Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Lets go. Are you
Speaker 1: ready for 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: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is Monday, November thirtieth, twenty twenty, season sixteen, episode
Speaker 1: number seventy one. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break.
Speaker 1: We're live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the
Speaker 1: Star at least Nick is. The rest of us are
Speaker 1: at our homes. We'll be doing the show here. I'll
Speaker 1: be doing the show here this week and back in
Speaker 1: the studio next week. But that doesn't stop us. We
Speaker 1: got an hour, actually forty five minutes of Cowboys talk
Speaker 1: for you guys, and today we've got to rehash that
Speaker 1: game from a Thanksgiving Day. The Cowboys lose to the
Speaker 1: Washington football team forty one to sixteen in a game
Speaker 1: that well, I'll let you guys tell us the bigger
Speaker 1: storyline of the game, because it seemed like for me
Speaker 1: that game, that final score didn't necessarily reflect the game
Speaker 1: through most of the game, but obviously at the end
Speaker 1: of the game, it just all exploded on the Cowboys
Speaker 1: and they lose forty one to sixteen. Let's go and
Speaker 1: start with the storylines of the game. Nick, let's start
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, just when I wrote there were
Speaker 1: one dimensional, they couldn't run the ball, and when they
Speaker 1: showed it early in the game that they couldn't run.
Speaker 1: And when that happens, you know, obviously, especially on the defense,
Speaker 1: that goody, they they're gonna be looking for all kinds
Speaker 1: of trick gadget crap that they try to throw out there,
Speaker 1: and it didn't work. But I mean, this team was
Speaker 1: built to go run the football. They're obviously not built
Speaker 1: that way more. And they were just so one dimensional
Speaker 1: and it affected them throughout the game and gave and
Speaker 1: it gave Washington short fields. Amber Well, doesn't matter how
Speaker 1: bad the NFC is, ease, it's just not gonna happen
Speaker 1: this year for the Cowboys. I had jumped back on
Speaker 1: the train thinking that after Minnesota they were able to
Speaker 1: do some things, and then this happened. It's like, if
Speaker 1: it's not one thing, it's another, you get your two
Speaker 1: starting tackles. They go out of the game early, but
Speaker 1: then the Cowboys are still kind of in there. You know,
Speaker 1: they're still competing. But then the coaching staff, the coaching decisions,
Speaker 1: I don't understand, and I know we're gonna get into it,
Speaker 1: but it's just like, men, it's just we cannot enjoy
Speaker 1: one single game in peace. It's always gotta be one
Speaker 1: problem with this team. So that's all I have to
Speaker 1: say in a nice way at this you know it's
Speaker 1: funny at this moment. Is I don't know. I think
Speaker 1: we were all on that text message Thursday when Amber
Speaker 1: was like, all right, I'm done. I'm absolutely done. So
Speaker 1: we knew this was coming and that was very light.
Speaker 1: So as we get into the show, I'm sure Amber
Speaker 1: will have more than she wants to throw on that pile.
Speaker 1: But that was a good four days to cool down day.
Speaker 1: What you got for us, I'm gonna Angie, we just
Speaker 1: we got to talk about just ride in the middle, man,
Speaker 1: Like you can't you can't follow. You can't follow the
Speaker 1: team on this roller coaster. It's gonna drive you crazy.
Speaker 1: Because listen, Thursday sucked. They looked terrible, but like they're
Speaker 1: almost in the exact same boat that they already were like, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's bad to lose a division game, but the
Speaker 1: roller Coasters not over. Like, there's five more of these
Speaker 1: to go against some terrible teams. So all I'm saying
Speaker 1: is just get ready to be frustrated for another month.
Speaker 1: If I had to guess um. As far as the
Speaker 1: game itself, I agree. I agree with with what Age
Speaker 1: just said. It like the decision making like this, this
Speaker 1: shouldn't have been a blowout loss. I'm taking the point
Speaker 1: from Rob Phillips, but Washington basically started three possession in
Speaker 1: the Cowboys red zone. Two of those were questionable coaching decisions,
Speaker 1: and one wasn't fumbled by Ezekiel Elliott. I think that's
Speaker 1: the story of the game, self inflicted errors. I know
Speaker 1: it sucks that they lost their tackles on the first
Speaker 1: drive of the game, but they were in it and
Speaker 1: I know, well, you know we're gonna get into the
Speaker 1: fake punt, but they were in it until the coaches
Speaker 1: decided that they didn't need to be anymore. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: this is a game more than any other this season
Speaker 1: where I put it on the coaching staff just putting
Speaker 1: their team in really bad situations. Let's jump into that.
Speaker 1: I really want to dive into these these two. It
Speaker 1: were two coaching decisions I think that we really need
Speaker 1: to talk about as we start our moments that mattered.
Speaker 1: We'll start with these two and then we'll go around
Speaker 1: and let you guys talk about the moments that mattered
Speaker 1: to you. The first coaching decision, it was a fourth down.
Speaker 1: It was in the first quarter, about five twenty two
Speaker 1: left in the first quarter. Dallas and Washington were tie
Speaker 1: ten ten. And the interesting thing was it was a
Speaker 1: third and one at the Dallas thirty four. Dallas runs
Speaker 1: a shovel pass to Ceedee Lamb, gets no gain, and
Speaker 1: then they come back on fourth and one and they
Speaker 1: have an incomplete pass to Ceedee Lamb where he was
Speaker 1: in one on one coverage on the outside. Tell me,
Speaker 1: do you do you agree or disagree with that decision?
Speaker 1: And why? Let's start first with you, Dave, the decision
Speaker 1: to go for it or the decision to throw a pass. Yep, No,
Speaker 1: I don't mean the whole thing. Okay, I'm I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna sit here and question the decision to go for it.
Speaker 1: I'm I like aggressive football. I like when coaches play bold.
Speaker 1: You know, it's fourth and short, third and short for
Speaker 1: that matter, like you should be able to pick that up.
Speaker 1: We saw him do it last week, and everybody applauded
Speaker 1: him for it. Um, I really hate the play call
Speaker 1: to throw it out to Cede Lamb on a hitch
Speaker 1: like that. I mean, you know, they said that they
Speaker 1: felt like they had a favorable matchup. Even if you do,
Speaker 1: it's such a high risk play on a fourth down.
Speaker 1: I really I thought that was really dumb. I you know,
Speaker 1: I think me and Nick are an agreement that in
Speaker 1: situations like this, there's just gotta be a way to
Speaker 1: make it easy. I mean, like, Okay, you don't feel
Speaker 1: comfortable quarterback sneaking with Andy Dalton, There's got to be
Speaker 1: somebody else on the roster that can do it. Or
Speaker 1: you know, you pay your running back fifteen million dollars
Speaker 1: a year, you'd like to think that he can pick
Speaker 1: up nine inches. So, you know, I definitely don't hate
Speaker 1: the call, but I hate the play that they decided
Speaker 1: to do it with. If Andy Dalton had issues with
Speaker 1: his concussion, he didn't play like it. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was diving all over the place, he was running and
Speaker 1: and you know, and yeah, trying to get first downs
Speaker 1: and all that. So I don't And then they ran
Speaker 1: it later, Yeah, they ran it later in the game.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I'm with you, David. I don't like
Speaker 1: to throw out there, you know, I can't. I can't
Speaker 1: say I hate the third down play because they did
Speaker 1: it a couple times against Minnesota and as he to work,
Speaker 1: so it was like, oh, that's a good play. But
Speaker 1: you know, it's just to me, that was the difference
Speaker 1: in the game. It's just showing that we can't run Zeke.
Speaker 1: We know we can't run Zeke. We're not even gonna try.
Speaker 1: We're gonna try o this stuff, and you know, it
Speaker 1: just kind of so deflating for the team that, like,
Speaker 1: we can't do what we're supposed to do to run
Speaker 1: to get a yard, we have to try other things
Speaker 1: and it didn't work. What I don't get it's like
Speaker 1: at that point of the game, Zeke hadn't had the fumble.
Speaker 1: Like the fumble happened in the third quarter, so it
Speaker 1: was still pretty early in the game. Why do you
Speaker 1: feel so like you had no confidence on Zeke or
Speaker 1: even Tony Polar for that matter. I mean, we've seen
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard being able to run the ball as well.
Speaker 1: So that's just very very confusing to me, as I
Speaker 1: can't really remember how the old line was playing at
Speaker 1: that specific moment, but it shouldn't have been that back
Speaker 1: to the point where you can't just get one like
Speaker 1: first down, Like, I just don't understand. It blows my mind.
Speaker 1: And the fact that it happened not just one time,
Speaker 1: it happened multiple times. That's the thing with me that
Speaker 1: I just completely don't understand. Why not run the ball?
Speaker 1: Do you guys think that maybe they obviously they respects,
Speaker 1: they respected the Washington defensive front. Do you think that
Speaker 1: maybe in this instance they were giving a little bit
Speaker 1: too much respect to that defensive front and thinking, hey,
Speaker 1: we gotta do something different because we don't think that
Speaker 1: we can necessarily run at will against the front. This good.
Speaker 1: Well go back to the after the jail interception. You
Speaker 1: know it's first and goal in the four, it was
Speaker 1: second and goal at the six. I mean, they looks
Speaker 1: like a run play on first down. That looks like
Speaker 1: a play that you know, you would think you would run.
Speaker 1: Washington guess that. And so I'm just I think that
Speaker 1: Cowboys looked at it and said, when we want to
Speaker 1: run the ball up the middle and that matchup, you
Speaker 1: know that man on man is not good for us.
Speaker 1: Looney's not gonna win. McGovern's not gonna win. Connor william
Speaker 1: is not going to win. They're not gonna win. And
Speaker 1: then even the tackles at that point in the game.
Speaker 1: I mean it just so it's like they've got to
Speaker 1: try something else, but you know, just just showing that
Speaker 1: we're not even going to try. I agree with the Amber.
Speaker 1: I think you have to try right there that point
Speaker 1: in the game, you at least have to try to
Speaker 1: see if our fifteen million to a year running back
Speaker 1: can get a yard, which, on the flip side, I
Speaker 1: agree with everything Nick just said. But the flip side
Speaker 1: is in the NFL, if you telegraph that you're going
Speaker 1: to run right up the gut and you're not good
Speaker 1: at it, or you don't have the line or the
Speaker 1: back or whatever like, you will get stopped. The Cowboys
Speaker 1: did against Minnesota on third and one last week. They
Speaker 1: got absolutely stuffed and they had to do the end
Speaker 1: a round to CD to get the first down. So
Speaker 1: I definitely can't you know, like no, they probably were
Speaker 1: paying the proper amount of respect to Washington's front, like
Speaker 1: they might not have gotten it, but yeah, I still
Speaker 1: think you need to try or you know, that's a
Speaker 1: situation where if you know you're gonna do it, you've
Speaker 1: got two downs to get it. So maybe try Zeke
Speaker 1: on third and again. Like I just I think the
Speaker 1: quarterback sneak should be that play almost every single time.
Speaker 1: And like, if you don't trust Andy Dalton to do it,
Speaker 1: then find somebody else who can. That's what's so valuable
Speaker 1: about Dak is h He's gonna get it ninety nine
Speaker 1: times out of one hundred. But I joked on Thursday,
Speaker 1: like Blake Bell played quarterback in college, he could definitely
Speaker 1: handle a snap and run forward for a yard. Like
Speaker 1: I would have that in my playbook every single week.
Speaker 1: And you can't convince me that it wouldn't work in
Speaker 1: a situation like that at least, you know, and earlier
Speaker 1: in the game at that point the first quarter, I
Speaker 1: think Zeke was a fullback and with Pollard back there,
Speaker 1: and you can't think that that's that's the only play
Speaker 1: that's design there. It's just to run Zeke up the
Speaker 1: middle and a fullback. I mean, it's it's to do
Speaker 1: something else. So I probably would have gone back to that.
Speaker 1: They're thinking, Zeke, that's maybe when Pollard gets it. I
Speaker 1: don't know, tell Zeke to block be a lead fullback. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you know that's always been one glad amberg Am.
Speaker 1: I was just gonna say that, you guys are saying, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: pay respect to them or whatever, but how about you
Speaker 1: have some self respect, like, have some self respect, respect
Speaker 1: your own team and go out there like you you
Speaker 1: you feel like you believe on your own team and
Speaker 1: you believe that you can do it. To me, that
Speaker 1: just shows that you're scared that you you know, you're
Speaker 1: incapable of doing those kinds of plays, and you need
Speaker 1: to go out there. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: who you're playing against. You need to go play with
Speaker 1: self confidence. And to me, those kinds of decisions just
Speaker 1: goes to show me or made me think that you
Speaker 1: don't think that your team has what he had what
Speaker 1: he needs to be able to make it happen. What
Speaker 1: if that's true though, like, like honestly, because that's kind
Speaker 1: of what I wrote. No, I wrote that that whole
Speaker 1: thing I kind of said that was this is where
Speaker 1: the game was lost. But what if McCarthy, I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, you know, what if that's really the answer,
Speaker 1: Like I don't believe that, but I mean, we still
Speaker 1: have to play. We're not going to cancel. So like,
Speaker 1: what what do you do if you really believe, hey,
Speaker 1: we cannot move these guys off the ball now? I honestly,
Speaker 1: I honestly believe that is the evaluation, and quite frankly,
Speaker 1: I think it's right the right evaluation. I don't think
Speaker 1: this offensive line can pick up that first down then
Speaker 1: that kind of short yardage situation unless you do something
Speaker 1: that's a little different. And Nick, that's where I go
Speaker 1: back to what you were saying about the play earlier
Speaker 1: in the game. We had Zeke and Pollard in the backfield.
Speaker 1: One of the biggest complaints I've had about Kelling Moore
Speaker 1: from the time he started calling players here is I
Speaker 1: think there are too many of those kind of situations
Speaker 1: where they'll show you something girling in the game and
Speaker 1: to me, it's setting something up, but they never come
Speaker 1: back and follow it up, or it doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: they come back and follow it up. And you're right,
Speaker 1: that would have been a perfect situation or maybe another
Speaker 1: situation later in the game where you put those two
Speaker 1: guys in the backfield again, it worked perfectly with Zeke
Speaker 1: at the fullback position getting the ball, kind of running
Speaker 1: into the line and get picking up the yardage. Next time,
Speaker 1: maybe pitch it out to Pollard, fag Zeke and then
Speaker 1: pitch out the Pollard. It's just like they didn't follow
Speaker 1: up and use what it already worked to the defenses
Speaker 1: or to the offense's advantage. And you have to do
Speaker 1: those things when you're just not as good, and I
Speaker 1: don't think there is good all right, Let's go on
Speaker 1: to the second decision that the coach made. This one
Speaker 1: I think most people probably had even a bigger problem
Speaker 1: with it. Was the fourth quarter. It was twelve to
Speaker 1: twenty one left Washington was up twenty to sixteen, so
Speaker 1: the game was still in hand at this point. It
Speaker 1: was fourth and ten at the Dallas twenty four. Cowboys
Speaker 1: decide they're gonna do a fake punt. Cedric Wilson gets
Speaker 1: the ball, He's tackled for a one yard loss. I
Speaker 1: think most people believe he was actually setting that up
Speaker 1: to be able to throw the pass, was not able
Speaker 1: to do it. To the punter and he ends up
Speaker 1: with the one yard loss. On the next very next play,
Speaker 1: Washington scores on a twenty three yard run by Gibson.
Speaker 1: Give me your thoughts on that decision making, because McCarthy says,
Speaker 1: based on the things they'd seen a week, they felt
Speaker 1: like they had a good opportunity there. They it was
Speaker 1: the right decision. He didn't walk back on that. So
Speaker 1: what do you think of his decision there to go forward? Ambu,
Speaker 1: Let's start with you. Terrible, terrible decision because again you
Speaker 1: you go back to saying they were twenty sixteen, The
Speaker 1: game wasn't a way. You still had like how much
Speaker 1: time left like maybe twelve minutes left in the game
Speaker 1: in the so you still have plenty of time to
Speaker 1: get back in it. You weren't that far. You were
Speaker 1: still in it, So why take a decision like that?
Speaker 1: It was terrible. And I went back to look at
Speaker 1: the play before the show and how Cedric Wilson. I mean,
Speaker 1: he goes back, he takes the ball and take makes
Speaker 1: this long ass curve all the way in the backfield.
Speaker 1: I'm like, why why are you take why are you
Speaker 1: going even further back to go forward? It doesn't. It
Speaker 1: didn't make any sense. I mean, the call. The call
Speaker 1: was terrible. And it's not like you say, oh man,
Speaker 1: we've seen special teams play amazing this, or we trust them,
Speaker 1: we know they can do it. Absolutely not terrible decision.
Speaker 1: I don't care what they say. I don't care the
Speaker 1: reason behind it. I think you should not have done
Speaker 1: that whatsoever. You ended up positioning Washington in a great
Speaker 1: field position. They come back and score on you, and
Speaker 1: then there goes the game. Nick, I'm gonna play Devil's advocate.
Speaker 1: No I can't. No, I can't. Let's hear it. No,
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't. It's the I mean, I tweeted,
Speaker 1: it's is this the worst play call ever? And you
Speaker 1: know I think it is here here here's my take,
Speaker 1: um that everything she said is right the time. I mean,
Speaker 1: but but I thought that Mike McCarthy came in here
Speaker 1: was preaching analytics. That's that's one thing he said from
Speaker 1: the start. You know, we were big a proponent of
Speaker 1: you know, analytics, Well, analytics is what probability, the probability
Speaker 1: rate that this is going to happen if you go
Speaker 1: for to here and all that kind of stuff. So
Speaker 1: the probability of fourth and ten giving it to a
Speaker 1: backup receiver, let him come around ten yards or as
Speaker 1: she said, long ask her to get around to get there.
Speaker 1: Make it fourth and twenty. So you can throw it
Speaker 1: to the punter like that's the play. That's the probability.
Speaker 1: So you can have the ball to thirty five thirty
Speaker 1: eight yard line and then keep keep driving. I mean,
Speaker 1: punt the ball because the probability. Alex Smith great story,
Speaker 1: comeback Player of the Year, tribute to him to come back.
Speaker 1: He's still not a good quarterback, and his last throw
Speaker 1: was to Jalen Smith, so the probability is that he's
Speaker 1: probably gonna make that. If you want to generate a
Speaker 1: big play, put it in the hands of Alex Smith.
Speaker 1: Put the pressure on and see if Alex Smith can
Speaker 1: give you a big play. He already gave you one
Speaker 1: that It just makes no sense to me, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know. I don't know what else
Speaker 1: I can add on top of that. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just like I said, I mean, it's I think the
Speaker 1: game gets away from you right after this. They score
Speaker 1: on the next possession, and I mean, you can't tell
Speaker 1: me you can't tell me that that's not a morale thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the defense wasn't amazing on Thursday,
Speaker 1: but they had been playing well. The two possessions prior
Speaker 1: to that were a three and out and the interception
Speaker 1: by Jalen Smith. You know, like I said, they weren't
Speaker 1: playing great, but they weren't surrendering twenty three and thirty
Speaker 1: seven yard touchdowns. And that happens on the first play afterward. No,
Speaker 1: that's a that is a demoralized defense. That is like, wow,
Speaker 1: appreciate you putting in this, putting us in this spot, coach.
Speaker 1: And they might not say that, but yeah, again, they
Speaker 1: might not say that publicly, but that's what I believe.
Speaker 1: Just yeah, and again. I mean, if it's fourth and two, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm here. If it's fourth and five, okay, let's let's
Speaker 1: let's party. It's fourth and ten, fourth and ten, right
Speaker 1: up near your own red zone. You give the ball
Speaker 1: to Cedric Wilson ten yards behind the scrim behind the line,
Speaker 1: so you got to pick up twenty yards to convert.
Speaker 1: He's supposed to throw to the punter, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: this ain't Chris Jones or Johnny Hecker like these veteran
Speaker 1: punters who have run many fakes in their lives. This
Speaker 1: is a guy who's playing in like his third NFL game.
Speaker 1: You're putting him in that spot or Cedric is supposed to,
Speaker 1: you know, find a secondary read and throw it fifteen
Speaker 1: twenty five yards down the field as a wide receiver. Like,
Speaker 1: the whole thing was asinine. And I mean the coaches
Speaker 1: can defend it all they want to, but it was awful.
Speaker 1: And I say that as a guy like I love
Speaker 1: fake punts, I love being aggressive. That wasn't aggressive. It
Speaker 1: was reckless, and it didn't work and it cost him
Speaker 1: the game. What are your thoughts when when the special
Speaker 1: team's coach comes out and says it would have worked
Speaker 1: earlier in the game, Well, they should have called it
Speaker 1: then that right, call it earlier again, It call it
Speaker 1: earlier when you see the more favorable Yeah, and when
Speaker 1: it doesn't work, I'll put it in my five plays article, like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't forget this play, you know, but don't make
Speaker 1: it like the game. You're right, I mean that when
Speaker 1: that happened, it was like, yeah, you know, you flip that.
Speaker 1: What are they what are they wft? Yeah, flip those
Speaker 1: last two because that's exactly what it was. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure every one of us got a text message from
Speaker 1: someone that said those exact three words. Maybe people that
Speaker 1: I don't know that like, just people that I don't
Speaker 1: talk to on a regular basis. You know, it's Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: everybody's watching football, Like people I don't hear from on
Speaker 1: a regular basis. We're texting me like what did I
Speaker 1: just watch in your game? Or what am I I'm
Speaker 1: trying to figure that out. I'm trying to figure that
Speaker 1: out too. Yeah, when I and I've had to talk
Speaker 1: about this with people all weekend, I'm sure you could
Speaker 1: probably guys probably have two as you talking to different
Speaker 1: family members. My thing is always, look, when you call
Speaker 1: something like that, I'm not killing you for making the
Speaker 1: call to do it, even though it was a bad decision.
Speaker 1: I think I'm not killing you for that part. What
Speaker 1: I'm killing you for is you made that decision in
Speaker 1: a bad situation, and you didn't have a play call
Speaker 1: that was so great that would overcome that bad situation,
Speaker 1: Like if you can convert something like that, because you
Speaker 1: knew we have been working on this one play that
Speaker 1: we knew was gonna be perfect for this situation and
Speaker 1: we were able to convert it in those kind of situations. Hey,
Speaker 1: it worked out for you. Great. It was still probably
Speaker 1: a bad decision, but it worked out for you. So
Speaker 1: I'm killing him for the fact that, like you said, Nick,
Speaker 1: when you start factoring in all the things that are
Speaker 1: probabilities in this that you're gonna have a wide receiver
Speaker 1: who's gonna be able to throw a pass down, feel
Speaker 1: that you're gonna have a punter who's in this third
Speaker 1: NFL game is going to be able to run arount
Speaker 1: and get open. That you're gonna be able to convert
Speaker 1: this thing ten yards. Right, Everything about this says, no,
Speaker 1: it's not going to happen, but somehow they felt like
Speaker 1: it was. And it proved out that they were absolutely wrong,
Speaker 1: as we all knew they probably would be in that
Speaker 1: kind of situation. So which all things being considered, it
Speaker 1: was a bad decision. It was a really bad decision.
Speaker 1: It makes you wonder, and again, these are the you know,
Speaker 1: these are the types of things that you will never
Speaker 1: hear or somebody say publicly, But it makes me wonder
Speaker 1: what they were thinking about the state of the team, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, are they on the sideline like defense is
Speaker 1: given up a touchdown if they have to go back
Speaker 1: out there, no matter what I mean, because that it's
Speaker 1: a call that reeks of desperation. And like I said,
Speaker 1: like they're not They're not going to say that publicly,
Speaker 1: but I wonder they're like, we gotta we gotta stay
Speaker 1: on the field or we're losing the game anyway, Which
Speaker 1: if that was their mindset, then maybe I understand it
Speaker 1: a little bit better. But but come, I mean, no,
Speaker 1: it was all it was bad. That's not like you're
Speaker 1: facing My Homes or Drew Brees or somebody that you
Speaker 1: can't you know, you can't stop them. I mean they're
Speaker 1: they're facing Yeah, they're facing Alex Smith, who they up
Speaker 1: until that point, they have not They had not driven
Speaker 1: the ball past midfield for a points since the first quarter.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've got some short fields, but they had
Speaker 1: not been able to drive the ball since the first
Speaker 1: quarter and score any points. So what what is? Why
Speaker 1: do you have to generate a play? How about just
Speaker 1: let nice Wonder do what he does. He punts playing
Speaker 1: he can punt fifty sixty yards flipping down there, there
Speaker 1: could be a block in the back the way those
Speaker 1: rests were calling on special teams, and then you know,
Speaker 1: and then and then you got to go make a stop.
Speaker 1: You're you're down four. But I mean the Cowboys. I
Speaker 1: wonder what the win probability was for the Cowboys at
Speaker 1: that point in the game. I mean, I bet he
Speaker 1: was right there at fifty fifty. You know, depends on
Speaker 1: when they punted it. But as Dave said, I mean,
Speaker 1: everybody said, the coach took him out of that. The
Speaker 1: coach said, we're taking this away, and then then the
Speaker 1: bottom really dropped out. And they have been playing well
Speaker 1: to that point, so relatively well, I mean, you're only
Speaker 1: down twenty sixteen things, there are some things that are
Speaker 1: going well for you at that point. You're already you're
Speaker 1: already down your two tackles as well. So I just
Speaker 1: I just think he basically put them in a situation
Speaker 1: that you put a team that has a much better
Speaker 1: defense in that you put a team has a much
Speaker 1: better offense in. He doesn't have those things to be
Speaker 1: able to take those kinds of chances. He's got to
Speaker 1: play it a little close to the vest. When the
Speaker 1: team is actually in a ball game. All right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna take our first break and we come back. We
Speaker 1: got some performance reviews we want to get into. We'll
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about those tackles and the what
Speaker 1: it's looking like as far as their ability to come
Speaker 1: back and play here down the stretch in the final
Speaker 1: five games so that when we come right back. This
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Speaker 1: Here it's nineteen o eight. Don't you think we should
Speaker 1: get electricity and stop using candles? To see it night?
Speaker 1: It's just electricity lights up the room fast, it's more
Speaker 1: reliable than candles blowing out, and people seem to love
Speaker 1: it nationwide. Candles, DA, did you just run into the wall.
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Speaker 1: for you for details. Back to the break Cowboy Fans.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back. It is the second segment of the Break
Speaker 1: Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the Star,
Speaker 1: We're gonna do some performance reviews. We're talking about the
Speaker 1: Cowboys and the Washington football team game from Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 1: Cowboys lose forty one to sixteen in the first quarter.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys lost versus lost both of their starting tackles,
Speaker 1: Zach Mardin and Cam Irving. As a result, check these
Speaker 1: lines out. Zeke has ten carries for thirty two yards
Speaker 1: a three point two average. Paulot has four carries for
Speaker 1: twelve yards a three yard average. They allowed four sacks
Speaker 1: throughout the game. So my question for you guys is
Speaker 1: what's the status of Martin and h and Irving, because
Speaker 1: it doesn't look like if they don't come back anytime soon,
Speaker 1: that this team is going to be in position, even
Speaker 1: against bad teams, to really be able to do a
Speaker 1: whole lot. Dave, what do you know about that? It's
Speaker 1: an MCL sprain for Cam and a calf strain for Zach.
Speaker 1: So based on what Zach looked like leaving the field,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure it hurts like hell, but it
Speaker 1: looked a lot worse than a muscle strain. That's good news.
Speaker 1: I guarantee you. I guarante probably said no, no, Zach
Speaker 1: was like, f that, I'm not doing that. I guarantee you.
Speaker 1: He said something like that, I'm betting that. Yeah, I'm betting.
Speaker 1: He was like, I'm not getting driven off this field.
Speaker 1: It was a walk. It was almost fright which the
Speaker 1: time he got off the field, I mean, it was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it took it took a long It
Speaker 1: took a long time. So it's so MCL sprain. We
Speaker 1: know that's typically a three or four week injury, and
Speaker 1: the timetable on Zach is probably three or four weeks,
Speaker 1: which so basically I would guess I would guess you're look,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe the San Francisco game on December twentieth, but
Speaker 1: I would guess the Philly game after Christmas is like
Speaker 1: a realistic spot. And so then you just got to
Speaker 1: ask yourself, you know, are they still playing for something
Speaker 1: by then, because if they're not, I would imagine you
Speaker 1: just shut those guys down, but something to you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see, you know, if if they can, if they
Speaker 1: can get a win or two here in the next
Speaker 1: few weeks, maybe those guys come back. And if they can't,
Speaker 1: then probably not. I just keep thinking about Nick's calf,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, man, three or four weeks, I don't
Speaker 1: know that been seeing right, it seems like this year
Speaker 1: honestly though, like he's he's gonna do what what anybody
Speaker 1: with a calf injury should do, and that's get off
Speaker 1: of it and and you know, and not not walk
Speaker 1: around or not try to run or anything stupid. So
Speaker 1: he's gonna, you know, yeah, dumb, but he's he's gonna
Speaker 1: he's gonna take care of it. I'm sure a little
Speaker 1: way better. But um, when when did that happen? How
Speaker 1: long ago did that happen? May twenty eight, twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: and The reason I know it is because I didn't
Speaker 1: feel it. It feels fine if I walk, but I
Speaker 1: guarantee I start I start running, like you know, it hurts,
Speaker 1: So I didn't. I probably damage it Moore, but he's
Speaker 1: not gonna damage it more. He's not gonna do that.
Speaker 1: But no, he's not. But I have a totally different
Speaker 1: opinion about that injury. I really I really thought that
Speaker 1: was kind of like hamstring, like you know, a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks whatever. But as we as we've seen with
Speaker 1: Cheeto and other players, I mean just there's different types
Speaker 1: of hamstring. I mean, look at Daniel Jones. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's probably gonna be out. He could be out
Speaker 1: maybe the rest of the season with a hamstring injury
Speaker 1: right there. So this is it's those those strings are
Speaker 1: different for different guys. But uh, I don't think he's
Speaker 1: gonna come back. Zack Martin, I don't know about Cam.
Speaker 1: I don't either. For I mean, if I'm just like
Speaker 1: if you just ask me my gut feeling, I don't
Speaker 1: think he comes back. Like you know, if this was
Speaker 1: if this was a team with something meaningful to play for,
Speaker 1: maybe he could get through it in a month. But
Speaker 1: Why would you do that to you the best on
Speaker 1: your team in a season that doesn't look like it's
Speaker 1: going anywhere. Yeah, since we're on this topic, can I
Speaker 1: ask a fan question real quick? I was seeing people
Speaker 1: and we know we've talked about this old line and
Speaker 1: all these injuries, and at first we were thinking, oh, well,
Speaker 1: we know they haven't had a off season, the pandemic,
Speaker 1: blah blah blah and all this, and then we accounted
Speaker 1: all those injuries to the possibility of that being the reasoning.
Speaker 1: But this far along into the season, why is it
Speaker 1: that we keep seeing so many old line injuries this year?
Speaker 1: And I know that's hard to answer, but what would
Speaker 1: you think is a problem here? Why does it keep
Speaker 1: happening at this point of the year. You know, I
Speaker 1: think it's I really think it's it's bad luck because
Speaker 1: none of them are the same. I mean, Tyler Biadis
Speaker 1: gets hurt in pregame warm ups. Are you serious? Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what happened was Zach Martin? I mean
Speaker 1: it just it didn't look like he It was like
Speaker 1: way away from the play, you know, Cam, I think
Speaker 1: I kind of rolled up on I believe I didn't
Speaker 1: really looked at that again, I just think they're all
Speaker 1: so different that I don't know if you can put
Speaker 1: your finger on one thing. But I mean, if you
Speaker 1: look around the league, everybody in the league's getting hurt.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not just the Cowboys, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: there's I think one thing that is unique, sur Dada.
Speaker 1: One thing that is unique about this team is the
Speaker 1: injuries are happening at the same position. It's like it's like,
Speaker 1: I understand, in certain places like Denver, you know, a
Speaker 1: whole position groups in one place, and you know that
Speaker 1: that could be bad. They give each other the same thing.
Speaker 1: But in this case, the position groups in the same
Speaker 1: they're given each other the injuries. I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's four tackles, it's two quarterbacks, it's it's three cornerbacks,
Speaker 1: it's two linebackers. It's just it's just you're really hurting
Speaker 1: this team's depth. I was just gonna I mean, I know,
Speaker 1: you know there's there's obviously, like you can apply science
Speaker 1: to health and and there are some really amazing, uh
Speaker 1: strength and conditioning staffs in the NFL. You know, the
Speaker 1: guys on the Cowboys roster adore the Cowboys strength and
Speaker 1: conditioning staff like so many good things to say about them,
Speaker 1: so I think you can gain an edge in that department.
Speaker 1: But for the most I mean, it's an extremely violent
Speaker 1: game where guys who aren't supposed to be as big
Speaker 1: as they are are moving at speeds that they're not
Speaker 1: supposed to be moving at um I don't, you know,
Speaker 1: I almost it's basically I think it's kind of a
Speaker 1: waste of time to be like, why is this happening?
Speaker 1: Because it just does. And the Cowboys have been very
Speaker 1: unlucky A that it's been as bad as it has
Speaker 1: and B it's been one position group. But like, I
Speaker 1: don't think there's an underlying theme for why this stuff
Speaker 1: is happening. It's just an unfortunate circumstance of playing the
Speaker 1: game of football. You know, I disagree with you a
Speaker 1: little bit, Dave. I do think the offseason, the lack
Speaker 1: of an offseason this last year, I think it makes
Speaker 1: a difference. I think that's a lot of why this
Speaker 1: is happening, and not just to the Cowboys, happening across
Speaker 1: the league. When you're training your body to prepare to
Speaker 1: be able to play a game like this, I think
Speaker 1: people don't really understand the amount of work that has
Speaker 1: to happen starting back in April, and how they're training
Speaker 1: your body based upon Nick. You were talking about it
Speaker 1: last week when we were talking about the passing of
Speaker 1: Marcus Paul and how he and his staff would literally
Speaker 1: get with every player individually and say, Okay, here are
Speaker 1: the things that we think we need to work with
Speaker 1: you on as far as your body is concerned to
Speaker 1: help you get through a sixteen game season at your
Speaker 1: optimal level of play. Right and without that Now they
Speaker 1: had some of that, but without the guys being able
Speaker 1: to be in the building on a daily basis, going
Speaker 1: in and working out with their strengthen conditioning coaches, it's
Speaker 1: just hard to make sure that they all are prepared
Speaker 1: and prepared their bodies in the way that they need
Speaker 1: to in order to give them the best chance. Now,
Speaker 1: football's football, and it's still gonna be football. There's still
Speaker 1: gonna be injuries. I just think you see more of
Speaker 1: them this year because I personally believe it's the fact
Speaker 1: that they didn't have the same kind of training in
Speaker 1: the offseason. I completely for the record, I completely agree
Speaker 1: with everything you just said. It's very obvious that the
Speaker 1: unique year that we're in is a big part of
Speaker 1: why we've seen these injuries, But this happens in regular
Speaker 1: seasons too, Like how many years, how many seasons have
Speaker 1: we covered where there's been a rash of hamstring injuries
Speaker 1: and fans are like, what the hell is going on
Speaker 1: with this team's hamstrings? Like what are they doing wrong?
Speaker 1: Everybody's got a bum hamd Like Miles Austin. It was
Speaker 1: like year after year where people were like, what's the
Speaker 1: deal with this guy's hammy? Like and yeah, there are
Speaker 1: things you can do to combat that, but same time,
Speaker 1: football's football. So yes, like the pandemic is a big
Speaker 1: part of it, but something similar would be happening in
Speaker 1: a regular year or two. Maybe not to this degree,
Speaker 1: but these things just happen, right absolutely, And I agree
Speaker 1: there's definitely injuries every single year. I think that it's
Speaker 1: just in my opinion, there is an increased number of
Speaker 1: injuries this year, and I think the reason and you
Speaker 1: look across the league, like there are top line NFL
Speaker 1: stars that are out this year due to injuries that
Speaker 1: took them out for the whole year, And I don't
Speaker 1: think it's a coincidence that that happens in a year
Speaker 1: when they didn't have a normal offseason like they would
Speaker 1: have any other year. All right, we're gonna take our
Speaker 1: final break. When we come back. We got some more
Speaker 1: positions that we want to talk about. We got to
Speaker 1: talk about Zeke in his fumbling situation that when we
Speaker 1: come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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Speaker 1: the Cowboys Way, where sixteen Hall of Famers and five
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Speaker 1: you think we should get electricity and stop using candles
Speaker 1: to see it night? It's just electricity lights up the
Speaker 1: room fast, It's more reliable than candles blowing out, and
Speaker 1: people seem to love it nationwide. Well candles, dear, did
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Speaker 1: for you for details. Back to the break, We've got
Speaker 1: boxing at AT and T Stadium, and I'm not talking
Speaker 1: about some over the hill legends or basketball players. I'm
Speaker 1: talking about the unified welterweight world champion Eiral the Truth
Speaker 1: Spence Junior. He's going to duel Tuotive world champion Danny
Speaker 1: Swift Garcia in a blockbuster for events Saturdays December fifth,
Speaker 1: a T and T Stadium. Get your tickets down before
Speaker 1: they sell out at seat geek dot com. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: added that part. Hey, I'm gonna tell you this. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you this. Though as much as it was,
Speaker 1: it was not great boxing. Oh, it was good comedy.
Speaker 1: Saturday Night was really really good comedy. Yeah, oh man,
Speaker 1: that was I had a good time watching Twitter and
Speaker 1: seeing how everybody was reacting Nate Robinson and then reacting
Speaker 1: to the old guys in there. But it was. It
Speaker 1: was definitely good comedy. I needed that Saturday Night. That's
Speaker 1: all right, let's jump back yet. I was gonna say
Speaker 1: earlier today. You know Snoop obviously was commentating that, and
Speaker 1: it's what reminded me of, oh my god, what Amber
Speaker 1: said it. I know you looked at me. I looked
Speaker 1: at you because it was like Snoop said it best.
Speaker 1: If it ain't one thing, it's another, right. We were
Speaker 1: both looking at each other, ready to laugh, ready to
Speaker 1: jump out and say it no, but yeah, no, yeah no.
Speaker 1: When when when Nate Robinson went down and and uh
Speaker 1: and uh and Snoop started singing, precious Lord, I really
Speaker 1: almost hurt my stomach, Like literally, I thought I was
Speaker 1: gonna hurt my stomach laughing so hard. That was hilarious.
Speaker 1: All right, let's jump back in. We got to talk
Speaker 1: about Zeke Man and this is this fumbling thing is
Speaker 1: just out of control. He now had six fumbles this season.
Speaker 1: At the time when it happened, Dallas was they had
Speaker 1: the ball. It was the opening drive of the second half.
Speaker 1: They were down seventeen thirteen UM. It led to a
Speaker 1: Washington field goal that pushed it to twenty thirteen. After
Speaker 1: the game, though, and I'm just interested in hearing what
Speaker 1: Zeke had to say about it, Dave, what did you
Speaker 1: hear from Zeke after the game? I'm sure he was
Speaker 1: asked by it, asked about it by the media. What
Speaker 1: was what was it? Were his thoughts on this fumble?
Speaker 1: I mean, his van thing was that he thought, you know, somebody,
Speaker 1: he said, he thought somebody kicked the ball while he
Speaker 1: was fighting for extra yards. Uh, honestly, with everything that happened,
Speaker 1: like you know Zeke spent Zeke spent a lot of
Speaker 1: his media availability talking about Marcus Paul and just the
Speaker 1: emotion of getting ready for a game in those circumstances.
Speaker 1: Like he didn't he didn't really offer up a lot
Speaker 1: about the fumble, but I know what he would say.
Speaker 1: He would just be I can't let that happen. I
Speaker 1: have to be better, because that's what he's said after
Speaker 1: all of the other ones, and it's still happening. It's
Speaker 1: it's really disheartening. I said, I said this on Thursdays, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't expect him to be amazing when he doesn't
Speaker 1: have his quarterback and his line as a fiasco. I mean,
Speaker 1: it would be great if he could be, but I
Speaker 1: don't expect it. I do expect him to hold onto
Speaker 1: the ball and be a reason why the team wins
Speaker 1: instead of a big reason why they lose. Um I
Speaker 1: like I run out of things to say. Is like
Speaker 1: he's not playing up to his contract. He's not currently
Speaker 1: playing like an above replacement value NFL running back and
Speaker 1: like I still think he is, but but why, Like,
Speaker 1: where's my evidence that suggests that it's? Like I said,
Speaker 1: it's it's disheartening and frustrating. You got any answers? Nick
Speaker 1: and Amber Like, I'm just I'm such such a lot.
Speaker 1: I'm so much at a loss at this point. And
Speaker 1: obviously we know that he's not necessarily um, he's not
Speaker 1: necessarily playing out a level that you would expect from
Speaker 1: a guy making that amount of money, but like Dave says,
Speaker 1: you would at least expect him to be able to
Speaker 1: hold on to the ball, right, Yeah, it's I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean like, I don't if you didn't know him better,
Speaker 1: you would say maybe, like it just looks like a
Speaker 1: guy that's checked out. But I'm not saying that he is.
Speaker 1: It's just that, you know, he doesn't have his quarterback,
Speaker 1: doesn't have his line. There's so many reasons of why
Speaker 1: it's not going his way. But he's got to focus better.
Speaker 1: You got to concentrate. I mean that I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody kicked that ball out. It sounded his quote was like,
Speaker 1: I think someone kicked the ball out, but it didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean like he was fighting, you know what. I
Speaker 1: rewatched it on the break and it's hard to tell.
Speaker 1: I try to go slowly, and what it looks like
Speaker 1: is there is a defender there and when he goes down,
Speaker 1: the ball just kind of lands and it touches the
Speaker 1: foot of the guy. Not that the guy kicked it.
Speaker 1: He just happens to kind of land on the foot
Speaker 1: of somebody, and that's what it calls the ball to
Speaker 1: come out. And yeah, maybe he thought, oh, because he
Speaker 1: felt a foot there, maybe he thought, oh, someone kicked
Speaker 1: it out. But in reality, it's just the way he
Speaker 1: landed and the fact that he didn't he wasn't protecting
Speaker 1: it with the other arm for the ball not to
Speaker 1: go out. Yeah, And that's kind of my biggest problem
Speaker 1: with this whole thing is just I feel like I
Speaker 1: feel like he's not protecting the ball, like it's not
Speaker 1: front of mine for him that when I'm fighting for
Speaker 1: these extra yards, even if it requires me covering the
Speaker 1: ball with both arms, I'm not doing enough to protect
Speaker 1: the ball. And if I can't get the extra yards
Speaker 1: without protecting the ball, then maybe I don't need the
Speaker 1: extra yards. Of the way I would look at it
Speaker 1: if I'm him in this situation where your team needs
Speaker 1: you to at the very least not turn the ball over. Well,
Speaker 1: but I'll say this, though he this team, how many
Speaker 1: third and one fourth and one. I mean they couldn't.
Speaker 1: They had first and goal from the four. You've got
Speaker 1: to fight for extra yards. I mean he sees it there,
Speaker 1: he goes. I mean I applaud him for trying to
Speaker 1: get that because he knows he's got to get a
Speaker 1: first down. I mean I made the comment earlier in
Speaker 1: the game. I mean, this team can get nine yards easy.
Speaker 1: It's just that last yard they can't get. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: he's got to fight for extra yards. He's just got
Speaker 1: to do it better. Yeah, he just got to protect
Speaker 1: the ball while he does it. I mean that's the
Speaker 1: only point. If he can't protect the ball, then it's
Speaker 1: not worth it. Because, as they say in the program,
Speaker 1: imagine how good it would be if we still had
Speaker 1: the ball, Like, you gotta keep the ball, you can't
Speaker 1: turn it over. Let's imagine. Let's imagine an alternate an
Speaker 1: alternate reality where Zeke is one of the nine hundred
Speaker 1: guys on injured reserve. If they were getting this, if
Speaker 1: they were getting this level of production from Rico Doubtle,
Speaker 1: they'd have cut him by now. They would have been like, well,
Speaker 1: you're not doing it, Like what, No, We'll just go
Speaker 1: get another guy who can do this, Like, that's the point, Dave.
Speaker 1: It's like I said, he's not he's playing below replacement value.
Speaker 1: Like the one thing any NFL running back should be
Speaker 1: able to do is get tackled and hold onto the ball.
Speaker 1: And I and like, I don't have an answer for it,
Speaker 1: but I'm out of things to say. I really, I
Speaker 1: really do feel for Zeke, Like I think a lot
Speaker 1: of the a lot of the criticism is over the
Speaker 1: top in my opinion. Like I think I've already said
Speaker 1: before that it's not ideal for what you're paying him,
Speaker 1: but like when the team is healthier next year, I
Speaker 1: think he'll be just fine. Yeah, but it's so disheartening
Speaker 1: that you can't even get mediocre running back play from
Speaker 1: a guy that's making the money that Zeke is making
Speaker 1: right now. But I have to disagree on that though,
Speaker 1: Rico Daddall, who would not be cut? You think if
Speaker 1: he's got six fumbles but he's seventh, He's seventh in
Speaker 1: the NFL and rushing. He's definitely not going to cut
Speaker 1: a guy who seventh in the league and rushing. If
Speaker 1: he's an undrafted Rickie, you know what I mean. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, like that's I mean he's got that's volume
Speaker 1: stats though, that's that's volume stats, like Zeke really seventh
Speaker 1: in the league, I think so, I mean, I mean
Speaker 1: that's honestly, he's had one one yard game, he's averaged
Speaker 1: like more of that, he's averaged better than four yards
Speaker 1: of carry, like. But he was seventh going into the game,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if that would have probably dropped
Speaker 1: him after it with just thirty five, right with thirty
Speaker 1: five last weekend, yeah, that's not going to keep him there.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, I mean I get the point. And
Speaker 1: here's the deal. I don't think that Zeke is it's
Speaker 1: somebody mentioned that you know, you know, you would think
Speaker 1: that that if you didn't know him, that he would
Speaker 1: be a guy that's kind of checked out. I don't
Speaker 1: believe even for a second. I don't think any of
Speaker 1: us believe for a second he's a guy that's checked out.
Speaker 1: That's not the kind of guy that he is. I
Speaker 1: just think that for whatever reason, he can't fix this problem.
Speaker 1: And that's where to me, I think it's either on
Speaker 1: him or it's on his running back coach or some
Speaker 1: other coach to get in his ear and say, look, man,
Speaker 1: above all else, protect the ball. That's where your focus
Speaker 1: needs to be. First and foremost. Everything else that comes
Speaker 1: from that has to start with you protecting the ball.
Speaker 1: And if you can get those actually are it's great.
Speaker 1: First and foremost, you have to protect the ball so
Speaker 1: that he can, at least in his mind refocus himself
Speaker 1: on protecting the ball at all situations. Yeah, you don't
Speaker 1: see a lot of bad quarterbacks, I'm sorry, great quarterbacks
Speaker 1: on bad teams. I mean, they typically do enough to
Speaker 1: get to get, you know, win games. But you see
Speaker 1: it with running backs. I mean, there's been some really
Speaker 1: good running backs, Hall of Fame running backs that play
Speaker 1: on bad teams. I mean, if you don't have some
Speaker 1: help around you, it's hard to just do it all
Speaker 1: by yourself. You've got any especially if you're not dynamic
Speaker 1: that can just take it to the house. He's not
Speaker 1: that kind of guy. I mean, obviously you can say
Speaker 1: Barry Sanders, Barry Sanders was dynamic, doesn't matter who was
Speaker 1: blocking for him. But Zeke's certainly not that guy. He
Speaker 1: needs help, He needs better blocking. He's had his whole career.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have it this year. Yeah, and that's one
Speaker 1: of the problems. And that's one of the challenges when
Speaker 1: you spend as much money as you do on a
Speaker 1: running back, on any running back, when you pay that
Speaker 1: second contract a lot of time, is going to be very,
Speaker 1: very difficult to get the return on investment, because, as
Speaker 1: you said, Nick, if you can't do it by yourself,
Speaker 1: if you can't be the reason that the team is
Speaker 1: performing really well, it really even in adverse situations, then
Speaker 1: it's hard to make that money make sense. Did anyone, though,
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone on this show, did anyone really
Speaker 1: stand up and say, no, way they should be paying
Speaker 1: this guy, like when he was holding out and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. I don't remember that. No, I definitely I
Speaker 1: think my attitude at the time and I still honestly
Speaker 1: believe it is like, you shouldn't be paying a running back.
Speaker 1: But if there's a guy that I think you can
Speaker 1: get away with paying a contract like that too, it's
Speaker 1: probably Zeke. And my my thing with that was more
Speaker 1: about his durability than you know, than his dynamic ability.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of my point is, like, I'm not
Speaker 1: panicked about the Zeke contract the way a lot of
Speaker 1: people are, Like, when the team's healthier, I think he'll
Speaker 1: be just fine. Yeah, it's just it's but it does
Speaker 1: it does suck that he is not right to this challenge,
Speaker 1: I guess. I mean, I don't envy him because it
Speaker 1: sounds hard, but that's what you expect for that price, right,
Speaker 1: And you know, I will say this Nick, at the time,
Speaker 1: I thought they needed to pay him. I do remember
Speaker 1: on this show though, us talking about should you ever
Speaker 1: pay a running back that second contract? And I think
Speaker 1: we all kind of landed on It's probably not going
Speaker 1: to be a good thing most of the time. But
Speaker 1: Zeke is a different situation. I think what I've learned
Speaker 1: since then is I don't care who it is. If
Speaker 1: I'm an NFL team. The percentages you talk about, analytics,
Speaker 1: the percentages say it is not a smart idea to
Speaker 1: pay a running back in vast majority of the situations
Speaker 1: a second contract. So just go out and draft another one.
Speaker 1: And by the way, you can draft him in the second, third,
Speaker 1: fourth round and still get really, really quality running backs.
Speaker 1: I just think that's a smarter way of doing business
Speaker 1: in today's NFL, because I think you can get quality
Speaker 1: without having to pay that big second contract to a
Speaker 1: guy that in most instances is not going to give
Speaker 1: you the return on that investment. But let's not forget
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. It's not like they don't think that way,
Speaker 1: because the cow always had the best season of any
Speaker 1: running back ever in DeMarco Murray. As far as you know,
Speaker 1: he has the Cowboys single season record. And they they
Speaker 1: they came back the next year and said, yeah, well,
Speaker 1: we'll resign you for this about six million or so.
Speaker 1: We're not going to go over that Philadelphia did and
Speaker 1: they regretted it, you know, and he never was the same.
Speaker 1: So it's it's not like they don't already know that.
Speaker 1: I think they just felt like we're all saying here
Speaker 1: that with Zeke and everything, it's just different and he's
Speaker 1: worth it, and so far it's you know, and hasn't
Speaker 1: hasn't worked out. Yeah, look across Amber, I was just
Speaker 1: gonna say, I mean, you talk about how easy it
Speaker 1: is to replace running backs because of the position, But
Speaker 1: at the same time, when you look at other NFL
Speaker 1: teams just in general around the league, how often do
Speaker 1: you say, oh, the best player on that team is
Speaker 1: the running back. I don't know. I think you say
Speaker 1: it in Tennessee right now, you'd probably say that maybe
Speaker 1: in definitely in Minnesota, you'd say that, yeah, would you agree? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, Zeke has been the best player of the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys in the past few years. Hasn't been this year, clearly,
Speaker 1: but in previous year. I think that that you just
Speaker 1: would always see him specifically as the best player on
Speaker 1: the team, and therefore he kind of ended up with
Speaker 1: that kind of contract. Wonder there's not many ways like that.
Speaker 1: I just wonder maybe, you know, again, you kind of
Speaker 1: got to go back in time and think about it,
Speaker 1: Like Zeke signed that deal before they played a snap
Speaker 1: of the twenty eighteen season. I wonder if they would
Speaker 1: feel as compelled to get that deal done if they
Speaker 1: had known Dak was going or excuse me, the twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen season, if they had known Dak was going to
Speaker 1: make the leap that he has made, because even I
Speaker 1: mean he was he was solid in twenty eighteen, but
Speaker 1: he took his ability to another level last season and
Speaker 1: certainly seemed like he was on that path in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty before he got hurt. I wonder if the Cowboys
Speaker 1: had been a one hundred percent confidence they were going
Speaker 1: to get that quarterback, would they have been as eager
Speaker 1: to sign Zeke to that deal as they were, I
Speaker 1: don't know right and I think the other reason they
Speaker 1: were willing to sign that deal is because they thought
Speaker 1: they had a dominant offensive line and Zeke was the
Speaker 1: cherry on top of a dominant offensive line. You have
Speaker 1: an outstanding running back with an outstanding offensive line, you
Speaker 1: can do some great things. So what we're seeing right
Speaker 1: now is without that offensive line, it kind of negates
Speaker 1: their ability to get great play out of Zeke, And
Speaker 1: in my opinion, you could get the same play, if
Speaker 1: maybe not a league a little bit better. At least
Speaker 1: we're holding on the ball from that standpoint from other
Speaker 1: running backs out there. And I'll challenge you to do this.
Speaker 1: Look across the NFL right now and find me the
Speaker 1: number of running backs in the top ten, let's say
Speaker 1: in rushing that are on a second deal. It's not
Speaker 1: very many. Derrick Henry is the only one that can
Speaker 1: come to mind that comes to mind for me right now.
Speaker 1: Most of them are guys that are still on their
Speaker 1: first deal. And so I think that's the part you
Speaker 1: have to remember is that this is an NFL where
Speaker 1: younger guys at the running back position can give you
Speaker 1: great production for those first four or five years of
Speaker 1: that deal. It's really not worth it in most sensances
Speaker 1: to pay the second deal. All right, appreciate you guys,
Speaker 1: join us. We'll be back tomorrow. We'll get into some
Speaker 1: bigger picture topics. We'll talk a little bit about the
Speaker 1: NFC East Eagles we'll be playing tonight. We'll see where
Speaker 1: the NFC East is, what the NFC East is looking
Speaker 1: like tomorrow when we get on the show. Till then,
Speaker 1: for Nick Eaton, Dave Helm and Amber Garcia, I'm Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot
Speaker 1: Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys
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