Speaker 1: The following Here's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is Wednesday, December twenty seven, twenty seventeen, Season thirteen,
Speaker 1: episode number ninety seven. Welcome to another edition of The Break.
Speaker 1: We are live from s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star,
Speaker 1: back at studio following Christmas and already talk a little
Speaker 1: bit of Cowboys football. How's everybody doing this morning? Well?
Speaker 1: Thanks Derek, good good, good, Um, it's we. We have
Speaker 1: not been on the air since the game on Sunday
Speaker 1: when the Cowboys lost twenty one I'm sorry, twenty one
Speaker 1: twelve and are now officially eliminated from playoff contention. Have
Speaker 1: one more game left though, this week against the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 1: so I'm sure Dave can give us a scouttering report
Speaker 1: on the Eagles in about two minutes. But I do
Speaker 1: think because we haven't been on the air, I do
Speaker 1: think we should talk a little bit about that game
Speaker 1: and some of the things that came out of that game,
Speaker 1: and then we'll take more a bigger picture look at
Speaker 1: not just how the Cowboys are going to enter this
Speaker 1: final week, but more so, you know, what does it
Speaker 1: mean for the future. Are there guys that maybe should play?
Speaker 1: Are the guys that maybe shouldn't play because of the
Speaker 1: fact that it's the final game and it really has
Speaker 1: no no royal impact on this season, unless, of course
Speaker 1: getting to nine and seven verses eight and eight somehow matters,
Speaker 1: which maybe to the coaching and to the team it does.
Speaker 1: But let's talk first about that game. I just want
Speaker 1: to open it up first to get just some general
Speaker 1: thoughts on why you thought the Cowboys loss. Nicho. Let's
Speaker 1: start with you. You have that pondering, Look, what do
Speaker 1: you think? I know you you've written probably a couple
Speaker 1: of different stories about this at this point. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you have some pretty pretty pretty pretty good thought here. Well,
Speaker 1: I thought that this was worse than the Rams game
Speaker 1: of that they should have won, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: I understand that the Rams are a good team, but
Speaker 1: they couples should have won that game, and they should
Speaker 1: have won this one. In my opinion, they were better
Speaker 1: than than that team, but they they were out coached
Speaker 1: in the game. I guess you could say that because
Speaker 1: they just as I wrote, they just got too cute.
Speaker 1: They got too cute down there. And and you know,
Speaker 1: when eighty five thousand people are yelling for Zeke and
Speaker 1: you don't give him the ball, that's dumb. That's dumb.
Speaker 1: You've been waiting for six weeks to get this guy
Speaker 1: the ball, and you finally down there, and you just
Speaker 1: saw last week against Oakland that they couldn't get in
Speaker 1: there and they had to settle for a field goal
Speaker 1: and almost lost in the game. You give the ball
Speaker 1: to Zeke, who they hadn't stopped all game. That that's inexcusable.
Speaker 1: And to do it twice in a row like that,
Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. Amber I'm still confused. I mean, I keep
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out and I just can't. And
Speaker 1: they talk about they pride himself about their running game,
Speaker 1: and then they get the one guy that they've been
Speaker 1: waiting for. And we've seen all season long how good
Speaker 1: the running game works compared to the passing game. Why
Speaker 1: let Dak throw the ball or run with the ball.
Speaker 1: Is he you're running back? No, like give it to
Speaker 1: the running back. And I don't know. I just cannot
Speaker 1: comprehend why they made the decisions that they did. Just
Speaker 1: really awful execution, Like across the board you can say that.
Speaker 1: I mean, bad execution by the coaching staff, play calling
Speaker 1: down by the goal line, bad execution by the quarterback,
Speaker 1: some of the most inaccurate, poorly, you know, poorest decisions
Speaker 1: of his season, no doubt about that. The pick six
Speaker 1: comes to mind, bes Bryant getting stripped on routine catches
Speaker 1: and letting not easy passes but catchable balls bounce off
Speaker 1: your hands. I mean I thought the game plan was
Speaker 1: there are bad execution by your running back and blitz
Speaker 1: pick up all that type of stuff. I mean, he
Speaker 1: had a decent day running the ball, but all that
Speaker 1: other stuff that we give him credit for was not there.
Speaker 1: And you can attribute that to the six week layoff
Speaker 1: if you want, but it just wasn't there. And I
Speaker 1: really thought the game plan was not terrible for the
Speaker 1: most part. I mean, they leaned on Zeke early. It
Speaker 1: opened up some other things for him, all that stuff
Speaker 1: we like to complain about. I mean, Terrence Williams had
Speaker 1: fifty yards receiving. They got him involved, They got Jason
Speaker 1: Witten involved. He was huge as that you know, easy
Speaker 1: outlet pass you think about it. He set them up
Speaker 1: to have that first down on the three yard line.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were doing the stuff that you want
Speaker 1: to see them do. I think the Seahawks did a
Speaker 1: good job of mitigating the play action and the boot
Speaker 1: action stuff, just because their pass rush is capable of
Speaker 1: doing that. But considering you lost Tyren Smith on the
Speaker 1: third play of that game, I thought the game plan
Speaker 1: was not bad. I mean, it moved them down toward
Speaker 1: the red zone multiple times, and they just blew it
Speaker 1: like nobody on that team. The defense, I mean, can
Speaker 1: you can nitpick some problems there, but I thought the
Speaker 1: defense played a pretty damn good game all things considered.
Speaker 1: By one hundred and thirty six total yards, I think
Speaker 1: it wasn't. They gave up more penalty yards than offensive yards.
Speaker 1: All three of their touchdowns came off of takeaways, and
Speaker 1: two of them were direct results of takeaways. So players, coaches,
Speaker 1: everybody involved, mainly on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: Just like I said, like, I thought, the plan was
Speaker 1: in place and they just did not execute across the board,
Speaker 1: and if you go back and look at the game,
Speaker 1: particularly in the first half, there were drives where their
Speaker 1: ability to run the ball. I mean it really Seattle
Speaker 1: had no answer for xicularity. By the time they got
Speaker 1: to their third series. Let me tell you some of
Speaker 1: the runs he had started off with a five yard run,
Speaker 1: then six yard run, then six yard run, then five
Speaker 1: yard run, then four yard run, then five yard run,
Speaker 1: two yard run. Then the next series nine yard run,
Speaker 1: four yard run, six yard run. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: like the Cowboys were consistently moving the ball, running the ball,
Speaker 1: and then after that six yard run, Rod Smith comes
Speaker 1: in and finishes the rest of the series. They end
Speaker 1: up in a field goal on that one as well.
Speaker 1: It was just to me, there were just moments in
Speaker 1: that game where there were things that just didn't make sense.
Speaker 1: You got a hot back in there, you put Rod
Speaker 1: Smith in there, you got a situation where you're running
Speaker 1: the ball effectively, and then you get down into the
Speaker 1: red zone and you decide you're going to pass. Everything
Speaker 1: suggested that the more they ran the ball, the more
Speaker 1: effective they were being running the ball, and they took
Speaker 1: the running game away from themselves rather than forcing Seattle
Speaker 1: at some point to say we're gonna have to do
Speaker 1: something different in order to stop this run and then
Speaker 1: open up other things. They just literally said, hey, we
Speaker 1: just we're going to concede the run to some degree.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny, I'm taking it back, but I
Speaker 1: remember back, like going back to like twenty thirteen when
Speaker 1: Scott Linahan with the Lions. We we would have conversations
Speaker 1: here that's like, well, Lenahan gets a Megatron the ball,
Speaker 1: like that's his thing, and he does it, like Megatron
Speaker 1: will have eighteen targets and fifteen catches in a game.
Speaker 1: Why don't we do that? Why don't And so Scott
Speaker 1: Linehan got a ton of credit for that from AFAR
Speaker 1: And now that we're here, like I mean, he's been
Speaker 1: in the offensive coordinator here for four years. Like it's
Speaker 1: not like again, you know, Nick said, they got too cute,
Speaker 1: like they outsmart themselves, like they just like it's like
Speaker 1: they're convinced that just doing the obvious thing can't work.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, this is the NFL, Like why don't
Speaker 1: you make somebody prove that it won't work? Right? You
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like it never seems like they
Speaker 1: want to do that, like they're always they're trying to
Speaker 1: think a step ahead of the defense. But a lot
Speaker 1: of times I feel like they don't need to. I
Speaker 1: think that second down call down on the goal line
Speaker 1: is probably we'll go down. It's the worst play of
Speaker 1: the year. I mean, when not just not giving it
Speaker 1: to Zeke going first down, you tried to throw it
Speaker 1: and and Beasley's open over the middle. We see it,
Speaker 1: the people on TV see it because you know, the
Speaker 1: cameras are high and we're high. But when you're down
Speaker 1: there low and like you bring the smallest guy over
Speaker 1: the over the middle and you can't see him, and
Speaker 1: then that's your play. And then on second down, though
Speaker 1: after you haven't given it to Zeke on first down,
Speaker 1: you roll to the right. Witten, as good as he's been,
Speaker 1: he's he's not a He's not a great blocker on
Speaker 1: the move, especially when you're trying to block Michael Bennett.
Speaker 1: You've got two guys in the route, Terrence Williams and
Speaker 1: Cole Beasley trying to get open in a small amount
Speaker 1: of space. You've got Dak running on the move like that.
Speaker 1: I mean, nothing about that play is good. Those guys
Speaker 1: aren't going to get open. Whitten's not going to make
Speaker 1: that block, and you're going away from Zeke and Dez.
Speaker 1: You're two guys that can make plays that did I
Speaker 1: say that was a stupid play? I mean, and I
Speaker 1: tweeted this during the game, is like, I know, you
Speaker 1: know Jason Garret or Scott Linahan's response to that would
Speaker 1: be that it's really hard to run the ball in
Speaker 1: a situation like that where NFL defense knows that's what's
Speaker 1: gonna come. But like we did that reason. I mean,
Speaker 1: I get that, it's true it is hard to do that,
Speaker 1: but that's supposed to be what this team does better
Speaker 1: than anybody else, even when they know it. That's why, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's why you pay your center fifty five million. That's
Speaker 1: why your guard's gonna set the record for what a
Speaker 1: guard makes. And that's why you drafted running back in
Speaker 1: the top five. Like where's the lodge? I get it.
Speaker 1: I get that it's hard to do You're supposed to
Speaker 1: be able to do it anyway, right, and to just
Speaker 1: assume that you can't do it when you have all
Speaker 1: those pieces in place, it doesn't make sense to me,
Speaker 1: and it's kind of insulting to the personnel that you've
Speaker 1: put together that you don't think they can handle that,
Speaker 1: and the fact that they'd had some mini series where
Speaker 1: they did run it effectively over and over and over again,
Speaker 1: to me, is why you get to first and goal.
Speaker 1: Pound it in, like especially first and goal. What were
Speaker 1: they first and goal at the five? I think first
Speaker 1: and goal at e three, first and goal in the three.
Speaker 1: If I get a yard every down, I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: an the end zone before fourth down, all right, So
Speaker 1: I'm like, pound it in and just see what happens.
Speaker 1: You have. This is why you've been waiting for your
Speaker 1: running back to come back, is because you feel like
Speaker 1: he's the best or among the best in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Your offensive line is the best or among the best
Speaker 1: in the offensive line. You just say, how much money
Speaker 1: you spent on your guard, I mean, how much money
Speaker 1: spending you center, how much money you're about to spend
Speaker 1: on your guard. Run right behind those two big guys
Speaker 1: and see what you can get between your linebacker quarterback
Speaker 1: and your war horse running back. Running behind those guys,
Speaker 1: like I just refused to believe that they couldn't pull
Speaker 1: that off. Even fullback I know him too. I refused
Speaker 1: to did you see what I thought about you last night?
Speaker 1: Did you see what Kansas State did in their bowl game? No,
Speaker 1: they got down on the goal line. Yes, they put
Speaker 1: three guys. They put their jumbo line on the line.
Speaker 1: They put their quarterback right under them, and then they
Speaker 1: lined like I don't even think they were offensive players,
Speaker 1: and they lined like three linebackers up behind the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Quarterback sneaks it and these just big dudes just hashed
Speaker 1: right into him and just pushed him into the end
Speaker 1: It was genius. I thought. I was like, why don't
Speaker 1: more people do this? Let's go up and gingerly get
Speaker 1: him and then push, don't run into him ncause I
Speaker 1: was like, smash into him. I'm like that big get
Speaker 1: him into the end zone. However you gotta do it.
Speaker 1: And again you're acting like a quarterback is gonna have
Speaker 1: back problems around here. And maybe I'm a gunshot. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe. Um so, so, did did you have
Speaker 1: do you guys ever hear any read any rationalist? Why
Speaker 1: maybe they went away from the run a little bit
Speaker 1: more than they should have. Was that something? I'm sure
Speaker 1: it was asked, Yeah, but Sarrett and said, he said, well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's easy to make that call now. And
Speaker 1: he was actually pressed in the press conference by him
Speaker 1: cal reporter. Yeah, he said no, it was pretty easy
Speaker 1: at the time too, I mean like wow, really yeah.
Speaker 1: Well then he came he came back later and and
Speaker 1: just wrote, oh, I saw that, Yeah, I saw that.
Speaker 1: That's and I don't He was asked about it there.
Speaker 1: He was asked, I mean, but all throughout the last
Speaker 1: five years, when a question like that is asked, like
Speaker 1: you don't get a satisfactory answer. It's something like those
Speaker 1: calls are easy in hindsight, or we just felt like
Speaker 1: that was the best, you know, position to put our
Speaker 1: team in at the time, Like, you know, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna throw his offensive coordinator under the bus. And I
Speaker 1: heard a lot of people say that, you know, Scott Linahan,
Speaker 1: it's time for him to go whatever, and you know what,
Speaker 1: maybe it is, But I know this as a head coach,
Speaker 1: you can this guy. He can make this call, this call,
Speaker 1: this call. He has the freedom to make the call.
Speaker 1: But when you get down there, you say, Scott, run
Speaker 1: the football. I don't care if you run zeke left, right, right,
Speaker 1: give the ball to twenty one. Put it in the
Speaker 1: stomach and let's see what happens. Yep, you have that
Speaker 1: ability to make that call. So that's on Jason in
Speaker 1: my opinion. I mean maybe that you called the wrong
Speaker 1: play or whatever on the run, but he should have
Speaker 1: said we run the football here. Would you guys consider
Speaker 1: the possibility because that this offense overall this season, part
Speaker 1: of it's been Zeke, part of it was not Zeke
Speaker 1: because they were having issues offensively before Zeke went out
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the season. Do you think maybe
Speaker 1: there's a possibility or there should be possibility that Jason
Speaker 1: Garrett goes back to calling plays for this team. I
Speaker 1: thought you were going to say that. I um, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't if I mean you guys, and it correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong. You guys have said that you're
Speaker 1: not the biggest fans of his game day management of
Speaker 1: what's going on. So if he's not great at that,
Speaker 1: then why not have him call plays because that would
Speaker 1: be the purpose of taking play calling from him so
Speaker 1: he could focus on that he's not great at it,
Speaker 1: Then what is he great at? I thought he was
Speaker 1: a pretty good honestly coordinator. I just well, I disagree
Speaker 1: with that because, like taking play calling away from it.
Speaker 1: I mean, sure, that's something he's got to worry about
Speaker 1: on game day, but that's a whole thing during the
Speaker 1: week he's got to worry about too, He's gotta put
Speaker 1: But there there are times when I'm sure they're head
Speaker 1: coaches that call plays that they have someone else who
Speaker 1: managed the coordination of all that drought the week, and
Speaker 1: then he calls plays on Sunday. Well, I don't like
Speaker 1: that either. I mean no, I mean, you're putting the
Speaker 1: game plan together. That's this thing that you've spent all
Speaker 1: week on. That's you mean to tell me you don't
Speaker 1: think Jason's involved in setting putting together the offensive plan. No,
Speaker 1: but to like to just have him, you know, to
Speaker 1: just have him not even paying attention to it from
Speaker 1: Monday to Saturday. But I don't think that happens now.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's very much involved in of course, yes,
Speaker 1: but that I think Jason Garrett's strength as a coach
Speaker 1: is from Monday to Saturday, and I think not being
Speaker 1: the primary play caller frees him up to focus on
Speaker 1: all of that type of stuff during the week. I
Speaker 1: can hear people screaming at me that he's terrible at
Speaker 1: everything right now, I'm just right now, I'm not happy
Speaker 1: with him, I know, but I think his strength as
Speaker 1: a coach. I think he's been a better head coach
Speaker 1: what he stopped calling plays in twenty fourteen. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: been a better overall head coach in the years that
Speaker 1: he hasn't been doing that. I think I wasn't. I
Speaker 1: was only here for one year when he was calling plays.
Speaker 1: But really, yeah, I know, but I think I think
Speaker 1: it it's more suited toward his He he's like a
Speaker 1: college coach to me. Like he is. He sets up
Speaker 1: the message and he's really good at getting people to
Speaker 1: listen to it and buy a pruding too. He does
Speaker 1: a great job. I'm mooting. I don't know if he'd
Speaker 1: be very good at that, but um, I think it's
Speaker 1: better off without him calling the plays. So he's never
Speaker 1: been I mean, I guess as a head coach calling
Speaker 1: the play, they were eight and eight every time, right,
Speaker 1: I guess you got a point there. Yeah, I'm just saying, well,
Speaker 1: but and then when he was but as an offensive
Speaker 1: I give him credit for the years he was an
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator when Wade was here as well. Right, But see, yeah,
Speaker 1: I understand that, but they they got talent now too.
Speaker 1: Let's not act like this is a talent a talentless team,
Speaker 1: but a talent on this offense. But again, that's been
Speaker 1: a ton of money. That's a job where all you
Speaker 1: that's his only responsibility is putting out putting together the
Speaker 1: game plan and calling the plays. Like if you wanted
Speaker 1: him to be the offensive coordinator, that's fine. I don't
Speaker 1: know that he would take that demotion. But if he's
Speaker 1: going to be the head coach, I don't think he
Speaker 1: needs to be doing you don't think both. No, I
Speaker 1: don't know how many coaches in the NFL do all
Speaker 1: of that, but maybe two or three. Yeah, I've had
Speaker 1: plenty of different thoughts to jump in to the cowboy,
Speaker 1: you know. I keep thinking. And it's hard for me,
Speaker 1: obviously to say about him calling place and all that,
Speaker 1: because I wasn't here. I didn't know anything about that
Speaker 1: before when that happened. But as a boss, because he's
Speaker 1: essentially the boss of all of them. If you're a boss,
Speaker 1: you hope you can trust the team around you to
Speaker 1: do their job, the guys you have working with you
Speaker 1: to do their own job. But if you're not doing
Speaker 1: your job as a good boss, you step in however
Speaker 1: you can help that person figure it out because at
Speaker 1: this point, obviously during the season you can't make that
Speaker 1: kind of change, So you become more involved. And we've
Speaker 1: seen game after game all the mistakes that they've been making.
Speaker 1: How haven't they been able to figure all that out
Speaker 1: and improve on it? Because if had we been seeing
Speaker 1: some improvement, I would be feeling better about it, but
Speaker 1: we haven't. That's a really great point. I think that's
Speaker 1: a really great point, mainly because when you see, like
Speaker 1: you said, when you see problems on your team, then
Speaker 1: you got to step in and maybe pay a little
Speaker 1: bit more attention to this area of the team that's
Speaker 1: having issues. And it seems like the offense has been
Speaker 1: consistently having some poor games, and there's been, you know,
Speaker 1: guys that are having just uncharacteristically bad seasons. I put
Speaker 1: Dez in that category. I don't think I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody can say Dez has had a normal season for him.
Speaker 1: And and so what do you do. Is there a
Speaker 1: way that a coach can maybe spend a little more
Speaker 1: time with him, spend more a little more time with
Speaker 1: the wide receiver, spend a little more time in between
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks and the wide receivers because you think that
Speaker 1: the passing game isn't doing what you needed to do.
Speaker 1: We don't know if they don't. And my question is,
Speaker 1: and that would be the question. If he did, then
Speaker 1: it didn't work. Yeah. If he didn't, then he didn't right,
Speaker 1: and he should have right. So either way, it didn't
Speaker 1: come out good. He did, he wasn't able to supply
Speaker 1: for that part of the team. Maybe what they need.
Speaker 1: But if we've seen it goes beyond the talent on
Speaker 1: the field. We've seen that. Okay, yes, they do have
Speaker 1: issues with certain players on the field and there needs
Speaker 1: to be some changes there, But I've also seen that
Speaker 1: it goes way far beyond just the guys are playing
Speaker 1: out there. All right, let's take our first break. When
Speaker 1: we come back. I do have a couple of questions
Speaker 1: for you guys on some specific players, des Bryant being
Speaker 1: one of them, and also Tyren Smith. He was only
Speaker 1: able to play the first series of that game and
Speaker 1: then had to leave the game. Again. We'll talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about those two guys when we come back.
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Speaker 1: for details. Back to the Break Welcome Back. It's the
Speaker 1: second segment of The Break Live from the SWBC mortgage studios.
Speaker 1: At the start, we're talking Cowboys and a little bit
Speaker 1: of Cowboys and Seahawks. Cowboys again. This Sunday will have
Speaker 1: their final game in the season in Philadelphia against the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Correct me if I'm wrong. The Eagles have now wrapped
Speaker 1: up everything they can wrap it up absolutely, so this
Speaker 1: game is an exhibition game is to play for on
Speaker 1: either side. Yeah, which is ironic because we're in the
Speaker 1: exact same spot we were last year. It's just the
Speaker 1: teams have flipped. Yeah. Wow, the Eagles win. This NFL
Speaker 1: is a crazy thing. The Eagles went from so far
Speaker 1: out of it that they didn't have anything to play for,
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys were in first and they switched, they
Speaker 1: swapped places. That's the NFL for the Eagles finished last
Speaker 1: last year. Yeah, because the Giants last in the division.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys and Giants went to the playoffs and the
Speaker 1: Redskins finished like eight and eight, and then the Eagles. Wow, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the NFL. But the Cowboys aren't in last place.
Speaker 1: There in second places. See. Now, it's weird as bad
Speaker 1: a season that it's been that there would be in
Speaker 1: second place in the division. They've got second place locked
Speaker 1: up no matter what happens in this game too. So hey,
Speaker 1: it also tells you how bad of a season the
Speaker 1: Giants had, and I guess to some degree you could
Speaker 1: say the Redskins as well, but it just feels like
Speaker 1: it's been worse for the owoys. That's four of your
Speaker 1: wins right there. That's true, very true. Four of your
Speaker 1: eight wins against those good teams. That's amazing. You could
Speaker 1: in it in the season five and one in the division,
Speaker 1: and the last week of the season you weren't even
Speaker 1: in contention for the playoffs. It's amazing. All right, Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about a couple of players. There's
Speaker 1: one guy that I want to talk about a little bit,
Speaker 1: Dez Bryant. In that game, he had, according to my estimation,
Speaker 1: two drops, one of them ending up in an interception,
Speaker 1: and then in addition to that, had a fumble. What's
Speaker 1: the deal with this? I mean, as I said earlier,
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone can claim that this is a
Speaker 1: normal season for des This was very different than what
Speaker 1: you who would try sing him. I'm not saying maybe
Speaker 1: he would, I don't know. I'm just saying it's it's
Speaker 1: very different. We've seen a difference in We've seen a
Speaker 1: different Dez this year, and I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: is more than in past years, there have been more
Speaker 1: balls that have bounced off of his hands and hit
Speaker 1: the ground than in the past. I've always considered him
Speaker 1: to be a pretty sure handed catch catcher of the
Speaker 1: ball and a pretty good radius. You put the ball
Speaker 1: in his area, he's gonna come down with it, and
Speaker 1: that doesn't seem to be the case this season. Is
Speaker 1: that an indication of what we should expect in the future,
Speaker 1: or was this just an aberration. Next year he's back
Speaker 1: to who he is. No, and it's not even an aberration.
Speaker 1: Last year he really wasn't that great either. I mean,
Speaker 1: they were winning games, but they were winning games without
Speaker 1: him too, which was the first time we've really seen that.
Speaker 1: But he was still making some place, especially they he
Speaker 1: got to the Pro Bowl as an alternate. He got there,
Speaker 1: but I think his numbers were down. They were winning games,
Speaker 1: so you didn't really there weren't a lot of issues
Speaker 1: about it. But I think that this year you're starting
Speaker 1: to see that that Dak and Dez or not that
Speaker 1: they don't have great chemistry. We know that that's obvious,
Speaker 1: but I think that it's it's a part of it
Speaker 1: is des part of it is is Dak. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that he needs a perfect pass to make
Speaker 1: the plays, and that hasn't always been him. Like that
Speaker 1: was the thing that was so great about Dez is
Speaker 1: he could take a pass that wasn't a great pass
Speaker 1: and turn it into a catch, right, I think when
Speaker 1: you're talking about up in the air going to make plays.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if he's never ever been like
Speaker 1: this great great pass you know, Catcher just just like
Speaker 1: balls behind him and stuff like that. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know what what's the issue, but
Speaker 1: it's it's bad and it's about to be real bad.
Speaker 1: When when you when you put a price tag on
Speaker 1: it and was just going to be on it this year.
Speaker 1: This is you know, y'all, y'all didn't come in yesterday.
Speaker 1: I was here working hard, So I did come in.
Speaker 1: Where were you? I didn't see you? Just because you
Speaker 1: don't see me didn't mean or notever you weren't here.
Speaker 1: I made this point on our show yesterday. You love
Speaker 1: how he just did that like that absolutely meant nothing
Speaker 1: to your point. No, that statement just meant nothing. That
Speaker 1: was just a gig with the shovel, That's all that was.
Speaker 1: Which show you're talking about? Whatever our show that we
Speaker 1: did yesterday, or we did a joint show, you know whatever.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, go away. Um. Dez Bryant last year looked
Speaker 1: like a great receiver who was playing in an offense
Speaker 1: that wasn't suited to him. Yes, the Cowboys were run heavy,
Speaker 1: they had a rookie quarterback. Uh, they didn't lean on
Speaker 1: Dez the way that they did in twenty fourteen when
Speaker 1: he had sixteen touchdowns. But I you can think up
Speaker 1: a dozen great I mean, he blew up in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: He had long, big time gains against the Vikings and
Speaker 1: the Steelers. Uh, he did his you know, he did
Speaker 1: his beast mode on it type things. We did a
Speaker 1: lot of des type things. In my opinion, he missed
Speaker 1: three games and still finished with fifty catches for something
Speaker 1: like eight hundred yards and eight touchdowns. Like are those
Speaker 1: great numbers? Not by any stretch, But when you factor
Speaker 1: in that it's a rookie quarterback and an offense that's
Speaker 1: leaning heavily on a run game, those are pretty good numbers.
Speaker 1: And I don't think you don't look at the price
Speaker 1: tag and think, man, we're kind of getting host here
Speaker 1: when you consider his contributions. I don't think you can't
Speaker 1: even you can't even try to make that claim this year.
Speaker 1: It's just it's been it's been a night and day difference.
Speaker 1: Like this isn't a good receiver stuck in a bad offense.
Speaker 1: This is just a guy who's who's going through some
Speaker 1: stuff and on. I mean, I haven't talked to him,
Speaker 1: but he looks like a guy who is well aware
Speaker 1: of the criticism that is swirling around him. Like it
Speaker 1: looks like every time he has a chance to touch
Speaker 1: the ball, he's trying to do something insane and shut
Speaker 1: the haters up, and instead it gets him out of
Speaker 1: just doing the most basic things. I mean, how I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, like he's so freakishly strong and athletic, Like
Speaker 1: I mean, that wasn't even like this amazing play to
Speaker 1: poke the ball out of there like that, that didn't
Speaker 1: It literally was just a poke and it's gone. And
Speaker 1: then you know the other thing. I'm gonna rant for
Speaker 1: a minute. I am stunned at the amount of people
Speaker 1: who put that interception on Dak Yeah, because it was
Speaker 1: not don't get me wrong. It was not a good
Speaker 1: throw at all, but I have spent but it was.
Speaker 1: I think it was a throw that needed to be
Speaker 1: made because it was a defender. On the other side,
Speaker 1: I have spent far too many hours watching this guy
Speaker 1: stand ten yards away from a jugs machine with it
Speaker 1: cranked up all the way, just catching him like it's nothing,
Speaker 1: one handed, two handed, behind the back. He's he is
Speaker 1: a good catcher of the ball. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's got his amazing hands as DeAndre Hopkins or some
Speaker 1: of these other guys. Yeah, that catched the other night.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that was ever his strong suit.
Speaker 1: But to come at me like he shouldn't be expected
Speaker 1: to catch a ball slightly behind him with both hands,
Speaker 1: are you insane? That's what top caliber NFL receivers are
Speaker 1: expected average receivers are expected at in the NFL. That's
Speaker 1: part of the job. I mean, I know it wasn't
Speaker 1: a perfectly thrown ball, but if you need a perfectly
Speaker 1: thrown ball to catch it, then why are you making
Speaker 1: ten figures Like that's just not the way this works,
Speaker 1: or eight figures whatever it is, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Ten figures is like a billion dollars, but great, he
Speaker 1: makes a lot of money to catch the football, and
Speaker 1: that is a football that you're supposed to catch if
Speaker 1: that's how much money you're making, in my opinion, and
Speaker 1: it's just I don't know, I don't know what the
Speaker 1: root of the problems are, but it just hasn't been
Speaker 1: there for him basically at every level of the game
Speaker 1: this year, and that's something that you got to take
Speaker 1: a hard look at in the off season. It is
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a I think a big that might
Speaker 1: be one of the biggest questions this offseason on what
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are going to do in the offseason because
Speaker 1: it does require so much money. As I understand, it's
Speaker 1: twelve million dollars that they will be on the books
Speaker 1: to pay him if he's on this team with the
Speaker 1: current contract that he has, So that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: huge point of contention, I think for a lot of fans.
Speaker 1: Obviously in the building there will be different kinds of
Speaker 1: discussions being had, but I think for fans that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a really big thing about how do you keep
Speaker 1: him at that rate or do you try to get
Speaker 1: him lower, or do you have to cut him at
Speaker 1: some point, because he's will take a pay cut and
Speaker 1: you need to get the amount of money done. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: he absolutely will not play at that at that price tag.
Speaker 1: You think that's a confident of that, I'm one hundred
Speaker 1: percent confident here. That means I'm not one hundred percent
Speaker 1: confident of that. But I do think that you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to lower that number. I just I don't see
Speaker 1: Dez believing that he deserves a pay cut like other
Speaker 1: people might believe it. Then I would show him sixteen
Speaker 1: games from this year. No, I get that. But but
Speaker 1: you tell me, I'm just knowing what you know of
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I understand that. But he he
Speaker 1: will take a pay cut in twenty eighteen, There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. He will take a pay cut, whether
Speaker 1: or not he wears the Cowboys star or somewhere else.
Speaker 1: But I just don't think the Cowboys are going to
Speaker 1: keep that same price tag. So if if he won't
Speaker 1: take it here, that's fine. There's pride. I get it.
Speaker 1: You say, no cut me, He'll go to someone else.
Speaker 1: He'll take the pay cut there and he'll have a
Speaker 1: different role and he might be really great there. Whoever,
Speaker 1: wherever it is you know, he might might go to
Speaker 1: another spot where the expectations are not as high. He's
Speaker 1: not Patriots, and they will we have a resurgence. I'm sure.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean right, yeah, you know, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean but and and I think and I think Dez
Speaker 1: has been great for this team. But what was an
Speaker 1: issue that I had the other day was he's always
Speaker 1: been really good in training camp or any practice where
Speaker 1: he raises the intensity and then throwing a sideline rant
Speaker 1: like that, then to come back out and fumble the
Speaker 1: football and what was what we've you know, don't think
Speaker 1: was a major hit or anything like that. That's just
Speaker 1: it's just a sign of just something that's just not
Speaker 1: there with with him, and it's you know, it's sad,
Speaker 1: and he's a doing all this talking and all that,
Speaker 1: and then you know, like I have a problem with
Speaker 1: I have a problem with those players that don't sit
Speaker 1: and talk in the locker room. And it's not because
Speaker 1: we need a story. It's not about that. It's that
Speaker 1: these other guys are doing it and they had they
Speaker 1: don't have the answers, but they try. And then then
Speaker 1: these guys and there's other guys are just quick to
Speaker 1: get out of there because it's Christmas, and I gotta
Speaker 1: go it went about Christmas? Why whatever it is, because
Speaker 1: it happens, it happens every time in October. Whatever it is.
Speaker 1: It's you know, I think I think that's he's not
Speaker 1: being the leader that you want him to be on
Speaker 1: the pay him to be, Yeah, that you're paying him
Speaker 1: to be here. It's right. So I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't know what's gonna happen. And I like this, I
Speaker 1: really do. I like him, but um, you know, he
Speaker 1: hasn't He hasn't done the things that that, like you
Speaker 1: just said, that they're paying him to do. This is
Speaker 1: a March conversation, So I mean, we don't have to
Speaker 1: get into it right now if you don't want to.
Speaker 1: But I just I don't think it's as easy as
Speaker 1: a lot of people want it to be. In the
Speaker 1: aftermath of a disappointing game, Des Brian and Terrence Williams
Speaker 1: are on the books for a lot of money, and
Speaker 1: you can you can, absolutely, you can get rid of
Speaker 1: anybody you want to at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: But they're they're not easy guys to get rid of
Speaker 1: in the sense of the money, and they're not easy
Speaker 1: guys to get rid of in the sense of, Okay,
Speaker 1: cut Dez, and then so you're locking yourself off into
Speaker 1: a situation where you either got to spend big money
Speaker 1: in free agency or spend a big time draft pick
Speaker 1: on a receiver. And even then, I mean, so now
Speaker 1: you're saying, hey, rookie, you're the focal point of our
Speaker 1: receiving corps. I mean, I don't think it's as easy
Speaker 1: as a lot of people want it to be. And
Speaker 1: that's why I'm not just penciling Dead's in for a
Speaker 1: pay cut or being released or anything like. I don't think.
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys are in a tough spot here.
Speaker 1: I mean, let me say one more thing. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you guys have points on this, but I
Speaker 1: know what I just said about Dez. But if they
Speaker 1: more than anything, I think they need a different offense
Speaker 1: in here. They need an offense that's that's gonna really
Speaker 1: tailor things around Dak and maybe Diz. If they are
Speaker 1: going to have a difference that a different play caller
Speaker 1: or anything in here, then I think that you know,
Speaker 1: with that in mind, whoever you brought in, I would say,
Speaker 1: let's keep eighty eight at the forefront of these conversations, here,
Speaker 1: figure out a way the things that work best for
Speaker 1: him so I can see. I don't mean to talk
Speaker 1: out of both sides of my mouth. I don't think
Speaker 1: he can play for that number. But if you are
Speaker 1: going to make a change an offensive coordinator, I would
Speaker 1: make sure that Dak and Daz are are vocal points
Speaker 1: of whoever this offense is. The Other thing to consider
Speaker 1: in all of this is if you were to somehow
Speaker 1: get to a point where you said, Okay, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna take a pay cut and we're not gonna keep
Speaker 1: him here for twelve million. If you cut him, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure how much relief you get, because that's the
Speaker 1: other part of that is you say you have to
Speaker 1: go out down free agency free agency and replace him
Speaker 1: or spend a draft pick. You may still be paying
Speaker 1: him a significant amount of Maybe maybe it's not twelve million,
Speaker 1: maybe it's six million, maybe it's eight million. I don't
Speaker 1: know what that number is. But there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: money that's still left on the books for Dez Bryant
Speaker 1: that you're gonna be paying for him not to be here.
Speaker 1: That factors in as well. Maybe he's straight out yea.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is, oh, so yeah, yeah, do you
Speaker 1: want to talk about that? Yeah, I don't think that
Speaker 1: was awesome awesome, of course you would love for Earl
Speaker 1: Thomas to hey, I hate I hate Texas, and I
Speaker 1: thought it was awesome, it was gonna happen. It was
Speaker 1: absolutely awesome. Well, well, it depends if that time comes
Speaker 1: when they boot him out, as he says, and he's
Speaker 1: no longer a good player, then I don't know that
Speaker 1: it happens at that point. Did It's like you're not
Speaker 1: getting yeah, but yeah, tell us you're getting Leo's He's
Speaker 1: twenty nine, he's got a huge salary. He's starting drama
Speaker 1: in their locker room on a weekly basis. Maybe they're
Speaker 1: have Seahawks break is having the same talk about him
Speaker 1: as we are about Dez. Maybe the team could use
Speaker 1: a safety. I'm just gonna say that'd be nice. My
Speaker 1: main takeaway from all of that is, like, that's why
Speaker 1: there are harsh penalties and language for talking about other
Speaker 1: teams players that are under contract, Like that's why Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones and Jason Garrett aren't allowed to say. They can't
Speaker 1: even comment about that because the minute you put that
Speaker 1: it literally, player, I guarantee this. Players say this that
Speaker 1: type of stuff to each other and to other coaches
Speaker 1: every week. Ye like, like whether it's his hometown or
Speaker 1: whether it's buddies on that, he's just like, hey man,
Speaker 1: like you know, these guys are gonna release me at
Speaker 1: some point. Coming like that happens every week, but the
Speaker 1: media picks up on it once and it's a firestorm
Speaker 1: because it's interesting, you know, And that is why those
Speaker 1: rules are in place, is to keep stuff like this
Speaker 1: from becoming. But it's ridiculous. And you know how how
Speaker 1: AT and T Stadium has lined up. We know the
Speaker 1: center of the field where all the jersey swap goes on,
Speaker 1: and one team goes this way, one team goes that
Speaker 1: way to get over there to make I mean, he
Speaker 1: has a hamstring strain probably for running over that quickly
Speaker 1: to go get Jason Garrett before he gets in the
Speaker 1: locker room. I'm honestly surprised that he didn't get lost.
Speaker 1: I get lost at AT and T every week and
Speaker 1: I go there all the time. Like he's a maneuver.
Speaker 1: That's a lot more about you. Okay, really, it's a
Speaker 1: complicated place to get around. He followed the circle he
Speaker 1: got Jason Garrett. It's a circle. I mean, Garrett doesn't
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time out there, I don't think.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's not swapping polos with Pete Carroll. Now,
Speaker 1: that would be kind of funny if the coaches kind
Speaker 1: of started, Man, can I get that polo and they're
Speaker 1: like exchange and taking pictures with each other's polos? Would
Speaker 1: that would be awesome? Pretty funny. All right, let's talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about before we take our final break
Speaker 1: about Tyren Smith. He was only able to play one
Speaker 1: series and then was out of the game due to
Speaker 1: the injury that he hit he sustained a week ago,
Speaker 1: or really that he'd been playing with for a lot
Speaker 1: of the season. We don't know which one. It was,
Speaker 1: the knee or the back, the same thing, I guess
Speaker 1: to some degree, I'm pretty all injuries, I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: it was the knee it was in this case. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's still got all that other stuff. Are you are
Speaker 1: you concerned at this point? I mean, this is this
Speaker 1: is just it's getting to a point where it's so
Speaker 1: regular for him with these injuries. Are you getting concerned?
Speaker 1: I'm on about the long term I'm relieved that he
Speaker 1: couldn't finish that game because because he's human, like, I
Speaker 1: like the fact that he gave it a go and
Speaker 1: was like I'm too hurt. I'm like, okay, you're the
Speaker 1: same species as me, because if he had like just
Speaker 1: gone out there and played sixty snaps, that would be unreal.
Speaker 1: Like he sprained hiss LCL seven days, six and a
Speaker 1: half days prior to that, on top of the back,
Speaker 1: on top of the groin like it. At some point
Speaker 1: it's reasonable to be like, you need to rest, dude.
Speaker 1: It almost sounded like a contract clause to me, and
Speaker 1: I don't know this at all. It just sounded like
Speaker 1: if you start thirteen game games are more this year
Speaker 1: you get. I mean, then he plays three plays and
Speaker 1: he's out, and they don't and they don't sit the
Speaker 1: eighth eighth tackle, you know, like they normally do. They
Speaker 1: made sure they had two tackles back. I guess that's
Speaker 1: I guess that's possible. I feel like we would have
Speaker 1: heard about something, because when Sean Lee did it, it
Speaker 1: was everywhere like John Lee didn't well when he did.
Speaker 1: But still if somebody would have picked up on I know,
Speaker 1: I know, I'm not. I'm not saying it. I talked
Speaker 1: to him, and I talked to him in the locker
Speaker 1: room and I was like, how were you even in
Speaker 1: a spot where you could get into uniform? And he
Speaker 1: was like, I had to. I had to try to
Speaker 1: give it a go. You do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: Ye And it didn't work out. But I'm not implying anything.
Speaker 1: I don't know that. And I know Tyrren Smiths as
Speaker 1: tough as nails. And but after that third play when
Speaker 1: he was running not running off the field, I remember
Speaker 1: looking up at the at the scoreboard seeing him kind
Speaker 1: of trying to get off the field. I was like, God,
Speaker 1: this doesn't look good. And I guess he never played again.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean, I get your point. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff has stacked up for him. He's had
Speaker 1: the back injuries two years in a row. I would
Speaker 1: be shocked if he plays in Philly. So that's five
Speaker 1: games in the last two years that he's missed. Um,
Speaker 1: it's concerning, and I think tackle is something you need
Speaker 1: to look at, whether it's in free agency or the draft,
Speaker 1: Like you need to be better equipped to deal with
Speaker 1: that in the future. Slash just think about the future
Speaker 1: of the position. I'm not. I'm not ready to like
Speaker 1: send him off to retirement. Amber he's he's twenty seven years.
Speaker 1: I don't know what are you saying, guys are giving him.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is a great player, no doubt, and
Speaker 1: he definitely has a body that can take a lot.
Speaker 1: But he is human, like you just said, he absolutely
Speaker 1: he absolutely is, and you know, maybe who knows where
Speaker 1: it goes from here. But I'm not in a situation
Speaker 1: where I'm panicking about it. I'm just I talked to
Speaker 1: him after the game. I was like, dude, go go
Speaker 1: do something. Like I don't know what what might need
Speaker 1: to be operated on or what might need, but like,
Speaker 1: go do something. And he's like what I mean, I agree,
Speaker 1: But I just I don't know what the issues are
Speaker 1: in enough detail where I can be like, well, he's
Speaker 1: got to go get that taken. Like, just go do something,
Speaker 1: talk to people, figure out what I'll do the most
Speaker 1: for you, get it done, and just rest. And I
Speaker 1: would like to think that that's enough. I mean, DeMarcus
Speaker 1: Lawrence had to do this two years in a row,
Speaker 1: and he's been great this year with full health, So
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not panicking that his career is over,
Speaker 1: but he needs to take better steps toward getting ready
Speaker 1: for next year than he probably did last year. Don't
Speaker 1: don't go to the Pro Bowl. He's not going on.
Speaker 1: There's all right, let's take our final break. We're gonna
Speaker 1: come back. Let's get to some questions and numbers two one, four,
Speaker 1: eight seven, two twenty one h two. Tell us your
Speaker 1: opinions on what you saw and Sonny, what do you
Speaker 1: think of this team overall and where they are. We'll
Speaker 1: do that right when we come right back. This is
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Speaker 1: the Break Welcome Back. It is the final segment of
Speaker 1: the Great Life of the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. Nick,
Speaker 1: take it away. No, I'm not gonna take it away,
Speaker 1: Just give me a second. I forgot about this, He's Nick.
Speaker 1: You get out of one day and all of a
Speaker 1: sudden you can't do it anymore. Why don't you read
Speaker 1: it then? Because John not you? You know, Tommy John
Speaker 1: dot com. I don't know why you hate my reads
Speaker 1: because you just never know where you're gonna go with it.
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Speaker 1: percent off your first order Tommy John dot com. Forward
Speaker 1: slash Cowboys seems like kind of a double standard, doesn't it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know where Knicks reads are gonna go. He
Speaker 1: brought up the South Pole last one. Oh yeah, that
Speaker 1: was uncomfortable. Well I think actually, yeah, very Actually it's
Speaker 1: not uncomfortable. That's Tommy John. It is very comfortable. And
Speaker 1: when I read it, I speak from experience, and I
Speaker 1: think they can read it too. I don't think you
Speaker 1: speak from experience. South Pole. That's pretty down there. Do
Speaker 1: you know your geography? I mean that's pretty low. I
Speaker 1: would go with like Central America or like, you know,
Speaker 1: the Caribbean. But how are you being god? Even? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did get Tommy John for Christmas this year. I
Speaker 1: saw your tree sited. I saw your tree sited. That's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. Sweet. I'm almost ready to have a
Speaker 1: complete overhaul. So that's impressive. That's very nice. All right,
Speaker 1: let's let's get some questions rolling here, you guys, give
Speaker 1: us a call. The numbers two one four eight seven
Speaker 1: two twenty one O two again. Two one four eight
Speaker 1: seven two twenty one O two is the number Let's
Speaker 1: take a call first from Lorenzo in North Carolina. Lorenzo,
Speaker 1: what up? Hey, how y'all doing. Hey, I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: to I'm gonna try to get this out. Please bear
Speaker 1: with me. Okay, I think our problem, well I know
Speaker 1: our problem is Jason Garrett. Here's the reason why. Um
Speaker 1: we're having the same discussions about um das Brian as
Speaker 1: we had about TiO. Just like we said earlier, is
Speaker 1: Scott Lenahan. He got praised, he got met to trying
Speaker 1: the ball. He come here. Our offense never looked like
Speaker 1: Detroit's offense. It looked like Cowboys offense. You remember Jason Garrett,
Speaker 1: he was real mad about giving up play caller because
Speaker 1: he wanted somebody that was not gonna change the system,
Speaker 1: that was gonna do what he wanted to do. And
Speaker 1: I think he's very much involved. You remember back when
Speaker 1: Tashar Choyce was playing against you know, we were playing
Speaker 1: the Peace First Steelers. He was dominating the run game.
Speaker 1: We was up by five, needed one first down, first
Speaker 1: and two. What do he do? He get the ball
Speaker 1: to Terrea Ns coming out in the backfield. Kind of
Speaker 1: the same thing that we're seeing throughout this whole process.
Speaker 1: And I'm not talking about just the game seven eight
Speaker 1: years that he's been coached. Um offensive cordin there. Two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven, great season, but he also had a
Speaker 1: little help with with with Sperrano in here after that
Speaker 1: year and we kind of tell Taylor dog and just
Speaker 1: like last year, everything's new. Nobody expected that, nobody knew
Speaker 1: what to expect. We did pretty good. People get wind
Speaker 1: of them, and then it's like he can't adapt. Remember y'all,
Speaker 1: I heard y'all talking about it all the time. Why
Speaker 1: not dance in the slot? He made a this game.
Speaker 1: See what he did in the slot. Then the rest
Speaker 1: of the game. In the next game, you don't see
Speaker 1: him in the slot. You don't. I mean, if if
Speaker 1: he can't run the route, treat get some teachers in
Speaker 1: here that that can do it. But I think we
Speaker 1: need to change our philosophy on offense because it just
Speaker 1: seems like when we're the type of team that if
Speaker 1: I man beat your man, we look great. If I
Speaker 1: man is not beating your man, then we have no
Speaker 1: way to innobate some type of scheme to get that
Speaker 1: player the ball or to get that person some help.
Speaker 1: We appreciate the call, and I just want y'all to
Speaker 1: talk about that. Okay, there's a lot to impact there,
Speaker 1: and some of it I agree with, some of it
Speaker 1: I disagree with, but go ahead. Well a lot of
Speaker 1: that I don't know what to do with. But like
Speaker 1: that last statement, like if you had just summed it
Speaker 1: all up with that, I'm like, yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys are beating there, guys, head up, they
Speaker 1: look pretty good. And if they're if they're struggling with that,
Speaker 1: they probably won't look very good. And lay that wherever
Speaker 1: you want to lay at that. The head coach is that,
Speaker 1: the offensive coordinators, that the players for not winning their matchups.
Speaker 1: Probably a little bit of all of that. But I
Speaker 1: agree with that basic summary. I don't I mean, I
Speaker 1: wasn't here for two shared choice and t O. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: but yeah, the game that two shared choice was dominating.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't call that one ever, ever, ever, ever.
Speaker 1: I do remember some kind of run t O trying
Speaker 1: to be cute. Yeah, yeah, that doesn't always work. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's just that's which that's just a
Speaker 1: passionate fan. I admire anybody who can work up the
Speaker 1: energy to basically be yelling at ten o'clock in them,
Speaker 1: you know, like I'm not there. I never am ever,
Speaker 1: But like if I was gonna do that, I would
Speaker 1: need it to be like I needed afternoon, like after
Speaker 1: I've had some coffee and that that was impressive. Um, No,
Speaker 1: Dez doesn't get Megatron type looks in this offense. But
Speaker 1: like that would be a mistake anyway. Like this is
Speaker 1: a run oriented offense. That's why you drafted all these
Speaker 1: linemen and drafted this running back. I mean that's not
Speaker 1: the way it should look like if you were throwing
Speaker 1: to Days eighteen times a game when you've got Zeke
Speaker 1: and all these offensive linemen, I think that would be
Speaker 1: a mistake too. The problem is it just don't maximize
Speaker 1: the looks they give any of their receivers really, at
Speaker 1: least not this year. Yeah, I think that's a little
Speaker 1: bit unfair to say it doesn't look like the Detroit offense,
Speaker 1: because quite frankly, I don't think you want him to
Speaker 1: come in here and do the Detroit and you want
Speaker 1: anyone to bring the Detroit off Detroit hasn't had a
Speaker 1: one hundred yard rusher in years. Yeah, and it wasn't like,
Speaker 1: even with whatever they did at that time, they weren't
Speaker 1: winning a heck of a lot of games. It was
Speaker 1: still doing the Detroit Lion type things. So I don't know, no,
Speaker 1: But seriously, like I don't think, I don't think the
Speaker 1: idea and bringing him in here will say take what
Speaker 1: you're doing in Detroit and do it here. I think
Speaker 1: the idea was you're a good play caller. You've shown
Speaker 1: you can be a good play caller, because guess what,
Speaker 1: this guy's had a long career. It wasn't just with
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions. You've shown you can be a good,
Speaker 1: good play caller. We'd like you to come here and
Speaker 1: call place for our team. Here's what we have as
Speaker 1: far as personnel, do what you can with it. And
Speaker 1: so I think that last year, and this is the
Speaker 1: part that comes a little bit frustrating. I think probably
Speaker 1: for the coaches if they listened to all the noise,
Speaker 1: is that nobody was complaining about these things last year.
Speaker 1: Last year it was called very well. I mean, they
Speaker 1: had a really good The way they ran this offense
Speaker 1: last year was in my opinion, masterful at times. So
Speaker 1: I think you have to kind of give them credit
Speaker 1: for that. And say that this year, maybe it wasn't
Speaker 1: what you what you wanted, and certainly the league seems
Speaker 1: to have caught up with them to some degree because
Speaker 1: even when Zeke was here earlier in the season, they
Speaker 1: weren't playing great. The offense wasn't clicking great in a
Speaker 1: lot of games early in the season. So for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: it didn't work this year, but last year it did.
Speaker 1: So I think, and Nick, this is something you said.
Speaker 1: I think you said it in the break. I think
Speaker 1: that there is a real possibility and fancy to start
Speaker 1: getting themselves ready for this is a real possibility. These
Speaker 1: same coordinators are going to be back next year and
Speaker 1: they'll be calling and maybe they had just to do
Speaker 1: something a little bit different, but they'll be back next
Speaker 1: year to probably call this offense and call this defense.
Speaker 1: I didn't say that, and I don't believe that you don't, Okay,
Speaker 1: so you saying that. I thought somebody said there's been
Speaker 1: talking around this is what people think. But I don't
Speaker 1: believe that. I believe that there will be a change.
Speaker 1: And I think that if you listen to what Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones said, I should have the direct quote in front
Speaker 1: of me, but he said it after the game, he
Speaker 1: talked about the You know that he's been around a
Speaker 1: long time and he's seen a lot of quarterback I
Speaker 1: mean coordinators and head coaches, and I don't see a
Speaker 1: reason to change our head coach. He said it right
Speaker 1: after he said coordinators and head coach, and then he
Speaker 1: said something about the headcach. And this is one of
Speaker 1: those typical things. You don't listen to what Jerry says.
Speaker 1: You listen to what Jerry doesn't say. Well, yeah, he
Speaker 1: just kind of reading between the lines there. I think
Speaker 1: you got them, and I think you do need to
Speaker 1: make some changes there. If that's typical. Both coordinators are
Speaker 1: just one of them. I changed them both. Actually I
Speaker 1: think I would change both of them. But see, it's
Speaker 1: hard to compare it. Sorry, it's hard to compare it
Speaker 1: to last year, because yes, they did have a great year,
Speaker 1: a great season, but then again, they had two new
Speaker 1: players that came in full of energy, came in to
Speaker 1: change the whole dynamic of the team, and that nobody
Speaker 1: else knew what to expect. So now it goes back
Speaker 1: to the whole adjustment thing. Okay, now, other teams had
Speaker 1: a full season to evaluate these players, figure out how
Speaker 1: they work now, they got to figure it out. But
Speaker 1: then the Cowboys are still doing or trying to do
Speaker 1: the same thing over and over, you know, and not
Speaker 1: having them themselves making those changes. Okay, they figure this out,
Speaker 1: how do we trick them or how do we change
Speaker 1: things up a little bit to give them a little confusion.
Speaker 1: So I don't know, you guys have been here way
Speaker 1: longer to figure out year by year what it's like.
Speaker 1: I don't know, because then a good game happens and
Speaker 1: then that kind of tends to wipe off the surface
Speaker 1: a little bit. But then what's the core of this team?
Speaker 1: Looking year after years, since Garrett has been here, and
Speaker 1: since the offensive coordinator has been here, what are the
Speaker 1: things that just kind of tend to happen more often
Speaker 1: rather than those once in a while great games. The
Speaker 1: culture here has and it's not not just with Garrett,
Speaker 1: and it's been here with Bill Parcels, the Wade Phillips.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it goes back to maybe in
Speaker 1: the mid nineties that they've went they've gone to the
Speaker 1: playoffs in consecutive years, maybe I'm or six six z seven.
Speaker 1: I think I think the stat was ten ten wins
Speaker 1: um in a season that goes back that far. But um,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, in the last even the last decade,
Speaker 1: when you make the playoffs in the expectations are high
Speaker 1: the next year, and this team hasn't hasn't been able
Speaker 1: to capture that so and and they you can say this,
Speaker 1: they haven't had consecutive playoff runs in twenty twenty years.
Speaker 1: Uh since with the same coach, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: not since Barry Switzer did it in ninety four or
Speaker 1: ninety five and ninety six. Have you had the same
Speaker 1: coach cut in and have consecutive years to go to
Speaker 1: the playoffs and go I want to make one point
Speaker 1: that isn't true. Gaily did it twice. I want to
Speaker 1: make one point though, based on what Amber was talking about.
Speaker 1: I do think though there's a possibility that this coaching staff,
Speaker 1: and I do think Garrett falls in this category. And
Speaker 1: this goes back many a long time. We're talking back
Speaker 1: to Vince Lombardi days. There are certain certain coaches and
Speaker 1: certain philosophies that are we believe that if we do
Speaker 1: what we're supposed to do, we will do it better
Speaker 1: than you can stop us. And so we're gonna do
Speaker 1: what we do scheming is not really a part of
Speaker 1: that's not really what we do. What we do is
Speaker 1: we know what we do well. We're gonna do that
Speaker 1: regardless of whether you whatever, whatever you do, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to do that well. And we believe we're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do that well. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: stick to what we do. And I do believe that
Speaker 1: maybe that's a part of the philosophy here, and that's
Speaker 1: why when you say they didn't they didn't change that
Speaker 1: going into this year. I do believe that maybe part
Speaker 1: of that is because they came into the year believe
Speaker 1: again in their philosophy which worked for them last year,
Speaker 1: which is we're gonna do what we do well, and
Speaker 1: we don't care what you do. We're gonna do what
Speaker 1: we do well, and we think that's good enough to
Speaker 1: get us wins. That BlackBerry do it. And I'm not
Speaker 1: saying I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's right,
Speaker 1: but this is something that goes back again. This is
Speaker 1: a coaching philosophy that's been around a long time. And
Speaker 1: then the nineties Cowboys were they were the same way.
Speaker 1: They had what they did well and they continued and
Speaker 1: over and over. That makes sense because Garrett loves to
Speaker 1: identify himself as an old school guy. So why don't
Speaker 1: you run the ball? I know, I know, I know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't go, it goes, It doesn't make any everything
Speaker 1: that you would expect them to be able to do
Speaker 1: in that situation. I mean, Garrett, I give him credit
Speaker 1: for this. And I remember it was in It was
Speaker 1: at the combine when he was saying that, you know,
Speaker 1: they want to be like the forty nine ers and
Speaker 1: who had drafted a lot of offensive linemen in the
Speaker 1: first round, and we want to get that's that style
Speaker 1: and kind of built that team. And he built I
Speaker 1: won't say he built it, but I mean that was
Speaker 1: what he wanted to have and he's got it and
Speaker 1: it's working and it's working in this game, and so
Speaker 1: it just still goes back to it. So it's like,
Speaker 1: you're right, they are hard headed and stubborn when it
Speaker 1: comes to that, but then they just then they get
Speaker 1: cute and not enough, not hardheaded enough. I know, I
Speaker 1: don't know. And more than I mean, not not just
Speaker 1: run the ball, but with all the stuff that's happened
Speaker 1: and what your running back had gone through, he deserved
Speaker 1: the opportunity to get that football and get into the
Speaker 1: Are they gonna stop him if I lose? He hadn't
Speaker 1: been in there in six weeks. Yeah, don't score a touchdown.
Speaker 1: If I'm the Cowboys and I lose that game because
Speaker 1: I ran the ball too much, I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1: I don't want to lose the ball, lose the game
Speaker 1: getting cute. If I'm gonna lose, I'm gonna lose doing
Speaker 1: what I do well. And that's why I had a
Speaker 1: big problem with that. Is the best thing you do,
Speaker 1: the thing that you thought you had lost for six weeks.
Speaker 1: That was the reason why you were against the ropes
Speaker 1: and having to have other teams win, which, by the way,
Speaker 1: a lot of them were doing that for you and
Speaker 1: getting you right back into the picture. Was because you
Speaker 1: lost this guy for six weeks, you get him back.
Speaker 1: I am running him until his tongue is on the ground,
Speaker 1: like I am. I am running and running and running.
Speaker 1: And they did it earlier in the game and it
Speaker 1: was successful. That's the part that's so baffling. It made
Speaker 1: sense for them to continue to do it, and they didn't.
Speaker 1: Seattle who Seattle played this week? Arizona. No San Francisco
Speaker 1: chats gonna make the playoffs. Sea. I think Seattle is
Speaker 1: gonna make the playof I don't know San Francisco on
Speaker 1: a roll now, Jimmy ge is gonna stream. San Francisco
Speaker 1: is on a role. That's true, they're playing well, but
Speaker 1: they absolutely could. I mean Atlanta's gotta be a good
Speaker 1: Carolina team and that I love what the NFL did
Speaker 1: by not flexing a game. Agree to improve the drama
Speaker 1: with all of that, so it should be an interesting
Speaker 1: Sunday night game that they moved to. They didn't have
Speaker 1: a night game on Week seventeen. They usually flex one,
Speaker 1: but they decided not to because of in order for
Speaker 1: all those games to be aromatic, they need to be
Speaker 1: happening at the same time, and for a competitive balance too,
Speaker 1: because what you didn't want is you didn't want to
Speaker 1: get to that game. And now one of those teams
Speaker 1: is in a situation where they need something Everything that
Speaker 1: they needed to happen happen, and one right one can
Speaker 1: play for it and the other one doesn't, and it
Speaker 1: affects other games, right other teams getting That's what I
Speaker 1: was thinking might happen if the Cowboys did win the game,
Speaker 1: they're playing Philly, and then you wonder, oh, I bet
Speaker 1: Carolina has nothing to play for it because they can't
Speaker 1: win the division. You go right, they wouldn't. They would
Speaker 1: have flexed us if we had won. I bet you,
Speaker 1: I bet. I'm starting to believe they would have taken
Speaker 1: the gamble. So basically, you would have needed Carolina to
Speaker 1: beat Atlanta in order for the Cowboys game to mean anything,
Speaker 1: And I think they would have taken that gamble and
Speaker 1: just been like, well, if we if we're wrong, this
Speaker 1: will still be a well rated game because it's the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: And if we're right, then this will be a bonanza
Speaker 1: because it's a holiday and the Cowboys are playing for
Speaker 1: a chance to get into the play I think they
Speaker 1: looked at it and said just the opposite of that.
Speaker 1: Like with the Cowboys out and the teams that actually
Speaker 1: have relevant games, we do better having those games all
Speaker 1: played at the same time from a rating standpoint than
Speaker 1: pushing one of the night and risking that it means
Speaker 1: nothing and then trying to get people to sit down.
Speaker 1: You talked about this the other day when the College
Speaker 1: Football Playoff did this a few years ago and did
Speaker 1: games on a z it tanked and so you now
Speaker 1: put a bad matchup on a New Year's Eve night
Speaker 1: makes it really really tough party watch Cooper Rush. Right,
Speaker 1: So I think I think all things consider, I agree
Speaker 1: with you, David. The Cowboys would have been still in it.
Speaker 1: They probably would have flexed it. So they aren't. They
Speaker 1: are not so back at nine NFC. Yeah. Hey, it'll
Speaker 1: be dramatic in half the city's in the NFC, but
Speaker 1: not Philadelphia. Yea, all right, we appreciate you guys joining us.
Speaker 1: We're back tomorrow. We're gonna give you a scouting report
Speaker 1: for the Philadelphia Eagles. I think that may take a
Speaker 1: few minutes and then we'll try to get to some questions.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you guys can can join us and uh and
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about your favorite team. The Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys will be back back tomorrow for Nick Eatman, Dave Helmet,
Speaker 1: and re Garcia. I'm Derek Hield and this has been
Speaker 1: the Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. Three. This
Speaker 1: has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.