Speaker 1: The following is 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: wall with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and
Speaker 1: Derek Eagleton. It is Tuesday, October twenty fourth, twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: Season thirteen, episode number sixty. Welcome to another edition of
Speaker 1: The Break, live from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at
Speaker 1: the Star. It's a big picture Tuesday. We're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about the NFC East. We're gonna talk about the NFC.
Speaker 1: I got a lot of questions for these guys about
Speaker 1: what's happening right now in the NFC and how the
Speaker 1: Cowboys fit into this picture because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: there's a lot of teams that are kind of lurking
Speaker 1: around and not really other than one team, not really
Speaker 1: a team that's kind of separate, rating themselves from the pack.
Speaker 1: So we'll talk about the Philadelphia Eagles. They are that
Speaker 1: one team that seems to be separating themselves a little bit,
Speaker 1: not statistically, not as far as a record is concerned
Speaker 1: but definitely looking the part. So we'll talk about that
Speaker 1: and and get some opinions from you guys. What was
Speaker 1: ours everybody doing this morning? We're doing great. Everybody in
Speaker 1: the group is doing great. Good. You're speaking for everybody's yes. No, yes, Dave,
Speaker 1: are you doing good? I'm okay. You know. It's funny.
Speaker 1: I think one day I want as we start the show,
Speaker 1: I want the camera to isolate on David as I'm talking,
Speaker 1: because he's always giving like these really weird facial looks,
Speaker 1: like he'll start, Yeah, He'll start like with that little
Speaker 1: sly grin, and then he'll kind of look like, what
Speaker 1: are you talking about? And then he'll kind of go
Speaker 1: into another yeah, like that little where he blows a
Speaker 1: little bit of air into his cheeks, and Yeah, he
Speaker 1: does all these different facials, and I don't know what
Speaker 1: he's thinking. I wish I could know what he was thinking.
Speaker 1: Most of the time. It's got nothing to do with
Speaker 1: anything you're saying. You were just so far over in
Speaker 1: left field. How many people do you think like I
Speaker 1: feel like the vast majority of people that listen or
Speaker 1: watch mainly listen like I do think that many people
Speaker 1: even know. Some do. Some you'll be surprised. No, No,
Speaker 1: I know some people do. But I think the vast
Speaker 1: majority of our listeners just do audience. They do so
Speaker 1: they do. You know, the ridiculous faces I make over
Speaker 1: the course of the show don't really matter, Although that
Speaker 1: would give them a reason to want to tune in
Speaker 1: and actually watch or not. I don't know how many
Speaker 1: people want to see that, but sorry, like would be
Speaker 1: a good comedy. I'm a day dreamer. That's pretty much.
Speaker 1: That's good to know, because at least now I know
Speaker 1: that it's not sometimes though, some like I did do
Speaker 1: it just now because you were like, well, the Eagles
Speaker 1: aren't really distancing themselves with their record, and I'm like, what,
Speaker 1: They're six and one. They're one game ahead of a
Speaker 1: couple of other teams in the NFC. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: not like they're they've blown the doors off in the
Speaker 1: ahead of everybody else. I mean, they're one game ahead
Speaker 1: of the Vikings. They have the best record in football. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's great. One game ahead of the Vikings. So it's okay.
Speaker 1: They're not so far in front where they can't be caught,
Speaker 1: depending by who. By talking about the Cowboys. Well, let's
Speaker 1: talk about that telling them twice, right, and they can
Speaker 1: handle them if they really want to, they handle their business,
Speaker 1: they can catch them. I agree with that to a point,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's start just to play Devil's advocate. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, the Cowboys beat Philly twice, but it kind
Speaker 1: of like the Giants. If the Cowboys beat the Philly
Speaker 1: twice but don't handle their business against everybody else, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter when you're when you're talking about a team
Speaker 1: that's winning, you know, six games in a row or no,
Speaker 1: five games in a row. Whatever it is. So anyway,
Speaker 1: but let's let's talk about Philadelphi because last night we
Speaker 1: saw him play against the Redskins. They win that game,
Speaker 1: and to me, it was this is what what I
Speaker 1: was talking about last week, and I was talking about
Speaker 1: this team, like just offensively and defensively, they looked apart.
Speaker 1: I mean, they are explosive offensively. That quarterback come on
Speaker 1: some of those plays he made where he got out
Speaker 1: of trouble and then threw the ball downfield. I mean
Speaker 1: it's just you see his strength, his ability to throw
Speaker 1: the ball kind of out of whim. He just seems
Speaker 1: like he just flicks it and it goes down the
Speaker 1: field twenty thirty yards. That team looks pretty scary. And
Speaker 1: then you look at the defense affront, and you look
Speaker 1: at that those guys affront that can cause so much havoc.
Speaker 1: It looks like a really formidable team. Yep, they do
Speaker 1: look good. Uh, Carson Wentz, I thought, you know, everyone
Speaker 1: everyone knows how tall he is and how big he is,
Speaker 1: but I don't think even coming out of college people
Speaker 1: thought he was going to be as mobiles as he
Speaker 1: has been. And that touchdown he threw where I don't
Speaker 1: even know if he had any feet on the ground
Speaker 1: when he when he lofted it up there, I thought
Speaker 1: that was talking about the one to Clement, Yeah, where
Speaker 1: you know, he just kind of jumped and got hit
Speaker 1: and threw a perfect pass and they got a great catch.
Speaker 1: And you know, his his receivers are helping him out
Speaker 1: a little bit. I mean, he had a guy that
Speaker 1: was going to be a first round bust and now
Speaker 1: he's actually playing like a first rounder. So he's got
Speaker 1: he's got guys helping him and and the defense is
Speaker 1: helping him. And then he's he's really good. He's he's
Speaker 1: he's a much better athlete than I think people thought.
Speaker 1: I agree with that. As your opinion changed after last
Speaker 1: night on what you thought of Philly or Washington Amber, No,
Speaker 1: they've been pretty good. I mean Philly, they've I've expected
Speaker 1: them to be relatively good. Now the Redskins, I didn't
Speaker 1: really expect them to be three and three right now.
Speaker 1: I thought that would be winning a little bit more.
Speaker 1: For the most part, I definitely did not expect the
Speaker 1: Cowboys to be tied with them right now with three
Speaker 1: and three, So that's definitely going to be an interesting
Speaker 1: match to go up against them. And now we'll really see,
Speaker 1: or we'll be able to really see where the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are really standing in if they indeed improve in all
Speaker 1: those areas that we saw improvement in the game, sorry,
Speaker 1: in the game against the forty nine ers. So did
Speaker 1: your opinions changed last night? Well, I thought that they
Speaker 1: handled a division opponent fairly. Well, I mean so that
Speaker 1: that's always an impressive win because you know you're expecting
Speaker 1: that game to be close, and it was. That was
Speaker 1: the second time they played him, too. Yeah, they're done
Speaker 1: with those teams are done for the season. Yeah, which
Speaker 1: seems weird to me, but I'll say I'll say this
Speaker 1: though I don't know if this is kind of get
Speaker 1: us in a different direction, but this game coming up
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys is the biggest game of the year
Speaker 1: in my opinion. This is the game. I know it's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: but this is the biggest game for them. It really is.
Speaker 1: I think this is the swing game. This will tell
Speaker 1: you where you're gonna go. You're sitting right there in
Speaker 1: the intersection. Are you're gonna go straight? You're gonna go right?
Speaker 1: What are you gonna do? Because this is the game
Speaker 1: because you got Kansas City in Atlanta coming up. If
Speaker 1: you think you're gonna win both those games, we haven't
Speaker 1: seen that kind of consistency. So you got to win
Speaker 1: this game. If to get to four and three, even
Speaker 1: if you split and get to five and four, that's good.
Speaker 1: And I know, I mean that's that's not great, but
Speaker 1: it's it's the best you can kind of hope for.
Speaker 1: I think. So you've got to beat the Redskins, and
Speaker 1: I know there's no must wins this early in the year.
Speaker 1: This is to me as close as it gets to that.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't disagree with that. Just when you
Speaker 1: I don't know, yeah, and you know what, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'll let you finish that, but I don't think it's
Speaker 1: that much out of the way of what we were
Speaker 1: talking about. Because of what Philadelphia is doing and because
Speaker 1: they're kind of up there, you've got to you've got
Speaker 1: to establish second place and you gotta, you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta stay with them the best you can and beating
Speaker 1: the Redskins and getting a division record and all that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. That's why this is me. This is
Speaker 1: such a huge win and a huge game for them.
Speaker 1: And the other part to that is now you're starting
Speaker 1: to think if if Philly keeps winning and they maintain
Speaker 1: this lead, and all you do is, let's say, even
Speaker 1: just split with Philly and they maintain that lead, now
Speaker 1: you're looking at wildcards. So those games become even more important.
Speaker 1: The game against Atlanta becomes extremely important. The game against
Speaker 1: Seattle becomes extremely important. These teams, Yeah, well, you already
Speaker 1: lost a game, and so you start then you start
Speaker 1: rooting for the ram to keep winning because you want
Speaker 1: them to just go and win that division so they're
Speaker 1: not in that wildcard hunt. But that's the point, like,
Speaker 1: now you have to really look at all those wildcard teams,
Speaker 1: and really those games become way more important in Washington's
Speaker 1: right there, and that mix with those wildcard teams, you
Speaker 1: can't really afford to lose any NFC games going down here.
Speaker 1: But well, I was gonna say I agree in the
Speaker 1: sense that, you know, I said last week that they're
Speaker 1: not gonna make the playoffs if they lose the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers. So all right, you handle You handled the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers, that's good. This isn't gonna be like
Speaker 1: a you know, ten eleven win season if you can't win,
Speaker 1: like if they can't win this game against the Redskins,
Speaker 1: then it just furthers that idea that this is, you know,
Speaker 1: eight and eight type of trading wins and losses. You're
Speaker 1: never really digging out of that five hundred sub five
Speaker 1: hundred hole. Because yeah, I agree with that. I think
Speaker 1: the best realistic expectation is a split with Atlanta in
Speaker 1: Kansas City. So you need this to kind of not
Speaker 1: lose too much ground in that department. So you know,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to get to nine wins are better.
Speaker 1: This is the type of game you need to win.
Speaker 1: The one thing that looks really good for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: right now is when you start thinking about the injury situation.
Speaker 1: I went last night and I looked at each team's
Speaker 1: injured reserve. Sorry, what were you buy saying screw the
Speaker 1: injured reserve? Those teams got beat up last night. No
Speaker 1: they did, and we'll get to that part too, but
Speaker 1: I wanted just starting with the injured reserve part of this. Like,
Speaker 1: right now, the Cowboys have five guys on injured reserve,
Speaker 1: and the guys like guys like Rico and Stephen Paia
Speaker 1: and Charles Tapper and Duke Thomas and Zack Desert, like
Speaker 1: these are guys that weren't even your front line guys.
Speaker 1: But check this out. Philly has seven guys on IR.
Speaker 1: They've got Darnce Rolls, who was a their lead running back.
Speaker 1: They've got Caleb Sturgis, who is their kicker, which Cowboys
Speaker 1: are dealing with a kicker situation, but he's not on
Speaker 1: injured reserve. And then last night they lose Jason Peters,
Speaker 1: who is their Pro Bowl left tackle. They don't know
Speaker 1: how long yet. There are some conflicting reports this morning
Speaker 1: as to whether it's a torn a sayl or not.
Speaker 1: Either way, he's gonna miss some hime and that's significant
Speaker 1: time for he left tackle. Judging by the way he
Speaker 1: was carted off, it was almost like you would assume, yeah,
Speaker 1: goodbye forever. Right, So that's that's the Eagles. Then Washington
Speaker 1: lost the first round pick Jonathan Allen to injured reserve.
Speaker 1: Their kicker Dustin Hopkins is also an injured reserve. Last night,
Speaker 1: their Pro Bowl guard Brandon Sherriff goes down with an injury.
Speaker 1: Don't know the extent of that when just yet they
Speaker 1: lost another one of their tackles late in the game.
Speaker 1: Williams didn't finish the game. So three of their top
Speaker 1: offensive lineman got hurt in the game last night, including
Speaker 1: some of the guys they already have on a high
Speaker 1: are What about a Norman. Norman's out right now, But
Speaker 1: I heard last night they said there's a possibility he
Speaker 1: can play this week. Yeah, you don't have I wasn't
Speaker 1: believing he was going to miss a game. You don't
Speaker 1: have a commercial with another guy on another team, back
Speaker 1: and forth, and then he has a commercial and then
Speaker 1: you missed the game. Yeah, I think he's gonna probably play,
Speaker 1: but we'll see how they know something else about you know,
Speaker 1: these guys staying I think they said on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football last night that like Jay Gruden was just like
Speaker 1: Trent Williams probably isn't going to practice again this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, he's just gonna be a game time type
Speaker 1: of deal assumed, like the left tackle here, assuming he
Speaker 1: didn't get hurt too badly at the tail end, right,
Speaker 1: I mean they lost and yeah, I don't know the significance,
Speaker 1: but they lost for offensive linemen of significant of significance
Speaker 1: over the course of that game last night. And so
Speaker 1: that's what I'm looking at, and that on a short week,
Speaker 1: that'll be interesting to see how that plays out. And
Speaker 1: then obviously the Giants, we've already seen them get platooned.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry ahead use that word again. We already seen him.
Speaker 1: We've already seen them get damaged by the fact that
Speaker 1: they lost their best player, Odell Beckham Junior, and then
Speaker 1: lost Brandon Marshland, then lost d Wayne Harris. These are
Speaker 1: all that basically, that's their wide receiver. That's three other
Speaker 1: top four wide receivers or the return guy. Our time's coming. No,
Speaker 1: what I'm saying is right now as it sits, and
Speaker 1: we know this about the foot the NFL injuries are
Speaker 1: part of the game. Right now, as it sits, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys sit in a very good position because they haven't
Speaker 1: had those kinds of big injuries two key players that
Speaker 1: have kept them out for the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: Now they've had some injuries they've had to deal with,
Speaker 1: but it's been two, three, four games. It has not
Speaker 1: been eight games. It has not been ir So I
Speaker 1: think for right now, you probably are going to experience
Speaker 1: some injuries at some point, But for right now, Cowboys
Speaker 1: are sitting in a pretty good position. Yeah. I don't
Speaker 1: know as a hell of a spend job right there,
Speaker 1: like my washing machine? How's that a spin job? It's
Speaker 1: fact like like Bay, I don't know like that. By
Speaker 1: the time you is, it's all factual. You're right. But
Speaker 1: by the time you were done talking, I would have
Speaker 1: thought the Cowboys are in first in the division right now.
Speaker 1: Oh all it says is right now in the as
Speaker 1: far as injuries are concerned, they're in a good position.
Speaker 1: And that's a good thing for the Cowboys. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean they're gonna win games. Because I saw a Green
Speaker 1: Bay team what was that? And it was the year
Speaker 1: they went to the Super Bowl, had like seventeen guys
Speaker 1: on IR. So it doesn't mean because you have a
Speaker 1: lot of guys on I R, you can't go. But
Speaker 1: it also depends on those guys that are Who are
Speaker 1: the guys that are that are on IR? Who are
Speaker 1: the guys that you're missing? Like Green Bay? I don't
Speaker 1: factor green Bay anymore because I just don't think they
Speaker 1: can do it without that Quarterback's a heck of a
Speaker 1: philosophical question. Would you rather be six and one and
Speaker 1: coping with some serious injuries or three and three healthy
Speaker 1: with the potential to kind of I mean, but yeah,
Speaker 1: you have all the guys you need to do that.
Speaker 1: You know. Another factor of this is this, We're gonna
Speaker 1: start to see some of these games change a little
Speaker 1: bit with the weather and get colder. And this is
Speaker 1: the team. The Cowboys are a team that's built for
Speaker 1: that obviously, the way they run the ball and the
Speaker 1: way their offensive line is and the way Dak's playing
Speaker 1: and he's not really a big down the field throw
Speaker 1: er time, So you know, that says you got to
Speaker 1: stay in position because you're gonna get to a point
Speaker 1: in the season where you can you know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries is I just cold weather it's
Speaker 1: just the injuries and stuff. You want to be able
Speaker 1: to grind games out, and so they do have the
Speaker 1: personnel to play that way, that physical style that I
Speaker 1: think they could maybe you know, win some games down
Speaker 1: the stretch that maybe you maybe they wouldn't think that
Speaker 1: they would. There's nobody on the schedule that you say
Speaker 1: they can't beat them, not not the Cowboys. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: that's it. But there's nobody on the schedule that you're like,
Speaker 1: they won't lose to them. That team was just gone.
Speaker 1: I wrote that on my column last week, like they
Speaker 1: just played the last game that you're like, you know,
Speaker 1: really really confident. Chargers are one of the hottest teams.
Speaker 1: You're not confident about the time? No, not a division way, no,
Speaker 1: not all no way, not a division game on the
Speaker 1: road in December against the team that has had success
Speaker 1: against them and has shown nothing as recently last week
Speaker 1: they beat Denver. No. No, And yeah, that game seems
Speaker 1: you really feel right, I mean, no, char Chargers aren't
Speaker 1: in the same boat. Like there have you seen Melvin
Speaker 1: Ingram and Joey Bosa. This is starting to play now.
Speaker 1: Those guys, I know they're fifteen, they're pretty good but
Speaker 1: there is not a game. Crazy part is they're probably
Speaker 1: gonna be the last team in their division. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's a pretty good division. There's not an easy out.
Speaker 1: There's not a game left on this schedule that I'm
Speaker 1: just like that should be a win. There isn't one.
Speaker 1: I looked, Yeah, you were searching. Yeah, I'm not saying.
Speaker 1: I'm obviously like they're gonna win games, obviously like they're
Speaker 1: not gonna finish three in thirteen. And there are no
Speaker 1: guarantees none, although last week Red Skin, I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't think they were guarantees last week. Last week
Speaker 1: when we were talking about that team, we were even saying,
Speaker 1: like this team hasn't lost by a lot. Did the Redskin,
Speaker 1: like off the top of the red Skins play on Thanksgiving?
Speaker 1: I doubt it. I don't think so. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know if they've played Detroit, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if they played that night game. Yeah, I don't because
Speaker 1: all I'm saying is is then that means that they
Speaker 1: would have to go back on a short week, Yes,
Speaker 1: when the Cowboys play Thursday night, and then if twice
Speaker 1: they have to go on a short on a short
Speaker 1: week against the Cowboys, I think so, and let against
Speaker 1: the Giants is that they do play Thanksgiving, Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: So I was just thinking that then that they had
Speaker 1: to have a short week to come and play that
Speaker 1: Thursday game, then that would be a game I think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, you know, you would think should be able
Speaker 1: to win. But you know, division games are all up
Speaker 1: in the air anyways, I'll rephrase, Yeah, San Francisco was
Speaker 1: a should win. Got it there. There aren't any more
Speaker 1: should wins. There's like can wins now, you know. But
Speaker 1: it's a slight difference. I think usually those ends up
Speaker 1: in five hundred seasons. I'm just saying, they got their
Speaker 1: work cut out for him. Man, there's no way around that.
Speaker 1: So do you do you think though, if if, if
Speaker 1: they play to the point where let's assume for a
Speaker 1: second that what we saw at the end of the
Speaker 1: Green Bay game and what we saw last week suggests
Speaker 1: that they are starting to figure this thing out from
Speaker 1: the standpoint of they're running game. If they're off, that
Speaker 1: change your opinion about whether there are games that are
Speaker 1: left on the schedule that they should win playing that
Speaker 1: style of football. If they're playing at their best, does
Speaker 1: that change your opinion about games that they should win
Speaker 1: down the stretch. Yes, yeah, I think so. But and
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna give them that benefit of doubt. They
Speaker 1: got to show me more than a game and a quarter.
Speaker 1: A game and a quarter a game against the O
Speaker 1: and seven team, right, and a quarter in a game
Speaker 1: that they lost, Right, I need a little more than that.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. But if they do get it rolling
Speaker 1: like that, then sure, because as we saw him roll
Speaker 1: them off last year, like, if you're playing that style
Speaker 1: of football, they can win some games. They can stack
Speaker 1: some games together, you know, a lot of games. But
Speaker 1: they have some issues right now though. I mean this
Speaker 1: is these games are gonna be close. There's gonna be
Speaker 1: some games down to the wire, and their security blanket
Speaker 1: that they've had for the last three or four years
Speaker 1: is not with them this week, and who knows after that.
Speaker 1: And I don't know when we want to talk about
Speaker 1: the kicking situation and all that, But I mean that
Speaker 1: these games will come down to the wire, and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys to me have the best, if not you know,
Speaker 1: definitely one of the best kickers in the league. And
Speaker 1: so something's gonna have to give here in the next
Speaker 1: few weeks. Yeah, they have gotten very comfortable because they've
Speaker 1: had now for a lot of years, they've had a
Speaker 1: good kicker that you know, you get within a fifty
Speaker 1: yard field goal and you're like, let's do it, Like
Speaker 1: you don't even worry about it as a fan, as
Speaker 1: somebody watching and observing games, I don't even think to
Speaker 1: about him like I was gonna make it. I'm surprised
Speaker 1: if he doesn't make it. And I remember a time
Speaker 1: that was in case, Like, there have been years, a
Speaker 1: lot of years here where you didn't have that kind
Speaker 1: of kicker in It looks like what you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to deal with now for at least a week, and
Speaker 1: who knows how long after that, I would guess several. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so it's it's not gonna be right. It's in close
Speaker 1: games or you're playing really good teams. That kind of
Speaker 1: stuff matters. Before we go to break. I let's just
Speaker 1: say they've got workouts today, They've got Um, I'm bringing
Speaker 1: in Jason Myers, Mike Nugent. I don't think that they
Speaker 1: wound up getting that young Hookho guy. They didn't. I
Speaker 1: don't think so. Um and Sam Arowin Hill, who was
Speaker 1: here in training camp and they're bringing which I think
Speaker 1: this is Yeah, I was wrong. I'm sorry. I still
Speaker 1: maintain why, Like, what do you stand to lose by
Speaker 1: bringing him in and taking a look at him like
Speaker 1: there's no talent with it? You're right, m You're both right.
Speaker 1: It's a move the Cowboys would do. It's a it's
Speaker 1: a Jerry Jones type of move. But what you say,
Speaker 1: we don't need you to get it right here, we
Speaker 1: want it need to be right when you walk into
Speaker 1: do as right as you can be, Like I think
Speaker 1: hell of a hell of a vote of not a
Speaker 1: vote of confidence. It's just funny to me that, you know,
Speaker 1: long snapper is such a it's the most overlooked job
Speaker 1: in the NFL. They're bringing in a guy they're signed,
Speaker 1: like they're bringing in a guy to do this workout,
Speaker 1: a long snapper to help with the workout. Because like
Speaker 1: LP's you're like, nah, you don't hold on, hold on.
Speaker 1: I have to say this too. Do you know who
Speaker 1: after Heath? You know who the kicker is? LP? Lattice
Speaker 1: Er you met? Just the visual of that makes me laugh,
Speaker 1: Like as big as he is, as tall as he is,
Speaker 1: him back there like kicking field that's gonna look weird.
Speaker 1: I was telling some people. I was like, so you
Speaker 1: mean to tell me those bad chicken strips that I
Speaker 1: had at halftime of the forty nine game cost me
Speaker 1: a chance to watch him kick do some kicks at halftime. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I missed that, um something else. So so shuffling
Speaker 1: around everything you know to get Jeff Swain would be
Speaker 1: your backup snapper to Chris Jones to LP. Which also,
Speaker 1: what did we learn Chris Jones is your fourth kicker
Speaker 1: on the team at least I don't even know, maybe
Speaker 1: someone behind Heath and LP. We learned that I was right,
Speaker 1: didn't we that? Yeah? Well, according to Brian, which if
Speaker 1: you want to believe Brian, you know, it makes sense
Speaker 1: that you don't want to mess with the guy's mechanics.
Speaker 1: That was Bryan said that. Literally, it is a situation
Speaker 1: where like coaches are afraid of messing with because it
Speaker 1: is very different mechanics. You're afraid of messing with the
Speaker 1: mechanics of a punter having him also kick. And so
Speaker 1: that's why is not your backup kicker. You also don't
Speaker 1: have a holder if Chris Jones is the kicker. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got to find a new guy. I'm sure. I'm sure.
Speaker 1: Well they're gonna have to find a new guy to
Speaker 1: snap if they have to get to that point. So
Speaker 1: what Jason's thought is the snap is the most important thing.
Speaker 1: You don't get that, then nothing, right. Yeah, so get
Speaker 1: the guy that's been consistent for thirteen years, like he's
Speaker 1: doing that. He's he's good there, Which goes back to
Speaker 1: my point that I like, he's so revered in this
Speaker 1: organization that they're like, Noah, like, bring a guy in
Speaker 1: to do this work out you you don't need to
Speaker 1: worry about the rest. Yeah, well, you have this offensive line,
Speaker 1: and you have Zeke, and you have a mobile quarterback.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that a two point conversion isn't a
Speaker 1: better option than a backup kicker kicking at thirty four
Speaker 1: year you'll get You only want to get fifty percent
Speaker 1: of them in order to get the same points, right,
Speaker 1: So that's true, And fifty percent is the It's about
Speaker 1: forty eight percent is the conversion rate, right, So probably
Speaker 1: you're probably better off. The only thing I think would
Speaker 1: be kind of challenging is that now you're eating into
Speaker 1: those plays. I would assume that you would use usually
Speaker 1: in short yardist goal line situations because now you have
Speaker 1: to use them for extra points, and so now you're
Speaker 1: showing that maybe a little earlier in games and maybe
Speaker 1: you want to run a quarterback draw with a pass option.
Speaker 1: I don't care how many times you run, keep running.
Speaker 1: It's unstoppable if you do it right. How many like,
Speaker 1: how many times have they done that? And how many
Speaker 1: times is Dak not when when they point When they
Speaker 1: put on the first touchdown of the game, I had
Speaker 1: the binoculars on there, and they spread three receivers out
Speaker 1: and then one to the left, and I was just
Speaker 1: looking at it like this is a touchdown, Like there's
Speaker 1: no way that whoever is over the right guard, there's
Speaker 1: no way that they're gonna stop them. And it was
Speaker 1: pretty easy. So that's what I think you gotta do.
Speaker 1: Spread them out and then let Dak just figure it
Speaker 1: out that that I mean that was a touchdown or
Speaker 1: the two point conversion against the Packers in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They did it against the Rams. Still they had that
Speaker 1: penalty on Travis Frederick, but I still think that that's
Speaker 1: almost unstoppable. They picked up a third down in San
Speaker 1: Francisco doing it. It's yeah, yeah, all right, looks like
Speaker 1: our first break. When we come back, I want to
Speaker 1: ask these guys a question about about the rest of
Speaker 1: the NFC and who scares you. We're gonna talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about the rest of the chairs that are
Speaker 1: in the mix and h and how much the Cowboys
Speaker 1: should be worried about particular teams and also look at
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks from those teams. What quarterbacks are still left
Speaker 1: in this thing that could pose big problems because of
Speaker 1: their ability to score. We'll do that when we come
Speaker 1: right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We
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Speaker 1: Welcome back. It's the second segment of the break Life
Speaker 1: in SWBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, we're talking NFC
Speaker 1: East and the NFC Cowboys an interesting position. They're at
Speaker 1: three and three right now, and there are right now
Speaker 1: there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven teams
Speaker 1: that have a better record than they do in the NFC,
Speaker 1: and then there are two other teams that have the
Speaker 1: exact same record that they do. There's a total of
Speaker 1: ten teams that are at five hundred or above Cowboys
Speaker 1: at the bottom of that list. So here's what you got.
Speaker 1: You got Seattle at four and two, you got New
Speaker 1: Orleans at four and two, you got Minnesota at five
Speaker 1: and two, you got the Rams at five and two,
Speaker 1: you got the Eagles at six and one, you got
Speaker 1: Caroline at four and three, Green Bay at four and three.
Speaker 1: Those all the teams that are above the Cowboys, and
Speaker 1: then tied with the Cowboys, you have Detroit at three
Speaker 1: and three, and you have Washington at three and three.
Speaker 1: Looking at all those teams, which of those teams do
Speaker 1: you think is the biggest has the biggest And we've
Speaker 1: already talked about the Eagle, So let's leave the Eagles
Speaker 1: out for a second. Look. Yeah, just the NFC picture
Speaker 1: without the Eagles involved, assuming that they let's assume that
Speaker 1: they're going to just kind of be up there. Who
Speaker 1: are the other teams here that you think are legitimate
Speaker 1: threats to win and represent the NFC in Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: What did you say Carolina's record is Carolina is four
Speaker 1: and three. They lost two in a row. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: actually just got in an argument about this because and
Speaker 1: Minnesota is leading the NFC North. They have a nasty defense,
Speaker 1: their their running game has been solid, which is impressive
Speaker 1: since Dalvin Cook went down with a torn acl Now
Speaker 1: Switheltavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon, I just don't. I don't
Speaker 1: take them as seriously as maybe I should, because Sam
Speaker 1: Bradford's been out all for most of the year. Case
Speaker 1: Kams played well, but you know, and then Teddy Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater's supposedly back, but it's way too early for me
Speaker 1: to assume that he's going to be what he was. Um,
Speaker 1: So I'm interested because you know, I just again I
Speaker 1: always maybe I give too much respect to the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: because I don't care what else was wrong with Green Bay.
Speaker 1: I'm I was, I'm rolling with them if Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is in the game and in a similar vein, I
Speaker 1: look at Detroit as a team to watch in that
Speaker 1: division just because they have Matt Stafford and he's typically
Speaker 1: capable of putting his team on his back that way.
Speaker 1: M Philly, I you know, I think I had a
Speaker 1: pretty good idea what they were heading into that game,
Speaker 1: but they just re emphasized that. Honestly, their defense I
Speaker 1: think is the best part about them. But when Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz plays like that, they certainly look like the best
Speaker 1: team in the conference right now. I think the team
Speaker 1: that's looking pretty good is the Saints. They and they
Speaker 1: have obviously have a quarterback that Phil can go out
Speaker 1: and score points, outscore anybody. They seem kind of balanced
Speaker 1: with some good running attack and their defense. I don't know,
Speaker 1: it just seems like they're being you know, opportunistic and
Speaker 1: making some play. So they to me though that I
Speaker 1: don't mean another Cowboys don't face them, but they seem
Speaker 1: like somebody is going to get in the mix here.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and well, actually they are in the mills.
Speaker 1: We've got we've got good morning football on the TVs
Speaker 1: and here Peter Schreeger said like last week that they're
Speaker 1: set up to go on a run, mainly because they're
Speaker 1: playing well, but also their schedule, like they got the
Speaker 1: Packers the week after Aaron Rodgers got hurt. I think
Speaker 1: they have the Bears this week, which I know they
Speaker 1: just beat the Panthers, but you would think that they
Speaker 1: can get to win there they've got a chance to
Speaker 1: put it together to the point where they're like seven
Speaker 1: and two if they play well. Having said that, I
Speaker 1: don't trust that defense. Like they have Cameron Jordan and
Speaker 1: they got a couple other guys, but like that's that's
Speaker 1: not a defense that strikes fear in your heart, especially
Speaker 1: like the way Philly does. I mean, Fletcher Cox, h
Speaker 1: Timmy Joern again, those corner you know, Ronald Darby, Jalen
Speaker 1: Mills are playing well. Malcolm Jenkins is one of the
Speaker 1: better safeties in the league. That Philly's defense, I think
Speaker 1: is what makes them so formidable, whereas Saints. I think
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys were to play the Saints, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're probably talking about like a thirty five thirty one
Speaker 1: type of game. I just you know. That's the interesting
Speaker 1: thing about this is when you look at all of
Speaker 1: the teams that are left in the NFC that are
Speaker 1: in that five hundred or above category, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: there are only two teams that you think are balancing.
Speaker 1: When I say balanced, I mean balance not only from
Speaker 1: a standpoint of being able to run or pass, but
Speaker 1: also has plays good defense. I think it's the Rams
Speaker 1: and I think it's the Eagles. Those are really the
Speaker 1: only two teams that you look at across the board
Speaker 1: and you say, man, they got good pieces everywhere. They
Speaker 1: can do a lot of those things really well. At
Speaker 1: least in what they've shown so far this season. I
Speaker 1: don't think you can find another one that has like
Speaker 1: enough like in all three of those different categories, does
Speaker 1: them equally well. I was about to say, you know, Okay,
Speaker 1: so the Rams beat the Cowboys to improve to three
Speaker 1: and one, and the talking point was, all right, they
Speaker 1: look really good, but they started three and one last
Speaker 1: year and finished four and twelve. They followed that went
Speaker 1: up by losing in a defensive game to the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: And then I think they've won two games since they
Speaker 1: beat Jacksonville whatever, and they beat the crap out of
Speaker 1: Arizona in London. They're five and two. They certainly look
Speaker 1: like basically I'm wondering, is it time to take them
Speaker 1: seriously as a I mean, obviously they're going to be
Speaker 1: in the playoff hunt regardless, but I mean, is this
Speaker 1: a team that could win the West and be a
Speaker 1: you know, a top two seed in the NFC, Because
Speaker 1: it kind of looks that way right now. You would
Speaker 1: think if Carson wentz it was drafted second overall, that
Speaker 1: whoever was taken first, that they would look at and
Speaker 1: go man could have had him. But Golf is playing
Speaker 1: well enough where I'm sure they don't really think that.
Speaker 1: I mean some in the organization probably do. But you know,
Speaker 1: they both are two of the best young quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: the league. So it's Dax and Dax in there too.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, yeah, that's the interesting thing. You look
Speaker 1: at the quarterbacks that are in this mix. There's a
Speaker 1: bunch of young talent in this in these teams as
Speaker 1: far as the quarterback position is concerned. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've seen this much, this many young quarterbacks performing well,
Speaker 1: because when you think about it, you've got Golf, You've
Speaker 1: got Prescott, you've got Wentz, Um these are all relatively
Speaker 1: really young guys. You've got Wilson, who's not an old guy,
Speaker 1: like he's kind of right there at that point in
Speaker 1: his career when he should be getting to kind of
Speaker 1: the peak of his career, at least getting to the
Speaker 1: point where he's hitting his stride in that peak. Right um.
Speaker 1: Drew Brees is really the only established, long term veteran
Speaker 1: quarterback that's in these ten teams, you got Rogers already
Speaker 1: out in which you assume it's going to be for
Speaker 1: the year. But forget I mean I get there five hundred,
Speaker 1: but I mean Matt Ryan's still hanging around. Yeah right,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Matt Ryan. You're right, Matt Ryan and Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan and staff of Stafford. I don't know, Like right now,
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan's having some struggles, like their offense is not
Speaker 1: playing great team um, and so I guess from the
Speaker 1: standpoint of just how you look at the quarterbacks that
Speaker 1: are left. You usually look at the quarterbacks and say,
Speaker 1: give me the best quarterback, especially when you get to
Speaker 1: the playoffs and I'm gonna ride. I think that guy's
Speaker 1: probably gonna take his team as far as it can go.
Speaker 1: But I think in this case, I don't know that
Speaker 1: the quarterback. I mean, these quarterbacks are really unproven, so
Speaker 1: you really don't know. Other than Breeze, you really don't
Speaker 1: know what you're getting. Even for the guys that have
Speaker 1: had some success like Ryan and Newton, you still don't
Speaker 1: know because they're playing so inconsistent this year. Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 1: I mean you think back to five or six years ago,
Speaker 1: I guess twenty twelve was when Russell Wilson came onto
Speaker 1: the scene, and like you could kind of see that
Speaker 1: the Seahawks had the makings of this team that was
Speaker 1: going to be formidable for the foreseeable future. Well you're
Speaker 1: kind of seeing that, you know, shift in the power
Speaker 1: dynamic in the NFC, because you know, the Cowboys have
Speaker 1: a new quarterback. They I mean, they're completely remade from
Speaker 1: what they were even five years ago. The Eagles look
Speaker 1: like they've got it figured out for the next little bit.
Speaker 1: The Rams, which Rams haven't been a team that anybody
Speaker 1: was worried about in fifteen years. And then even you know,
Speaker 1: I like I just said, I'm not impressed by their
Speaker 1: quarterbacks right now, but I think you probably throw the
Speaker 1: Vikings in there too. You know what they've managed to
Speaker 1: build with their defense, So I know, you know, Drew
Speaker 1: Brees and some of those guys are still kicking around,
Speaker 1: but like there's a new there's a new bunch of
Speaker 1: these teams with these young players that are kind of
Speaker 1: on the come up right, and most of them start
Speaker 1: with the quarterback position. It always does most of them stays.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Seahawks had that defense for a couple
Speaker 1: of years before Russell Wilson showed up. You need the
Speaker 1: quarterback before you become a contender. Where would you put
Speaker 1: Prescott right now in that list of quarterbacks. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: run him down for you. A get You've got Breeze,
Speaker 1: You've got Russell Wilson, cam Newton, Wentz, Prescott, Stafford, Goff, Bradford.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna throw Hunley in there, although he's a
Speaker 1: starting quarterback in one on one of those teams. And
Speaker 1: then you got Ryan, where would you put him? Kind
Speaker 1: of in MBIX, that's tough man probably you know, somewhere
Speaker 1: in the middle. The thing about about Dak that that's
Speaker 1: kind of tough to evaluate, and it's a good thing
Speaker 1: for the for the Cowboys is that they don't have
Speaker 1: to lean on him as much as some of these
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks do. And that's why you know his stats,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if it's still up there.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're looking at some of the TVs that
Speaker 1: have his stats right next to Carson Wentz. He doesn't
Speaker 1: have the passion that's touchdowns interception. Well, he's got six
Speaker 1: hundred more passing yards Wins does. Because he doesn't have
Speaker 1: he didn't have the leading rusher in the league, um
Speaker 1: that he was playing with. But Dak's got eleven more touchdowns,
Speaker 1: you know, in in passing and of course and running,
Speaker 1: so um, it is hard to evaluate that. I think.
Speaker 1: I think he's he's right in in the middle of
Speaker 1: the pack. Um, they haven't. He hasn't had to go
Speaker 1: win games all the time, but he did a couple
Speaker 1: times last year where he needed to go down and
Speaker 1: win and drive and he and he was able to
Speaker 1: do that. So I don't know if this is a
Speaker 1: cop out or a hot take. I can't tell which
Speaker 1: is weird. But of that list, there's like you can't
Speaker 1: definitively say Dak is better than a lot of those guys.
Speaker 1: But I think only like two of those guys are
Speaker 1: definitively better than him, Right, That's why I was going
Speaker 1: to go with the questions like who's better. Drew Brees
Speaker 1: is a Hall of Famer and he's in that rare
Speaker 1: category where you're just like, all right, he's on my team,
Speaker 1: we got a good chance to win. He's I mean,
Speaker 1: he's in the Aaron Rodgers category. Who else? Ryan? I mean,
Speaker 1: he won he won NFL MVP, like he's a he's
Speaker 1: really good. I mean Cam has won NFL the MVP, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but Cam has like just this horrifying body of roller
Speaker 1: coaster rides. Yeah, where Matt Ryan has, Matt Ryan doesn't.
Speaker 1: He's been Matt had a great year last year. He's
Speaker 1: had a great during his career. He's been up and down.
Speaker 1: I think not on the level of am not where
Speaker 1: he's turning the ball, is a better quarterback than Matt Ryan. No,
Speaker 1: and I'm not I'm not nicely making that claim, but
Speaker 1: I think that if you're gonna say that that Cam
Speaker 1: Newton is a rollercoaster type quarterback, I think you have
Speaker 1: to say a similar things. I don't have I don't
Speaker 1: have the stats on last year. Matt Ryan had a
Speaker 1: great year. There have been a lot of years before
Speaker 1: that where Matt Ryan was kind of up and down.
Speaker 1: We'll go tally it up and find like the number
Speaker 1: of games over their careers where they've both had like
Speaker 1: two or more turnovers, and I bet you it'll be
Speaker 1: vastly more. Well, if we're just talking about turnofs, we're
Speaker 1: gonna isolate the stat of talking like maybe so like
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan is either pretty good or great like he like,
Speaker 1: he's not usually awful like Cam Newton can be great,
Speaker 1: but he can also be like so bad, like unbelievably bad.
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan is never unbelievably I think it's a hard
Speaker 1: compared at Ryan doesn't lose to a Bears team that
Speaker 1: completes four passes like that would not happen. That's not gonna.
Speaker 1: It's historic. That's okay, that's history. I think I think
Speaker 1: you and I know Nick won't like this, but I
Speaker 1: think you probably throw Stafford in there too. No, Stafford
Speaker 1: is better than Matt, I mean better than Stafford is
Speaker 1: definitively a better quarterback than Dak right now in terms
Speaker 1: of what he can do that like he you know,
Speaker 1: like I said, Matt or Matt Stafford can put his
Speaker 1: team on his back and get a win. Um you
Speaker 1: agree with that, Yeah, I do. And I'm not that
Speaker 1: like sour on Matt Matt Stafford. I mean, he he
Speaker 1: does throw the ball a lot. He has a lot
Speaker 1: of stats. I think sometimes those stats are a little
Speaker 1: bit misleading. They're a very one dimensional team, and that's
Speaker 1: not his fault. I mean they needed to and they
Speaker 1: tried to get some running back help in there, but Um,
Speaker 1: they don't scare you as much because of that. And
Speaker 1: you know, he lost a potential Hall of Fame player
Speaker 1: just who decided not to play anymore. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: their team. Thought he'd fall off after that. I actually,
Speaker 1: that's when I got a lot of respect for Matt
Speaker 1: what he did that you after Megatron left. I got
Speaker 1: a lot of respect for him. I forgot one to actually,
Speaker 1: which Um, Russell Wilson's career path gives me so much
Speaker 1: optimism and confidence for Dad, because I think it's really similar.
Speaker 1: I mean, in the first two or so years of
Speaker 1: his career, Russell Wilson was doing the same type of
Speaker 1: stuff and now you see him blossom into this you know,
Speaker 1: three or four hundred yard guy who's dropping dimes and
Speaker 1: again can kind of carry his team. He doesn't have
Speaker 1: the supporting cast that he did when he was younger,
Speaker 1: but he's developed as a pocket passer and a pure
Speaker 1: quarterback to the point where you would put him up there.
Speaker 1: So I probably put him above Dak right now too.
Speaker 1: But I mean that's what that's four guys in the NFC,
Speaker 1: and I put I mean Dak, Goff Wentz, who am
Speaker 1: I forget cousins like all, I mean, I think they're
Speaker 1: all kind of right there together. I think Dak is
Speaker 1: just as good, if not better than any of those guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and actually what you said about Russell Wilson is the
Speaker 1: reason why when I look at it, this entire list
Speaker 1: in the NFC, I actually think Seattle is still the
Speaker 1: team to beat. I think their defense is far and
Speaker 1: away better than any other defense on this list. And
Speaker 1: I think that that, like you said, Russell Wilson, he's
Speaker 1: getting to that point in his career where he doesn't
Speaker 1: really need he can actually carry the offense. They don't
Speaker 1: need a running game to do a whole lot. He
Speaker 1: can carry the offense. He could score points, he could
Speaker 1: put up points in bunches too, and so and he
Speaker 1: has that ability. Runny has ability to throw. It's the
Speaker 1: fascinating thing about the NFL, though, Like Russell Wilson won
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl when you know he was making six
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars a year and that whole team was
Speaker 1: loaded with talent. And now and Tony Romo probably saw
Speaker 1: that and hated it. And now Russell Wilson's getting older
Speaker 1: and he's Tony Romo because I mean, they still have
Speaker 1: the talent on defense, but like he is a one
Speaker 1: man show on offense. Yeah, I mean, they don't have
Speaker 1: an offensive line. They've got a committee doesn't even do
Speaker 1: justice to their running back situations. It's like a different guy,
Speaker 1: everything better. And then I mean, Jimmy Graham's there, but
Speaker 1: and Doug Baldwin's a really good player, but it's not
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not anything worth getting excited about, especially
Speaker 1: if you can't block the other team's defense. Yes, so
Speaker 1: somehow they're they're making that work and they're putting up
Speaker 1: points and put up twenty four against the Giants last week.
Speaker 1: And that's a good defense that the Giants have there.
Speaker 1: So I mean I think that I think that they're
Speaker 1: still the team I look at as the team to
Speaker 1: beat me in a seat for right now. We'll see
Speaker 1: how it all plays out down the stretch. Let's get
Speaker 1: some questions, you guys, give us a call. The numbers
Speaker 1: two one four eight seven two twenty one O two
Speaker 1: again it is two one four eight seven two twenty
Speaker 1: one O two. We're going to take a break and
Speaker 1: we'll come back with some questions. We'll be right back
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Speaker 1: John dot com, Forward Slash Cowboys. Thank you, Nick. Welcome.
Speaker 1: Actually I saw yesterday I think was it you on
Speaker 1: the show? Was that you on the show Dave that
Speaker 1: said you won't How many people have listened to this
Speaker 1: and yeah, somebody tweeted me yesterday like, oh broke down, Yeah,
Speaker 1: good for you. Yeah I was. I wanted to reply,
Speaker 1: I'm happy for you and your boys, but I thought
Speaker 1: that might be appropriate. Would you guys say that we
Speaker 1: just kept that Tommy John segment brief. See what you did? Now,
Speaker 1: you know what? I see what you did. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to say, I see what she did there. Yeah I
Speaker 1: hate myself too, Yeah I did too. Yeah. All right, um,
Speaker 1: let's get into some questions. We'll take costs to one, four, eight, seven, two,
Speaker 1: twenty one h two. We'll also take questions on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Cowboys Break with Box or Briefs. Yeah yeah, I
Speaker 1: love that look him seriously. Got it. Let's take a
Speaker 1: call in Houston, Landing. What do you have? Hey, thanks
Speaker 1: for taking my call. First off, um uh, just like
Speaker 1: my second time getting on there. Enjoy our shows and
Speaker 1: like I said, than to take my call. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I have a question, Um, A lot of people were
Speaker 1: seeing at the end of the season that Zeke was
Speaker 1: kind of out of shape and slow and not looking himself,
Speaker 1: which I can see that, But do you think was
Speaker 1: it because he was always shaved coming to the season
Speaker 1: or do you think it was because he had, you know,
Speaker 1: all those things on his mind. The issue was on
Speaker 1: his mind because gifts have Cisco. He looked like the
Speaker 1: same zem twenty sixteen. So that was my question. And
Speaker 1: I also got a fun set for you guys. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you noticed, but Brendan car has three picks.
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking my cough all right, thanks for the call.
Speaker 1: I did know that because people update me about it
Speaker 1: every time. He's got three picks in seven games. With
Speaker 1: the Ravens. He had three picks in his final fifty
Speaker 1: three games with the Cowboys. I believe somebody tweeted me that.
Speaker 1: I'm not shouts out to whoever said that, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: for stealing your fun fact, but yeah, that's true. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. Never mind, Gavin Escobar is
Speaker 1: a Raven now too, so get ready for him to
Speaker 1: just tear the league up. I'm sure based on the
Speaker 1: way everybody else is going so excited. I never once
Speaker 1: thought that Ezekiel Elliott like looked fat or you know,
Speaker 1: I got any different than last year personally. No, I
Speaker 1: do think he looked, if you want to say, slower
Speaker 1: or indecisive, or just not as crisp as he did
Speaker 1: last year. I do also think that's true. Whether it's
Speaker 1: because the legal case is weighing on him, or he's
Speaker 1: stressed out about that, or the offensive line is different
Speaker 1: and it just takes a while for that stuff to
Speaker 1: get going. I think there's probably eighteen things that contributed
Speaker 1: to it, hopefully, And you're right, I mean that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Sunday was the most he's looked like his rookie self
Speaker 1: so far this year. Maybe a little bit of that's
Speaker 1: got to do with because you're playing one of the
Speaker 1: worst teams in the league. I don't know, or you know,
Speaker 1: maybe the offensive line's clicking. You would like, you know,
Speaker 1: you hope that's the reason why we're going to need
Speaker 1: to see some more, but hopefully it's a trend that continues.
Speaker 1: So do you guys think that maybe because this is
Speaker 1: the second year and he's only been in the league
Speaker 1: two years, but this is the second year. Last year
Speaker 1: is saying a similar thing happened. He didn't start off hot.
Speaker 1: He kind of got going as the season went along,
Speaker 1: but that was that was two weeks. Now, I get
Speaker 1: I get it. I understand what you're saying. I guess
Speaker 1: my point is, do you think that maybe some of
Speaker 1: this and this year, I think there were some other
Speaker 1: factors obviously that weren't there last year that could have
Speaker 1: linked in the amount of time andicul to get going.
Speaker 1: Most importantly, my opinion is the offensive line. But do
Speaker 1: you think that part of this could be the fact
Speaker 1: that you know, it just he doesn't play a lot
Speaker 1: of preseason games, so it's not like he goes into
Speaker 1: the season already conditioned and ready to be able to
Speaker 1: get his best production, and maybe if you played him
Speaker 1: a little bit more in the preseason that maybe I
Speaker 1: know you're not a big fan of the preseason, so
Speaker 1: I get that, But do you think that maybe that
Speaker 1: could be part of it? And you're as a coaching staff,
Speaker 1: you're kind of expect you're kind of giving up that
Speaker 1: that time that it'll take him to get going in
Speaker 1: the season because you want to keep him healthy during
Speaker 1: the preseason. Does that make sense? It makes sense, But
Speaker 1: I don't agree with it. Okay, why did you look
Speaker 1: like you just I be cut? First of all? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I don't want to lose good play players and
Speaker 1: games that don't matter. I said that a million times.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep saying it, and I'm fully aware that
Speaker 1: maybe you lose some things by not giving those guys
Speaker 1: some reps. But I just don't I don't buy that.
Speaker 1: Zeke got every practice rep. I mean, how many practice
Speaker 1: reps did he get out in Oxnard? Like he was
Speaker 1: there all summer long, getting the vast majority of those carries,
Speaker 1: taking it to the end zone on his last rep
Speaker 1: of practice every freaking day. He's an All Pro player.
Speaker 1: He had one hundred yards in his first game of
Speaker 1: the year. I mean, it's not like it's not like
Speaker 1: he's been off actually been more productive this year at
Speaker 1: the beginning the than last year. Right if if him
Speaker 1: running for one hundred and eleven yards, which I think
Speaker 1: was his tally against the Giants, is the I mean,
Speaker 1: if that's oh no, he didn't play her in the preseason,
Speaker 1: so they only ran for one hundred yards against the jat. No,
Speaker 1: I'm not buying that. I'm sorry, um, and I don't
Speaker 1: buy that that's the reason why it's been a slow
Speaker 1: start either. I think, you know, I think a little
Speaker 1: bit of the off field has to do with it,
Speaker 1: and just it's you know, how can that not take
Speaker 1: up some of your brain space and then getting acclimated
Speaker 1: to aligne that I think we would all agree took
Speaker 1: has taken longer and has had some more struggles than
Speaker 1: a lot of people thought. Well, I wouldn't agree with
Speaker 1: the whole off field issue kind of interfering with his performance.
Speaker 1: I do agree, yes, it matters in the weekly preparation
Speaker 1: preparing to go against the team, But as far as
Speaker 1: speed and what he's doing, you know, if he's slow
Speaker 1: or whatever, I don't think it plays into that because
Speaker 1: once you're in a game, that's your main focus. But
Speaker 1: if you're doing prepare, well, don't you think that carries
Speaker 1: over to the game. Yeah, but preparing and studying the
Speaker 1: opposing team that's completely different to how you're gonna run
Speaker 1: and your speed. I'm not saying like obvious, it's it's
Speaker 1: not like, it's not like it's forty times going to
Speaker 1: change because he's distracted by this. But if if he's
Speaker 1: not preparing the right way, he's not seeing the you know,
Speaker 1: he doesn't see the cut when he needs to see it,
Speaker 1: or he's indecisive because he's not sure how that hole's
Speaker 1: going to open. He's also not able to predict as
Speaker 1: much because if he if he isn't spending as much time.
Speaker 1: And I shouldn't say that, I shouldn't say at the time,
Speaker 1: but if he's a little bit distracted, let's say, and
Speaker 1: his focus during the week is not in the right
Speaker 1: place all the time, then maybe he doesn't recognize things
Speaker 1: as quickly. He doesn't recognize a specific formation that the
Speaker 1: defense gets into that allows him to know, here's where
Speaker 1: my crease is going to be, And so he's really
Speaker 1: having to do it on the fly rather than being
Speaker 1: able to predict it. So that makes him less fast, right,
Speaker 1: He's not in and out of the hole as quickly
Speaker 1: because he doesn't he isn't able to predict what's going
Speaker 1: to happen as much as he would if he wasn't distracted.
Speaker 1: And again, these are all these all assumptions that were
Speaker 1: making because we think that maybe he's or we're pondering
Speaker 1: whether he is distracted by this. I don't know that
Speaker 1: we can say that definitively. I want, I just want
Speaker 1: to be clear about that, which you can even take
Speaker 1: if you that's totally fair. You can take the off
Speaker 1: field stuff out of it and just talk talk about
Speaker 1: the line. I mean, how much of that Not that
Speaker 1: I've ever play running back, but I gotta imagine a
Speaker 1: lot of it is muscle memory, you know, like you
Speaker 1: just like, Okay, he sealed that right there. I gotta go.
Speaker 1: And I you know, I think I think it was
Speaker 1: the very first play of the game. It was an
Speaker 1: inside run. It wasn't there. And I mean he had
Speaker 1: like he had barely even got the ball in his
Speaker 1: hands before he made a cut off tackle and took
Speaker 1: what could have been a one yard game for about
Speaker 1: the seven and It's that type of stuff where you
Speaker 1: don't even have time to think about it. It's just
Speaker 1: gotta just like it's gotta be almost like a muscle reaction,
Speaker 1: like Okay, that's there, I'm gone. I gotta do that.
Speaker 1: But that also comes with knowing, right, I trusted this
Speaker 1: right tackle is gonna block this way in this kind
Speaker 1: of situation, and so as soon as I get the ball,
Speaker 1: I know where I'm going, I'm gonna get there quick.
Speaker 1: And that's the part I think that that we're not
Speaker 1: talking about enough is this is a new offensive line
Speaker 1: for him, and he's having to adjust to how does
Speaker 1: this guy block? How quickly does he get from one
Speaker 1: block to the next. If he's supposed to get off
Speaker 1: one guy and get to the second level, how quickly
Speaker 1: does he do that? So I know how to time
Speaker 1: my run to where I'm right in the right spot
Speaker 1: so that I take advantage of the block. Right, This
Speaker 1: is random, but I just remember in Super Bowl Super
Speaker 1: Bowl forty, Willie Parker scored a touchdowns. Will scored a
Speaker 1: touchdown from like seventy five yards out, Steelers beat the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: and somebody broke down the play. Just to illustrate for
Speaker 1: you to score from that far away. In the NFL,
Speaker 1: everything had I mean, everything has to happen right. Your
Speaker 1: offensive line has to get the right blocks. You're going
Speaker 1: to need a block from your receiver down field. The
Speaker 1: running back's going to have to make all of his
Speaker 1: cuts the right way and make every decision perfectly. And
Speaker 1: I just, you know, I gotta go back and find
Speaker 1: it because I just think it's a really great illustration
Speaker 1: of everything has to click just the right way for
Speaker 1: you to really have that type of success in running
Speaker 1: the ball in the NFL. And I think you're seeing that.
Speaker 1: And like I said, it's it's too early to say
Speaker 1: that they've got it figured out, but it's it's a
Speaker 1: reasonable guess that, you know, six weeks of playing together,
Speaker 1: three weeks with Jonathan Cooper, maybe they're starting to get
Speaker 1: that to where they can all kind of trust each
Speaker 1: other and flow the way they need to for this
Speaker 1: to work. And I agree with all that, And I
Speaker 1: guess my point here is, Yeah, there are certain things
Speaker 1: that I mean, there's a lot of different factors that
Speaker 1: when we're talking about some of these guys we tend
Speaker 1: not to consider. But at the same time, there are
Speaker 1: certain times when you talk about muscle memory and how
Speaker 1: you're you should react after playing how long, however long
Speaker 1: you've been playing. I'm not talking about the NFL just
Speaker 1: in the NFL, but in his life now. A difference
Speaker 1: that I didn't notice, for example, in this past game
Speaker 1: against the forty nine ers is and we were talking
Speaker 1: about this Nick. Even in the fakes, you could see
Speaker 1: with how much speed he would just take off, even
Speaker 1: with him not even having the ball. He's just faking it.
Speaker 1: And that was a big difference. You would see that
Speaker 1: in other games and he wouldn't necessarily react like that,
Speaker 1: he would just kind of take off slow. And I
Speaker 1: think there has been a big change now, and that's
Speaker 1: why I'm kind of referring to him being the whole
Speaker 1: off the field issue. I mean, yes, it affects you,
Speaker 1: but there are certain things that it shouldn't affect you,
Speaker 1: especially when you're doing I know, for me, when you're
Speaker 1: doing something that you're passionate about and being in an
Speaker 1: environment that you love. And for me, for example, that
Speaker 1: would say painting. When I'm painting, that's my main focus,
Speaker 1: I forget about the whole world. I mean, time could
Speaker 1: be flying by, I forget I'm in my own environment.
Speaker 1: And I feel like when you're really doing what you
Speaker 1: love and you're in that setting, you forget about everything
Speaker 1: else and your main focus is what you're doing. Good point,
Speaker 1: So the only thing is is that there's a maturity
Speaker 1: difference obviously with Zeke and a lot of people, you know,
Speaker 1: And and I think that's something that he's just he's
Speaker 1: got to get better. He's got to be more mature
Speaker 1: on and off the field. And when you're he's getting there.
Speaker 1: We hope, We hope though, if this has, if this
Speaker 1: doesn't humble him, then I don't know what will, but
Speaker 1: I think it has. Yeah, I think it has too.
Speaker 1: And and I've gained a little bit more respect for him,
Speaker 1: not that I didn't have any, but I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: when all this up, it's really easy to just say
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna sit and I'm not gonna talk to
Speaker 1: the media or whatever. Now he doesn't love it, but
Speaker 1: he stands up there and does it. And that's more
Speaker 1: than some of the other guys in this locker room.
Speaker 1: Came way more veteran than he is. Yeah, and and
Speaker 1: and you know, and and I don't have a problem
Speaker 1: saying it. I mean, des Bryant. He wants to be
Speaker 1: like the leader and in a spokesman and all this.
Speaker 1: He needs to talk. He needs to talk after the
Speaker 1: good games, after the bad games. He needs to stand
Speaker 1: up there, because when you don't do that, you you're
Speaker 1: forcing your other teammates to have to sit there and
Speaker 1: answer those questions. And when things are going bad and
Speaker 1: you have, you have a bad loss against the Giants
Speaker 1: and half the team doesn't talk, you're putting all the
Speaker 1: onus on the other guys to stand up there. They
Speaker 1: don't have the answers either. They don't know why they lost.
Speaker 1: So I just think that you know, and and Dez,
Speaker 1: you know, and we talked about this the other day.
Speaker 1: Dez set a record or tied a record for Cowboys,
Speaker 1: you know, touchdowns, and you know he should have stood
Speaker 1: up there and talked, and for whatever the reason, he didn't.
Speaker 1: And and so some guys do that, and that's fine.
Speaker 1: They don't speak. But I respect Zeke for all the
Speaker 1: stuff and all the questions he gets. I respect him
Speaker 1: stand in front of his locker every time and facing
Speaker 1: the music. He doesn't And and to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: there aren't a whole lot of guys on this team,
Speaker 1: and this has been throughout the years that are like that,
Speaker 1: that that really will consistently good or bad, stand up
Speaker 1: there every time and take the tough questions. And I
Speaker 1: know sometimes fans want to say, well, they don't need
Speaker 1: to talk to you, guys, but the fact the matter
Speaker 1: is this is the business, and the business is this
Speaker 1: is an entertainment business, and that means that in order
Speaker 1: to entertain the masses, they want to know the people
Speaker 1: that pay the dollars. They want to know from the
Speaker 1: players what their thoughts were on what just happened, so
Speaker 1: they have a responsibility. It's about more than that too, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's frustrating for us when players don't want to talk,
Speaker 1: but it says it's not about the quotes, it's about
Speaker 1: what that says about you as a you know, a
Speaker 1: member of the locker room and a leader in the
Speaker 1: team and the organization and accountability, you know, And that's
Speaker 1: how you earn those stripes is by being willing to
Speaker 1: do those types of things that you don't necessarily want
Speaker 1: to do. And you know, everybody is different and the
Speaker 1: situation is different than than when we started when I
Speaker 1: started covering the team, because you know, now like des Briant,
Speaker 1: and he's not afraid to do that. Des Bryant can
Speaker 1: voice his own opinion and he does, and you know
Speaker 1: he through social media then they can announce his own
Speaker 1: news and his own thoughts. So you know a lot
Speaker 1: of times I think players take that out and it
Speaker 1: was like, I'm not necessarily talking to you guys, but
Speaker 1: I'll sit there and I'll say what i want to
Speaker 1: say on my own terms. And that's part of the
Speaker 1: problem though, is that when you do that, then you
Speaker 1: don't you're not really being accountable. Ye you're saying what
Speaker 1: you want to say rather than ask answering the tough
Speaker 1: question what because you're not gonna get out there just
Speaker 1: be like, man, y'all suck today, Like you're not going
Speaker 1: to do that most of the time, I wouldn't think,
Speaker 1: And so you know, there's nobody that's holding your account
Speaker 1: to what the product was on the field and asking
Speaker 1: you the questions about the things you don't want to
Speaker 1: talk about that you need to be discussed. Right, This
Speaker 1: wasn't really a bad death, but it was about the
Speaker 1: fact that the Zeke is showing some maturity in other
Speaker 1: ways that you know that we haven't really that you
Speaker 1: don't always notice. Ye. All right, we appreciate you guys,
Speaker 1: join us. We are back tomorrow. Say something real quick.
Speaker 1: It's tough topic. I just wanted to mention this real quick.
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith he posted a picture on his Twitter account
Speaker 1: he's bidding some of his custom accustom cleats and some
Speaker 1: game worn gloves. All proceeds benefits to of Elshian Army
Speaker 1: in relief efforts for Pero Rico. Just a reminder that
Speaker 1: people out there still don't have drinking water and still struggling,
Speaker 1: struggling with having power and energy in the island. So
Speaker 1: if you're interested in winning some cleats and some game
Speaker 1: worn gloves, go check out Jaylen Smith's Twitter at the
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith and there's a link there that you can
Speaker 1: check it out. Really really great work by by Jalen
Speaker 1: and a lot of people who are doing some great
Speaker 1: work down there. I think I read yesterday it's like
Speaker 1: just some crazy percentage of people that still don't have power.
Speaker 1: And this is weeks after matching for weeks, still don't
Speaker 1: have power and still don't have water. Yeah, exactly, and
Speaker 1: you still don't have water, still don't have power. So
Speaker 1: it is a it is a dire situation down there.
Speaker 1: Do what you can to help out. I think it's
Speaker 1: a good cause obviously. All right, we'll appreciate you guys
Speaker 1: join us. We'll be back tomorrow nine thirty regular time.
Speaker 1: Till then for Nick Even, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I'm
Speaker 1: Derek Eagles and this has been The Break live on
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio Water. This has been a
Speaker 1: production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: Football Club.