Cowboys Break: Another Road Bump

from the s WBC Mortgage studios. At the start, Nick and Dave are joining me. Amber quit. She was like, I'm done with all of this now. She really didn't. She just out today she'll be back tomorrow, and I'm sure say you can't say that. I know, right, and I'm sure believe it. I'm sure tomorrow she's gonna have fire that will just kind of be spraying out. So make sure you're tune into Mart here whatever has to say about the game from yesterday. But Cowboys lose twenty

three nine to the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a game that, in my opinion, was a positive, I know, as much as of a positive as you can get out of a loss. But they did play better than what I've seen over the last at least since since since Dak has been out. And so we're gonna break it all down for you. We're gonna start what we normally start on Monday's following games. I want to ask you, guys, what do you think it's the biggest storyline coming out

of this game. We'll start first with you, Nick. I thought the quarterback was as I wrote my and my column, I thought the quarterback was was really bad. He missed a lot of throws. And then and then I talked about de Nucci and who also was bad and missed a lot of throws. It just came down the quarterback. And as I wrote yesterday, a decent quarterback performance wins the game a decent and they didn't have it, and he didn't expect it to be that great. But I mean,

it just it. He wasn't ready. He wasn't ready. He tried, he fought, you know, he gave, he gave it as all, but he just he wasn't ready. And that's it was just unfortunate because that game was for the taking. If they had a better, better quarterback play, I think Andy Dold wins that game easily. If it's like, yeah, I think easily, and I think Dak and then blow him out, that's how bad Philadelphia wasn't how bad they played. Yep, Dave,

what's the biggest storyline for you? Well, I'll get to my storyline, but yeah, it reminded me of the first Philly game last year. You know, Dallas really needed to get right game and they got the takeaways they needed right off the bat. They had Dak and they did blow Philly out. So I mean, I agree if you get if you get that performance with a more competent quarterback,

you probably do win going away. Which to that point, I guess my big takeaway is if the defense plays like that the majority of the way, the rest of the way, like they should be in every game that they played. I don't know if that means they're gonna win more than four or five games, but I mean, the effort was there, the takeaways were there, the limiting

big plays was there. Um, I guess I'm stuck weighing, like, you know, how much of that is the defense turning the corner and how much of that is Philly being atrocious. I didn't realize this until after the game. Maybe I should have. I knew Carson Wentz turned the ball over a lot. He's got one hundred and two turnovers in less than five full seasons of play. I know you that's just uh, I know you've looked at Dacks that Sorry, go ahead, I'm just I'm just saying, I'm sure when

you did that, you gotta look at dacks numbers. Yeah, well, I mean absolutely, and they I mean they're not even, They're not close. I can pull them up right now. Dakas and picks, yeah, fumbles and picks. Um, Yeah, dak is a Dack is a full thirty behind Das. Dacks at like sixty, Daks about sixty, and Carson Wentz is at one hundred and two, which the point is his career too. Yeah, yeah, good Dave. The guy, the guy

just loves turning the ball over. And so I'm sitting here thinking, like, okay, okay, defense, like four takeaways, that's more than you had all season coming into this. If you give us that kind of effort, you know you can expect to be in most of the games You're gonna play the rest of the way. But is that realistic or is Philly just awful? That's kind of what

I'm grappling with this morning. Yeah, I agree with you that Philly is awful, But I look back at two weeks ago when they played a Washington football team and Kyle Allen that were equally bad, and they made them look like a really, really good offense, and so I do think there was some improvement from the standpoint of the defense. And I don't think it necessarily had all to do with the fact that Philadelphia has a bad offense.

I think some of it had to do with the fact that the Cowboys played better football than they've been playing. It started off kind of rough in the running game, particularly, and as the game war on, you started seeing Layton come around and play a little bit better. You saw a tank make some plays at different moments of the game in the run game as well as the past game. So I think all over, I look at this defense

and that was the positive I came away with. And by the way, right now, and this might be wrong, I'm not really I don't really care as much about wins and losses, Like the wins and losses don't do a ton for me at this point with this team, what I want to see is I want to see do they have who are the pieces that need to

stick around for next year. I want to see if this coach can get a team that is by all accounts done to still play as though they're not done, because that'll tell me a lot about him and his ability to coach. And yesterday I saw some of those things that made me have a positive feeling about this team. Yeah, that's fair. All right, let's go ahead and move on.

Let's talk about some of the moments that mattered. I'm gonna start off with the first win, and then we'll go around and we'll do a few that you guys saw as well. It was the first quarter. Dallas was up three to nothing at this point. It was the series following the forced fumble and recovery by Donovan Wilson, which, by the way, was a heck of a play by young man. I mean, just the ability to have the closing speed to get to the quarterback, hit him, knock

the ball, lose and recover it. I thought it was all really really great play by him. And they got the possession the ball at the Philly twenty five, so it's second and goal at the Philly seven. At this point, still gets beat by Brandon Graham, gets a sack, forced fumble and recovery, no point points and at least to possession.

They gave Philly its first touchdown. To me, that was the first moment that mattered in that game, because they were in position at that point to be able to take at least a sixth nothing lead, maybe getting the end zone. That was I think it was the closest they got all day to the end zone at the seven. And I'm sorry, First and goal at the four at the fourth, yes, and that to me, and I'll just say that one of my five players done to forget was the play before the fumble three yard loss by Zeke.

You know, yeah, first and goal in the four. You can do so many things, but when you get a three yard loss, well now you have to throw it, and that kind of open that up. I thought the first down getting stuffed like that really changed the whole dynamic though, And I mean he got hit right in the hole there. Yeah, And I want to talk a little bit about Zeke. We'll talk a little bit about

his performance yesterday. But to me, that was the first moment in this game that really really mattered, Dave, what can I just can I just say that was the only moment that mattered. I really believe that, really, like we can go through the hole. Yeah absolutely, I really. I don't want to sign hyperbolic, but when they didn't get a touchdown there, I was like, they probably won't

win this game. Like because with the amount of things that are against you, playing Ben d Nucci, you get gifted an opportunity like that and a chance to go up two possessions right off the bat. I think it changes the entire dynamic of the game. Philly's playing catch up a little bit earlier. You can try to control the game with your run game, and you know to think that you're gonna trade points with a team that

has its preferred starting quarterback. Even as bad as Carson Wentz was, and he was very bad, he made the plays down the stretch that mattered, And I wonder if if going up multiple possessions changes the dynamic of that. I just thought that possession was so important. I tweeted this out and I don't know what you guys think, but but when it was I might have been first and goal to four, or maybe the play before I was like, this is absolutely man, Dave, I said, absolutely,

this is this is a fourdown territory. You know, this is you have to get a touchdown here because you just got a gift. Like he said, you got a gift and you gotta go score six. Nothing doesn't do anything for me. I mean, I guess it in hindsight would have been nice, but I mean just saying you gotta go get a touchdown, And so I wondered if they were thinking that way too. It didn't matter because of the fumble. Yeah, and to be honest with the end and you mentioned that play before where they got

stuff for a three yard loss. It's hard to even look at that and say, well, should they have done something different? Nothing was really working offensively. I mean they didn't really have a lot of great options there. I mean you could have said, do you want to throw into the end zone? But then you know, you get sack fumbled the next play, right, So it's it's like, I don't really know that there was a better call.

I think you're just working with such limited parts at this point that you just kind of have to deal with what you have to deal with, And especially with Ben Denucci, I just don't think he was ready for this kind of game at this point in his career. No, I agree, you have to help him, and you know, and they tried all those trick plays and things like that, which I love. I love that they weren't willing to just say next man up, and they actually tried some

different things. So you know, the double reverse right off the bat that worked, and then maybe a fake reverse to Tony Pollard. Nothing else really, but you have to try. Yeah, right, you have to try. I would have you know, I know you guys are gonna be surprised, but I would have tried to flee flicker. I would have How did I know that? Somehow you would have tried to flee flicker. I don't know whose moment is Big Day's back, but let's just go ahead and go with you, just to

be sure. There is here. I hear Kelsey is Kelsey in there? No, yeah, Kelsey's here. She's working on something else, but here on the show. I know, right, No, I'm trying. I'm trying to not be mad at her, but I think she killed my I think there's too many people using the network here. But that's okay. We don't need to talk about it. Well, maybe both of yells should be on the same show, and then maybe we would

have this problem. I'm just saying, but go ahead. Um, you know, and I think everybody on here tweeted about it. I saw a bunch, I saw Brian brought us tweet this play. So this is this is kind of an easy one. Um. But you know, they get an interception by Digs in the third quarter, up nine to seven, and you could tell they came out in the third quarter and they had a plan. Okay, we're good. Zeke for nine, Zeke for six, eight, Polo for seven, Poulot for two, Paulot for nine, Zeke for two. So it's

second and eight to twenty six. Let's run a double reverse to Cedric Wilson to try to throw it. He gets a ten yard loss for ten yards by Fletcher Cox and that changed everything. They ended up kicking a field goal and missing fort two yards. Buy Zeroline missed it, you know, put it would have put them up twelve seven. That's a big deal. When you're down fifteen to twelve and you're driving at the end of the game, you know,

a little different scenario there. So I just thought, you know, I don't know if you could keep running it like that, but it was like it was cute, and it was it was too cute probably at that moment I said it last night though, would anybody have been mad if they had just kept running it? Like, even if it didn't work, just just run that thing until you either score points or you're forced to kick a field goal. And it would probably have been shorter than fifty two yards.

Oh yeah, right, And even if you take a negative play, your negative play is maybe a negative three, it's not a negative ten, right, so you at least are gonna get at this point, you feel like avoiding a fumble, you at least are gonna get three points out of it. And they end up with you know, nothing. And I think that was the part that was a little bit

hard to swallow on that. Yeah, what would you would you guys have liked to see them just at that point just keep running it, I think so, I mean, yes, yeah, I mean a little and and I think you know, some the fake reverses work a little bit too, you know, I mean, because you just got your eyes move in different ways. I mean maybe maybe a Denucci roll out there, um, you know it would have been would have been good. I thought, man, what y'all think about that block by

Schultz that was called for holding? You remember that anything you didn't see? Yeah, I didn't see. I didn't see old I didn't I didn't either, I didn't you know, And I was watching it. I was like, I wonder what Mickey is saying right now. Mickey was like, because you know they never hold it. But uh, I thought it was a good block by Schultz. I mean, I'm like, where are the hands, like where you know? Or is it on the outside. Sometimes I just thought he did

everything you were supposed to do. What I think happened there, in my personal opinion is you saw there at the end the defender kind of jerked away, and I think when he jerked because of where the hand placement was when he jerked, I think the ref just was like, well, of course he's holding him for him to have to jerk away like that, And so I think that's actually what ended up happening, whether he was holding him or not.

You know, refs look at things, they look at little keys, and based on those keys, they make calls, right, So I think that's what happened, especially when they're standing on the sideline of a team that's yelling. Hold, I mean that happened. Yeah, if you're on that sideline, you're definitely gonna get that call. Ye all right, I got a random question for y'all, Sorry, Eric, did Did did Tony Pollard take any Wildcats snaps last night? Because I kind of feel like he should have. Yeah, I do too,

But no, I didn't see that. Like the guy's got juice. He looked like he had more juice than Zeke last night and Zeke well, okay, well we can get I'm just saying maybe that might have been a good idea. We'll say this. Why did it seem like every Wildcats snap took an hour and a half to get there and it was off to the to the side, Like it seemed like every time zenot the ball, it was kind of like, let me go get It wasn't like back to him, it was kind of I don't know.

There have been people for weeks, there have been people on Twitter that are like, Beyondish's snaps take forever to get to the backfield like that. That has been a thing if you you know, if you're following on Twitter. So I don't know, maybe something for him to work on. Work on that. Joe Looney told me, I think I'll be back next week. Question is what position where? I

don't know. Yeah, there's there's a lot of stuff to talk about on that offensive line too, and we'll get to some of that a little bit later as well. There's really not Derek. There's one thing to talk about. It's the right tackle position. But okay, well let's hold that thought because I actually have some thoughts on that particular position and it's not gonna be what you think, So let's talk a little bit about that. I keep point at you because I want you to know what

I'm talking about. God, it's well, it's it's my fault that my signal cut out. For the millionth time. I apologize. But even with everything else, like, I still think if they managed to score a touchdown on that possession on the Philly in the Philly red zone instead of fumbling it away, I just think you change the entire complexion of that game. Because I know, you know, Dallas took a lead at halftime, and they have a chance to go take a lead if if not for the Cedric

Wilson play. But I just think you're in such a better position to win if you're up by two possessions and you can kind of dictate things as opposed to having to figure out ways to trade scores with Philly, which is what they wound up having to do. I think, you know, if I could have one thing back, it's that, and it's not even close. Yeah, ye, all right, we're gonna take our first break when we come back. We're gonna get Dave's moment that matter, and then we're gonna

get into some performance reviews. There are lots of guys we need to talk about, including Zeke, including Amari Cooper, and we certainly will get to this offense in line. We'll do all that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen Doctor back and Cream Soda. Is he a Newcombonet's Music to My Ears? Okay, Doctor Batime Polas Music to My Ears

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Mortgage Studios at the Star. Dave told me in the break that he's already talked about his moment that mattered. I think we hit the two that I think most we all agree were the two biggest moments of that game. So we're gonna go ahead and move on to the performance reviews, and we'll start first with Ben Denucci. He was twenty one to forty fifty three percent completion rate, one hundred and eighty yards, zero touchdown, zero interceptions. Sixty four point six was his rating, and he rushed five

times for twenty two yards. How surprised were you that they didn't run him more and they didn't throw down feel more? Knowing that going into the week, what we heard heard about him was that he has a big arm and he can run. Now, those were the two things that it seemed like the coaches were saying about him that others who have scouted him have said about him.

Were surprised that they didn't do more of those two things with him, Nick, I don't know if they had a lot of time to throw the ball down the field, Um, yeah, you know, they could have done a little bit more of that, Um, Tony, the wind was kind of an issue down there. It was. We saw that on the kick ye long Ki Yeah, I mean it was it was it was different. Um, you know, I remember one roll out with him that they they you know, the designed run. But I just think they were trying to

protect them. Mean, I thought he was gonna be a little better than that, you know, I kind of he reminds me. He does remind me a lot of Romo at this point in his career. And you know, if Romo had played his first year, in his eighth week, it probably would have looked like that. Yeah. So uh, I just and I asked this to Dave and Rob earlier. Did he ever make one throw that was like that was a good throw? It's so funny. I asked the

exact same question Amber last night after the game. I was like, can you point to one throw last night? I meant, one throw during that game that you look at you're like, huh okay, really good throw. I couldn't remember a single one. That doesn't mean it did to happen. I just couldn't remember a single one. Yeah, I don't either. I think Dave maybe had one. I'm I'm not I'm not gonna say they were good throws. I just he had two or three completions past the sticks to Michael Gallop, like,

you know, twelve thirteen yards. That that's all I got. I'm not saying that they were like amazing throws, but he tried, and I mean I had that was more or less. That was more or less exactly what I thought it would look like. Like. He carried the ball five times for twenty yards. I think he had another carry called back by a penalty. They tried to do

some you know, read option keeper to keep the defense. Honest, I think he threw he threw at least two shots down field, and I think they were both to Gallop. One of them never had a chance, and then the other one was incomplete. And I mean, I just I think that's just kind of what you're supposed to expect when you when you're playing a seventh round rookie in his first game. And I think, you know, I think

a lot of that. I think a lot of that not like making fun of him, but I think a lot of that was like gamesmanship, you know, like you know, Michael Gallop and Dalton Schultz are like, oh yeah, I like, this kid can sling it. I mean, because at that point, what do you have to lose? But if you were expecting bend Nucci to go in there and throw for three thirty, I just think your expectations were out of whack. Yeah, And to be honestly, I wasn't necessarily even expecting completions.

I was expecting them to give it a shot, like take some opportunities to try to just get him down field. They did Max protect quite a bit last night, so I thought was at least once or twice during the game they would max protect and try to get the guys two guys maybe even running down feel maybe even three, maybe using Scholtz if you if you want to keep one tight end back and have Scholtz going up the seam.

I just thought at some point would do something to try to really test and challenge the Philadelphia defense downfield. And it just didn't seem like they really did that. Maybe they didn't think they had time to do that without him getting killed, which that's a legitimate concern. We saw it happening on a few plays, but I wasn't a little surprised. Let's move on to Zeke Elliott. He had nineteen carries for sixty three yards, an average of three point three. My question for you guys, or are

the Cowboys getting the most out of Ezechiel Elliott. They really didn't use much in the screen game. I think they may have had one screen that they tried the whole game. It doesn't seem like this season he's been a great receiving option out of the backfield. A number of balls have kind of hit his hands, but he hasn't made the catch. Doesn't make many guys miss or break a lot of tackles anymore. And I've noticed in the last couple of games, I've been kind of paying

attention to it. I mean, in players where he manages to get to the safety, it's not a lot of times when he makes that safety miss where he breaks that safety tackle. So the question is, do you think the Cowboys getting the most out of Ezekiel? That's possible, Dave, not even close. You know, I like Zeke. I think he's a good player, but he's he's a very good running back who he is not in the mold of a running back who can do it all by himself.

Like you don't. You don't hold your breath when he gets the ball, you know, you know, I doubt he. I mean, he definitely hasn't had a gain of more than sixteen seventeen yards this year, and I would guess he's probably only had about five of those in the last three years. You know, it's infamous at this point, but Stephen Jones maybe two years ago called him the straw that stirs the drink, and it's just not true.

I'm not anymore. It might have been at one point, but you know, they've scored fewer points in the last three games than they did during the final quarter of Dak Prescott's time, you know, twenty four points against the Browns in the fourth quarter, I believe in twenty two

since he got hurt. This is Dak Prescott's offense. And Ezekiel can still be really effective when everything is right around him, but he's he's not the guy that can do it all by himself, and that Hey, that sucks because he has to right now and be it sucks because of you know, the contract that he's playing on. But it is what it is. Nick, Yeah, I agreeing with everything him. He's not He's not stirring it right now. It's kind of watered down. He's not doing he's not

doing that. And I think he's trying to do a lot. I mean he's trying to. He's the only guy that they really you know that they have it now. I mean they have Pollard and they can you know. I like what they kind of mixed it up a little bit. I mean, I didn't think Zeke played a bad game. I hope my expectations aren't lowering to the point where we were like, oh, that was okay. I mean I thought it was, you know, it was okay. You know, I look at his stats right now, he's on pace

to barely get a thousand yards. But no, it's not that's not good anymore. Enough of the Moneys No. Five twenty one is his rushing yards. I look over at Philly Miles Sanders and he's at four thirty four did not play the last two games. Now, yeah, at least two, maybe three. He's got seventy one stories and uh and Zeke has one hundred and thirty two. I mean so, I mean, and I don't think Miles Sanders is a great dynamic back, but you know, I just think that

Zeke he's It's just there's no balance anymore. There's no balance with with the offense. And when they had balanced, boy, he was he was as good as that, you know, as he could be. And I think he's gonna I mean, I don't think he's done. I mean I don't. I don't think that at all. I just think this offense needs to get back, uh, get their players back, at their pieces back. I mean, I think he can have a really great year next year when they have when they have their guys back. But I think right now

is this tough sledding. Well, what you're seeing right now? Do you put more? Glad Dave? No, I mean I want to, I don't. I don't think he's done either. I still think he's a good player, but he's he's not the guy who can still be productive with nothing else around him. You know, maybe obviously he's hurt right now, but you kind of saw se Quon bark do that when he was a rookie. You know, he's a guy that's capable of doing two thousand all purpose yards on

a trash offense. And I just think, you know, I think Zeke needs good quarterback play and better offensive line play to be as successful as we're used to seeing. Which there's nothing wrong with that. That describes a lot of running backs. That describes most running backs. But it hurts that he's on this contract and isn't capable of manufacturing more on his own. Yeah, and those guys that did Barkley, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, bad teams good you know,

great players. They can break long you know, long runs or long passes and whatever. You know, they get chunk yards, and you were not seeing that at a Zeke at all. Twenty four yards is as long as play this season. Do you put more blame on his abilities or on the fact that there are so many injuries on the offense right now? Dave, I mean, it sucks to say, because, like you would expect more from a guy who makes

fifty million dollars a year. But I think it's more about what's not around him, Like he doesn't have a quarterback that scares defenses, or he didn't last night. At least maybe he can get that back to some degree with Dalton, But he also doesn't have an offensive line

that can open that can open it up for him. Um, which for the tenth time, you know, you would think that a guy who commands that kind of salary can do a little bit more on his own, but it's just not the case based on what we've seen so far this year. I don't know. I mean, what was the actual question. Do you think this is more about his abilities about the injuries? Yeah, it is a combina.

It's a combination of both. I mean, it is this because the injuries are affecting the passing game, which affects the running game. You know, it's like it's like it's a domino effect. But I think that, but he wasn't really lighting it up before Dak went down, and they were getting yards in the passing game, right they were. They were throwing the ball all around the yard, and

he wasn't really lightening it up. He wasn't having the kind of games you're like, Okay, Zeke is a like he is the straw that ur starts to drink, right, Yeah, I don't know. I mean I think, like I said, I think it's the balance of the offense. It's just it's just out of whack right now. And you know, I'm not I'm just not at a point I maybe I'm delusing them, but I'm just not at a point where I just don't think that that he's got it anymore.

I don't I think that that you know, you need because because you say, well, he wasn't really lighting Yeah, they were passing it, but I mean this team can pass block decently decently. Yeah, they give up some big plays, but like they're not I mean Lionel and tyring or malling people on the on the old line, they're pushing people back. They really affect the running game more than I think that they're they get credit for, all right,

we're gonna go and take our final break. When we come back, we're gonna talk a little bit more about the offensive line and Mary Cooper, and then we'll get to a couple of the defensive players as well that when come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio in eighteen sixty five. Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two You can by purchasing

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dot com Slash United Welcome Back. Final segment of The Break Life in the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start with doing for performance reviews, let's talk about Amari Cooper. He had five targets, he had one reception, he had five yards. What's going on with Himri Nick? I don't know. He's been their only receiver that's been, you know, really productive this whole year. And he hasn't been dynamic. He just catches a lot of passes, and you know, he's

been a true possession receiver this year. I can't answer this. I would have thought, you're a guy that's averaging ten yards a catch, almost eleven. He's your best route runner, he's got really good hands. I would have thought he would have been, you know, Denuci's best friend in this in a game like this, I can't tell you that I was. You know, from my view, I didn't have I didn't know where they rolling people over the top one him. I don't think so, because I know they

were trying to stop the run. So I I just don't know. I can't give you a good answer there. I just thought they I mean, if five targets, so that's they're trying to just didn't. I don't know. I don't even remember the catch, honestly, one for five. I don't even remember it. So that's unfortunate. Ain't know. And CD as well, I mean, he didn't he didn't do anything either. That's two games in a row he's only

had one. Or that's two games in a row where he's had a total of one catch yep, Dave, Yeah, I mean I'd love to go back and watch it. Would I would love to say, like, well, yeah, the Eagles doubled him and took him away and made de Nucci look somewhere else. I have no idea if that's true with you know, to Nick's point, it seems unlikely. Um, part of me wonders, you know, maybe de Nucci just it's i mean, obviously he felt comfortable throwing to Michael Gallop.

Is that because he felt more comfortable looking at that side of the field. Did he feel more comfortable with the routes? It's it's hard to say on Monday morning without having watched the game back. But that's one of those weird situations where I'm like, you need you need more than one catch for five yards on five targets from Amari Cooper. But it's also been to Nucci running the offense, so you know how how mad am I supposed to get. Although I will say, you know, they

schemed up easy throws for Gallup. I think Gallup caught at least two bubble screens, you know, like the Nucci just turns and fires manufacture some easier touches for Amari Cooper. Again, you know, for the ten millionth time, where's the jet action in this offense? Like? Why do they hate it so much? Especially because now that training camps over, we can actually talk about it. They did that all the

time in training camp. They had like every every damn receiver on the team got reps taken jet sweeps and you know, end a rounds moving across the formation. It seems like it never happened now, I know, you know CD's done it a couple times. I would do it with everybody, especially in a game where I don't trust my quarterback to throw down fields. So yeah, you want more from Amari Cooper. I would love for Kellen Moore

to find more creative ways to get him the ball too. Yeah, especially when you really don't know if you can run the ball that well up the middle. I mean, it just kind of loosens you up a little bit. But I said something wrong. I apologize about ceedee lamb have one catch. He had four for twenty seven. I was going off a different stat there. Four for twenty seven in the game. Not great, but but certainly not better

than one for It's certainly not one catch. Yeah, but I mean the fact that you know, if you're going in and said, well, the guy that's leading the team and catches, he's on like a record pace. To Amari Cooper to think that he would have half as many catches as you know, Treyvon Diggs, as that's not what you expected. I saw something on Twitter. This is not me. Somebody on Twitter said, man, the connection that Wins and Treyvon Diggs have or is this really specialty? It was good.

Let's talk about the offensive line. They allowed for four sacks, two forced fumbles, seven quarterback kits, eight tackles for a loss. Do you guys blame a lot of this stuff that was happening, particularly in the passing game where the offensive line would be involved. Do you blame that more on the offensive line? And do you think Denucci was holding the ball too long and that was creating a lot of the pressure more so than guys just running free. Yeah,

that that clock that he's used to it. James Madison is different the same. You know, this is not an excuse at all. Well, no, you know what, screw that. It is an excuse. The guys never played ever in the NFL. I mean preseason games. You can say they're boring and you don't like them and all that kind of stuff. They matter to Ben Denucci, they matter to Terrence Steele. They mattered to these guys that have never played before, and now all of a sudden they're playing

on Sunday night football for the first time. I mean, you call an excuse if you want. It's reality. It is. The speed of the game is different. It's than it is from Alabama to the Cowboys. It's way different from James Madison to the Cowboys. So yeah, I think him holding onto the ball and maybe having a little bit more faith in his offensive line, you know, I mean, it's it's it's a combination of everything. But the line isn't great Philly. You know, they're gonna get after him,

and they did. Mark Cooper said after the game, He's like, yeah, they got after him. He's like, well, why would and why wouldn't you? Is what he said. It was like, I mean, you got a rookie. Yeah, they're gonna attack him. You know, so I put a little bit on the news cheap, but I mean it was it was the old line as well. I mean it was it was a there was a fight and that that was not an easy task for that that that group. Dad, what were your thoughts in his offensive line that game for them?

I mean, we knew it was gonna be a challenge, Like we talked about it all week. You know, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham is a pretty terrifying combination. Low and Behold. That's exactly. You know. Vinny Curry was involved in a couple of those pressures, but like the you know, the right side of the Cowboys offensive line took the brunt of that. Which it's easy to hate on Terrence Steele. I think you know, he deserves criticism. The coaching staff

deserves criticism. For you know, why they're so infatuated with starting him. I will acknowledge. You know, maybe it just looks like a different kind of train wreck if you kick Zach Martin out to tackle and let a backup deal with Fletcher Cox. I mean there's no there's no guarantee. I mean there's there's no guarantees that would have looked better. It might have just been a different it might have

been a different sort of disaster. But you know, I uh, yeah, Pro Football Focus and I know that they're not the Gospel, but Pro Football Focus charted Terrence Steele with seven pressures allowed and three of four sacks allowed on the night. I mean, it was just that kind of night, and I think it's something you got to take a hard look at. With t J. Watt coming to town on Sunday, that's um, that's not exciting. Yeah, pretty good. We're gonna

talk about that a little later this week. But I remember Nick that Saturday, I think of Saturday you and our text, and I was like, man, I'm sitting no such sitting there watching the Steelers play, and I was like, man, I hope the Cowboys quarterbacks, whoever that might be, I hope they got their life insurance paid up, because this is not going to be fun for the quarterback of the Cowboys come Sunday, because right I don't know what's

going on to day. But even if the Cowboys had all of their offensive line intact, I still would be worried about the quarterback of the Cowboys going up against the Steelers. That's how good their front is. And by the way, they can they can get after you with their front and then they blitz other guys. So it's like, yeah, there's gonna be this is gonna be interesting. We'll have a lot to talk about as that as that comes on.

But let's move up to the defensive side of the ball, because I do think there were some positive things that came out of this game from the defensive side. Let's first talk this big picture from the standpoint of the run defense that has been a big problem for the Cowboys over the last several weeks, so much so that that the Sunday Night Football Crew had to make an entire graphic about it and talk about just how bad

the Cowboys run defense has been. That all being said, they only give up one hundred and nineteen yards four point six average do you think that was more about the fact that they were really doing a decent job stopping the run, or that maybe Philly just wasn't running it enough. Nick, You know, they ran twenty six twenty six rushes. I don't know, it felt like and I guess four point six yards. It felt like five yards. Every time they were getting the ball. It just it

just seemed like the line just moved back. I mean, those guys, they don't have anybody up front, any defensive tackles or anybody that's just kind of like, you know, hard to move. You know, they just they move them, They get them out of the way. People were getting down Tarypoe out of the way, and then the Cowboys did too. But then but it was Woods and all those guys they stand there, they just get moved, you know. And I think I saw more recognition problems from the

linebackers in this game. I mean, I thought Jalen it just it just doesn't seem like he recognizes it this quick is you've got to get there. I don't even know what to say about Jalan anymore. Like, I just I think the recognition is a problem. I think he can't get off blocks. I think once he does get off a block, he's slow to get there. Just I'm having a hard time finding any positive qualities about what

he's doing in games right now. Every once in a while he'll flash on a play and make I know, there was one play yet last night where I think they got three yards on a pass route that he covered and he made the tackle in the open field, and I was like, all right, that's good, that's a that's a great job by Jalen. But it's those kind of moments and then it's like the next play he gets completely washed out because he doesn't know what's going on and he just can't figure it out. Dave, what

did you think about? So can y'all indulge me on this really nerdy analogy. Sure, y'all have both. Y'all have both played like a Madden Dynasty or an NC double a franchise mode at some point in your lives. Right. Yeah. So you've undoubtedly, like you know, you've had this season where your quarterback is like in the Heisman race and you're just chasing those stats like you're gonna throw for like five touchdowns a week. That's just what you're gonna do.

And every now and then, like you run into a roadblock, like maybe you throw an early picky. You know you're not having a good game, and you're just like, screw it, I'm gonna double down, Like I gotta get these numbers. I'm gonna win the damn Heisman Trophy regardless of how little it sens sense it makes to keep throwing the ball. That's what I thought Philly was doing last night, Like

run the fricking ball. I'm sorry, no disrespect, no disrespect to the Cowboys defense, but like, I don't think they played that well. I mean, defending the run. They did a lot of great stuff. I don't think they played that well defending the run. I think Philly was just obsessed with trying to get Carson Wentz into a rhythm. They're like, this is our franchise guy. He's gonna go into the tank if we just make him hand off

all night. We gotta get the passing game going. Like there were so many series where I was just like, Doug Peterson, what are you doing? Like why are you so insistent on putting this game in Carson Wentz's hands when you don't have to? So credit to the Cowboys for defending what was there. But I think if Philly had just been like, we're gonna run this thing down your throat, I'm not convinced Dallas would have been able to do anything about it. I love that analogy because

it's so fair. Like I thought coming out of the game, the defense played pretty good, and then when you look at the stats and see what happened in the rushing game, you're like, maybe Philly should have run the ball a little bit more. And if they would have run the ball a little bit more, this would have been a much different Monday morning assessment of this defense because the big plays that were made most of the time were being made in the passing game you had. And we

got to point these guys out. Donovan Wilson, as we talked about earlier, in his big play there early in the game, Trayvon digs two picks. I don't I mean, I don't even remember last time a cowboy had two picks in a game. I assume you know, Nick, because it's probably on the top of your head, but I mean, this is a guy that had given me that's what Actually, that's right, two thousand loves Well, that's the last time a rookie has done it right rookie, Yeah, but I

don't Yeah, I don't know. But but Trayvon Diggs, he'd given He gave up some plays last night, no doubt about. He get up a touchdown. I think you have two touchdowns. Actually he had four pass defenses. But he is the kind of player that that what I'm starting to like about him is, Yeah, he's gonna have some struggles and and they're gonna be times he's gonna frustrate you. My hope is that over time those things will decrease a little bit, just because he'll be smarter about how he's playing.

And then if he gets beat, he just gets beat, because you sometimes get beat. But then he'll give you the other plays on the other side. And that's what the Cowboys have not had at the cornerback position for a very very long time. He's Larry Brown. If you really want to take it back in nineties. What what's wrong? He's better than Larry Brown. He's better than Larry Brown. Nick Okay, I mean he's gonna be better, way better than Larry Brown. In my opinion. I don't know. I

don't know that, but I'm saying Larry Brown. I mean it was it was okay. Well, I mean there's sorry for the young folks are like, who's that? But like you no, he I'm just saying he everybody knows Larry Brown. Well he was okay. I mean like he had some moments. Those cornerbacks that take chances, I mean that's what they do. I mean, um, I compared him to jen Norris Jenkins.

You know, he's kind of that type of guy where yeah, he'll get a pick six on you and he'll he'll get they'll be a pick six go on the other way too, because because he because he got burned. I mean, um, he's he takes chances. He's gonna give up some plays. He's young, he's aggressive, but he's got good ball skills. You know, he's played in the yard with an NFL wide receiver, you know, Stefon dig So. Um he can catch. I mean there's not many cornerbacks that that I think

make that second in It tracked that really both interceptions. Now, he tracked that ball really well. And I don't know if I don't know if most people watching it realize the level of difficulty of a play like that when you're tracking the ball as a defender that's going that, that's going down. Feel a long deep pass like that's not an easy thing to do. No, No, he really made a nice play on that ball. And then of course the first interception was was outstanding, you know, with

getting his knee in there like that. I'm surprised that they even review that. I mean, yeah, they well had a quick review like they were. They were look very briefly makes a score, so they have to write, they have to internal. Wish if all reviews could be like that. I just I love everything, Sorry, I love everything about

that dude's demeanor. No, I love his demeanor so much, like because I've been worried about it all year, Like it would be easy to go in the tank with some of the setbacks that he's had, you know, I mean, he hasn't had cheeto for most of the year. Ab was out, So as a rookie, you don't have the veterans there to help you pick up the slack, and you know you're gonna get targeted every week. And he's had some rough days and he just he bounces right back.

He gets burned by DK Metcalf, he punches the ball out like he's got the wear with all to not give up on that play. He bounces right back and gets two interceptions, gave up two touchdowns. Like definitely not the prettiest night, but he never seems phased by the bad stuff that happens to him. And on top of that, Dallas has not employed a dB with ball skills like him in the time that I've covered the team, like

no Chances. They have not employed a cornerback who can make those types of plays on the ball since I've been here. So you know, I'm not ready to say he's gonna be a pro bowler, but I'm very encouraged

about his trajectory. And if he keeps this mindset where he doesn't let the setbacks get to him, I think he's got a real chance to be special, right because there are a lot of times this year when you see when you see him give up big plays, it's about him either not knowing what he's supposed to do or not relying on his technique the way he should. Those are correctable things, in my opinion. Those areas why I expect him to get better with more reps. And so I look at him and I say, if he

gets that kind of stuff cleaned up. Then, Yeah, cornerbacks give up plays. It's going to happen. The best cornerbacks give up plays. But I think the number of plays that he'll give up will diminish, And I think he will diminish significantly once he knows what he's doing and once he really is trusting this technique the way that he needs to. And then on top of that, you're going to get the ball skills to be able to turn the ball over. So I love where he is

right now. I just hope he doesn't let all the adversity get to him. And it doesn't seem like he is. It seems like he's a guy that kind of stays even killed no matter where. All Right, we appreciate you guys join us. We'll be back tomorrow. We'll do a big picture look around the Cowboys and where they stand in the NFC East, and then we'll start hopefully getting you guys ready for the upcoming game this next weekend against Steelers. We'll do that tomorrow for Nick even Dave

him and I'm Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club two