Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for the Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: Wait Well with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, Am bar Garcia
Speaker 1: and Derek Eagleton. It is Tuesday, October ninth, twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: Season thirteen, episode number fifty three. Welcome to another edition
Speaker 1: of The Break Guy. AM Derek Eagleton and joined by
Speaker 1: Nick Eatman, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. We're life from the
Speaker 1: s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. We're talking Cowboys football.
Speaker 1: It's a Tuesday, it's the bye week, and so we're
Speaker 1: gonna try to take a little bigger picture look today
Speaker 1: at what's going on with this team and try to
Speaker 1: answer some questions for you guys, with the big overall
Speaker 1: theme being that we're gonna look at this team and
Speaker 1: look at the things that they've done well so far,
Speaker 1: the things they haven't done well so far, and try
Speaker 1: to answer some questions around how they can be better
Speaker 1: and once they get back from the buy and they're
Speaker 1: going down the stretch, how they can be better to
Speaker 1: position themselves for playoff run. How's everybody doing this morning? Man?
Speaker 1: I'm doing good good, I'm great, good, awesome. It don't
Speaker 1: look great, better than great. You're right, I don't look great.
Speaker 1: I look phenomenal, really really good stuff. Thanks Dave. We
Speaker 1: can tell thank you. All right. Let's let's jump right
Speaker 1: in and I guess the first thing I wanted to
Speaker 1: just mention and then we can talk about it a
Speaker 1: little bit. This NFC East after five weeks is looking,
Speaker 1: I think, very different than probably what most people expected
Speaker 1: it would look like going into the season. I know
Speaker 1: it looks different than what I thought. Um I thought
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and the Giants would be at the top
Speaker 1: of the division. Right now. The Giants are sitting at
Speaker 1: oh and five, and it looks like they're they're just
Speaker 1: in position where things are going to implode from here,
Speaker 1: if they haven't already. They've now lost three wide receivers
Speaker 1: for the season in one game, which is remarkable, and
Speaker 1: then another receiver that's gonna be out for presumably maybe
Speaker 1: a week two weeks, so it just doesn't look good
Speaker 1: for them at oh and five. And then the Cowboys
Speaker 1: one peg up at two and three, then Washington second
Speaker 1: place at two and two, Philly at four and one.
Speaker 1: What do you guys think about this division right now? Drinking?
Speaker 1: What do you think that we're both drinking? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: something to say. I thought he meant, like the different
Speaker 1: type of drinking, like, oh, drinking, After how this thing
Speaker 1: started out, it might have to. I mean, I'm certainly
Speaker 1: shocked that the Giants are as putrid as they are
Speaker 1: because I really thought they were going to be the
Speaker 1: Cowboys main competition for a playoff spot. So just to
Speaker 1: see them just kind of have that start from hell
Speaker 1: that really, I mean, crazier things have probably happened, But
Speaker 1: I don't know how you come back from an oh
Speaker 1: and five start where you know, probably well definitely your
Speaker 1: best players out for the year and your biggest problem,
Speaker 1: you're off in the line isn't getting any better. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, remember when I said they didn't really play
Speaker 1: that good against the Giants. Do you guys remember that?
Speaker 1: Do you guys think that? Do you remember when I
Speaker 1: said that they didn't really play that well against the Giants?
Speaker 1: They dominated an NFL team, the Giants all of their
Speaker 1: losses except for the Cowboys game. Are you saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: play that well against the Giants? Is that what you're
Speaker 1: trying to say? Yeah, I said that before the cow
Speaker 1: But now do you think differently from this Giants team?
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. The Cowboys played played their best game of
Speaker 1: season in my opinion against the Giants. I know that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's what our point is. That's not so
Speaker 1: great now, but it's still an NFL team, it is.
Speaker 1: And you allow a goal to an NFL team, and
Speaker 1: I mean every every component of your that defense is
Speaker 1: sealed that defense, right what's different about that defense? They're
Speaker 1: like last in the league in rush defense right now?
Speaker 1: I mean, like, I get the point she's trying to make,
Speaker 1: but she's not right because you still dominated in NFL team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. I mean the Giants lost on the
Speaker 1: last play of the game to Okay, maybe late in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter of the charters, they gave up the
Speaker 1: backbreaking touchdown of the Lions with you know, less than
Speaker 1: a quarter to play, whereas really against the Cowboys, they
Speaker 1: were they were hardly in the game at all. They
Speaker 1: got dominated in an NFL game, which you don't see
Speaker 1: happen that often, right, especially a division opponent. So they
Speaker 1: still I think played fairly well. Okay, no, they did,
Speaker 1: but I think I don't know if this is what
Speaker 1: you're trying to say or not, but I think maybe
Speaker 1: what you were saying back then was, hey, nice win,
Speaker 1: beat the Giants, the team you couldn't beat last year.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't signal that everything is fine. They still didn't.
Speaker 1: You're saying that they didn't play that well, and we're
Speaker 1: seeing it. They go back the next week, they get crushed.
Speaker 1: Then they beat a Cardinals team that isn't very good.
Speaker 1: So I mean, i'll give you, I'll give you beating
Speaker 1: the Giants does not look good, and you know, it
Speaker 1: does not look like as good of a win as
Speaker 1: you probably thought it was. But I still think they
Speaker 1: played overall pretty well that game, and they did, but
Speaker 1: they made a lot of mistakes and it wasn't as
Speaker 1: great of a win as you would think it was,
Speaker 1: just because it was against the Giants, a team that
Speaker 1: they haven't beat and they have ish. I mean, they
Speaker 1: beat them one time last year, but um no, they didn't.
Speaker 1: They lost both games. Oh yeah, that's right, duh. That's
Speaker 1: why they became from last year when it goes to
Speaker 1: like further than a year out of my mind, stylers
Speaker 1: getting a little blurry. But that's my point. That's why
Speaker 1: it was such a big win for the Cowboys because
Speaker 1: it was against a team they haven't beat. So aside
Speaker 1: from that, it really really wasn't a wonderful win. And
Speaker 1: the way they played, Yeah, I guess the way I
Speaker 1: look at it is and maybe I'm different in how
Speaker 1: I look at these games. I look at him game
Speaker 1: the game, and when you play a division opponent, you
Speaker 1: beat a division opponent, you beat a division opponent by
Speaker 1: difficultly beat them. And by the way, this is a
Speaker 1: team you couldn't beat last year. And by the way,
Speaker 1: I know the statistics are what they are. But at
Speaker 1: Week one, that defense was as strong as a defense.
Speaker 1: They were missing one guy I think that was a
Speaker 1: starter last year that was a significant starter, the defensive
Speaker 1: tackle that went on to We're going to Atkins. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but most of the giants, But I understand that. But
Speaker 1: what I'm saying is most of the guys on that
Speaker 1: defense that were the difference makers last year were right
Speaker 1: back there and present in Week one of the season
Speaker 1: this year, and the Cowboys played as good a game
Speaker 1: as they've played all season. So I get your point.
Speaker 1: I understand that, yes, the Giants aren't great. But whether
Speaker 1: that was the Giants, whether that's the Cleveland Browns, whether
Speaker 1: that's you, you plug in, whatever team you think is
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the league. When you go out
Speaker 1: on a Sunday and a team gets win where they
Speaker 1: beat up and dominate another team, that's still significant in
Speaker 1: my book. And I think that still matters because, trust me,
Speaker 1: I have a college team that we struggle with every body.
Speaker 1: So to go out and dominate a team that still
Speaker 1: matters the Giant thought about that your colleges team, though,
Speaker 1: I thought about that from last year. Remember they go
Speaker 1: and they beat Notre Dame and overtime and it's like, wow,
Speaker 1: this is great. Texas football is back. You know. Notre
Speaker 1: Dame is not very good. And I think the point
Speaker 1: is is that, like what looked good in Week one
Speaker 1: is it doesn't look as good anymore. Yeah, that's that's it.
Speaker 1: What they played well in the game. But now you're
Speaker 1: realizing that I think Auburn could beat them. Maybe. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, oh, the Giants are bad though, Giants, Giant,
Speaker 1: They're gonna be even worse now because of those three
Speaker 1: guys being but they one of them was gone when
Speaker 1: they played the Cowboys, and it was noticeable. The New
Speaker 1: York's margin of defeat so far this season is five, two, three,
Speaker 1: fourteen and sixteen. I'm just saying, and I get it.
Speaker 1: I get it. Is one of those games is without
Speaker 1: their best player. And we'll see moving forward without their
Speaker 1: best player how they are. Oh, it's gonna get worse now,
Speaker 1: it definitely, I'm just and theydn't play. They structure that team,
Speaker 1: no running game, no offensive line. That's fine, we got Beckham.
Speaker 1: I don't know what we're arguing about at this point anymore. Anyway,
Speaker 1: I don't either. Fact is when they play at night,
Speaker 1: they're good. When they play in the day, they haven't won.
Speaker 1: That's it. Yeah, night day, It's a night and day
Speaker 1: difference of this team. It might be a headline on Arst. No, Um,
Speaker 1: you don't control that the Giants. Giants being the Giants
Speaker 1: being terrible is certainly pretty surprising. Um, giants break nothing
Speaker 1: else really stunted me. I think the Eagles had the
Speaker 1: defense that I thought that they would be a competitive team,
Speaker 1: and I would have said, however, good they're gonna be
Speaker 1: probably rests on how well Carson Wentz plays, and so
Speaker 1: far he's playing really, really well. Did you expect their
Speaker 1: offense to be as good as it's been, because their
Speaker 1: offense has been really Yeah, no, I didn't. I'm you know.
Speaker 1: I know they signed al Shan Jeffrey and Tory Smith,
Speaker 1: had moments in Baltimore, not really so much in San Francisco,
Speaker 1: um and and they lost Aaron Sprowls, So I didn't
Speaker 1: see a lot there that made me think they were
Speaker 1: going to be a Jugger not But again, if your
Speaker 1: quarterback is playing at an amazing level, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: matter who's around him. Ask Aaron Rodgers. So it's a
Speaker 1: little surprising that their offense has looked as good as
Speaker 1: it has, But overall, I think that had the makings
Speaker 1: of a competitive team. And then it always surprised me
Speaker 1: that people were so eager to write off the Redskins,
Speaker 1: like they didn't make a playoff push of their own
Speaker 1: last year. I mean, they were up, they were in
Speaker 1: the wildcard race up until late December, and they took
Speaker 1: the week off, so it's kind of hard to judge,
Speaker 1: but they gave the Chiefs everything they could handle on
Speaker 1: the road on Monday night two weeks ago and just
Speaker 1: and beat the crap out of Oakland when Derek Carr
Speaker 1: was still playing. So they look formidable. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a it's I think this division is going to
Speaker 1: be a dogfight all the way. I mean, I would
Speaker 1: be surprised if Philly runs away with this thing one
Speaker 1: way or the other. They haven't really beaten anyone yet.
Speaker 1: And the Eagles, oh the Eagles, and like you look
Speaker 1: at the rest of their schedule, it's not going to
Speaker 1: get that much worse for them. So they're in They're
Speaker 1: in a good situation because they are beating well. They
Speaker 1: beat the Redskins on the road, which is that was
Speaker 1: a big win, you know, on the road obviously, Um,
Speaker 1: they lost to the Chiefs. They beat the Giants by three,
Speaker 1: it was a really close game. Uh. They beat the
Speaker 1: Chargers by two on the road, and they beat the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: You know, all three of those teams are really are
Speaker 1: struggling right now. They'll face the Panthers on the road.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to push this week forward, but it's just
Speaker 1: not going that fast. I actually this morning kind of thought,
Speaker 1: is it is it Friday? And it was Tuesday. That's
Speaker 1: really the worst thing to think is it's Friday and
Speaker 1: it's Tuesday. Anyways, they play the Redskins again forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers Broncos Cowboys. I mean, that's the thing. And you're
Speaker 1: down two games to the a team that you're gonna
Speaker 1: face twice. So yeah, I agree, day they're not going
Speaker 1: to run away with anything, but they are playing pretty well,
Speaker 1: and they they're doing it with receivers that you don't
Speaker 1: you wouldn't expect to be that great. I mean, Alshan
Speaker 1: Jeffreys good, but you know, they're finally getting that some
Speaker 1: stuff out out of call learn and I think the
Speaker 1: key of there is is the tight end and they
Speaker 1: just move the ball with the tight end there nerds.
Speaker 1: So all right, let's um, let's bring I did want
Speaker 1: to hit a bigger topic today, Like I said, I
Speaker 1: want to kind of look at what this team does
Speaker 1: well and what the team does they haven't done so well,
Speaker 1: and see if we can figure out, you know, how
Speaker 1: they need to progress down the stretch in order to
Speaker 1: get themselves into position to make a play to make
Speaker 1: it to the playoffs number one, but then be able
Speaker 1: to make a push in the playoffs So I started
Speaker 1: looking at some of the numbers and I found a
Speaker 1: couple of things that are that are kind of trends
Speaker 1: that I'll be interested to see if you guys agree
Speaker 1: with these things. These are things that the Cowboys do well.
Speaker 1: Looking at them statistically and how they rank to the
Speaker 1: rest of the league. Scoring, Uh, they are right now
Speaker 1: ranked in points per game ninth in the league with
Speaker 1: twenty five, doing pretty well there. They are limiting the
Speaker 1: number of turnovers. They have zero fumble, which is always
Speaker 1: a good thing. They only have a few interceptions, but
Speaker 1: again nothing that's alarming. So they're limiting the number of
Speaker 1: turnovers that they're having. And they're running the ball. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you look at the yards per carry, they're actually
Speaker 1: third in the league with four point seven yards per carry.
Speaker 1: Doesn't feel like that though, as you're watching the game,
Speaker 1: So I think that that number can probably be a
Speaker 1: little bit misleading. So I'll ask this question, based up
Speaker 1: on those things and any other things you guys can
Speaker 1: think of, what do you think is the best thing
Speaker 1: the Cowboys do right now? Based on the first five games? First,
Speaker 1: what do you think is the best thing that they do?
Speaker 1: Are we talking offense? Offense? Just on offense right now. Yea,
Speaker 1: the best thing the Cowboys do what Dad does. I
Speaker 1: was gonna say, play quarterback, just whatever goes along with that.
Speaker 1: He's He's the best thing about this team right now,
Speaker 1: in my opinion. I actually looked at this. I know
Speaker 1: you can't take out I know you can't take out
Speaker 1: the bad stuff and only look at the good stuff.
Speaker 1: But he was He was pretty mediocre to bad by
Speaker 1: his standards in the first two weeks of the season,
Speaker 1: even against the Giants, to Amber's point. Since then, in
Speaker 1: the three games since then, his average pass rating is
Speaker 1: one thirteen point five, which would put him in the
Speaker 1: top five in the league. He's been outstanding. He's the
Speaker 1: only reason why the Rams game was even as close
Speaker 1: as it was, and he certainly gave them every opportunity
Speaker 1: you could want to beat the Packers as well. Um,
Speaker 1: they run the ball all right, but again, like it's
Speaker 1: just it's not what it was, which is disheartening because
Speaker 1: that was I think that was the key to everything
Speaker 1: last year. So it's weird. I mean, they I don't
Speaker 1: know the stats off him, but they probably run the
Speaker 1: ball better than two thirds of the league. But it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it. Well, it's very obvious that the
Speaker 1: teams have decided that Dak Prescott has to beat them.
Speaker 1: And you know, right now he's two and three, so
Speaker 1: I mean as great as as we think that he
Speaker 1: is playing, and he has played well, but this is
Speaker 1: the this is the game plan, this is what teams
Speaker 1: are betting on, is that we're gonna we're gonna put
Speaker 1: it in Dak's hands and see if he can get
Speaker 1: it to the receivers who don't scare us and the
Speaker 1: tight end who doesn't scare us. You know, they're letting
Speaker 1: those guys try to beat them, and you know it's
Speaker 1: a recipe that that's so far is you know, it's
Speaker 1: work that they have three losses this year, three losses
Speaker 1: last year, so they're not letting them run the ball
Speaker 1: like they did last year. But Dak is playing well,
Speaker 1: but I mean they're it's not resulting in victories, not many.
Speaker 1: Do you think that's the best thing they do is
Speaker 1: Dak in the passing game? The best thing. Sorry, but
Speaker 1: this looks a lot like it did three or four
Speaker 1: years ago when Tony. When Tony was the best thing
Speaker 1: that they did, and sometimes it was good enough. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it wasn't And you know what, did you just finish
Speaker 1: eight and eight? And this is the path that this
Speaker 1: team is on. I mean they're gonna finish eight and eight,
Speaker 1: nine and seven, just depending on how things go. If
Speaker 1: it doesn't change, if they don't start dictating what they're
Speaker 1: gonna do and say, now we're gonna run it regardless
Speaker 1: of what you think, we're gonna run it. And but
Speaker 1: do you think that's the best thing they do? Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott in the passing game, yeah, I said a Dak,
Speaker 1: And then I mean for the running game again, the numbers,
Speaker 1: like Dave said, it's not too bad, but I just
Speaker 1: think it's because we were spoiled from last year that
Speaker 1: we expected to be a certain way and we just
Speaker 1: haven't seen it be that way. So aside from that,
Speaker 1: I think every other area. There's an issue in every
Speaker 1: other area, aside from quarterback and even quarterback. But it
Speaker 1: goes back to what the offensive line is doing. I mean,
Speaker 1: Dak has been doing a phenomenal job just making sure
Speaker 1: he's not sacked or he's been under pressure a lot.
Speaker 1: So defensive line, there are some issues there. We've seen
Speaker 1: issues at the wide receiver position again, tight end some white.
Speaker 1: I mean, we barely start seeing Jason Winn doing some things,
Speaker 1: so there's a problem in every area. You know. We
Speaker 1: didn't talk about it because we talked about the end
Speaker 1: of the game. But the first drive of the game
Speaker 1: he made to Bryce Butler give him getting out of
Speaker 1: the sack, and it felt like or it looked like
Speaker 1: the guys were on his legs like trying to bring
Speaker 1: him down and he still had enough arm string to
Speaker 1: get it out there to Bryce. I thought that, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's just another example that this guy, like you said, Embert,
Speaker 1: he's he's getting harassed on every play. The things that
Speaker 1: they're doing is because of him. And you said the
Speaker 1: best thing him in the passing game. I don't even
Speaker 1: think it's the passing game. It's just like, but he's
Speaker 1: moving the change and he's moving them. He's doing a
Speaker 1: great job with that. And it's interesting you say that
Speaker 1: because right now the Cowboys are ranked six in the
Speaker 1: number of sacks loud with only seven. But as you
Speaker 1: watch the game, you know, you know, sometimes that's a
Speaker 1: number that you look at the offensive line, but if
Speaker 1: you watch the games, you know that he's he should
Speaker 1: have been sacked way more than that it's his ability
Speaker 1: to be able to escape pressure and be able to
Speaker 1: make plays that's allowing this team to not have as
Speaker 1: many statistical sacks, although he's being pressured a ton and
Speaker 1: he's kind of flirting with danger on interceptions too, Like
Speaker 1: he's he's had probably five or six that you're like,
Speaker 1: oh wha. I mean, he's's kind of gotten lucky that
Speaker 1: they haven't been picked out. Unlucky with the Terrence pick
Speaker 1: six that lost the game for him, But for the
Speaker 1: most part, he's had a lot that should have been picked.
Speaker 1: That's the nature of it though. I mean his first
Speaker 1: pick in Denver was was on Dez, and his pick
Speaker 1: against the Packers was on Terrence. And then you know,
Speaker 1: you think the Rams game, he had to throw to
Speaker 1: Terrence that probably should have been picked a play action.
Speaker 1: Terrence was coming across and he just didn't throw it
Speaker 1: the right way. Guy got a hand on it. Happened.
Speaker 1: I think it happened on a throw to Witton in
Speaker 1: this last game, where you know, the defender had a
Speaker 1: pretty good beat on it and it got batted away.
Speaker 1: So des leads the league and pass breakups. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: playing some good corner He tried to throw that one
Speaker 1: on Alfred Morris. Hit Alfred Morrison the head and the
Speaker 1: head and bounced up and he could have been I mean,
Speaker 1: it's he's doing a good job of avoiding sacks, but
Speaker 1: he's gonna get more interceptions doing it that way. This
Speaker 1: is a frustrating question to answer, like the more I'm
Speaker 1: really thinking about it, because you know, the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: against the Packers is best rush offense in the league.
Speaker 1: They're doing whatever they wanted to. I mean, you're running
Speaker 1: the crack sweep and Zeke's just plowing through guys. And
Speaker 1: you know, you've seen some electric passing plays You've seen
Speaker 1: in every game except Denver. You've seen flashes of what
Speaker 1: we know that they can be. And again they haven't
Speaker 1: been able to sustain it for a whole game. And
Speaker 1: you keep thinking this will be the week when they
Speaker 1: kind of get it on track, and they still haven't
Speaker 1: quite gotten everything flowing the way that you expect it
Speaker 1: to flow. And I'll cater, you know, to the fan
Speaker 1: who's about to throw his iPad out the window at
Speaker 1: me right now. I mean, it's very easy to argue that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know I said the opposite yesterday, and
Speaker 1: I still feel that way, but it's hard to It's
Speaker 1: hard to reasonably demand much more from your offense than
Speaker 1: what you saw in that Green Bay game. I mean,
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty three rushing yards, two hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty passing yards, three touchdowns, an interception that's not the
Speaker 1: quarterback's fault. Thirty one points should win you a lot
Speaker 1: of football game. You would think, you would think a
Speaker 1: lot of footballs too. This season that they've had, we've
Speaker 1: scored plus thirty and have won. So maybe just well
Speaker 1: that other ono it was on them rather than the
Speaker 1: opposing team. Well, either whoever you want to give, whoever
Speaker 1: you want to say was at fault. The point is,
Speaker 1: you score thirty plus points in the NFL at home,
Speaker 1: you would you would think in most circumstances, And I
Speaker 1: don't know what the statistic is, but I would say
Speaker 1: if you look across the league, the percentage probably is
Speaker 1: extremely high that you win those games. So um, it
Speaker 1: still does point to the fact that offense just isn't
Speaker 1: seeming to be enough at this point for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: to get wins, even when they score an inordinately large
Speaker 1: number of points. All right, let's take our first break
Speaker 1: when we come back. I want to talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about what this offense doesn't do so well, and
Speaker 1: then we'll get over to the defense. And we got
Speaker 1: a ton of things to talk about there. We'll do
Speaker 1: that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys
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Speaker 1: Back to the Break, Welcome back. It's the second second
Speaker 1: of the Break, live from the SWBC Mortgage studios at
Speaker 1: the Star. We're trying to fix this team. We've now
Speaker 1: what we're doing. I think that's what we're doing. I
Speaker 1: think here in the bye week, it's up to us
Speaker 1: to try to figure out what's going on. And so
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful that we can come out of this show
Speaker 1: with some good pointers that then I can take over
Speaker 1: to Coach Garrett's office after I leave here and just
Speaker 1: like throw him down on his desk and say, here
Speaker 1: you go. We're trying to fix this team. Why we
Speaker 1: spend the first part of it talking about the offense,
Speaker 1: because well, because there's there's always whenever you whenever you
Speaker 1: look at a particular situation, you should always look at
Speaker 1: all the positives and the negatives on both on all
Speaker 1: of her sides. So then you figure out what you're
Speaker 1: doing well, keep doing that, what you're not doing well.
Speaker 1: You always tell someone about their positives before you, before
Speaker 1: you Yeah, I got it, all right, So let's flip that, Dave.
Speaker 1: Since this is your area of expertise, tell me what's
Speaker 1: going wrong with this offense? What do they not do well?
Speaker 1: So far? My area of expertise is being negative kind
Speaker 1: of yeah, uh okay, sure, Yeah, I mean that's fair.
Speaker 1: You're okay with that? Yeah, their offensive line is it's
Speaker 1: just not it's not what it was. And I think
Speaker 1: there were there were plenty of concerns about that in
Speaker 1: the off season, and they they have proven to be true. Um,
Speaker 1: they're they're fine, they're fine, they run the ball, fine,
Speaker 1: they protect Dak pretty well, as you said, I mean, okay, okay, again,
Speaker 1: they're okay, Like they're pretty good, which is good in
Speaker 1: the NFL, but not compared to the Great Wall of Dallas.
Speaker 1: Like this is enough, it's not, it's not again. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say this, and I just I'm sorry. I feel
Speaker 1: like a broken record. This team has a lot of flaws,
Speaker 1: particularly on the defensive side of the ball. You have
Speaker 1: a quarterback who's playing damn well, but is not on
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers level where he can mask all kinds
Speaker 1: of deficiencies. Your defense, Your defense was not great last year.
Speaker 1: It's not any better this year. If this team is
Speaker 1: going to be good, it's because the offense is going
Speaker 1: to be a well oiled machine that just zips up
Speaker 1: and down the field, runs the ball at will, and
Speaker 1: scores whenever it wants to's was that not the recipe
Speaker 1: for success last year and they're not doing it this year,
Speaker 1: and so all those flaws come to the surface when
Speaker 1: that's not happening. And yeah, the receivers haven't been great.
Speaker 1: Dak has made more mistakes this year than he did
Speaker 1: last year. But I think you can trace a lot
Speaker 1: of that back to the offensive line. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: just you know, it's it's not the dominant unit that
Speaker 1: just dictated football games the way it did last year.
Speaker 1: What do they not do so well offensively? Well, there's
Speaker 1: nothing I haven't said already, to be honest. It goes
Speaker 1: back to the offensive line. We talked about it again.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because I would get a lot of
Speaker 1: messages on Twitter it's like, can't you stop talking about
Speaker 1: the offensive line? They're fine, blah blah blah throughout this
Speaker 1: whole process. But I don't know if you guys remember
Speaker 1: how I mentioned to you guys back at training camp.
Speaker 1: I think it was how I heard over from that
Speaker 1: side of the building, you know, from the Cowboys side,
Speaker 1: how that was their biggest concern this offseason was that
Speaker 1: offensive line, the guard position and left tackle, And it
Speaker 1: clearly has been. You know, a lot of people didn't
Speaker 1: expect that two guys would really make a difference in
Speaker 1: between all those older pro bowler guys, but they have
Speaker 1: and it's shown, and thank god Dak has been able
Speaker 1: to do what he's done to manage this game and
Speaker 1: keep it moving. What's been a bigger hindrance for this
Speaker 1: offensive line the guard position or the tackle position well again.
Speaker 1: For example, Lyle Collins. I'm still not to where he's
Speaker 1: at right now. He does good things, but it's just
Speaker 1: not perfect just yet. And I don't blame him for that.
Speaker 1: I'm okay with the job he's doing so far. He's
Speaker 1: managed well, and Chas Green is still kind of iffy.
Speaker 1: I don't know it's well. I mean Jonathan Cooper also,
Speaker 1: I mean, has played the last two games. But with him,
Speaker 1: I mean, is it really that much different than Chas Green.
Speaker 1: They're basically very close to being the same. Chas Green
Speaker 1: didn't go up against Aaron Donald and and you know,
Speaker 1: probably I don't think it would have been any different really,
Speaker 1: I mean all training camp was kind of back and forth,
Speaker 1: and you could ask twenty different people and you probably got,
Speaker 1: you know, ten ten, not you know, eleven nine on
Speaker 1: Cooper or Green. It's that close, and when we've seen it,
Speaker 1: you know, play it play out, it hasn't been in
Speaker 1: that much different. I don't think, I mean with Cooper
Speaker 1: that they have scored thirty points you know, in these
Speaker 1: in these last two games. I mean, I'm not saying
Speaker 1: he's with Cooper doing it. I'm just saying they've they've done,
Speaker 1: all right, It's just sorry, it's just strange to say
Speaker 1: because they I mean, they finished with a hundred. It's
Speaker 1: the same thing as the Rams game. They finished one
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty three rushing yards. That's outstanding by NFL standards.
Speaker 1: But you we all know that that that Zeke had
Speaker 1: what thirty heading into the fourth quarter or something close
Speaker 1: to that, and that's that's just not going to cut it,
Speaker 1: I don't think. And the rushing yards too, I think
Speaker 1: that is you know when you say with four point
Speaker 1: seven and all that, and obviously one of those is
Speaker 1: a really big run by by Morris, but a lot
Speaker 1: of it too is Dak. I mean Dak's running, you know,
Speaker 1: for ten twelve yards every time when when he breaks free,
Speaker 1: and you know that they obviously count to the rushing yards,
Speaker 1: but most of the time he runs, it's a breakdown
Speaker 1: in the play. It's the receivers aren't getting open. And
Speaker 1: whenever it's my turn to say what they do, what
Speaker 1: they don't do poorly, I mean, what they don't do well.
Speaker 1: I think it would be they don't they don't make plays,
Speaker 1: they don't get open and just and really have the
Speaker 1: I mean, they have to work for everything that they do,
Speaker 1: it seems like even the big plays the past to Bryce,
Speaker 1: the three passes to Bryce, the two in the Cardinal game,
Speaker 1: and this one, I mean, it's like it's not perfect.
Speaker 1: It's not how they're drawing it up that you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like playground football, right, and and that works. But
Speaker 1: they just don't have these guys that they can just
Speaker 1: you know, run away from people. I just don't think
Speaker 1: they have dynamic players. And the best one is Zeke,
Speaker 1: and he looks like he's you know, not he's lost
Speaker 1: a little bit of a step or he's gained a
Speaker 1: few pounds or whatever it is. He doesn't look exactly
Speaker 1: the same. He still looks like the tough, bruising running back,
Speaker 1: but not the guy breaking away from people. And they
Speaker 1: definitely don't have any receivers that are just going to
Speaker 1: just make their own play in the open field and
Speaker 1: take a ten yard play and make it sixty five.
Speaker 1: You know. The difference with Zeke, in my opinion is
Speaker 1: it's not so much that I don't think he's lost
Speaker 1: a step or anything like that. I think for him,
Speaker 1: what I've noticed this year, it's different. Last year, I
Speaker 1: thought he had outstanding vision. This year, I've seen a
Speaker 1: number of plays where it's almost like the hole is
Speaker 1: there and he decides not to take the hole as
Speaker 1: opposed to he'll just kind of run into run into
Speaker 1: traffic as opposed to taking the hole that that seems
Speaker 1: to be there. Now Again, sometimes when you're looking from
Speaker 1: up high, you see things that it's not fair to
Speaker 1: to kind of say that they should see the exact
Speaker 1: same thing. But but that was one of the things
Speaker 1: I saw from him last year I thought was so outstanding,
Speaker 1: was as a vision, and he would he would see
Speaker 1: things that even sometimes you couldn't see that he would
Speaker 1: see at a little crease and he'd get into it.
Speaker 1: I think this year that's been more of the thing
Speaker 1: that I've noticed about him that seems to be a
Speaker 1: little bit different. Has anybody else noticed that? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I sit right next to you in the
Speaker 1: press box. I see when we both are like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, why do you go that way? So you're right,
Speaker 1: I mean, there has been some of that. Some of
Speaker 1: that might be the coaching of hey, run the play,
Speaker 1: you know, this is this is where it's supposed to go.
Speaker 1: Can't coach a guy like that, A guy like that
Speaker 1: that's that dynamic. You don't coach him by saying just
Speaker 1: run the play like you. You want him to be
Speaker 1: able to see things and be able to make adjustments. Right.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's his advisor. Maybe we're that during game. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe he needs it. I don't know. That's
Speaker 1: it's and that's you know. I've argued with with Brian
Speaker 1: about this. I watch I watched the tape with him
Speaker 1: every Monday. I come here earlier than I need to
Speaker 1: to make sure that I can see it. And I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any one thing you can point it
Speaker 1: on it. I've seen Zeke misreads from time to time.
Speaker 1: I've seen him stops for a three yard game because
Speaker 1: Lyle's guide got a hand on him, or the you know,
Speaker 1: the whole collapsed because they just didn't get enough push. It's,
Speaker 1: you know, I think, And that's the thing with the
Speaker 1: running game. It's in the NFL. Everything has to happen
Speaker 1: perfectly for you to get the result you want. That's
Speaker 1: why I mean, it's incredibly rare to see NFL teams
Speaker 1: break runs of more than about twenty five yards. This
Speaker 1: is in college. So I just think on any given
Speaker 1: number of plays there's just enough things that aren't happening perfectly,
Speaker 1: and if anything, that's kind of gives me confidence that
Speaker 1: this thing can still get better because the only the
Speaker 1: only thing that simulates this is playing games. And I
Speaker 1: and Zeke, to his credit, he's twenty two years old.
Speaker 1: I was so impressed when he said that. He's like, Hey,
Speaker 1: this takes time. You want to be peeking toward mid
Speaker 1: to late season anyway, and obviously nobody wants to be
Speaker 1: two and three. But if we're sitting here calling one
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty three yards against a playoff team a
Speaker 1: bad day, that gives me confidence that it can get better.
Speaker 1: And I think it looks it clearly has looked better
Speaker 1: over the last three weeks than it did in the
Speaker 1: first two even I think against the Giants, what Zeke's
Speaker 1: longest run in that game was eight yards, I think.
Speaker 1: And so you've seen again, you've seen those flashes. You
Speaker 1: just haven't seen them put it together over a substantial
Speaker 1: period of time. But I do have confidence that they
Speaker 1: can still get it on the level they want it.
Speaker 1: So on the topic of the offensive line, and just
Speaker 1: from what you've seen on film, Nick, from what you've seen,
Speaker 1: number what you've seen in games. Is it also, I
Speaker 1: know no one talks about this all the easy target
Speaker 1: is left guard, right tackle. Is it also a part
Speaker 1: of this that other guys I'm talking about, your all
Speaker 1: pro guys haven't had haven't had their best five games
Speaker 1: here either, And that's part of what's happening with this
Speaker 1: offensive line. It's not just those other two positions. It's
Speaker 1: that the offensive line as a whole. You know, Fred
Speaker 1: Frederick has had some costly penalties at times. I know
Speaker 1: there have been moments. I've seen some moments when when
Speaker 1: Zack Martins had some struggles, particularly when they played the Rams.
Speaker 1: So have there been some of the guys that you
Speaker 1: rely on to be great that haven't quite been great?
Speaker 1: And that also has affected how good this offensive line is.
Speaker 1: You know, Jason Witten has been a really good He's
Speaker 1: been a good blocker over the course of his career
Speaker 1: based on the fact that he has been an outstanding
Speaker 1: receiver and standing tight end. You know, we call him
Speaker 1: a complete tight end because he's great at getting open,
Speaker 1: great at catching the ball. He's reliable there and he's
Speaker 1: been a good blocker. Will that's a good thing, but
Speaker 1: he's not But he has never been dominant, and that's
Speaker 1: not been his thing. And there's not many great wide
Speaker 1: receiving you know, or receiving tight ends that are great
Speaker 1: at blocking. That's what makes him so good and so special.
Speaker 1: Fifteen years into his career. Does he does he have
Speaker 1: some issues sometimes blocking? Yeah? Does he have penalties? Yeah?
Speaker 1: He does. And you know, do we give him a passport? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because because we know that at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's what you do. Von Miller leads
Speaker 1: the league I think in all sides. But you live
Speaker 1: with that because of what he can do, and for
Speaker 1: the most part, you know, that's what you expect at
Speaker 1: a Witten. But he hasn't been catching the ball as much,
Speaker 1: and I think it's a product of it's too easy.
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's not you know, like they're thinking, we got
Speaker 1: all these plays that we draw up during the week
Speaker 1: that can get this, we can go this. But Witten
Speaker 1: going seven yards turned around, clapping his hands and I'm
Speaker 1: right here, it's pretty easy. And you could just go
Speaker 1: up and down the field when you want to. And
Speaker 1: that's why there's no secret that when when they're down
Speaker 1: by ten points in the fourth quarter and they don't
Speaker 1: just need to get a drive going that it's just
Speaker 1: Witting for twelve, Witten for six, Witten for eight. Because
Speaker 1: it's open. Why why why wait till you need it
Speaker 1: to go? Do it? And that's what they kind of
Speaker 1: did last week. They just started moving the ball with him.
Speaker 1: But you're talking about the blocking. You're talking about Witting
Speaker 1: and the other guys blocking and those tight ends. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think swam in Hannah just blow
Speaker 1: people off the ball either. You know, they're blocking tight ends.
Speaker 1: Really aren't that they're They're really not that great a
Speaker 1: blocking tight ends. That's kind of a problem. The other thing,
Speaker 1: And I hate to sound like I'm piling on because
Speaker 1: again for the millionth time, I don't think Cooper Green
Speaker 1: or Lyle Collins have been terrible. I don't think they've
Speaker 1: been bad by any stretch. They're learning how to be
Speaker 1: starters and hold their own. They're not all pros. That's okay.
Speaker 1: But I think that has I mean, that has a
Speaker 1: ripple effect, and if you watch it you can see it.
Speaker 1: You know, last year t Frederick is probably one hundred
Speaker 1: percent confident that Ronald Learry's going to handle his business. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe not so much. Maybe I'm looking over here and
Speaker 1: making sure you know, Cooper Green doesn't doesn't need help,
Speaker 1: isn't missing his block or whatever. Same thing goes with
Speaker 1: Chaz and Lyle maybe, or you know, if you see
Speaker 1: a twist stunt and they're they're moving directions and all
Speaker 1: that type of stuff, you know, Jonathan Cooper is not
Speaker 1: going to handle that as well as Ronald Leary does
Speaker 1: and that has an effect on the guy that has
Speaker 1: to play next to him, and you can see that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I hate to say that, you know, maybe Travis
Speaker 1: Frederick and Zach Martin aren't as good because the guys
Speaker 1: they're working with aren't is good. But I think there's
Speaker 1: some validity to that too. And you know, again, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it'll be this way all year, but
Speaker 1: this is a this is a step by step process,
Speaker 1: and I think you can go back to the summer
Speaker 1: and listen to us say it's not as easy as
Speaker 1: just plugging guys in when you got two thirds of
Speaker 1: the guys different. I guess what you're saying is that
Speaker 1: that takes some coordination and you're hopeful at least that
Speaker 1: over the next several games they'll get better at that
Speaker 1: with time and that Jael, that that line being able
Speaker 1: to gel as a unit. I really I do feel
Speaker 1: good that I'm beyond confident that they'll be better at
Speaker 1: the end of the season than they are right now.
Speaker 1: Whether that'll amount to them, you know, just tearing off
Speaker 1: eight wins in a row, I have no idea, but
Speaker 1: that's the way football works. If you're a good team
Speaker 1: with good players, you get better as the year goes on.
Speaker 1: And how often do you not even recognize the team
Speaker 1: you saw in September ye by you know, November December.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take our final break. We're gonna come back.
Speaker 1: Let's get to the defensive side of the ball. We
Speaker 1: don't need to talk about it. At least a couple
Speaker 1: of things that they do well, and then we'll get
Speaker 1: into some of the things. At least a couple of things.
Speaker 1: We'll do that when we come back. This is Dallas
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Speaker 1: Welcome back. It's the final segment of the break Lap
Speaker 1: in the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Nick
Speaker 1: take it away? Oh yeah, tell me John's mask comodos.
Speaker 1: I can understand that. You say you don't need to
Speaker 1: adjust for anything. You got that one. Hell keep me
Speaker 1: going uncomfortable, I think, yeah, tell me John? Uh, how
Speaker 1: about this? In football, often the quickest plays mix this
Speaker 1: is gonna hurt me, this is gonna be bad right here,
Speaker 1: mixed with the good, good old fashioned ingenuity are the
Speaker 1: key to winning. Kind of like Tommy John's horizontal quick drivela.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, how about this? Tommy John dot com for
Speaker 1: Slash Cowboys you can get pretty good underwear Tommy John bad.
Speaker 1: If you're a pitcher, good. If you need underwear, Tommy
Speaker 1: John good. That's a that's a good that should be there.
Speaker 1: Ye slogan, Yeah, good slogan. There you go. All right,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you for that. Nick, all right, let's
Speaker 1: get back into it. We're talking about the Cowboys. We
Speaker 1: took two segments to talk about the offense and what
Speaker 1: they do well and what they don't do so well.
Speaker 1: Now let's flip over to the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: And I could only find it personally. I could only
Speaker 1: find one thing that I could point out that this
Speaker 1: team does really well on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: Does anybody wants to take a wild guess of what
Speaker 1: that would be? Get like a guy named DeMarcus to
Speaker 1: rush the quarterback in second get thing, Go get sacks
Speaker 1: and get sacks that don't ultimately matter because that happens
Speaker 1: we need Well, they don't matter in the in the outcome,
Speaker 1: but they certainly matter. I think I think they've had
Speaker 1: sacks in parts of games where they needed sacks. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's smart ass, I know, but I'm just saying.
Speaker 1: I'm saying I think that, and that has been a
Speaker 1: criticism people have leveled against pass rushers here at the
Speaker 1: Cowboys for years. But I think they are actually getting
Speaker 1: sacks in meaningful moments of games. I do agree with
Speaker 1: your point to some degree, even though it was kind
Speaker 1: of facetious that you know, they it hasn't mattered getting
Speaker 1: sacks doesn't matter at the end of the day, or
Speaker 1: hasn't mattered at the end of the day when it
Speaker 1: comes to wins and loss us for this team. The
Speaker 1: best play of this pass rush has made this season
Speaker 1: might be the one they made in Denver where they
Speaker 1: sacked Simon and forced the fumble that led to a touchdown,
Speaker 1: and that certainly didn't matter. Yeah, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that if Tyron Crawford gets the football that's sitting right
Speaker 1: down by his feet against the Rams, I mean, first
Speaker 1: play of the third quarter, DeMarcus comes off the edge
Speaker 1: and did that. But you know, when the game's on
Speaker 1: the line, you're gonna in Aaron Rodgers is driving seventy
Speaker 1: five yards. You know, that's where you wanted to beat
Speaker 1: your guy and go and tackle them, and Vincent Mayowa
Speaker 1: had a chance. You know, how much are we talking
Speaker 1: about the pass rush if he I mean this is
Speaker 1: an if, but he's got two hands on him. If
Speaker 1: he can knock him down, if he if he knocked,
Speaker 1: if he tackles him for the for the sack. Now,
Speaker 1: Bevinson Mayo was getting into the act. He got some
Speaker 1: pressure on you know. Now they had to rush Mason
Speaker 1: Crosby on the field for a forty something yard field
Speaker 1: goal with time running out. Does he make it? Does
Speaker 1: he not? Did the Cowboys go over to you know,
Speaker 1: who knows what happens? Then Mike correct and assuming well,
Speaker 1: they had a timeout, didn't they so? And that end
Speaker 1: of game drive, I don't think so. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think they used their they used it. I think they
Speaker 1: used it after that I did. Are you talking about
Speaker 1: the Packers the final drive? They did have a timeout,
Speaker 1: they use the time out that they they used it.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying with third and eight and was on
Speaker 1: his scramble run all right, they had they had called
Speaker 1: their time. If they if he gets if he sacks
Speaker 1: him there, they're gonna run their guys onto the field
Speaker 1: with They're not gonna be You're not gonna be like
Speaker 1: a you know, fire drill. They're going to go out
Speaker 1: there and kick the field goal. Yeah, but you're also
Speaker 1: still talking about a kicker that had already missed twice. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So demarc DeMarcus has a sack in every game this season, right,
Speaker 1: at least one. Yeah, DeMarcus is great. He's leading the
Speaker 1: league with eight and a half. Tyrone Crawford has chipped
Speaker 1: in a little bit. MALIEK Collins is doing his thing.
Speaker 1: He's not getting the sacks that I would admit that
Speaker 1: I thought he'd beginning, but I think it's fair to
Speaker 1: say he's having an impact. But Bourbon got two in
Speaker 1: his got back in his first game. But MALIEK Collins
Speaker 1: is on pace for I think eight. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that's a great scene for defensive tackle. Absolutely thinks that
Speaker 1: two and a half right, I think two of the
Speaker 1: two and a half came in the same game, for
Speaker 1: whatever that's worth. But I get your count account um.
Speaker 1: The front four has been surprisingly good, I would say,
Speaker 1: But I don't know. It's hard for me to praise
Speaker 1: him too much though, because they they're getting pressure, but
Speaker 1: is it amounting to anything that's and that's I mean
Speaker 1: they get pressure and the pass is still completed, or
Speaker 1: they get pressure and it's a delayed handoff and Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones rips off sixteen yards. I guess it's kind of
Speaker 1: that age old question is like what's better a better
Speaker 1: pass rush that makes your secondary look better or a
Speaker 1: better secondary that makes your pass rush, you know, mitigates
Speaker 1: the fact that they're not that good. The pass rush
Speaker 1: is doing its job, I would say through the first
Speaker 1: month of the season, and it doesn't. I mean the
Speaker 1: defense is it doesn't. It's not helping, you know, it's
Speaker 1: look any better. What's weird about this team is that
Speaker 1: the positions that typically get covered up because you can
Speaker 1: provide help to them are actually the positions that are
Speaker 1: hurting this team. Usually left guard, that's not a spot
Speaker 1: that's a big deal, but in this case, you know,
Speaker 1: it's been a difference, and I think the guys are struggling.
Speaker 1: Right tackles another spot you can give some help to,
Speaker 1: but it's a it's a problem area. On defense, the
Speaker 1: linebackers are typically a spot where you can kind of like,
Speaker 1: as long as you cover things up, you can be
Speaker 1: all right. Backers have been a problem, mainly with Sean
Speaker 1: Lee's out, Jalen Smith has. You know, let's that's something
Speaker 1: that I think needs to be said, because somebody, really,
Speaker 1: somebody really pissed me off on a rant. No it's
Speaker 1: it's not a ramt, but somebody pissed me off because
Speaker 1: they said Jalen Smith is like a wasted pick. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that's a little bit too far. I know, it's
Speaker 1: so beyond far um And Okay, So first of all,
Speaker 1: it's you are seeing the signs of where Jalen Smith
Speaker 1: is at as a player. It's phenomenal the progress that
Speaker 1: he's made and where he got to this point. And
Speaker 1: I was saying this the other day though, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like it's like jumping up from from rookie level
Speaker 1: on Madden to All Pro with the thought that he
Speaker 1: was playing no more than like twenty snaps in the preseason,
Speaker 1: and then he's one of your starting linebackers, looked good
Speaker 1: doing it against the Giants, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Sean Lee goes out, this guy's playing sixty seventy snaps
Speaker 1: a game. And I don't mean it as and I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to slight him when I say it just
Speaker 1: doesn't look like he's ready to be the number thirty
Speaker 1: four overall pick. And that's not his fault. He's recovering
Speaker 1: from a catastrophic injury. I honestly, I'm not sure it's
Speaker 1: fair to him to be putting him out there for
Speaker 1: the number of snaps that he's that is that he
Speaker 1: had done necessity and and and it's it's completely out
Speaker 1: of necessity. Um but in past coverage you saw it
Speaker 1: against the Rams. I mean it was out there for
Speaker 1: everybody to see. And I don't think it's a coincidence
Speaker 1: that with your top two linebackers being out of out
Speaker 1: of these games, even when the offense has been playing well,
Speaker 1: they've been getting run all over. Um. You know, no
Speaker 1: disrespect to Aaron Jones, but I can't believe how well
Speaker 1: the Packers ran the ball in that game. Um. So,
Speaker 1: and so you know, I do I think Jalen Smith
Speaker 1: is a bad player or a wasted pick. Hell No,
Speaker 1: I think as he continues to get healthier and get
Speaker 1: playing time, and especially looking into like twenty eighteen and beyond,
Speaker 1: I still think he can be a really good football player.
Speaker 1: He's not ready for that yet, and I think these
Speaker 1: last two games specifically have have emphasized that point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I mean, obviously, I mean, I echo everything. You're
Speaker 1: just saying about the great story, but he's you know,
Speaker 1: it's hurting the team, like him being out there in
Speaker 1: certain areas they figured out how they if teams are like,
Speaker 1: you know what, let's run him sideline to sideline and
Speaker 1: he's not going to be able to catch him. And
Speaker 1: I think you were saying it earlier about the angles.
Speaker 1: You know what you think you can get because you
Speaker 1: did it two years ago. There's a guy running, I
Speaker 1: can go, you know, I can take this angle and
Speaker 1: tackle him. Well that's not the case anymore because you know,
Speaker 1: he's never played at one hundred percent in the NFL,
Speaker 1: so speed is still something he's having to adjust to.
Speaker 1: And you know, all right, maybe this is a little
Speaker 1: bit of a rant. That's That's something that aggravates me that,
Speaker 1: you know, people seem like they're incapable of seeing things
Speaker 1: in shades of gray, like it's always got to be
Speaker 1: black or white. Jalen Smith has to be an injured
Speaker 1: guy who can't contribute, or an all pro like as
Speaker 1: soon as he gets the green light to play, that
Speaker 1: means he's ready to be that beast that we all
Speaker 1: saw on tape at Notre Dame. That's not how this works.
Speaker 1: And so you're great, he's got the green light to play.
Speaker 1: He looked good in the preseason. Him and Sean Lee,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be all pros side by side. We got
Speaker 1: the best linebacker corp in the NFL. That's not the
Speaker 1: way this works. And it's a lengthy process to come
Speaker 1: back from something like that, even when you are capable
Speaker 1: of playing so and he's not all the way completely bad.
Speaker 1: That's even at the beginning of the season. The person
Speaker 1: they even said like, he still doesn't have complete feeling
Speaker 1: in that exactly. And when he's trying to take an
Speaker 1: angle on a running back hitting the corner, you can
Speaker 1: see it. And again, I'm not trying to hate on
Speaker 1: the guy. That's just the reality of the situation. I
Speaker 1: still think he can be a damn good player. I
Speaker 1: still think all of the you know, all of these
Speaker 1: things considered, I think he's he's been pretty impressive just
Speaker 1: in what he's been able to do from not playing
Speaker 1: for a year and a half. And for people to
Speaker 1: kill him for not being ready to play at a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl level right off the bat, that's bs and
Speaker 1: stupid and you need to have a more nuanced view
Speaker 1: of the way these things work well. I think that
Speaker 1: you also got to remember that what the fans have
Speaker 1: to go off of, that's he's a draft pick from
Speaker 1: last year's class, where those two guys who were playing
Speaker 1: around at the Pro Bowl last year, Zeke and Dak
Speaker 1: first year to come in, you know, they're they're all World,
Speaker 1: All Pro and they make it to the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I'm not saying it's fair, but I'm
Speaker 1: saying that's what that's what the people were thinking. MALIEK. Collins,
Speaker 1: third round pick, you know what, didn't even play in
Speaker 1: the offseason, had a great season. Same with Anthony and
Speaker 1: I guess, you know, respecting that our show shouldn't but
Speaker 1: they are our show and our other shows, and really
Speaker 1: any reputable source of Cowboys information is way more likely
Speaker 1: to give you this you know, wait and see, patient,
Speaker 1: step by step approach, which maybe that's frustrating to hear,
Speaker 1: but but that's the way this thing works. So you know,
Speaker 1: to immediately heap those type of expectations on the guy
Speaker 1: just because you know what he was at Notre Dame,
Speaker 1: it's not fair to him. It's really it's not fair
Speaker 1: to anybody in the situation. It goes back to the coaching, then,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, if he's not ready to play right now,
Speaker 1: then he shouldn't have to play. He's clearly ready to play,
Speaker 1: but not at that but not at that level right
Speaker 1: at that at that at that amount or that level
Speaker 1: to be I mean he playing, like you said, playing
Speaker 1: sixty seventy plays a game. He's not ready for that.
Speaker 1: So the fact that the Cowboys are feel like they're
Speaker 1: in a position based upon personnel that they have, based
Speaker 1: upon injuries, whatever, they feel like they have to put
Speaker 1: him out there, that says to me that that's a
Speaker 1: that's an issue of the front office and coaching, whether
Speaker 1: it is an issue Jay Smith, and you're playing the Rams,
Speaker 1: and maybe they underestimated the Rams, but they went into
Speaker 1: the game with four linebackers, which no one does that,
Speaker 1: and around the league they have four because they had
Speaker 1: two guys hurt. But they should have gotten some help
Speaker 1: in here. Because of those four, one of them should
Speaker 1: not be playing. Sixties seventy snaps. He's coming off an
Speaker 1: injury that many people thought he would never play again.
Speaker 1: Another guy didn't even play all of the offseason. He retired.
Speaker 1: Now he's not retired. That's justin Durant anytime you do.
Speaker 1: You're dealing with a guy like that. I means he's
Speaker 1: not gonna play a ton of snaps. Kyle wilbur has
Speaker 1: never been a guy that's played a lot. He's been
Speaker 1: more of a special teams guy. And then you've got
Speaker 1: Damien Wilson who's still kind of you know, he's playing well,
Speaker 1: but he's kind of learning how to do that. Those
Speaker 1: are your four linebackers. And then he got gashed by
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley in the passing game, in the running game,
Speaker 1: and you're surprised by it. I mean, get some help
Speaker 1: if these guys aren't ready. It's the same reminds me
Speaker 1: of the Bears right now, the Bears fans, Is this
Speaker 1: as good as Trubisky is gonna be? No, that he's
Speaker 1: a young guy. Okay, that was pretty good. You gotta
Speaker 1: be patient with him. But they even got some help
Speaker 1: with a backup quarterback to say we'll ease him into
Speaker 1: it a little bit. And you just can't. Like you said,
Speaker 1: I agree with you saying about the gray area. There's
Speaker 1: no gray area there. There should be with Jalen Smith.
Speaker 1: But the Cowboys, they don't have to throw him out there.
Speaker 1: There's guys out there. You can sign. I guess you
Speaker 1: can get the linebacker you could have made. You could
Speaker 1: have kept Nazaci on the team if you wanted to,
Speaker 1: you'd have to cut him. So I agree with everything
Speaker 1: you just said, but basically, and that's not going to
Speaker 1: be a cure all. But this defense needs Sean Lee
Speaker 1: and Anthony Hitchins to both be healthy and playing to
Speaker 1: resemble the and again they weren't world beaters last year,
Speaker 1: but to resemble that average average unit. Thank you. I
Speaker 1: couldn't think of the right word if if they want
Speaker 1: to be average too above average, they need those two
Speaker 1: guys there. And that's weird to say because I think
Speaker 1: in this day and age, with the way the NFL
Speaker 1: is linebackers the least important position on the defense. But
Speaker 1: you know, I think back to the fourth and two
Speaker 1: fake handoff crack toss that the Packers converted. Sean Lee
Speaker 1: is there. I don't know if he gets the stop,
Speaker 1: but like it's got a chance instead of going for
Speaker 1: six yards the way it did. So those guys can
Speaker 1: help you clean up a lot of mistakes. When you
Speaker 1: look at all the all the things a defense does
Speaker 1: that they're not doing well. The one that I look
Speaker 1: at that, I think could have as big of an
Speaker 1: impact as anything else outside of points per game obviously,
Speaker 1: because that's winning and losing, right, But their turnover differential
Speaker 1: right now, they're negative three. They're twenty sixth in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And this is not a team. Sometimes turnover differentials about
Speaker 1: the offense giving the ball away too much. As we
Speaker 1: taught here earlier, they haven't had a bunch of turnovers
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the ball. It means that
Speaker 1: the defense is not pulling their their weight. They're not
Speaker 1: getting the ball back to the offense with short yardage
Speaker 1: by turnovers. This twenty fifteen or twenty thirteen. But that's
Speaker 1: my point, and so I want to ask you guys,
Speaker 1: like how important is that? And is this defense never
Speaker 1: going to be able to be good enough if they
Speaker 1: can't get to the point where they can get turnovers consistently. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because they're not going to really just go out and
Speaker 1: stop people. So yeah, you got to get the football
Speaker 1: out and it's not I think all of their turnovers
Speaker 1: are interceptions, right, I mean they had a Fumbel recovery
Speaker 1: in Denver. Oh, yes, yeah, Marcus, that's right. I was
Speaker 1: let's say I mean they're not getting the ball out.
Speaker 1: I mean that's they're not though, I mean not especially
Speaker 1: when they practice it as much as they like. It
Speaker 1: seems like every play in training camp, it's like it
Speaker 1: seems they forced more funnels in practice in training camp
Speaker 1: than I've seen them do in games. It seems with
Speaker 1: the way the pass rush has gotten home so far
Speaker 1: this year, you'd think they'd be and and they did.
Speaker 1: They got the ball out against the Rams. They didn't
Speaker 1: recover it. They did it against Denver, but even still,
Speaker 1: you think they could do it more. And they haven't
Speaker 1: had a pick since Week two, which was just a
Speaker 1: nice catch by Jordan Lewis on a drastic overthrow. I'll
Speaker 1: take it. I'm at this point you will. But if
Speaker 1: you think back, you think back to Week one, Anthony
Speaker 1: Brown made a really nice read on a play and
Speaker 1: made a really nice interception, and I we even said,
Speaker 1: we were like, that's the type of pick this defense
Speaker 1: hasn't gotten in years, because usually when the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: get a pick, the quarterback threw it right to them.
Speaker 1: Like you don't see guys routes or diagnosed plays. And
Speaker 1: I actually think it even goes to and I'll talk
Speaker 1: to you about this yesterday, Nick. I think one of
Speaker 1: the biggest problems for this defense is a safety position.
Speaker 1: And think about how many times you watch other games
Speaker 1: teams around the league where you see safeties patrolling the
Speaker 1: back end that run over, they diagnose a play, they
Speaker 1: run over, they jump right in front of the receiver
Speaker 1: at the right moment and get the interception. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: can't even tell you the last time I've seen those
Speaker 1: kind of plays on this team. I can, and it's well,
Speaker 1: it's perfectly indicative of the Cowboys. I've talked about it
Speaker 1: over and over again. Jeff, he did it in Arizona.
Speaker 1: He dropped the ball and Orlando Scanderd got flagged, so
Speaker 1: it didn't even count and count right, let's talk about
Speaker 1: when it counting. That's just not sounded. That's not something
Speaker 1: that this team has. And that goes back to last
Speaker 1: year too, like they had. I thought the safety position
Speaker 1: played really well, but that wasn't something you used to
Speaker 1: sing this team do. Is safeties just being able to
Speaker 1: patrol the field and get those kinds of picks when
Speaker 1: when their opportunities to diagnose a play, get in position
Speaker 1: and make the play. It's just not something they do,
Speaker 1: and I think until they get a safety that really
Speaker 1: has that ability on the back end, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: hard for this defense to be able to get the
Speaker 1: turnovers that they need. Yeah, we thought Jeff Heath would
Speaker 1: be better through five games. We thought Byron Jones would
Speaker 1: be better. And now I'm starting to think Byron Jones
Speaker 1: is more of a of a corner I mean, because
Speaker 1: I've for three years, I've been saying he's safety, he's safety,
Speaker 1: and they moved him to safety. I was like, yeah, safety.
Speaker 1: Now every time he gets pushed around by tight ends,
Speaker 1: I think, well, maybe he should just be a corner
Speaker 1: iron kind of something. Byron confounds me because through this
Speaker 1: point in the season last year, he had racked up
Speaker 1: four or five really badass plays like the play he
Speaker 1: made against the Bengals in Week five last year where
Speaker 1: he just kind of poked that, I mean, and he
Speaker 1: did that three or four times. Really nice plays. You
Speaker 1: haven't you haven't seen it this year, And I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm I don't know why I might come out Ah yeah,
Speaker 1: tongue tied just trying to talk about it. I'm at
Speaker 1: a loss for why it hasn't why he hasn't been
Speaker 1: able to take another step forward because I really thought
Speaker 1: he would and his play through. You know, people kind
Speaker 1: of roll their eyes at us for talking about training camp,
Speaker 1: like we watched this stuff every day and he looked
Speaker 1: he was doing stuff like that. He was diagnosing plays
Speaker 1: and picking off Dak in the end zone and coming
Speaker 1: across the field to help out with the corners. And
Speaker 1: you just haven't seen it translate to the games. It's tough.
Speaker 1: I don't at this point. I don't really know. The
Speaker 1: other Sorry, one more thing I'll throw out is hey
Speaker 1: against you know a lot like MALIEK. Collins last year,
Speaker 1: you kind of wrote off MALIEK. Collins like, well, he
Speaker 1: broke his foot, he won't be able to do anything.
Speaker 1: Way wrong about that. Jordan Lewis didn't practice all through
Speaker 1: training camp. You think that's going to set him back
Speaker 1: his rookie season, Not at all. I don't care that's
Speaker 1: when they got out there. I don't care that he
Speaker 1: gave up that touchdown. He's been phenomenal. I think the
Speaker 1: sky's the limit for that guy. Cheeto hasn't been able
Speaker 1: to get in on that conversation because he can't get
Speaker 1: his hamstring right and so that's potentially half of your secondary.
Speaker 1: If you think Cheetos good enough to claim a starting
Speaker 1: spot somewhere, that's two of your four dbs that could
Speaker 1: hopefully help you revamp this thing, and one of them
Speaker 1: hasn't been able to get on the field, and that's
Speaker 1: really disappointing. But to me, until the safeties, until you
Speaker 1: get better, more consistent play from the safeties, I don't
Speaker 1: know this thing can get better because that that's still
Speaker 1: going to be not only in the passing game, but
Speaker 1: in the running game. Every been just as many times
Speaker 1: we've seen those two guys either make bad take bad angles,
Speaker 1: or slip it fall miss a tackle. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: reminded of the play where Byron kind of got the
Speaker 1: guy running at him and he kind of takes on
Speaker 1: the defender as opposed to heading toward the guy bit
Speaker 1: carrying the ball. I mean, it's it's those kind of
Speaker 1: moments where it's just like, until they get more consistent play,
Speaker 1: more consistently good play from their safety position, I think
Speaker 1: this is going to continue to be a problem with
Speaker 1: for the defense of them being able to get stops regularly.
Speaker 1: He's not an all pro, but I think Barry Church
Speaker 1: is so early missed around he is now. I've tried
Speaker 1: to be very optimistic throughout this whole time, but at
Speaker 1: this point I just don't have anything nice to say,
Speaker 1: which is why I kept my mouth shut right now,
Speaker 1: so I'll go off and lose it. But aside from
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith and the pass rush everyone else, I don't
Speaker 1: have anything nice to say. All right, We'll go back
Speaker 1: and correct, Thank you, apprecis you guys Jonas. We'll be
Speaker 1: back tomorrow morning. Nine thirty are normal time till then
Speaker 1: for Nick even, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I'm Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot
Speaker 1: Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.