WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Who’s Got Leverage? 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.360 The following Here's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:19.120 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Lets go. Are you 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:23.240 ready for a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:27.600 Ready for a break? Yeah, And so much for that. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:32.960 It's time for the Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:41.239 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. Wednesday, 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.440 January sixth, twenty twenty one, Season sixteen, Episode number ninety two. 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.879 Welcome to the latest edition of The Break Life from 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.320 s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, we are presented 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.839 by Geico and we've got a show full of a 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:54.640 lot of different topics. We're gonna hit a lot of 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:58.040 different things today, everything from Jerod Jerry had to say 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.720 in his press converse to what Mike McCarthy had to 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.000 say in press conference, a couple players at press conferences. Um. 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.880 And in the final segment, we're gonna get you guys 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.840 ready for some playoff football. The Cowboys won't be involved, 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.040 but we're gonna pick some of the games that will 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.720 be happening this weekend. A lot of football happening this week. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.640 You will be six playoff games between Saturday and Sunday 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:17.640 in the NFL. We're excited about it, and I'm sure 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:21.480 you guys will be as well. Let's jump in and first, 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.320 what are you gigging about, Nick, Because don't speak for 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:27.560 me that I'm excited. You're not excited about the NFL playoffs? Yeah, 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:30.600 I mean, okay, it'll be if it's on, it's on, 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.760 but excited about it. Okay, my bad. I didn't mean 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:40.480 all excited about the NFL playoffs. Yes, like videolutely two 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.640 days of back to back to back football games, good teams, 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:49.600 Sign me the hell out. I'm in. Yeah, Okay, I 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.360 thought you were a bigger sports fan than that. Like 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.720 I thought, yea, if sports is all you're excited about it, 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.480 and so for playoff NFL football, I thought you'd be 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.920 really excited about it. But I get a watch. I'll 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.200 watch mainly because we're you're gonna force us to make 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.400 picks here and then if we don't you don't have 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:06.560 the right picks, then we'll be talking about it next week. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.520 So I'll watched, but I'm not gonna be like, oh 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.200 my god, Seahawks and Rams. Okay, yeah, I'll be excited. 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.440 I'm I've been excited since I saw it last Well, 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:20.520 he he's he's an Arkansas fan, so he doesn't know 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:32.560 much about that playoff world. Jesus never been in the playoffs. True, well, 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:34.919 we haven't either at Texas. I haven't been saying much 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:36.800 about Jesus. I hadn't even been in the ball game. 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.679 You know, had a ball game scheduled until Oh, here 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:44.400 we go with that. Nick's not happy about that ball game. Cancel. No, not, 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:46.480 but you know you don't want you want to take 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:48.720 a few minutes to sound off about that. Are you good? 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.160 You're good? That's all right, all right, let's jump in. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.880 I can feel that, I can feel the attention here. 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.480 I'm sorry. I hated that before they out of the game. 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.520 Oh no, I know, I know that whole program, the 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:07.639 whole thing, like cool Town program, Color Scott everything. Yeah, Lord, 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.399 here we go. Let's ta a little Cowboys football. Um. 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.120 I want to start first with with just kind of 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.120 the big overviews. There were a couple of different guys, 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:18.880 uh that had things to say about the season. Let's 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.800 start with the biggest of the guys, Jerry Jones. Um. 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:26.080 He said yesterday that obviously they fell far short of expectations, 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.359 and he really missed. He said, I really missed it 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:31.800 relative to how important it would be to stay with 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.080 the same philosophy. That's that one's on me. I'll take 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.040 that one. Basically, what he was saying was their decision 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:41.800 to to do something different on defense philosophically, Um, he 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.240 puts on himself. My question for you is how much 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.360 blame do you put on Jerry versus McCarthy and Nolan 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.200 with regards to them making the decision to change the 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.760 defense philosophically going into this season. Let's start first with you. Nick. Now, 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.280 I don't think, you know, that should be on Jerry. 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.200 I mean, I really I don't because and I don't 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.360 think Jerry should put it on himself. You know, is 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.560 it his job to figure out what the philosophy of 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.600 the defense is. I mean, I don't think it. I 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.200 don't think And by the way, there's plenty of other 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.040 stuff he can take credit for him. Yeah, that went wrong, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.720 I mean, you know, but but that defense needed a change. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:14.280 I mean, I thought that was the whole point of 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.320 making changes here, Mary Nelly. And it wasn't like it 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.599 was great. It was it was okay, but it needed 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.240 a change. And so it just it just this was 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.240 a perfect storm. What's the opposite of a perfect storm? 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.760 I mean, because that's what this was. It just didn't 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.160 work out. It's just it was. It was not a 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.080 good year for Mike Nolan to come in here and 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.599 say we're gonna have this complex defense because the guys 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.440 weren't ready to handle it and and couldn't handle it. Really, 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.880 So I don't put it on Jared. I've just put 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.919 it on the fact that the coach and the players 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:49.000 mix with the combination of COVID was just bad. It's 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:56.039 just a science experiment that just blew up. Amber No. 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.400 I mean, I know that there are a lot of 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:02.080 fans that are currently like upset for different reasons at 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.800 Jerry Jones right now, but I wouldn't blame that on 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.839 him that specifically. I mean, you hire someone and you 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.320 pay someone to do that job. That is not his job. 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.119 That's the coach's job, and that's what they are being 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.760 paid to do and figure out, and they should know 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:19.240 what is right for the team and what to do. 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.440 Especially in a crazy year like twenty twenty. We saw 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.000 everything that was happening with COVID, how that affected football 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.800 and the time being in person and all that, So 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:33.400 why try to go in and try to change the philosophy. Instead, 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.239 take that year and just try to limit the changes 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.520 that you need to do, because that just creates more 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.640 work in an environment that isn't necessarily fit for that 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.599 kind of change at the moment. So I definitely don't 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:53.240 put that on Jerry at all, Dave, Yeah, you know, 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.640 And I mean the buck stops with Jerry Jones, and 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.720 so every time the Cowboys come up short, he definitely 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:03.159 deserves his share of the criticism. And to his credit, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.160 I don't know, I don't know that anybody handles criticism 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.720 better than Jerry Jones. So, like, I'm not worried about it. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:13.480 But isn't this the classic case of Jerry Jones can't win? 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.120 Like if Jerry Jones had forced Mike McCarthy and Mike 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.520 Nolan to implement the defense that he wants, then it's 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.120 crazy Jerry always tinker in with the team, can't get 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:26.320 out of the way. But you know, now people are 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:28.239 saying like, oh, he should have known better, he shouldn't 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.240 have made him change, Like he doesn't get to win 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.279 in this scenario because if he had forced them to 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.400 do something different, then he would be the medalsome owner, 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.919 and since he didn't, he's the absentee owner. Like, you 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.839 can't have it both ways. So he hired football people 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.800 to make football decisions and he got out of the way. 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:45.640 That's what people want him to do. So no, I 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.960 don't put that on him. So let me ask you this. 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.640 So since he as he's talking about this, and him 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:52.560 talking so much, this isn't the first time I've heard 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.440 him talk about the fact that he really feels like 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.680 the problem this year was trying to do too much 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.680 on defense, trying to change too much too fast under 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.880 these circumstances. Do you think that that is leading him 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.560 in his mind to opt to go the route of 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:08.520 keeping Mike Nolan because he thinks that maybe some of 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.840 these decisions were a little bit or at least the 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.040 performance was a little bit out of his control based 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.280 upon the circumstances of COVID and not being able to 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.280 really implement the things they want to implement. Let's start 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:23.680 with you Amber. To me, the way I see it 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.480 is that if we as viewers see it from afar, 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:32.040 you as a coach that is up close and very 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.800 close to the team and everything, and watch this film 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:39.080 over and over again. You should notice things. So that's 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.680 my problem. It's like when we get to see it 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.960 and then they don't really see it, or maybe they 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.280 do see it, but they don't really talk about it 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.280 to the media. Oh, that's that's my problem. I don't 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.040 think that. I just don't have the patience for it, 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.280 and I keep talking about it. I'm like, I'm trying 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.680 to be a patient person. And I know that Jerry 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.520 he's a very patient guy. He's a he likes giving 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.960 people the benefit of the doubt. And great on him 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.040 because in some cases that really has worked out. But 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.840 in some other cases, this is just the scenario where 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.400 me personally, I wouldn't give it another year just because 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.600 it just took way too long. There's no reason why 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.200 we had to wait until the end of December to 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:26.000 start seeing some improvement. Basic basic improvement as far as 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.320 like will empower, like the fight to want to play 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:33.319 football on the field and play decent football. So to me, 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:35.880 I just I don't know. I just don't have the 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.439 patience for it, and they need to make that change, 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.600 and I don't know if Jerry will will make that 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:48.120 change or not. Dave, I think I can probably speak 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.040 for all of us when I say, like nobody likes 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:52.680 to like you don't want to put your hand in 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:56.360 somebody else's pockets, and like nobody likes talking about whether 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.560 or not somebody should lose their job. Having said that, 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.640 I even though I just sort of defended Jerry and 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:06.480 the you know, the decision to change the scheme, Like 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.360 to Amber's point, I just think there's a certain standard 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.360 that you have to hold an NFL team to regardless 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.880 of the circumstances. And there's two teams in the playoffs 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.040 right now with first year coaching staffs and all the 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.880 changes that go on, you know, go into that. Cleveland 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:27.440 and Washington both managed to put together playoff seasons despite 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.600 all of that. And you know, compared to the offense, 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.920 at least the Dallas defense, like they didn't face nearly 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.600 as much hardship. Yeah, there was injury in the secondary. 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:38.840 You didn't have Laton for a decent chunk of the season. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.640 He lost Gerald McCoy. That's stuff that happens in any 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:46.640 NFL season. And you know, to allow the most points 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.600 in franchise history, and you know, the Cowboys are a 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.320 proud franchise, but they've had some bad seasons, like some 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:56.480 really bad seasons. It doesn't sit well with me. And 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.240 just the depth of the ineptitude is not some thing 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.680 that I think any NFL team should ever have to experience. 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.640 So you know, they picked it up at times over 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.760 the second half of the season, but I don't think 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:12.400 that's enough for me to have faith that it's worth 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.040 given it another go. And to your point, Dave, I 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.960 actually heard Jerry also mentioned on that conference call or 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.200 on that that press conference um that that he also 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.280 felt like this um that they weren't, that there were 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:27.520 no He pointed out that there were teams that also 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.840 had first year head coach coaches that were in the playoffs, 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.000 So he's well aware of that, and that's something that 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.320 that at least in that context, he was willing to 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.000 throw out there publicly that there were other teams to 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.959 handle this much better than the Cowboys did under the 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.560 same circumstances. Nick, what are your thoughts there? I'll ask you, Derek, 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.560 what day is it? Tuesday? Wednesday? Yeah, Wednesday? Well month 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.840 is it January? See? Those are that's the way you 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.520 answer a question that you know of the answer. But 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.760 Mike Nolan, the question was asked twice to Jerry Jones. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.640 He had long answers, didn't even mention Mike Nolan by name, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.360 went around and round and round and round and around, 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:04.000 I think if he was coming. But he got asked 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.480 twice like wait a second, you didn't answer the first time, 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.800 what about Mike Nolan? Well, you know, and I'm upset 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.160 we're not in the playoffs and now that so that's 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.679 a great point. Like that's the thing about Jerry and 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.480 you and you guys have covered him for a long time. 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:19.640 It's it's often not what he says. It's often what 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.280 he chooses not to say, right, yeah, because he's the 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.959 king of that emphatic like yes, oh when he wants 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.400 like an emphatic point, he certainly does. Yeah. So you 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.240 know all he often says, I'm not trying to be trite. 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.040 Sometimes he is. Sometimes he is. And he didn't start 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.000 that one without not trying to be tried, right, I 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.960 don't know. I mean, again, I'm not Dave said it best, 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.400 you know, I mean, we're not trying to, you know, say, 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.400 oh this guy should be fine, right, but you shouldn't 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.040 make a change. And I think it's I think it's 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.280 there's a change needed, and I think it's just if 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.360 Jerry really was gonna not make a change, I think 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:54.400 he probably would have said it. I've been emphatic about 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.080 saying that. I think so. But I also think that 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.880 there's probably some more digesting that he asked to do 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.520 with regards to looking at everything. And as Jerry does 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.200 oftentimes get opinions from a lot of different people because 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:07.679 he tends to do that, and he'll talk to a 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:09.840 lot of different people, and I think that's when he'll 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.640 have an opinion on what he really wants. Well, everybody 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.880 thinks that Jerry's the guy that comes in and just 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.959 tells the coach what to do. I mean, and maybe 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.920 I'm sure it's happened before, and I'm sure it happens 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:22.960 with other teams, and here we are in this first 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.160 season and the last thing he wants to do is 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:29.600 tell Mike McCarthy what to do on this. But sometimes 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.000 you have to step in and I don't know, we'll see, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.720 we'll see what happens. I mean, maybe he's not let go, 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.599 maybe he's reassigned, but either way, I think you have 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:39.680 to have some changes on this. The way the scheme is. 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.400 On the question of Nolan DeMarcus Lawrence on his press conference, 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.320 he was asked about Mike Nolan. His quote was, when 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.400 you're playing with young guys, you have to take into 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.760 consideration that some things that are easy for me, speaking 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.960 of himself, won't be for the next person. He respects 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.000 Nolan as the man because he looked as a man. 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:00.400 I'm sorry, because he looked himself in the mirror and 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.600 he adjusted that. Being said, does this in your mind 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.760 signal that players, at least some players think Nolan got 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.120 better and should have been and that should be considered 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:16.880 when determining his future. Day We'll start with you. I mean, 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:18.720 that's a nice thing for him to say that he 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.000 looked in the mirror, but I like, I don't hear 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.240 that and just think of it as a ringing endorsement. 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.360 And you know, DeMarcus Lawrence is he's got a pretty 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.079 strict philosophy. Going back to my point, you know, he 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.319 he does not enjoy talking about other people's jobs. You 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.319 try to get him to talk about like Zeke or 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.840 Dack's contract and so like, I don't know if DeMarcus 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.240 Lawrence is going to come right out and you know, 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.720 put that out there, but just trying to read between 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.040 the lines. That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement that 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.040 he's like this is my guy. I mean, and that's 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:51.440 kind of that's kind of where I fall too. That's 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.520 that's the point I was trying to make, is like, yes, 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:58.280 the defense got better after like Halloween, like after that 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.160 Washington game, they cleaned it up a little bit, the 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:03.880 first Washington game they cleaned it up. But was it 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:08.439 good enough, Like was it just this transformation that you're like, yes, 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.800 we are headed in the right direction or did it 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:15.679 go from historically awful to still pretty bad? You know, 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:19.240 and is that enough to merit sticking with this? And 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.080 I don't think it is? Okay, I think I think 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.600 the schedule got easier. I don't think the team got 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.400 necessarily better. I do think the secondary got a little 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.760 better as they got their guys back, But you know, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.480 they didn't really beat anybody, you know good they they got, 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.440 you know, they got those guys to turn the ball over, 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:41.880 you know, Mullins and and you know what's the Brandon 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.360 Allen from since I mean, you know, just quarterbacks that 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.120 you don't consider to be that good. Kyler Murray didn't 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.360 turn the ball over on them, and you know, I 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.240 don't even think Matt Ryan did, even though they won 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.120 that game. And you know that they played well against Pittsburgh, 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.120 but when Pittsburgh needed to score, they went and scored 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.000 and won the game. So I just think that they 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.200 got the schedule guy easier. I don't know if they 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.440 got that better, that much better, just kind of the 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:10.680 way the schedule win. Now, Amber, No, That's what I 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.320 was gonna say as well. It's like, are we supposed 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.480 to get excited about a defense that can beat or 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:21.560 play well against the losing team like that? That's not exciting. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.280 I want to see them be competitive against better teams, 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:29.800 against teams that are not losing teams. So basically, what 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.040 I'm trying to say like, absolutely not. I'm not going 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.800 to be fooled by what we saw in the second 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.880 half of the season towards the end of the season. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.479 I'm not gonna be blinded by those all those takeaways 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.680 that they were able to get. But at the same time, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.240 I will say this, and I mentioned it earlier, I 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.800 did see some improvement as far as the will to play. 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.160 You know, at the beginning of the season, we saw 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:56.440 these guys with no drive, no desire, like there was 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.920 like the passion missing out there. But then towards the 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.520 second half, we started seeing that, And I don't know 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.400 if that was maybe the effect of being criticized so 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.560 much and you know, all over social media. I mean, 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:11.880 these guys want to say they don't pay attention to 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.920 the outside noise, but that's very hard to keep away. 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.320 So I'm sure that did have an effect in the 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.920 locker room and between these guys. So I don't know 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.720 how much credit to give Mike Nolan as far as that, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.000 but just overall, I don't think that it was enough. 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:27.760 All Right, we're gonna take our first break. When we 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.040 come back, We're don't talk about Dak Prescott. There were 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:32.720 some very interesting things that Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.320 had to say about it, including Jerry saying who he 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.520 thinks now has the leverage in these negotiations. We'll talk 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:40.280 about that when we come back. 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All right, 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.880 we appreciate you, guys. Jonas from Back Lickings WBC Morgan 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.640 Studios at the Star, we are presented by Geico, and 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.040 now we want to flip the conversation to Dak Prescott 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.520 because Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy but both had very 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.679 interesting things to say about Dak. Let's start first with Jerry. 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:33.399 He said on the topic of leverage in this negotiation, 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:37.200 his quote was, I don't know how you could have 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:42.000 anymore speaking of Dak's leverage in this negotiation, my question 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:44.240 for you guys is how significant is it that Jerry 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:48.840 says this publicly and what kind and how much leverage 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.320 do you think the Cowboys still have. Let's start first, Nick, I, 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.119 I don't know. I think he's negotiating right there. I 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:58.040 think that when he's talking to the media, I think 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:00.800 he's that's a way of negotiating. I don't know. I 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.000 find it hard to believe that if Jerry really really 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.959 thought that that he would say that, So, you know, 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.560 I mean, and I don't know if I really agree 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.320 with it. I don't know if there's leveridge there for 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:16.960 either side and really not really. I mean, if Dak 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:18.679 would have played throughout the season the way he was 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:20.399 playing and all that, then yeah, but I mean, and 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.960 then he gets hurt. So I don't know. I don't 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.159 know if there's leverage really either either way. And the 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:29.920 fact that he said it makes me think that it's 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:33.120 probably still somewhere in the middle. I don't know, amber 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:38.360 I don't really have I don't know what to make 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:40.400 out of it. I don't know if that really makes 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.000 me feel any different than I already did in the past. 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.119 But it makes me wonder. I mean, and you guys 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.600 know more about contract and all that, and I know 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.320 that we still don't know how the whole cap thing 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:54.080