying the Cowboys only win if 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.320 they're good in the running game. We saw Why are 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.359 you making that vague? I'm listening. We saw what the 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:13.320 offensive line did, and which is consider or was consider 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:17.039 one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Now 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.039 they're different. And I saw you pretty upset yesterday about 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:27.000 why you saw this little line, de little line, but big, 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:31.400 big line too. What what is your concern here based 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.320 on what you saw last night? My issue with the 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.120 offensive line is more about the fact that I felt 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:40.200 like yesterday Dak was running for his life, specifically in 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.320 the second half quite a bit. Now, I get it. 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.240 You were playing a defensive front that had Brockers, that 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.920 had Aaron Donald, which I'm convinced Aaron Donald's the best 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.080 defensive lineman maybe in pro football. But all that being said, 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.000 he was running for his life in the second half. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.680 And to me, there have been two times this year 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.760 that this offensive line, who I thought was elite, played 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.160 elite talent on the defensive front that they faced, and 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:07.279 in both instances, I felt like they the other line 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.599 won the battle and ultimately the war because they won 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:14.040 both those games. So to me, it start I start 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.120 to question whether this offensive line. I know they're good, 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:18.719 I started to question whether I think they're elite because 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:23.320 I think against elite talent, we haven't seen elite play. Yeah, exactly. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.080 I mean that's what I wrote as well, they're not. 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.560 This is an a dominating offensive line anymore, at least 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.719 not right now. And I think there's a lot of 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.719 reasons for that. I mean, I think that teams have 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.880 looked at this and said, all right, we have to 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.240 just stack the line and we're gonna We're gonna. Now 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.279 some of the situations they just got beat, they got beat. 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:46.240 Jonathan Cooper played horrible yesterday, And from what I saw 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.400 that there was one play where Dak was running for 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:50.440 his life at the end of the game where he 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:53.840 was straight up with Aaron Donald and then and instead 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.560 of Zeke having to help, it was just one on 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.000 one because he got beat so badly right off the line. 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.680 It was one one one between Zeke and Donald, and 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.040 Zeke knocked him down to the ground. And so I 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.200 was like, seriously, like who's the guard, Like who's the 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.920 actually left guard in this play? Was unbelievable. But I 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.120 just think that there's a lot of reasons for this, 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:18.000 And I go back to these wide receivers, and they're 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.720 not gonna beat anybody. They don't scare anybody. You don't 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.320 go deep, you don't really you have to maybe go 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.440 make a play in Arizona, but they're not gonna beat anybody. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.960 Just like catch the ball and then run away from them. 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.560 So you can play this way because they don't have 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:34.120 anybody at the passing game that's gonna scare you. So 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.480 I think that's that's kind of there's more than one 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.200 reason here. But it's like you got one dynamic player 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.920 in Zeke and Dez is the is dynamic at times, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.400 but not in a speed aspect. So a lot of 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:51.400 drop passes yesterday, Debt Terrence, Yeah, I was thinking, who yeah, Terrence, 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.640 that was the one I remember third third and something 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.640 third quarter, I think is their second possession. Dak mid range, 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.560 probably fifteen eighteen yard throw on the left side, low ball, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.480 not the best throw ever, but went right through, right 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:13.000 through Jez's hands, right right in between his arms and 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.200 onto the ground. Yeah. Just and that's I came out 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.320 of that. I came out of that game thinking Dak's 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.720 just gotta be better, like he wasn't good enough. And 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.640 I still believe that. But having gone back and watched 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.840 the offense play over again, they all were bad. The 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:33.080 offensive line had its miscues. Daz drops a big ball, 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:38.640 Terrence had a couple drops, Dak had some probably three 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:43.719 or four pretty poor throws, Jason Witten's missing blocks. I mean, 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.720 that's the great thing about the tape is it doesn't lie, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.600 and it very clearly points you in the direction of 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.280 you know, what all went wrong, And there's plenty of 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:54.440 blame to go around, that's for sure. Yeah, I think 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.560 this morning, if you're looking at it, I know there 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.280 were a lot of people a lot of articles I'm 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:02.319 seeing online today where people are pointing the finger at Dak, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.720 and yes, Dak needs to take part of the blame 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.720 for this, because it's the quarterback that's your responsibility. Even 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.800 when things aren't going well and other guys around you 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.440 aren't doing what they're supposed to, necessarily, quarterback still is 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:14.839 the one that's going to fall to. He's got to 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.160 make the play, and there was some plays yesterday that 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:18.800 he left on the table. He even said it after 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:20.840 the game, he said, there's some throws in the second 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:22.800 half that I didn't make that I did make in 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:24.280 the first half. But I gotta be better. I gotta 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.200 be more consistent. But all that being said, this was 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:29.240 a team loss, and we talked about that after the 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.640 game yesterday. This is a team loss because around that offense, 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.199 there are a number of guys that had their moments, 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:38.480 and when you've got everybody having a moment at different times, 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.360 and it platoons every play because on every play somebody 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:45.640 screwing something up. It's amazing that we've gotten what twelve 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:47.760 minutes into the show, and we haven't talked about Ryan 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.320 Switzer's muff the punt. I mean that's was that the 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.440 biggest If you had one play that you could take 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.280 back in that game, is that the play you take back? Yes, 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.599 because the Cowboys had just scored two times in a 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.360 row on two touchdowns in a row, and they were 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:05.880 starting to get it. They had the ball with about 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.120 five or six minutes to go. I believe maybe it 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.040 was about eight minutes to go in the second quarter, 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:13.800 and you know that they had shown everything that they 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.000 were going to go down there, marched down and drive 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.480 again twenty to six, twenty four to six, and then 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.440 that would change everything. Instead the Rams score touchdown. You 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.760 realize the Rams never drove the field and scored a touchdown. 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.320 They had a long pass to to Girly and then 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.760 they had that short field. You know. So it's hard 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.360 to put the whole thing on the defense because it's 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.480 a bend but don't break defense, and they did a 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:42.400 lot of bending and then they would they would buckle 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.920 down and lead to field goals. So I mean they 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:47.920 got off the field when it was time to kick 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.240 field goals. The problem is there was just too many 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.800 of them. They add up too. Yeah, you know, if 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.080 I had one play to take back, though I'm not 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.600 certain I wouldn't take back the two point conversion where 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.360 Terence drops the ball, because at that point you tie 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.040 that game up. If the Rams drive down the field 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.080 as they did and kicked the field goal as they did. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.079 Now all you need is a field goal to tie. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.600 You'd rather have back the one where Terrence drops the 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.600 tipped ball. Why wouldn't you just take back the one 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.520 where Travis Frederick gets called for holding on them. Either way, 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.280 you take either one of those, either one of those. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.200 But that's that's a little part of the game. That 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.760 little part of the game to me was that that 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.760 ultimately I think doomed the Cowboys. I think I do. 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.280 I think it. I think it did. I didn't feel 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:30.960 comfortable when they were when they were in a situation. 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.560 We were down on the field and we were talking 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.320 about and I asked, you know, different people like you 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.600 think that if if they hold them a field goal here, 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.280 Cowboys win. I didn't feel comfortable with the fact that 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:40.600 they were going to drive the field and win at 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.840 that point. I really didn't. I just I'm thinking, Okay, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:45.920 even if you get the two point conversion, it's tied 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:50.559 to tide. I mean, the way it had been going 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:52.840 I don't have a ton of confidence that the Cowboys 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.719 are going to stop them from scoring points right there, 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:56.400 and they took and they wouldn't have. They took four 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.120 minutes off the claus That's what I'm saying, they wouldn't have. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.240 I still don't think they would have. I stid. I 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.640 think the difference, though, is if you're driving to get 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.480 into field goal range versus driving for a touchdown, I 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:07.360 think it's different. And I do think the Cowboys could 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.599 have gotten into field goal range field goal range to 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.000 at least tie and then go to overtime. I said 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.960 this after the game because people were people were in 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.680 my Twitter mentions killing Ryan Switzer and saying, you know, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:19.959 that's the difference in the game. That's not the way 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:24.560 football works because every action completely, you know, every game, 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.000 every action is informed by the last play. So to 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.400 just say, well, you take out that play, you win 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.920 the game, that's not reasonable. But I would still if 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.400 I could take back any play, that would be the 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.640 one because if he doesn't Muffet, Cowboys get the ball 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:43.079 on their eighteen with eight thirty to play, up seventeen 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.839 to six. Best case scenario, they go down and make 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.240 it an eighteen point game heading into halftime. Even worst 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:55.120 case scenario, they run three plays and punt from their 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:59.040 own thirty And I like their odds of keeping the 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:01.000 Rams from scoring a tome down on a long field 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.200 at least, so I think that changes the complexion of 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:06.480 the first half. I still think that's probably the biggest 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:08.880 play in the game. It's clearly not the only reason 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:12.560 why they lost. That's lazy, but it was big yep, 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.920 one of the five players that I had, but obviously 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.360 there were some other ones too, And you know, after 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.720 that two point conversion, and we were going to the 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.560 elevator on this, so we didn't really maybe get a 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:28.640 great look, but it seemed like Anthony Brown had a 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.040 chance for an interception. On second down. They floated up 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.800 a pass that when they do defensive back drills, that's 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.680 what they do that. You know, Joe Baker throws the 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.000 ball a high in the sky and you die and 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.120 you jump up at you and like that. There couldn't 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.640 have been an easier interception, wasn't to me. I looked 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.600 at that. I thought he was fully outstretched and the 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.520 ball went over his hand. Is that not what happened? 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.360 Hit him right in the hands. I need to see 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.800 it again. It was that happened while we were going 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:58.240 down to the field, and I didn't get a good 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.360 look at it. Yeah, me either, and it but that's 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.160 what I saw. Maybe you're saying it had actually hit 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:04.840 his hands and he just dropped it, dropped it. Okay, 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.800 I look at it again either, I mean, whether or 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:09.720 not that's the case. I mean, how about the force 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.000 fumble by DeMarcus Lawrence that Tyrone Crawford you would think 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.960 would have seen but clearly didn't. That's two games in 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.040 a row without a takeaway. Yes, that's they didn't ever 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:25.280 take away against, not against Arizona. Yeah, that's not what 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:30.120 you want. It's not hard to getty hard to get 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.280 to forty when you're chunking up donuts two weeks in 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.480 a row, for sure. But you know, honestly, I don't 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.040 think I saw anything different from this defense. It goes 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:39.520 back to what you said in your first thing. I 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.440 didn't see anything different from this defense than what we 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.920 saw last year. And that's always been my contention about 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.040 this defense. I don't think this defense is any worse. 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:47.920 This is the kind of game they play last year, 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.600 and actually this is what they're expecting from their defense. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.320 Hold to field goals. Hold, and guess what Roline made, 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.080 every single one of them. I get in I get 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.200 in fights with people all the time about this because 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:00.760 you know, people are killing me in the game about 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.960 how bad the defense is. This defense played well enough 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.520 to win the game. I agree they did. They held 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.840 him to seven field goals. They one of the two 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.560 touchdowns they allowed was on a very short field, like 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.320 the Rams started in the Dallas red zone. That's how 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.920 short the field was. They weren't great by any stretch 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.000 of the imagination. Jalen Smith has a long way to 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.680 go to be I mean, he's a hard hitter, he 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.200 is an instinctive player. His abilities in pass coverage have 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.680 a long way to go. That that much we learned 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.360 just from watching Todd Gurley in that second half. The 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.080 secondary has its issues. The pass rush didn't show up 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.320 for the first time this year. That looked more like 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:43.240 the pass rush we thought we were going to see 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.320 this year. They're not great, and nobody should have thought 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.520 they would be, but they they played well enough to win. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.920 They forced him to field goals. They kept things manageable, 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:58.720 especially in the first half. The Cowboys last year, last 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.760 year too, last year. In this year, the Cowboys are 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:02.360 as good as their offense will allow them to be. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:04.840 For them to be the team that they want to be, 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.200 their offense has to click, and it really, for the 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:09.200 vast majority of the first month of the season has 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.560 not been, in my opinion. You know, nobody wants to 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.640 hear this because they always everyone's afraid to throw out excuses. 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.280 But you know, they're played without their best player on defense, 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.960 and then that's a fact. They played without Sean Lee 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.120 and it was very noticeable yesterday. I mean, I think 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.280 Sean it would would have made a lot more plays 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.880 in the open field. He would have probably stopped some 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.880 of these runs from being a little bit um from 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:35.840 from gashing them into the You know, I don't know 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.320 if girl's gonna average five point three yards to carry. 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.560 I mean, he's long with seventeen, so it's not like 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.200 it was a big chunk play there for as far 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.200 as runs go. So you know, I I don't know 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:48.240 what you can say about the corners. I'm not sure 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:50.160 that they're playing not playing with the with their best 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.160 corners right now. They've got guys that hurt. But I 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:56.800 don't know but see, I mean, okay, maybe Anthony Brown 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:58.640 dropped the pick. We need to go back and watch that, 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.160 But like, did the corners play back? No, No, I'm 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.480 saying I'm not gonna say that Nolan Carroll and been 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.800 been um Cheeto being out affects them. I'm not because 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:09.520 I don't know who their best corners are when they're 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.040 all healthy, and I don't know if Carroll's even in there, 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.240 but I know Sean Lee's won't their best shutterbacker. And 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:15.800 that's what I'm saying. I'm not going to try to 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.080 pile on and say, hey, also, this guy was hurt too, 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.320 and David Irving comes back about about I think it's well, 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:24.600 it's incredibly noticeable too. And I guess the point I'm 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.399 trying to make is Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods combined 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:29.960 for thirty four yards. Cooper Cupp was their best receiver 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.800 and he had six d and a touchdown, which, okay, 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:35.959 that's fine, but somebody's gonna get yards. All of their 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.879 damage came from Todd Gurley and the tight ends yep, 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.840 what does that say? And mostly from Gurley it's and 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.480 the vast majority of it from Gurley. A lot of 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.120 that says says stuff about your lineback. Sean Lee's not there. 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.600 If there's a silver lining here, I know, I know 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.960 David Irving's coming back this week. I never bought into 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:58.600 the hype that he's that guy, at least not yet. Um. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.919 If there's a silver lining that I'm looking for here 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.400 as a Cowboys fan, it's that I don't expect Sean 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.680 Lee to miss too much time more time, and I 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.440 expect Anthony Hitchins to be back really soon. And I 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:11.959 think those two guys healthy and playing together can make 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.160 a significant amount of difference for the huge different defense, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:16.840 huge difference. I think what we got to do is 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.600 we got to see Jalen Smith get out there. We 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.760 got to see him run around. The hope is that 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:24.080 by twenty eighteen he's better, But right now, those other 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.400 two guys are clearly better linebackers than he is. Even 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.080 in light of this game, which was easily his worst 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:32.480 of the four, I'm still very encouraged about where he is. 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.000 But he's not He's not that guy. He's not in 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.880 the top ten pick yet, and I feel I still 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.680 feel encouraged that he can be in time. But I 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.720 think Anthony Hitchins is a much better all around linebacker 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:46.320 than he is right now. All right, let's take our 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:47.840 first break. When we come back, we do need to 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.040 talk about the running back, Ezekiel Elliott and what he 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.480 did and what's going on with him today or tomorrow, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.760 today or tomorrow here in court. And in addition to that, 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:58.600 I want to ask you guys, if you think the 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:02.200 Cowboys short week last week, combined with the Rams long 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.560 week coming off a ten day layoff, affected the Cowboys 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:06.879 in this game. We'll talk about that when we come 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:08.760 right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.760 the entertainment loving people, demand the best unlimited wireless plan 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:13.680 ever from ATNT. What else do you want? Are you 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.600 in Aicorn? Maybe only at and T offers you unlimited 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.360 data with HBO included and never pay overages. Get ATNT 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.080 Unlimited plus our best wireless deal and unlimited data plus 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.199 save twenty five dollars per month on direct TV. 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