WEBVTT - Talkin' Cowboys: The Pollard Factor 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.520 The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:18.480 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This he's Talking Cowboys 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.319 training live from the Dallas Cowboys World hears at the 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:31.360 Star in Friscollowing the line saw Letty and now your 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:37.440 hosts Isaiah Stanback, heck My Harrison, Rob Phillips, and Kyle Yeoman's. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.320 Ladies and gentlemen of the Internet and of the podcast 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.839 app and of all over the world, welcome into a 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.080 victory Monday edition of Talking Cowboys. Here from the s 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.560 WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star in Frisco to the 0:00:55.640 --> 0:01:00.360 Dallas Cowboys take down the San Francisco forty nine miners 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.560 for win number five of the twenty twenty campaign forty 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.360 one thirty three the final score from AT and T 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.080 Stadium last night. We're gonna break it all down for 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.480 you here on Talking Cowboys, presented as always by the 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.280 great folks over at Geiko. Kyle Yeoman's with you alongside 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.600 our resident Super Bowl Champion Isaiah dan Bank. We've got 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.440 Cowboys insider Rob Phillips down to the bottom right hand 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.760 corner and professional football analyst heck My Harrison, and along 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.680 with your title Heck Mom, I'm gonna go with professional 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:34.320 tree decorator because he's got his battery paid off and 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.480 in the left side of his screen it's a little 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.920 bit bigger than your up down. Heck hey, d First 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.200 of us, Kyle, do not get me in any trouble 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.720 with that title. Okay, because all of the credit to 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.520 decorating this tree belongs to my daughter Kia and my 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:54.720 wife Nicky, So this is this is their creation. They 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.360 did this, so fantastic kudoson my daughter kid and wife. 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.640 Looks like Rockefeller Center back there. It looks like time 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:06.160 to where I love it. You know, Kia is the 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.240 real star of the family. But also not to mention, 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.520 I mean, Isaiah, you're pretty much a star for getting Heckma, 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.760 you said those are Bluetooth lights. You like, you're working 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:19.200 with Bluetooth on this tree. So how does that? Hero? 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.720 I you can hook this thing up, it goes, you 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:25.760 can sync it with your phone, and you could play 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:27.760 it with your music. So I was thinking, you know, 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.240 having a little little John Christmas going this weekend, So 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:37.960 just no, it's all Isaiah lost the bat, he shipped 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.919 the tree, and Heckma put it up this weekend. Looks fantastic, buddy, 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.639 you look very festive here in the week of Christmas. 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.160 Happy holidays to everyone, no matter what you celebrate. But yeah, Rob, 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:51.320 the Cowboys are celebrating a win yesterday and an opportunity 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.320 to stay alive in the playoff hunt at least for 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.560 another week because Washington lost to Seattle. Big time week 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.800 coming up this week in really how things are going 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.840 to shape out in the NFC East. But Rob, what 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.440 did you think about yesterday's matchup with the forty nine 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:11.720 ers and how the Cowboys came out on top. You're 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.400 telling me that game got flexed? Really a game that 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:21.160 ends on a kickoff on side return for a touchdown 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.160 and then a hail married. NFL decided to flex that game. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.959 For shame, NBC, for shame, you missed a good one 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.600 between two teams that are that are really struggling. And 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.079 that's why, I mean, half of us picked the Cowboys, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.240 half of us picked the forty nine ers on Friday, 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:37.920 and I think it's because they're in a lot of 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.360 ways the same team. They're flawed, they have injuries, they 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.160 have problems taking care of the ball, and that was 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.400 the difference. Cowboys now with a plus seven turnover ratio 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.760 in their last two wins, a two game winning streak, 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:55.000 now first of the season. I saw on last week 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.360 the New York Times statistical model, So the Cowboys have 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.120 a one percent chance to win the NFC East. I 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.720 apparently that has risen to five percent, So it's still 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.760 a chance. You're telling me there is a chance fer 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:15.200 five percent. You know, I would disagree with the computer 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.119 on that one, and I'm not a mathematician by any means. 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.600 But the fact that you have Washington going up against 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.400 Carolina this week, which is a winnable game for Washington, 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.839 but it's very losable, especially if Alex Smith is unavailable, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:29.920 and then the Cowboys somehow, if they can take down 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.279 the Eagles, I think the Cowboys are sitting in the 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.680 driver's seat going into week seventeen. But we can talk 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:36.760 about that a little bit later. On Isaiah, what do 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.799 you think about this offense yesterday and kind of how 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.520 Andy Dalton and that offensive line responded whenever San Francisco 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:45.599 brought the heat, especially at the back half of the 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:50.400 second quarter and then right after that halftime break. Yeah, 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:51.720 I feel good about it, and I just want to 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:53.400 acknowledge the fact that you know, I know. Heck, we 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:55.240 just alluded to you prior to us coming on the 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.320 show the cow that you were listening to the E 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.640 forty versus two short verses. You know, obviously you were 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.080 listening to E four O, but the Cowboys were listening 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.880 to that forty burger because because they got that forty 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.160 on there. Um. But no, these guys played pretty dog 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.240 on well, they played pretty well. Man. I'm actually proud 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.440 of these guys. They've come a long way. Um. You know, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.320 this chemistry has continued to build every week. We've had 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:19.800 some form of adversity every every week. We I don't 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.400 think since week one, I don't think we've had our 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.760 entire squad squadron out there, um as I as I've 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.120 been watching The Mandalorian. But yeah, I think you know, 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:29.960 obviously this is we going to this week and Zeke's 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:31.560 out and Paula has to step up. You know, he 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.039 gets sixty some yards Russian sixty some of yards receiving. 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:37.839 You know, Kellen Moore continues to expand his repertoire. He 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:39.640 brought out some stops that I haven't seen him do 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:43.400 this year, um, that were within the frame of our offense. 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:46.880 It wasn't no crazy reverses and reverse passes and all that. 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.600 It was just some misdirection. And you know, he he 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.040 pretty much been watching the film against our defense because 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.279 he did exactly, um what works against our defense against 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.280 against this this team. So very proud of these guys, man. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:00.680 You know, they did what they what was required to 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.440 get a win. And not only that, these guys played 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.280 complimentary football. I know we talked about it in the 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:09.200 postgame show yesterday called but complimentary football. Your defense gets 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.039 you the ball, guess what, go score? Right now, that's 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.040 a give and take relationship. Nobody who just wants to 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:20.599 be a relationship where you're just receiving. No, that's a 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:26.120 tough relationship for me. You know, look, I'm not gonna 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.920 be I'm not gonna be the debbut downer for this 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.640 victory because we got one, right, we got this victory. 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.239 It was tough. There were a lot of momentum swings 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:38.320 in this game. Offensively, I just liked the fact that that, 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.520 you know, we were sitting in position a lot of 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.960 times just with a short field, and it made it 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:45.719 easy for us to punch it in. There were times 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.680 where Andy Dalton was plot on with his throws, and 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.320 then there were other times where the running game wasn't there, 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.679 and I think that's when Kellen Moore on some plays 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.400 had to go into his bag and try and pull 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.680 out a few gadget plays. But luckily those didn't cost 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:07.360 us defensively. Who are these guys? I mean, four turnovers 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:12.280 yesterday and we've been talking about getting turnovers all season long, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.920 and that just hadn't been something that this Cowboys team 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.720 has been able to manufacture. But you see how easy, 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.320 how easy it makes the game flow for your offense 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.400 when you can set them up in prime position. You 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.840 have a free safety that breaks on a ball. How 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.640 about that, you know to get an interception and Tank Lawrence, 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.520 Tank Lawrence played his tail off yesterday. And so kudos 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.880 to the defense. That a lot of things that obviously 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.360 we could scrutinize or criticize them for, but look, they 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.520 mitigated a lot of that stuff and pulled out a 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:46.360 great victory. And whenever it comes to the defense, you 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:49.920 have the four turnovers and two fumbles in the first half, 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.400 one on special teams won on the defensive side of 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:53.960 the football. Then you had the two picks in the 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:57.000 fourth quarter, one to Anthony Brown his first interception of 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.760 twenty twenty and his fifth of his career. Then you 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:02.400 had Donovan Wilson, like you said, breaking toward the football. 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.000 And I asked Stephen Jones earlier this week, and I 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.400 asked him, do you feel like you've found that guy? 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.200 Do you feel like Donovan Wilson is finally that safety 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:13.600 that you've been waiting for, the hard hitter, the guy 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.960 who forces turnovers, and he forces another one in his 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.000 first game back after missing a couple due to injury. 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:20.680 And he looked fine out there. I really did. I 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.520 thought he looked fantastic. And then you have the secondary 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:27.640 coming in and getting some reinforcements. Cheeta Woozier's back, Trayvon 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.360 Digs's back, Anthony Brown is back, and all four of 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.160 those top corners are available at one point in the game. Now, 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.160 you lost Xavier Woods later on in the matchup yesterday, 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.120 But with that being said, you had six of your 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.760 your dbs. You had your top six dbs finally available. 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.319 Rob How huge is that for the defense, especially when 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:50.080 you're trying to evaluate what that secondary is going to 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:55.160 look like going into next season. Oh, it's absolutely huge. 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.400 I mean, that's A that's a continuity problem on this 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.920 roster that we probably haven't talked abou enough this year. 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.040 We've talked about missing Dak, we talked about the offensive line, 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:07.640 We've talked about um injuries to the defensive line and 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.920 moving on from players on the defensive line, but not 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.560 not the secondary as much. And I think, uh, you know, 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:15.840 you watched Jordan Lewis, who's been kind of the constant 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.760 the last few games he's been healthy, and uh, he 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.520 put together another solid performance in terms of just being 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.360 around the football, stopping the run, sack. Uh, he's been 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.360 solid and pass coverage. So I think, you know, he's 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.920 one of several guys going into his contract year and 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.160 I think he's playing well as the season ends. But yeah, absolutely, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.480 continuity has been big. Look, they they gave up four 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.240 hundred and fifty eight yards that is that is the 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:44.160 three points. That's the second highest total that they've allowed 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.679 this year. Uh, you know in San Franco had one 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.080 hundred and fifty rushing yards. That was kind of to 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.480 be expected. Wasn't three hundred, So that that was progress, 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.839 but you know that's progress. They cut, they cut in half, 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:01.319 they cut in half, So yes, they look, you can 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.400 you've got you can give up yardage, you know that 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.520 that's gonna happen. But if you can get takeaways, that's 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:09.680 how you win games. I mean, Mike McCarthy's not a 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:13.800 big stats guy, but turnovers are the leading stat for him. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.720 That's what the size football games. He's not wrong. Cowboys 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.440 had eleven takeaways in the first twelve games. They've got 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.800 seven in the last two games. It's not a coincidence 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.360 that they won two games in a row, not at all. 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.880 And good thing that McCarthy isn't a stats guy, because 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.120 if you look at the offensive stats, they weren't very good. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.560 I mean, two hundred and ninety one yards on fifty 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.400 eight plays and you had only the eighty seven on 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.839 the ground two oh nine for Andy Daltson yesterday. So 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.440 offensively the stats weren't there. You weren't very good on 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.360 third down six of fifteen, which is forty percent, so 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.880 you have to see some improvement throughout. But you didn't 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.160 really need this offense heckma I mean, whenever you came 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:54.800 to the turnovers, it ended up pushing them into position 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.480 to where they took advantage twenty four points of their 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.880 forty one came off of turnovers and they took it 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:05.440 vantage whenever they needed to. Yeah, and a defensive effort 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:07.920 like that, it covers up in all of your inadequacies 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.840 and that's what it did for the offense. And you know, look, 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.400 there's still a lot of things that we have to 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.280 work on. Red zone efficiency still has to be a 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.800 sticking point for this offense. Like you said, third downs, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.520 we were not very good on third downs, but when 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.000 you get the ball on the twenty two, you know, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.160 it makes it makes it a lot shorter. But also 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.560 Andy Dalton did some really good things that you talk 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:30.680 about a drive in the third quarter where he goes 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.080 fifteen play seventy three yards and it was it was 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.560 the drive that he had to put together to get 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.360 this victory. Kudos to our defensive front to front seven. 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.240 It makes it so much easier when your guys are 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.120 putting pressure on the quarterback and forcing him into Aaron throws. 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.160 I mean Mullin as a quarterback man, he was staring 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.920 it down and just making it easy for our guys 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.280 on the back half as well. So all things being considered, 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:00.360 you talk about the continuity of our secondary and guys 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.960 having to play finally having everybody healthy. I think that 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.000 meant a lot to see those guys playing together. But 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.880 also Isaiah said this as a sticking point for a 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.800 lot of these guys that are in their contract years 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:14.680 that the eye and the sky don't lie and they 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.480 can't just lay down. They're playing for their careers and 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:21.280 you see guys like Cheeto Jordan Lewis playing just like that. 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:23.600 You know, I'm gonna put that tape out there so 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.600 that everyone sees that I want to be in this league, 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:28.880 and I really was. I was proud of guys playing 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:30.840 up to their potential we've been waiting on and if 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:38.360 we finally saw it. Isaiah, Yeah, I mean they did 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.280 with what was required to them. I mean that's pretty 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:42.840 much at the end of the day. Do they need 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.319 to play better, Absolutely, Could they have had more yards? Absolutely? 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.319 Could we have you know, not allowed as many yards? Absolutely? 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.840 Every everything you can say, absolutely too, you know, But 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:55.480 at the end of the day, it's about getting a 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.240 w and and once you get the dumb now you 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.480 can start critiquing and going over all the things that 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.120 they need to improve upon. But um, everything's everything that 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:04.480 needs to be said. I think it's being a sad Man, 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.560 those guys there, Um, everybody, everybody stepped their game up, 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:09.440 you know, as Heckma talked about, you know, these guys 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.360 are playing for their careers very very much. So regardless 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:13.480 of what was going on with your team, you got 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:15.680 to stand up for yourself and then yourself turns into 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:17.240 multiple guys doing it, and then all of a sudden 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.960 the team plays better. So um, that's what we saw yesterday. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.200 And and the thing about the takeaways, you know the 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.080 Cincinnati game, you know, you could all if you're a skeptic, 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.200 you can argue Cincinnati gave him those turnovers. You know, 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.440 they were just careless with the ball. You know, DeMarcus 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.400 Lawrence made that turnover happen. Yes, Yes, same thing with 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.320 Lawrence Armstrong. Those two picks in the fourth quarter were 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.640 you know, reading and reacting and making a play on 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.320 the ball and being instinctive. And so that's that's not 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.760 pure luck, you know. And so that's that's the sign 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.040 of a defense that is growing. Whether that's that makes 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:48.960 you makes you happy as a fan with the draft 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.760 pick or not, you know, that is that's right, rob 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.800 it And I think for our defense, just seeing them 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.199 do that makes me believe that they are more comfortable 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.199 with the scheme they're learning. I mean, it's it's one 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.600 thing to read and react, but if you're you're back 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:05.480 there and you're guessing on where you need to be in, 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.840 the communication level isn't there. Guys couldn't do that before. 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.120 It just feels like they've simplified their coverages. And we 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.120 talked about high school coverages like this is just court. 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.680 It's just a cover for right. It's the same, it's 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:20.920 the same, it's the same, and guys just hadn't been 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.840 able to master it. But the communication hadn't been there. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.800 When you see guys like Anthony Brown break in front 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.240 of a receiver to get an interception, that's just him 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.400 being comfortable and knowing I'm in zone and I have 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.280 a guy behind me, you know. And just in the 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.560 same thing with Donovan Wilson, he's understanding the cover so 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:40.920 he can break on the ball. I love that as well. 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.240 But I have to say Andy Dalton, for just like 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.040 a split second there, man, I was having I was 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:51.680 having delusions of Andy backing the day he had his 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.680 red rifle going there for a quick second, and they, 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.520 you know, they want to call him a bus driver, 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.240 just you know, facilitator of the office. But he was 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.800 taking with that this was given him, which was a lot, 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.280 and he was always making the good REASO kuldos to 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.880 Andy Dalton for doing that. Well, you saw in this 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.280 game what a true backup quarterback in the NFL looks 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.280 like and what a true starter in the NFL looks like. Now, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.000 there are a lot of people that aren't very happy 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:18.240 with Andy Dalton because of the losses, because of the 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.400 interceptions early in his Cowboys tenure. But whenever you look 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:23.760 at Andy Dalton, he's not Dak Prescott. I mean, you're 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:25.920 talking about an elite quarterback, or at least one that's 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.760 borderline league for some people. Nobody can argue that he's 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.240 borderline A league. I think he's elite. But then you 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.000 have Andy Dalton, who is a true starter in the NFL. 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.400 Then you have Nick Mullins. Nick Mullins is a backup quarterback. CJ. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.560 Bethard is a backup quarterback. Andy Dalton is not that. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.320 And you saw that yesterday. And the one turning point 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.120 I think in the game was in the third quarter. 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.840 It was twenty four twenty four. San Francisco had rattled 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.560 off ten straight points and it was third down. Andy 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:54.840 Dalton was under pressure, rolled out to his right and 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.360 had to escape pressure. It wasn't a designed bootleg by 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.400 any means, but he looks down field, tows the sideline 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.800 and delivers a dime into a very tight hole to 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.080 Cede Lamb for forty five yards. The next play, Dalton 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.520 Schultz bings and bangs his way into the end zone 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.400 from twelve yards out. So that was the turning point 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.840 in the game because at that point San Francisco had 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.520 all the momentum, they had the ten points, they were 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:22.480 finding a way to get to this offensive line. They 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.200 were bringing the pressure and they said, beat us, beat 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.160 us over the top. And that's what Andy Dalton did. 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.240 He towed that sideline and was able to deliver a 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.240 ball that not any of those backup quarterbacks throughout the 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.880 NFL could have potentially done. And that was what ended 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.560 up I think, turning the football game around and making 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.400 San Francisco second guests themselves whenever it comes to blitzing 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:47.280 Andy Dalton and trying to blitz this cowboy's offense. Rob Yeah, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.160 the chunk play that you're right, that was huge, and 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.720 that was a dime. And you know, one thing about 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.480 the offense, the takeaways for the defense were so big 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.480 because offensively, Cowboys really needed it. I mean, they had 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:01.600 a hard time. I'm getting things going. I thought, you 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:03.960 know what you guys are saying about Andy's exactly right. 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.400 He's doing exactly what he needs to do as as 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.720 coming in as the backup. Don't turn it over, be solid, 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.240 be protective of the football. But they they they've struggled 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.040 with the chunk plays recently, and I think they only 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:19.560 had three in the game. Obviously, Tony Pollard's run at 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.520 the end was was awesome. Uh that that was that 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.760 was big time and that that sealed the game. But 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.679 I think the other two were to CD one one 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:28.159 that you reference Kyle, and then the other one I 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:29.679 think was when he kind of chucked it up to 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:33.399 CD on the free play on the false start. So, um, 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.560 you know, they're they're still having trouble running the ball. M. 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:38.800 Whether it's Zeke, whether it's Tony Pollard. I think some 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.160 of it is starts up front. M. But you know, 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:44.960 when you've got, like you said, a luxury to have 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.240 a backup quarterback like Andy who can make that play 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:49.520 when the defense gives it to you. And when your 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.440 defense is balling out like that in terms of giving 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:53.520 you the ball with short fields, sometimes all you need 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:54.879 is a couple of chunk plays. You can win the 0:17:54.920 --> 0:18:01.920 game that way. Isaiah, Yeah, I mean yeah, I feel 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:03.600 like I feel like I would just say the same thing, man. 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.520 I mean, these guys are any dogs doing what's what's 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.240 asked of them. You know, here, don't we don't do 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.560 anything miraculous. You know, they're making plays when they need to. 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.040 The chemistry is improving every week. Confidence is building. Um, 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.240 these guys are getting more familiarized on the defensiety of 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:17.960 the ball. That's why you saw them start taking more risk. 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.840 You know, Donofan Wilson obviously coming up getting an interception, 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.159 coming up almost getting a second interception. You know, he 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.639 really could have walked away. They were there with two 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.280 of those things. Um, all the dbs being back, you know, 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.080 the continuity that they have, the trust, that's probably a 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:33.800 word that needs to be utilized. They're starting to trust 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:35.800 each other, whether it's the scheme, they're getting more confident 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.000 within the scheme, or whether they actually know that that 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:40.520 each other is gonna be where they're supposed to be regardless, 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.240 it's it's resulting in better play um and then deepness aligned. 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.200 Those guys are starting to starting to come together as well. 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.199 Big Gallamoor came out there and blew some things up 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.040 that that was very important for an inside presence. Um. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:51.560 You know, Crawford is being where he's supposed to be, 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:53.680 d Laws coming off playing like he's supposed to play, 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:55.639 you know, the guy that we paid him to be. 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:57.880 So it's coming together, man, it's coming together, and it's 0:18:57.880 --> 0:18:59.960 coming together at the right time. Now, he's got to 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.560 keep taking care of business every every play, every game. 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:06.080 And I hope that hope that a Washington laser egg. Yeah, 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.560 I mean, you gotta hope for some help at this point. 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:14.000 But whenever the Washington football team goes out with Dwayne Haskins, 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:17.439 they're not the same team that if they had Alex 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.840 Smith out there. So things can happen this week against Carolina, 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.240 and things can happen for the Cowboys against Philadelphia, even 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.399 though Philly seems like they have a quarterback now and 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:27.879 that's going to be a tough task for the Cowboys 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:29.800 coming up. But we'll preview that game throughout the week. 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:31.960 We've got shows all the way up until Thursday. But 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.520 when we come back here on Talking Cowboys. Was this 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:37.840 kind of a smoke screen game for Tony Pollard and 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.240 Ezekiel Elliott? What is going on in terms of the 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.760 running back game? And how can the Cowboys fair without 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:47.160 twenty one in the future. Should that be a situation. 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:48.840 We'll talk about that next when we come back on 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:54.760 Talking Cowboys presented by Geico. There's nothing as unique as 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.719 our eyes, which is why SLOR pioneers ways to make 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:03.040 lenses as unique as you. Varilux for super sharp vision, 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:07.520 Essential Blue for protection, and Krisol for freedom from glare. 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:12.119 Three cutting at solutions in a single unique lens. So 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.359 whatever your needs, insist on selor visit your local SLOR 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.760 experts and find a perfect lens for you. Seymore do 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:25.240 Moore Slore. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.720 maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.240