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Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. Hello, guys,
Speaker 1: welcome back to another episode of The Break. Here we
Speaker 1: are again. We are gonna be talking about these Cowboys
Speaker 1: who ended up having an outcome that we didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: expect them to have. What are you making that? Faith?
Speaker 1: I just wanted to see where you're going. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to be nice, but we're about to attack them in
Speaker 1: a little bit, especially with that play calling at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, which fans are going crazy about.
Speaker 1: We'll get into that in a minute. Just wanted to
Speaker 1: start off with how this game started. Once again, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys start out slow. They figure it out eventually in
Speaker 1: the second quarter get some points on the board. Started
Speaker 1: earlier than we expected them to move the ball because
Speaker 1: usually it's in the second half, but eventually got moving
Speaker 1: and Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Randall Coup had an amazing
Speaker 1: game last night. Just let's start talking about the things
Speaker 1: that they were successful at in this game. As far
Speaker 1: as the offense. Um, yeah, they could move the ball
Speaker 1: when then when it wasn't you know, um crunch time,
Speaker 1: they were able to throw the ball around and it
Speaker 1: really makes some good plays. And it wasn't enough to
Speaker 1: to for them to you know, to prove to them
Speaker 1: that they could do when they really needed to, because
Speaker 1: they went away from it obviously. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: they those receivers did a really nice job you know
Speaker 1: when um to get them back in the game and
Speaker 1: you know, to kind of get them down the field.
Speaker 1: But obviously it wasn't enough when they really needed to.
Speaker 1: That they were one they were one dimensional. That's the problem.
Speaker 1: They were one dimensional and you can't really win games
Speaker 1: like that. You've got to be able to do both things.
Speaker 1: And they tried to run the ball with the guy
Speaker 1: that they're they're paying a lot of money you know too,
Speaker 1: and then offensive line and they couldn't block for him,
Speaker 1: and so it ended up, you know, you can't just
Speaker 1: be a one dimensional team, can't just pass your way around.
Speaker 1: Eventually you have to run it. Guess after nine games
Speaker 1: it would be foolish to to try to expect anything
Speaker 1: else at this point, right, Like, I mean, we've been
Speaker 1: looking for consistency. We've been like we keep saying, we're
Speaker 1: trying to figure out who the Cowboys are. I figured
Speaker 1: it out. They're just in what is inconsistent or for
Speaker 1: you know, to be a little bit more mean about it,
Speaker 1: mediocre football team. I mean, you know, that's what I
Speaker 1: keep saying, is like they they're better than this, They
Speaker 1: should be better than this. They can do this, they
Speaker 1: can do that. But it's you know, it's week eleven
Speaker 1: now starting today, and it's all looked the same, even
Speaker 1: in the winds, it's looked the same. The slow starts,
Speaker 1: the inconsistency, the puzzling play calling at times, you know,
Speaker 1: the run defense. Like they've had games where they played well,
Speaker 1: but you can't say they've truly fixed it. Screen passes.
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of going off the dome here, but
Speaker 1: like all of the same problems, Like go all the
Speaker 1: way back to Week one and you know, they win
Speaker 1: comfortably and you're like, yeah, but you know that didn't
Speaker 1: look great and this was a problem. And in week
Speaker 1: eleven and all those things are still the case. And
Speaker 1: it's just is what it is at this point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't. I was staring at my computer last night
Speaker 1: after the game. I didn't know what the right like,
Speaker 1: what what is it? Why do they lose? What's the
Speaker 1: problem with this? And I don't know I did something.
Speaker 1: I guess I don't. I put it out there, but
Speaker 1: not till the driving home that I realized what. In
Speaker 1: my opinion, the issue is, this team's pretty good at times,
Speaker 1: they're okay at times. They are absolutely not clutch. They
Speaker 1: are not a clutch football team. They're wins. I don't
Speaker 1: think they've been trailing in the second half of any
Speaker 1: of the games that they won. Maybe in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: but certainly not in the fourth. But you ask them
Speaker 1: to make a two point conversion against the Jets to
Speaker 1: tie this game, they can't do it. Maher, we're down
Speaker 1: ten against the Packers. Make this so we can get
Speaker 1: down now, not gonna make it. You know, the game
Speaker 1: against the Saints, go drive down the field and get
Speaker 1: can't do it, got the penalties, can't can't make it happen.
Speaker 1: Last night, same thing, Drive all the way down, but
Speaker 1: when we get down down inside the red zone, can't
Speaker 1: score this team, for whatever it is, is not a
Speaker 1: clutch team. They can't do those necessary things over the top.
Speaker 1: Defense can't get a stop when they really really need to. Yeah,
Speaker 1: offense can't make a play when they really really need to.
Speaker 1: So that's an interesting point. I agree with you. But
Speaker 1: it's funny because, like my main my main thought from
Speaker 1: this game is, you know, we're down on the field
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter of every Cowboys game, they got
Speaker 1: the ball in the six like really from the start
Speaker 1: of that drive right up until the fourth down ball
Speaker 1: fell incomplete. I was like, they're gonna score, Like that's
Speaker 1: how well Dak has been playing. They're going to score
Speaker 1: this touchdown, and you know, maybe they won't be able
Speaker 1: to hold the thirty one twenty eight lead, but I
Speaker 1: just like I had no doubt in my mind they
Speaker 1: were going to do it because Dak was playing that
Speaker 1: clutch in my opinion, and I kind of struggle to
Speaker 1: just completely flip my lid about the play calls down
Speaker 1: on the eleven yard line because in that instance, with
Speaker 1: a minute thirty three to play, even even if you
Speaker 1: don't trust Kirk Cousins, I think it's a good idea
Speaker 1: to try to run some clock I don't grudge them that,
Speaker 1: you know, even even with how poorly they were running
Speaker 1: the ball, you would like to think Ezekiel Elliott can
Speaker 1: get two yards. Having said that twice in a row,
Speaker 1: yea twice in a row, and then you know, just
Speaker 1: a very unimaginative like out route to your running back
Speaker 1: who you don't throw the ball to enough as it
Speaker 1: is in the clutchest part of the game. I didn't
Speaker 1: like that. Maybe how about some north to south runs
Speaker 1: if you're going to do it instead of you know,
Speaker 1: this east to west stuff against a defense that's been
Speaker 1: shutting it down all day. I didn't like that. And
Speaker 1: it's just it stings that as well as Dak Prescott
Speaker 1: played in that game, they didn't give him that great
Speaker 1: of a chance to try to win it for him,
Speaker 1: I mean, in a way, for me, this kind of
Speaker 1: helped clear my vision a little bit because these games
Speaker 1: have been somewhat confusing. You know, you're trying to figure out, Okay,
Speaker 1: is it really the players not being efficient on the
Speaker 1: field making the plays, or the coaching staff the way
Speaker 1: they are coaching them and calling these plays. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like a mixture of both. But then in this scenario.
Speaker 1: To me, I thought that the talent, you know, at
Speaker 1: least in the passing game, the Cowboys were doing exactly
Speaker 1: what they needed to do as far as Dak and
Speaker 1: Mari even Randall cub which completely blew my mind. There
Speaker 1: were times that I got him confused with the MARII
Speaker 1: Cooper on the film. I'm like, oh wow, that's Randall
Speaker 1: cob making that play. It was amazing. So but then
Speaker 1: you peel that layer and I'm like, okay, I checked
Speaker 1: my box there, and then it comes back down to
Speaker 1: the coaches and how they're calling these plays. Now, I
Speaker 1: wanted to dig deeper. I know you just talked about
Speaker 1: that towards the end of the game and the play
Speaker 1: calling there when you see the Cowboys who with the
Speaker 1: Dak Bress go that through for three hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: seven yards and then Elliott unable to run the ball,
Speaker 1: they end up with fifty yards in rushing. Now, I mean,
Speaker 1: it was that the really the right call to make.
Speaker 1: You said it not to do it twice, and that's
Speaker 1: the point when you see it doesn't work once, why
Speaker 1: do it again. But let's let's kind of dig deeper
Speaker 1: inch comprehend really what happened here. Let me let me
Speaker 1: not even contradict myself. I will say this like you know,
Speaker 1: heat of the moment. Dak said it last night and
Speaker 1: he and there's always a point to that is, you know,
Speaker 1: if we pick it up, nobody's questioning that play call always.
Speaker 1: I get that, forget the sequence in the red zone.
Speaker 1: I just the play calling sucked, period. The Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: said after the game, he was like, Zeke might as
Speaker 1: well have had a Neon sign over and that that said,
Speaker 1: it ain't happening tonight. Jerry Jones said he noticed that
Speaker 1: from the beginning of the game, and yet into the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter first down runs, it's just like there was
Speaker 1: no choice but to do that. I think the split
Speaker 1: was they threw fourteen times on first down and ran
Speaker 1: and sixteen times on first down, but take out you know,
Speaker 1: the in that final drive where they're passing all the
Speaker 1: way downfield. Excuse the stats. So basically, again, just like
Speaker 1: the New Orleans game, you're running on first down like
Speaker 1: upward of sixty seventy percent of the time when you're
Speaker 1: in your basic offense, and when you saw how committed
Speaker 1: the Vikings were to not letting that be a thing.
Speaker 1: It's just kind of mind boggling. Ye, like Mike Zimmer
Speaker 1: dared Dak Prescott to win the game, and he was
Speaker 1: playing well enough to do it, and it felt like
Speaker 1: everybody in the building but the Cowboys coaches knew that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love the second down call. I thought that was fine,
Speaker 1: that Vikings made a nice play on it. I'm second too.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to get the first down, but not
Speaker 1: on third down. And you know, you can watch the
Speaker 1: play again. I don't know exactly what's what's being asked
Speaker 1: of these players, but I've never seen Travis Frederick turned
Speaker 1: to the bench like that and get so upset with
Speaker 1: the you know, with the coaching staff on whatever call
Speaker 1: that was. This is just me and no one said this,
Speaker 1: but I've said this for a while. Connor Williams to
Speaker 1: me is a problem left guard. I don't think he
Speaker 1: is good enough right now to do what they want
Speaker 1: to do. And this team, we said it several times,
Speaker 1: they're so stubborn at what they you know, this is
Speaker 1: how we do things, and we're gonna run the ball
Speaker 1: was even though he has been stuffed all game, We're
Speaker 1: gonna do it. His longest run was six yards first
Speaker 1: drive of the game, first drive of the game, same thing. Well,
Speaker 1: we're just gonna kick a fifty seven yard because Maha
Speaker 1: can make it. Well he didn't, And now Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: is gut a short field to go and and give
Speaker 1: you a seven enhing you know, deficit because you know
Speaker 1: they're just well I've seen him do it, and if
Speaker 1: you make it. If you've listened to me at all
Speaker 1: this season on the podcast, on Twitter or whatever, I'm
Speaker 1: I've been very sure to you know, equal parts of
Speaker 1: blame like, well, yeah, it is it the coach's fault
Speaker 1: if the players aren't executing this or doing that. I thought,
Speaker 1: more so than any game this season, there were just
Speaker 1: so many baffling decisions by the coaching staff that put
Speaker 1: this team at a disadvantage. You talked the fifty seven
Speaker 1: yard field goal a kicker, Yeah he can do it.
Speaker 1: Nobody in the world feels one hundred percent confident that
Speaker 1: it's going to happen. And you're just gifting a veteran
Speaker 1: quarterback with his opening possession at midfield and then what
Speaker 1: ten minutes later, they're in the same situation and they
Speaker 1: decide to punt. So like, you're not that confident because
Speaker 1: you could have kicked it again, but he'd missed the
Speaker 1: first one, so you don't do that. So now you're
Speaker 1: punting from the Vikings forty I believe on a fourth
Speaker 1: and four. Yeah, the way I mean Dak threw for
Speaker 1: four hundred yards. I mean you could go for it
Speaker 1: if you feel that confident, or punt the first time
Speaker 1: and don't gift them with a possession at midfield. First
Speaker 1: down running was mind boggling. It's amazing. Honestly, this game
Speaker 1: could have been ugly if Dak Prescott wasn't so amazing.
Speaker 1: Like how many times did he bail them out of
Speaker 1: a third and long? At least three? Yeah, at least
Speaker 1: three where it's like third and twelve and he does
Speaker 1: some Houdini stuff back there and turns it into a
Speaker 1: first down. Otherwise you could be talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: three four more possessions where the Vikings have favorable fuel position.
Speaker 1: I just you know, Tavon Austin with the fair catch,
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett said this morning on the radio that he
Speaker 1: had the option to return it. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't think I buy that because he shot his hand
Speaker 1: up in the air basically as soon as the ball
Speaker 1: left the punter's foot. I don't. I don't hate that
Speaker 1: as much as people. You know that our people are saying,
Speaker 1: because yes, that he could have gotten some yards extra
Speaker 1: yards there, but this team was probably going to get
Speaker 1: I mean a block in the back, which we talked
Speaker 1: about this. We talked about this in the tunnel last night.
Speaker 1: And like the fact that you don't trust your team
Speaker 1: to cleanly feel the punt in week ten of the
Speaker 1: season is pretty embarrassing. So you you have a point.
Speaker 1: I mean, if they draw a holding flag and back
Speaker 1: it up to their own thirty five over, it's over.
Speaker 1: But like, I don't know, competently return a punt in
Speaker 1: a crucial situation without getting a flag, it doesn't seem
Speaker 1: like it should be that hard. We're all standing down
Speaker 1: there and that ball and the hail Mary seemed like
Speaker 1: it was up there forever. Yeah, well, it seemed like
Speaker 1: it took Dak eight seconds to throw it because he
Speaker 1: I mean, he did scramble for a bit. I kind
Speaker 1: of thought it was it was going in. I just
Speaker 1: thought it something was going to happen. That would have
Speaker 1: been pretty amazing. It been amazing. No, And I even
Speaker 1: thought I was looking at you because you you'll do
Speaker 1: this more than me. I'm like, does nobody want to
Speaker 1: want to put the video on this? You know? Does
Speaker 1: nobody want to go and turn on the video for something?
Speaker 1: To make it? I actually did it. What year was
Speaker 1: that when um Romo drove him down the residence, drove
Speaker 1: him down against the Giants and Witton you know, fumbled
Speaker 1: the ball and then he threw it to Witten like
Speaker 1: week one, week fifteen. You know what a great season
Speaker 1: that was. I mean, I have the video of that.
Speaker 1: We're right down there, and I'm like, that's a really
Speaker 1: awesome plan. I thought maybe maybe we should get a
Speaker 1: video of this for the hail Mary. Yeah, it'd been
Speaker 1: cool against the Vikings too, just like old times. Never
Speaker 1: thought about that, Yeah, not once. Did I ever think, Wow,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be another Hail Mary against the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I didn't. I didn't not because how you
Speaker 1: very rarely see hail Mary's work in the NFL unless
Speaker 1: you have Aaron Rodgers, like otherwise. It's just that's funny
Speaker 1: because when we were like those last seconds of the game,
Speaker 1: in my mind, I thought, if that was Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: he would have made that and we would have won.
Speaker 1: But I just I mean, it can talk crap about doctors.
Speaker 1: He did play a game. No, I was gonna forget
Speaker 1: the Hail Mary. Like I almost I blocked that whole
Speaker 1: sequence out of my mind because I just can't believe
Speaker 1: the way he was dealing that they didn't get in
Speaker 1: the end zone from eleven yards out. It's it's unconscionable.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's take our first break. When we
Speaker 1: come back, we need to discuss what happened with the
Speaker 1: defense and why they weren't unabled. They were unable to
Speaker 1: stop the run from the Vikings. I'm Jay Novachik, former
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Speaker 1: once were September twenty nineteen. Back to the break, all right,
Speaker 1: welcome back. Now let's talk about this defense and the
Speaker 1: hot boys who are getting a lot of criticism as well.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, what the heck happened here? You know? In
Speaker 1: the in the first half, they were they were doing
Speaker 1: a great job against the run. But the problem is
Speaker 1: is they couldn't handle the screen. And for you guys
Speaker 1: that don't know, a screen pass is one where the
Speaker 1: I'm kidding, but you certainly don't. I mean, god, you
Speaker 1: would think they would be like, hey, why don't we
Speaker 1: run the screen? We can screen, but now not not
Speaker 1: doing that. You don't think a screen would ever worked
Speaker 1: with Zeke like with that aggressive How that happened so
Speaker 1: many times and you're unable to fix it from your side?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know, but it's I mean, this
Speaker 1: is a I don't Jalen Smith and Layton vander esh
Speaker 1: like they they were not awful, but it tackles can
Speaker 1: be a deceiving statistic. They both finished with thirteen But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean is that were they just dominant flying all
Speaker 1: over the field. I think Layton had a couple of
Speaker 1: nice plays where he sniffed out runs. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: your linebackers are probably going to combine for twenty six
Speaker 1: tackles when the Vikings run the ball forty times. That's
Speaker 1: it's just is what it is. But they can't handle
Speaker 1: the screen. I think the interior of this defense has
Speaker 1: been a problem in these losses. Defensive tackles, not winning
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage, which in turn doesn't free
Speaker 1: up the linebackers to make plays. Linebackers, you know, being
Speaker 1: you know, being out of position, overshooting their gaps, all
Speaker 1: that type of stuff. The fourth down touchdown to cook
Speaker 1: Where was really kind of I've never seen I don't
Speaker 1: remember seeing an NFL team like run tosses and pitches
Speaker 1: as much as the Vikings did, like on fourth down
Speaker 1: that this defense is built to stop that play. You know,
Speaker 1: these linebackers and all that to be able to run
Speaker 1: over there and make that play. And you know you
Speaker 1: have Antoine Woods trying to you know, run out there
Speaker 1: and in the linebackers, and they just didn't. They just
Speaker 1: didn't do it. I mean, when they pitched the ball,
Speaker 1: I thought they're not getting this. I mean, Cowboys, this
Speaker 1: is the type of play that they usually snuff out
Speaker 1: and they couldn't. But you know, that whole exchange was
Speaker 1: kind of interesting, And I put this on my five
Speaker 1: plays if you if you went back and saw the
Speaker 1: play before that touchdown or four plays before. I forgot
Speaker 1: the guy's name, Madison. Yeah, he's a really good runner too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it looked like he had scored a touchdown and they
Speaker 1: ruled it as a touchdown. The Vikings went out there
Speaker 1: and they were going to kick an extra point, make
Speaker 1: it twenty seven twenty one. Then they go back and
Speaker 1: review it and they say he's down. Four plays later
Speaker 1: and two minutes off the clock later, they go and
Speaker 1: score with Dalvin Cook, and they go down and decide
Speaker 1: to go for two, make it twenty eight to twenty one.
Speaker 1: That would have been very interesting twenty seven twenty one
Speaker 1: because the way the Cowboys kicked the field goal twenty
Speaker 1: seven twenty four, when they drove down on that whole
Speaker 1: drive we're talking about, they would have been able to
Speaker 1: take a field goal and tie it. So the fact
Speaker 1: that the Vikings decided to go for two was the
Speaker 1: smart call. Derek and I argued about it in the
Speaker 1: press box about it, but that surprised me. And one
Speaker 1: thing that stued off from this game to me was
Speaker 1: how aggressive the Vikings looked on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: Like you could tell just by the way they were
Speaker 1: playing that they were just much more aggressive than the
Speaker 1: way that the Cowboys physical. Yes, physical, and the Cowboys
Speaker 1: red zone defense has been really good, and then in
Speaker 1: this game is just like nope, that's not here either. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook looked like what you want the highest paid
Speaker 1: running back in the league to look like, like aggressive,
Speaker 1: attacking the whole never going down on first contact. And
Speaker 1: I mean Ezekiel Elliott for all the criticism he's going
Speaker 1: to get in this game, like he's a damn good
Speaker 1: running back and he does that type of stuff. He
Speaker 1: fights for it all the time. He requires a gang
Speaker 1: of tacklers too. But I don't know, man, Cook just
Speaker 1: looked different. He looked dynamic and powerful. Every single time
Speaker 1: he got the ball and had more than two or
Speaker 1: three steps, I was like holding my breath, like, well,
Speaker 1: this has the potential to go twenty yards if not
Speaker 1: a touchdown wherever they are on the field. And you
Speaker 1: certainly didn't get that vibe from Zeke in this game.
Speaker 1: But I would argue not in any game either. He
Speaker 1: was really impressive. Based on you know, Zeke's contract and
Speaker 1: what type of running back he is. Are we expecting
Speaker 1: him to be having one hundred yard games every time
Speaker 1: every week or is that just not a realistic expectation.
Speaker 1: There's two ways I can go with this. One. For
Speaker 1: the money you're paying him, and as talented as he is,
Speaker 1: it's fair to expect more from Ezekiel Elliott again, like
Speaker 1: breaking tackles, making guys miss in open space, being somebody
Speaker 1: who can create something out of nothing. Dalvin Cook. We
Speaker 1: said it when we previewed the Vikings, and he did
Speaker 1: it a couple times last night, you know, broke off
Speaker 1: a tackle or made a guy miss and turned like
Speaker 1: a zero to two yard gain into eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
Speaker 1: He did that several times. Haven't seen Zeke do a
Speaker 1: ton of that, Like he's very productive, but he doesn't
Speaker 1: create something out of nothing like that. Having said that,
Speaker 1: this is a top ten run defense that was very
Speaker 1: clearly committed to not letting him hurt them, And as
Speaker 1: much as you'd like to see more from Zeke, a
Speaker 1: lot of that is on the coaching staff, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: for not recognizing that you're their quarterback through for ten
Speaker 1: yards a pop. Literally every single time he threw, they
Speaker 1: got ten yards and they were still just very insistent
Speaker 1: on running into a brick wall. And I just still
Speaker 1: know how good of an idea that is. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that Dak could have run the ball some too,
Speaker 1: you know, and trying to think one of four games
Speaker 1: in his career where he hasn't where he did an
Speaker 1: attempt to carry and they needed it, I mean big
Speaker 1: time down there, or the read option only works if
Speaker 1: if the quarterback keeps it wants him to do that.
Speaker 1: So I thought that was that was a big part too.
Speaker 1: It's just not being able to I mean, and we
Speaker 1: saw that Dak was running for his life on some
Speaker 1: of those passes. He did a nice job, but you know,
Speaker 1: I really thought on second or third down down there,
Speaker 1: that that that was going to be a play that
Speaker 1: you know that he has to keep the ball and
Speaker 1: kind of get some yards there. But it it just
Speaker 1: when when a guy has twenty carries for that many
Speaker 1: yards with forty ninety seventy seven, I mean it's the
Speaker 1: lowest output that he's had with twenty carries. I mean,
Speaker 1: usually you get that many carries, you know, obviously you're
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna break one. But this I think they
Speaker 1: have a problem at the offensive line in the middle.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's just uh Connor Williams.
Speaker 1: I really don't. I don't know if Frederick is playing
Speaker 1: as well as as they've expected. Um, I can't tell
Speaker 1: that Joe Looney wouldn't be a better option. I don't
Speaker 1: know that. But because you wins, because they're like, that's
Speaker 1: Travis Frederick and all the Pro Bowls, and I get it.
Speaker 1: But we will find out either. Well, but that's cool,
Speaker 1: you know, like if the if the coach wants to
Speaker 1: continue to say, well, this is our guys, these guys
Speaker 1: will you know, this is the first round pick, and
Speaker 1: this is a second round pick, and this is a
Speaker 1: pro bowler. That's cool. He'll say that when the season's
Speaker 1: over and he's out of a job. I mean, at
Speaker 1: some point I would say I got to play them
Speaker 1: the best guys. I don't care who are they drafted whatever.
Speaker 1: And I don't know that. I'm not saying that Travis
Speaker 1: Frederick is playing that poorly, but he's not playing as
Speaker 1: well as we've seen before. And I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: this team doesn't need more strength in the middle of
Speaker 1: the offensive line. I go the other way. The reason
Speaker 1: I winced is, I mean this is this is still
Speaker 1: an offensive line in a running game that has cranked
Speaker 1: out some really impressive performances, one of which came against
Speaker 1: the Eagles, who were more highly regarded against the run
Speaker 1: than the Vikings were. So they have that capacity. I
Speaker 1: just again, like I lean more towards the coaches, is like,
Speaker 1: if it's not working, it's not working, and it's on
Speaker 1: you two adapt instead of just thinking will the next
Speaker 1: one the next one will be the one that pops?
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I mean, Travis Frederick is probably not
Speaker 1: as good as he was before his illness, and that's
Speaker 1: totally understandable, but he's still him. And Connor Williams both
Speaker 1: they've been good enough to preside over some very good
Speaker 1: rushing performances, some very you know, keeping Dack clean, all
Speaker 1: that good stuff. Like, I don't think it's so drastically
Speaker 1: bad that I need to change the lineup. I'll just
Speaker 1: change the way I call games. When a very good
Speaker 1: defense has hell bent on stopping the run, especially in
Speaker 1: a game where the quarterbacks throwing for four hundred yards
Speaker 1: and last year, Connor Williams got hurt, so I Filope
Speaker 1: came in. I think we all could see that it
Speaker 1: was he played well. He and I just and I
Speaker 1: wonder if what's it gonna take to maybe see that again,
Speaker 1: like maybe he is better. Well, it took an injury
Speaker 1: last year, right, but Connor came back and did not
Speaker 1: get the job. Yeah back, I mean it took an
Speaker 1: injury for su A Philo around the playoffs for Connor
Speaker 1: to come back and get that. So I get it
Speaker 1: that he's he's the future, but I mean you kind
Speaker 1: of you got lucky with with Land into a Filo anyways,
Speaker 1: and he was drafted even higher than Connor, so he
Speaker 1: might even be a better prospect. Anyways, I think it's
Speaker 1: time to make that change. And I've said it before,
Speaker 1: but I thought yesterday was a big example of that
Speaker 1: of he missed his block several times and man Lynvall
Speaker 1: Joseph was supposed to be. I mean, he didn't play.
Speaker 1: The number of the number of lucky breaks the Cowboys
Speaker 1: have gotten in terms of like who they haven't had
Speaker 1: to play and how it hasn't mattered. Five and four
Speaker 1: didn't play against Drew Brees, didn't play against Davante Adams. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Jets are not good regardless. It doesn't matter who
Speaker 1: was or wasn't in that game. And then you didn't
Speaker 1: have Adam Thielan Lynvaal Joseph or Trey Waynes. Did not matter. Nope.
Speaker 1: So if Matthew Staffords playing next week, I hope he plays.
Speaker 1: That's serious. I mean, seriously, who who's their quarterback? Right?
Speaker 1: Without Stafford? We can get into that, but I don't
Speaker 1: even know. Well, it doesn't give you a lot to
Speaker 1: feel good about. You're like, oh, well Stafford might not play.
Speaker 1: It hasn't matter in any of the other games. Well,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees didn't matter for the Saints yesterday anyways. True,
Speaker 1: I know what was going on over there, but that's
Speaker 1: kind of shocking. The Falcons doubled their sack production in
Speaker 1: one game. That's what happened the Vision game. Well, clearly
Speaker 1: the Cowboys have bigger problems than who's playing or not
Speaker 1: playing from the opponent team. They have to fake their
Speaker 1: own issues. But let's take our final break and when
Speaker 1: we come back, where did this turnovers go? And should
Speaker 1: the Cowboys start playing Blake Jarwin Moore and take Jason
Speaker 1: Witton out of the fields. Ready, Okay? Oh? Are we
Speaker 1: gonna win? Just okaying is not okay, whether it's cheerleaders
Speaker 1: or your wireless network. At and T is America's best
Speaker 1: wireless network. Best network based on GWS one score. September
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Speaker 1: that's been tailgating with the Autobox boys. Learn more about
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Speaker 1: let's go seek kay Cowboys Nation. This season, when the
Speaker 1: Cowboys win, you get to experience the sweet taste of
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Speaker 1: don't just celebrate the Cowboys success from the sidelines. Head
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Speaker 1: Participation may vary limited time offer back to the break
Speaker 1: you join us the official Dallas Cowboys Watch Party presented
Speaker 1: Sunday at November twenty fourth. It's just presented by Age
Speaker 1: and T and enjoy a festive game day atmosphere on
Speaker 1: the Substitos Championship plots. At the start in Frisco is
Speaker 1: the Cowboys take on the New England Patriots. I hear
Speaker 1: they are good. Admission and parking are free. Visit the
Speaker 1: Star in Frisco dot com for details. I hope the
Speaker 1: weather is a little nicer that day than it is today.
Speaker 1: It's pretty gross. Really reflects kind of the mood around here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like, well the sun came out, it didn't. The
Speaker 1: sun did not come out yet. Nope. Now let's just
Speaker 1: dive writing into it. Jason Witten clearly is not playing
Speaker 1: how we expected or at least what we thought he
Speaker 1: could do for the cowboyzard and be as productive as
Speaker 1: he should be. When when they show his highlights, you
Speaker 1: know they're gonna show about a minute real and when
Speaker 1: he goes to the Hall of Fame in Canton, it
Speaker 1: won't probably be twenty nineteen that those highlights probably won't
Speaker 1: be the ones include there. He's I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's playing better than expected or right. He's just not
Speaker 1: playing like the Hall of Fame tight end that he was,
Speaker 1: and we knew that, but you know, they still kind
Speaker 1: of go to him that in that sense. And David,
Speaker 1: you said something earlier about Witten that linebackers can kind
Speaker 1: of hang with him in definitely safeties. He's not the
Speaker 1: mismatch that he was before, and I think that's the problem.
Speaker 1: Before he could just if you're gonna put a linebacker
Speaker 1: on him, he could get open even some of the safeties.
Speaker 1: He's not the mismatch anymore. And you know it was
Speaker 1: it was tough. You'd liked for him to make that
Speaker 1: play in the end zone. But he gets tripped up
Speaker 1: when when you look out Blake Jarwin and how he
Speaker 1: has been able to contribute in the passing game and
Speaker 1: have had some really successful plays that have helped the
Speaker 1: Cowboys get to a different point in the game. But
Speaker 1: when you look at what he's doing versus Jason Witten,
Speaker 1: should the Cowboys be playing him more and try to
Speaker 1: give him more opportunities and chances to get the bull
Speaker 1: moving rather than keeping Jason Witten as much on the field.
Speaker 1: Probably probably, Like I mean you said, you know, he
Speaker 1: hasn't been performing like we expected him too. I would
Speaker 1: argue this is more or less exactly what I expected.
Speaker 1: Like Jason Witten is, He's still a solid to decent
Speaker 1: football player. Like he can get open, he knows how
Speaker 1: to run routes, he knows how to use leverage. We've
Speaker 1: said all that stuff a million times. He's not a mismatch.
Speaker 1: He's not, at this point in his career a guy
Speaker 1: that like keeps defensive coordinators awake at night. He you
Speaker 1: know you can, you can take him out of the
Speaker 1: game if that's what you want to do. It's that,
Speaker 1: I mean, which is to be expected when you're thirty
Speaker 1: seven years old. At the same time, he's still Jason
Speaker 1: Witten and he's not playing so terribly that like he's
Speaker 1: like this just liability clearly, Like he I mean, he
Speaker 1: was pretty fantastic against the Giants. But you're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: but for some reason, his little mistakes rest and they
Speaker 1: taught more than anybody else's in my head, because of
Speaker 1: who he is, because of who he is, and because
Speaker 1: they're not winning games. But like it's I mean it,
Speaker 1: I don't know it was like that before he retired
Speaker 1: the first time too, though, Like he's a good football player.
Speaker 1: He's still probably good for somewhere between one and three
Speaker 1: bad plays per game, and they stand out because of
Speaker 1: who he is. Having said that, like he's not so
Speaker 1: bad that he's like this liability that they have to
Speaker 1: get off the field. And so I just don't think
Speaker 1: they're going to. Like I said that way back when
Speaker 1: he came out of retirement, I'm just like, this is
Speaker 1: what the tight end position will be for the time
Speaker 1: that he is still here. You don't have to like it.
Speaker 1: You know, they're not going to draft a player, they're
Speaker 1: not going to elevate somebody above him. They're just kind
Speaker 1: of in a holding pattern while this is going on.
Speaker 1: And it could be the rest, I mean, could be
Speaker 1: just this season. Maybe he comes back. I don't know
Speaker 1: the answer to that. But the tight end position just
Speaker 1: is what it is while he's here. And that is
Speaker 1: to say it's fine, but it's not something that like
Speaker 1: gets you excited or is going to like be the
Speaker 1: reason why you win games. I kind of want to
Speaker 1: see him out there just blocking and helping Zeke and
Speaker 1: in the blogging game and all that, and then just
Speaker 1: keep like driving for the passing game. And but that
Speaker 1: that sounds good, but obviously it doesn't necessarily work that
Speaker 1: way if it's a coordinators figure of that stuff out too. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they just were they just it was a
Speaker 1: physical game and Mike Zimmers never had a defense that
Speaker 1: wasn't physical even when he was here. Uh you know
Speaker 1: that that's kind of his emo. And they they just
Speaker 1: kind of punched the Cowboys in the mouth and they
Speaker 1: took some shots too. I mean, this was a back
Speaker 1: and forth game. It was a it was a good
Speaker 1: entertaining game. It was a very if you're Ager fan,
Speaker 1: if you're if you're a Chargers or a Colts fan,
Speaker 1: you're watching it. It's fun, it's good football. Cowboy fans
Speaker 1: are you know, pissed off? And and you know in
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett and you know is the problem and Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore's the problem and all that. But they get twelve
Speaker 1: more yards and score touchdown and win the game. And
Speaker 1: you know, then all of a sudden, this is a
Speaker 1: six and three football team that's right in the middle
Speaker 1: of the playoff race. But what makes it so fair? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I firmly believed that they were going to score with
Speaker 1: a minute in twelve seconds to go, and and Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins was going to get him down to the thirty
Speaker 1: two yard line, and Dan Bailey would have a forty
Speaker 1: nine to fifty yard field goal to tie the game,
Speaker 1: and he was gonna miss. That's what I That's what
Speaker 1: I believe was going to happen. You went a few
Speaker 1: steps ahead of me. I just I thought they would
Speaker 1: score and take the lead. I didn't know what would happen. Well,
Speaker 1: Dan Bailey coming back, I just thought for sure that
Speaker 1: was gonna happen. That's why we got rid of you.
Speaker 1: We're looking for a silver lining. I don't place. What's
Speaker 1: that right for first place in the division now, I'll
Speaker 1: forget that. Wait, I mean there, if they make the playoffs,
Speaker 1: it'll be as the NFC's champion. Like for me, this
Speaker 1: loss just is a nail in the coffin of whatever
Speaker 1: slim wildcard hopes they have or third loss to an
Speaker 1: NFC contender. Minnesota and Green Bay are both fantastic. The
Speaker 1: Saints are doing their thing. You got you know, the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers. We'll see what happens tonight, but like
Speaker 1: they look like they're in line for a buy. So
Speaker 1: then you're dealing with the Seahawks to like they just
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys make the playoffs, it would be as
Speaker 1: the NFC East champion and they would be the four seed.
Speaker 1: Like I just feel like that's a foregone conclusion. Anyway, No,
Speaker 1: the silver lining is I really think that was the
Speaker 1: best game of Dak's entire career. I'm serious, silver I
Speaker 1: mean no, no, seriously, it's it's gonna sound like cold
Speaker 1: comfort to anybody listening right now, and you're mad, and
Speaker 1: I'm sorry about that, but Dak played like a badass
Speaker 1: on a night where you know the line wasn't I mean,
Speaker 1: I know he only got sacked once, but the line
Speaker 1: wasn't protecting him great. He was running for his life.
Speaker 1: He had no running game. Zeke wasn't taking any pressure
Speaker 1: off of him, and he's they'll balled the hell out he.
Speaker 1: I mean, his precision passing on third down. I think
Speaker 1: he was seven of ten on third down, just some
Speaker 1: of the best throws of his entire career. Him and Cooper, obviously,
Speaker 1: their chemistry is off the charts, so I guess I
Speaker 1: would throw the ball even before the receiver would be
Speaker 1: turned completely and they would. His anticipation was off the charts.
Speaker 1: And all of that is to say that is the
Speaker 1: criticism we've heard about Dax for so long. He's like, well,
Speaker 1: he's only good if everything's good around him, and he
Speaker 1: doesn't elevate anybody. He put arrows in all those theories
Speaker 1: last night, which they lost the game. I get that,
Speaker 1: but he was outstanding and that gives me, if I'm
Speaker 1: a Cowboys fan, that gives me confidence that he is
Speaker 1: growing into that type of quarterback that can win you
Speaker 1: a game on his own. Yeah, I can kind of
Speaker 1: argue a little bit the fact that he wasn't I mean,
Speaker 1: he was great, but he wasn't great enough to back
Speaker 1: off what the vice things were doing defensively true, and
Speaker 1: to run the ball because usually when you're just throwing
Speaker 1: it that way, you have to soften up the middle
Speaker 1: and then that's where you know, and that's what the
Speaker 1: Cowboys kept counting on, that all these passes are gonna
Speaker 1: lead to boom. Zeke's gonna but it never worked. Is
Speaker 1: that his fault for not being great enough? Or is
Speaker 1: that the coaching staff's fault for not hammering what was working?
Speaker 1: Like mash that like button retweet on what's working? Why
Speaker 1: am I talking like this? I don't know, because you're
Speaker 1: I mean, the fact that you don't have your phone
Speaker 1: in your hand is you know. I mean, I get it.
Speaker 1: Balance is important and you have a great running back,
Speaker 1: but just ride the hot hand sometimes. And I'm again,
Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about down on the eleven yard line.
Speaker 1: I get. I mean you would like to think Zeke
Speaker 1: can pick up a second and two. I get that.
Speaker 1: It's everything else. It's like, oh my god, what an
Speaker 1: incredible throw by Deck and Cooper with this amazing catch
Speaker 1: twenty yards. They're in Vikings territory, all right, Now let's
Speaker 1: run it for half a yard. Yeah, the fourth down play,
Speaker 1: you know, Vikings gave him, you know, a gift by
Speaker 1: calling the time out. Well, maybe it wasn't a gift
Speaker 1: because maybe the Vikings got a chance to get into
Speaker 1: the defense that they wanted. But you know, coming out
Speaker 1: of a time out all fourth and five with the
Speaker 1: game on the line, like Zeke is a is a
Speaker 1: good option to throw the ball too and other times,
Speaker 1: but he is the worst route runner on the field.
Speaker 1: I mean, naturally, he's not a receiver. He's not a
Speaker 1: route runner. So he ran a you know, it wasn't
Speaker 1: a very uninspired yeah, and it was just a perfect
Speaker 1: throw to a non receiver that has to make this
Speaker 1: play when the other three guys are absolutely lighting up
Speaker 1: the Vikings. So that just didn't make any sense at all.
Speaker 1: Why you wouldn't say, I'm gonna go to a Mariy Cooper.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hope that he makes the right play here
Speaker 1: and if not, you know, we'll see if we get
Speaker 1: a past interference. Because that's Mary Cooper. He's the best,
Speaker 1: one of the best receivers in the League. You know
Speaker 1: what play I miss, and I I know they've probably
Speaker 1: called it this year, but I miss the just the
Speaker 1: little bubble screen to Dez Bryant where you just get
Speaker 1: him the ball and let him make a play. No interesting,
Speaker 1: you said that. I thought that this morning when I
Speaker 1: was thinking about the game. This is when I think
Speaker 1: I'm gonna set in the press box. This is where
Speaker 1: you miss a Dez Bryant type of player down there
Speaker 1: where they can't looking for a job right now, sit
Speaker 1: in there. But I'm just saying, you can't punch it in,
Speaker 1: you can't run it in. You sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: say my guy versus your guy. My guy's gonna win.
Speaker 1: And they could do that with it or somebody like that.
Speaker 1: They don't have that type of receiver. They really don't
Speaker 1: have that guy. Cooper doesn't have the build for it.
Speaker 1: But I would argue he could do that. I mean,
Speaker 1: he can high point the hell out of the ball.
Speaker 1: We've seen it. I know it got called back, but
Speaker 1: the play he made against I want to say the Eagles,
Speaker 1: you know, down on the goal line, he got separation,
Speaker 1: Like he can go up and get those types of balls.
Speaker 1: So I would argue, and the same thing. Like if
Speaker 1: you throw Amari Cooper just a bubble throw with you
Speaker 1: know him on a cornerback like, I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: win the majority of those, which we'll see. We'll see
Speaker 1: if they can do that in Detroit. Yeah, we will.
Speaker 1: First time we're going to Detroit. Since that Gamez and
Speaker 1: Megatron going back and forth, I think Megatron went further.
Speaker 1: He did, he did, but Dez had a really great
Speaker 1: game too. Well, maybe this will be a game where
Speaker 1: the Cowboys figure it out. I was gonna say, sorry,
Speaker 1: I just might be the most important. Well that's all.
Speaker 1: It usually happens with Jason. You know, when they start
Speaker 1: getting pushed against the wall a little bit, they they
Speaker 1: might win this game, and if Matthew Stafford doesn't play,
Speaker 1: they have a great chance. But we can't say that
Speaker 1: they have. They will have figured it out even if
Speaker 1: they win this game. I'm saying for that game. I'll
Speaker 1: figure out for one game. Well, you know, you're five
Speaker 1: and four and you got the Lions and I believe
Speaker 1: the Patriots are next. Oh you better win this game. Yep.
Speaker 1: All right, Well that is all the time we have
Speaker 1: for today. I'm sure you guys can discuss turnovers tomorrow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that wasn't They didn't get anyway, So, yeah, they didn't
Speaker 1: get any good all right, We handled it. That's it.
Speaker 1: That's it. Especially, I mean, you see them having success
Speaker 1: at it for the past couple of weeks and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden disappeared. But Dalvin Cook almost gave
Speaker 1: them the earliest Christmas present of all time with that
Speaker 1: fumble down there. I mean, I don't know what was
Speaker 1: happening right there. Not to say the Cowboys would have
Speaker 1: scored if they were recovered it at the five, but
Speaker 1: would have been interesting, would have been nice. All right. Well,
Speaker 1: thank you guys so much for tuning in today for Nickiman,
Speaker 1: David Hellman. Remember you'll see how it has been the
Speaker 1: break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been
Speaker 1: a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys Football Club.