Cowboys Break: Bag of Tricks?

We are live from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star got Nick and Dave and Amber, where you're gonna be joined here momentarily by Bucky Brooks. Real quick though, before we get into our show and talk to Bucky about Pittsburgh defense versus a Cowboys offense. I didn't need to make an announcement for the fans out there listening. No, that's not what I'm gonna do, but there is. Actually, we actually have a new way that fans can listen

to our podcasts. And that's not just our podcast the other four podcasts as well, which you know, be as may whether you listen those or not, but certainly you're listening to the Cowboys Break, and so I wanted to let you guys know, if you haven't noticed yet, we

have added that to our Alexa skill. So if you have an Alexa device, you have the ability to go to your Alexa and say open Dallas Cowboys and play Cowboys Break, and it will play the latest version of Cowboys Break and we'll go through as many episodes as you want to listen to. So you can do that as you're around your house doing whatever you do and just kind of tell your Alexa to play Cowboys Break. So we are now on another platform. We have another way for you guys to be able to check out

our show. And we love the fact that you guys have given us so much support over the years. This is just one more iteration, the next iteration and how we get more Cowboys content to you. All right. So that being said, let's welcome to the show, Bucky Brooks from NFL Network. Let's talk a little Cowboys versus Steelers. The day, we're going to focus in on the Cowboys offense versus the Steelers defense and what a good defense it is. Bucky, the first question I have for you

is when you look at these two teams. There's obviously that there's OBUs obviously a really huge talent gap between the Cowboys offensive front and the Steelers defensive front. That being said, and I'm thinking more big picture, what you've seen in your experience as a player, as a scout and now as an analyst. What can teams do when you have that big of a talent gap between the two? What can teams do offensively to maybe lessen that or give you just a little bit more opportunity to at

least do something and not just get completely embarrassed. Well, I think a couple of different things, And I think this has to be a collective effort, meaning Kellen Moore, Mike Nolan, Mike McCarthy, John fall Stay all have to be on the same page in terms of how this game is played out. If you want to protect your offense, the best way you can protect the offense is to really slow this game down. And I know early in the year when Dallas was playing, they're playing really really fast,

trying to get plays off. They're averaging two and a half plays every minute. You don't want to play this fast against this Pittsburgh Steiler's team because if you're not having success, you don't want to give them opportunities. I think this is a game where you almost operate at a turtle tempo. Take the play clock down to about five seconds, really drained the clock, and see if you can make this game where you have anywhere from ten

to twelve total possessions. So not because of your talent, but because of the way that you play, you may be able to keep the game tight, and maybe you can put pressure on the stealers to go make a play because you put yourself in a position to be there in the fourth quarter just by the way that you've conducted yourself in terms of operating at a very

deliberate and slow tempo. Bucky, yesterday, they've brought up the whole idea of the wildcat information, which I thought was pretty interesting and I wanted you to talk a little bit. Weren't about that. We know what the pros can be for that kind of formation, but what would be some of the cons for the Cowboys if they were to play those that formation against the Steelers defense? Well, I

mean the pros obviously you get the additional blocker. Like when you're looking at offensive football, most teams don't count the quarterback, and so the defense always has a plus one advantage when it comes to matching me up against the run game. Well, now you remove the quarterback and put a viable running threat. Now even the numbers, and so now you have advantages when it comes to being able to run the ball inside and out because you've

gained an additional blocker. The cons are, if you're guy who was running the wildcat doesn't have the ability to throw, at some point you're able to squeeze and collapse the box because you know that they can't throw. But I'll say this, and to bring up Texas Lore years ago when our brows was at Baylor, I watched him run for maybe four hundred yards against Texas without a quarterback.

All their quarterbacks that got knocked out. The following bowl game they played North Carolina, they ran for seven hundred yards and they didn't have a quarterback. So in the National Football League we have seen teams like the Miami Dolphins, we saw the Carolina Panthers employed this strategy successfully. So it can be done. Is just that, are you bold enough to try and employed the strategy when everyone is going to say it's an out of the box way.

To play a football game, Bucky. I'm probably gonna steal this question from Dave, so I'm glad I'm going first, Tara, when you were looking at the draft, did you was t J Watt? Was he someone that had to play in the three fourth scheme or is he good enough where he could have played in any scheme? I mean, I think the three four scheme is probably best for him, just in terms of the way they mix him with hand down, standing up pressuring, but it's awsome man takes

three four four three. What you asked to edge rush to do in most of these defense is the same. From a side standpoint, he wasn't your traditional base in in terms of like how big he was, and so depending upon how you deployed the defensive end, he might not have been a great fit. But he was a really good player. And even though he was a bit of a one year player for Wisconsin, in terms of

the production, you can see the traits. And I don't know if anyone thought that he would bloss him and emerge to being the player that he's been in Pittsburgh. So I would say he was a really good player, but I think his game has been elevated by the fact that he's playing in a scheme that puts him in a position to really make a lot of plays because they blitz at an alarming rate. I actually don't want to bring up t J. Watt because it's depressing.

I think we've covered We've covered that situation pretty thoroughly. But I actually so t J. Watt gets all the headlines and understandably so. But me being the guy that's advocating for just running the ball as much as possible, I feel like maybe Cam Hayward and Tyson ah Lulu don't get enough credit for how good they are at run defense, and I'm curious if Tyler Beadish and Connor Williams are up to that task. I mean, that's a pretty nasty front that you're going against if you're going

to be trying to run the ball. Yeah, first things first, before we can even talk about the personnel that the Stealers have, whenever you play the Pittsburgh Stellers, you have to have the right mindset. It is the most physical game that the Dallas Cowboys will be in, and they have to know that when you play Pittsburgh like that is their calling card, that is the first thing that they're going to test you with their overall physicality and aggressiveness.

And so Tyler Baddish and all those guys up front, they have to really be able to weather the physicality and toughness from a personnel standpoint, You're right. Those guys on the inside, Stefan tour Cam Heyward, those guys put a lot of pressure because they can troll on a scrimmage. And then this is a team that blings more blisses and pressure than any other team in the league, well second most, forty two point five percent of the time

to bring in at least five man pressures. And a lot of the press is not necessarily designed for the quarterback. It is designed to blow up the running game, and so you get a lot of movement, a lot of bodies around the box, and so you have to be able to sort out who's coming where in your gafts while also dealing with the physicality. So they make it very, very challenging for you to be able to run the ball. And Mike Tomlin has already served notice Ezekiel Elliott is

a guy that they're focusing on. They're making a concerted effort to make sure that Ezekiel Elliott doesn't run the ball, and so this is going to be a test of wheels who can impose their will on the other team. And so we'll see if the Cowboys office line is up to the challenge. Derek, I just wanted to add a point. I remember right when the schedule came out, I talked to a coach and I said, what do you think about the schedule? And the first thing he said was is I like the fact we have a

buye after the Steelers because they're always very physical. That's the first thing the guy said, not like three in a row or anything to start the year or December. It was the bye week comes after playing Pittsburgh. Now

I thought that was interesting. Yeah, and that's actually an interesting I'll follow up on that a little bit because you look at this, I mean for people like like me and Nick and Bucky like that have been that are a little older, We've been watching the Steelers like for generations, and it seems like their their defensive prowess and who they are defensively has not changed. And they've always been a tough team. They've always been a physical team.

Or city wouldn't accept them if they weren't well. And that's that's the question I have for you, Bucky, is how is it that because I would assume all teams are trying to get to that level of greatness, but to be able to be consistent with that even with changing of coaches, which they're again, they're not a franchise of changes coaches a lot, But even with the change of coaches and skiing, how is it that they're able to be as dominant defensively if they've as they've been

for generations? You know there. I'm a big believer that your team almost has to reflect your city in terms of the style of play, and the way that jarr Pittsburgh is a blue collar, a hard scrabbled uh city, and the team has to reflect defensively. Defensively is how they claimed those four Super Bowls during the Chuck no era, and so anybody that comes after that you have to

embrace that style. Now, I will say this as recent as three or four years ago, when they were governed by the Killer Bees, when it was Big Ben Levan Bill and Antonio Brown, it was all about their offense. Their defense dipped and they didn't have any significant wins I think Mike Tomlin went back to the recipe in the formula that's been successful for them. It's about their defense.

And when you look at this team that walks into the stadium, their defense has all the stars Stefantoit, Cam Hayward, t J. Watt, but Dupree, when Bush was there, Mica Fitzpatrick. Their best players are on defense. And it's not a coincidence that since they've turned it back over into being a defensive team, which started with the draft two years ago, they have now begun to play like we remember that Stiller is playing in yesteryear and so everyone is on board.

And the way they're calling the offensive game. We talked about the offense yesterday about big Ben in the quick Deacon duck where big Ben has no choice. It's not about the offense, about the defense, and they play it as such, and so it's a more conservative approach. Even though there's going a bunch of points. Their defense is

what really cares to water for this team, Bucky. When you look at the Cowboys offense, and we know about Zeke popping up with a hamstring injury, and I'm sure we're gonna get into that later and done the show.

But when you talk about that and you look at the quarterback and the old line and all the struggles that they currently have in the offense, who would be a guy or that could possibly bring some light to the offense and have potentially a good game for the Cowboys When you look at matchups specifically against this defense, I think the guy that has to have a big game is Tony Pollard and I think he has finally

settled into the role that they have him. I think early in the year like for whatever reason, it was kind of disjointed, he was fumbling on kickoffs, really couldn't settle land, and I think they found a way for him to get going, and I think hopefully as part of a bigger strategy, I think the magic number for the Cowboys each and every week should be thirty five, And thirty five means the number of rushing attempts that they have, not about the rushing yards, but when you're

playing with a hodgepodge of quarterbacks, you have to be able to somehow find a way to control the game. The way that you can control the game is with the running attack, because then it makes it easier for the quarterback to play against favorable looks. The problem is can the offensive line generate a push against what is really a formidable frontline from the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is where the game will be one. If they can create any kind of movement up front, it gives them a chance.

And coming off a game, even though we've built the Steelers up to be like the best defense ever, the Baltimore Ravens had success running the ball. Is there something in that tape that the Cowboys can steal to utilize against the Pittsburgh Steelers to find a way to control the game. That is what I'm curious. I'm curious to see if Kelly Moore can still a nugget or two from Baltimore's approach and implement it to see if the

Cowboys can have some success on the ground. I'm glad you mentioned Kellen Moore because in your weekly article of five Bucks, which if you haven't listen, if you haven't read that, you need to every week because I'm telling you, Bucky, you seem conservative when you sometimes in quiet, mild manner, but you bring the heat in these articles and your first one says Kellen Moore needs a lesson in complementary football. Can you explain on that, even though you did in

the article, explain on that little bit. Okay, I'm a firm believer that the Cowboys should have more wins than this ship if they just managed the game correctly. In terms of just from a play calling standpoint, I think it is easy for offense for easy for offensive coordinators to kind of operate in a solo by themselves. Meaning I am just calling plays because I want to ring up these stats and i want to see if I can score points, and I'm not worried about what the

defense is doing. I'm not worried about how the kicking game is going. But great teams, everything is always working in unison, and the head coach's job is to make sure that he is telling the offensive order, Hey we need to sprinkle in some more runs. Hey we have them undercontrolled on defense, So you don't have to be as aggressive on offense because we have this game undercontrolled defensively and the other team will give us a short

field if we continue to do what we're doing. And I think for Kellen Moore, he is young as a play caller. He has to understand how to take all of that in and to make his play calls fit the style that the game is going. And so hopefully Mike McCarthy has pulled aside because we've heard him kind of touch on it, like, Hey, this is the style of the play that we want. But I need Mike McCarthy to put a bigger imprint on this because he

was known as a dynamic play caller. I'm wondering how long Kenney continue to go with Kellen Moore kind of running on his own and them not calling the game in conjunction with the way the rest of the team is playing, which kind of going off that. Okay, So I mean you got you gotta find a way to manufacture big plays in a situation like this, right, I mean last week they they tried, they tried the trick plays, the reverses, the wide receiver throws, anything they could to

do that. And I assume, you know, Pittsburgh, I would guess, is going to put nine or ten guys in the box and commit to stopping the run. How do you manufacture plays that'll back them off in this instance? I mean, is it as easy as saying, just chunk some deep shots down the field. We didn't really see that A ton last week, the Nucci didn't have the accuracy to do it. Do you stick with trying the trick stuff? I mean, they're going to need to back the Steelers out of the box, and how do you do it

with a fourth quarterback? Hey, you can't play a trick the football against Pittsburgh Steelers. So that's that's not gonna work. We all over that you've exhausted your trick plays last week. That's not going to be effective this week. I think that the advantages that the Cowboys have are on the outside. Despite me talking about the pressure and all the things that the Pittsburgh Steels due in terms of knock into quarterback around, they can be had on the outside by

the Cowboys Wibers. The trick will be can the Cowboys manufacture some play action max protection shots where they're able to get one on one with a Maori Cooper or Michael Galloper or Ceedee Lamb down the field against this secondary Because we don't talk about Joe Hayden and those other guys being premier cover corners. What we talk about is the pressure forcing the ball to come out and

that is how they generate their turnovers. So I would think that even though you're playing with three wide receivers, hold the running back in, hold the tight in, and run some three man routes and take a handful of shots. I would say you need four or five shots this game to be able to score points when you take them. They come at various times, but you have to dial up some big play shots. But I think max protection

must come with those so you can be successful. All right, Bucky man, we appreciate you joining us real quick before we let you go, give us an idea of what you think is going to happen this weekend and your final score. I mean, this is a tough one, man. It's tough. It's optimistic as I want to be about the Cowboys offense. Playing a rookie quarterback or a young

quarterback against Distiller's front is tough. And so I'm gonna say the game tips in the Steller's favor unless the Cowboys can avoid the turnovers and they can control the game by slowing the game down. If they don't opt to slow the game down, they don't have a chance of knocking off the stealers. They cannot get in the track me, they can't play tote to toe with them, they will get knocked out. Appreciate it, Bucky. We will get back with you. Actually, we won't be back with

you next week. We'll be back with you the week after next week's bye week, so we won't have an opponent, but we'll be back with you the week after that to start getting ready for that game. We're gonna take our first break when we come back, We're gonna dive a little deeper into this Cowboys offense. Ask some questions for these guys on this matchup. We'll be right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com or radio. There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why SLOR pioneers

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G for you for details. Back to the Break. Get those fight T shirts out because we've got the unified welterweight world champion Errol the Truth Spence Junior. He will duel two division world champion Danny Swift Garcia and a blockbuster remain event on Saturday, December fifth at at and T Stadium. Get your tickets before they sellout at SeatGeek dot com. Welcome back. It is the second segment of The Break live from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star.

We're gonna talk a little bit of Cowboys offense versus Pittsburgh's defense. I did want to make another announcement. Next week, We're gonna do something a little fun with the podcast. We've been kind of tinkering around. I know you guys we've done this before. But next Tuesday, and Wednesday. We're actually gonna mix things up and all of the shows they will be at their normal times with their normal host. That will be the only thing that's normal about them. Though.

We're gonna take the entire cast of every one of our five podcasts, and we randomly selected out of a hat who would be on each show, and we will find out next week who's gonna be with me on the break. I can tell you for a fact that none of the three people you see right now we'll be on the break next week. God, why'd you do that? I heard it last week. I just thought it was funny. Oh okay, good, But this will be fun. This will be a lot of fun. We'll do that next week

next Tuesday and Wednesday. There will be no shows on Thursday and Friday for the bye week, but we will do that on Tusy and Wendsay of next week. Monday will be our normal show because we absolutely have to hear what Amber has to say after the Cowboys play the Steelers. But we'll jump back into we'll jump We'll jump into that on Tuesday and Wednesday and have some fun with it for the rest of the bye week with some different casts. On each of the shows. All right,

let's let's get into first some injury updates. There were two guys that were limited in practice yesterday that I don't know how much you guys were surprised, but my brow raised a bit when I saw their names. Ezekiel Elliot has a hamstring, Alton Smith has a knee. Are these just situations where they're just trying to manage things that are just bumps and bruises that happens throughout an NFL season or is it more serious than that day? Yeah?

I mean Mike McCarthy said this morning that they're not serious issues. You know. He said they might limit Zeke a little bit in practice today just to keep him fresh, and Alton Smith as well. So I don't think that this is something that puts either of them in jeopardy for Sunday, but it is something that you gotta watch because they love to take the whole week, and obviously they're never going to be completely truthful with the media

when they're talking about this stuff. Mike McCarthy maybe the biggest thing I've learned about covering him is he does not like talking about injuries. So I'm not concerned, right, now, but I do want to keep an eye on it, you know, moving forward over the next couple of days. All right, let's jump into this conversation that we're going to have about the Cowboys offense. Let's start first with

this question. What will be the factors that Dallas will or should consider when trying to determine who their starting quarterback is going to be this weekend between Gilbert and Rush? And what do you think ultimately who do you think ultimately will be the starter. Let's start with you, Nick. I think it comes down to who understands the offense the best. I mean, you can look at measurable's arm strength, all that kind of stuff, but it's got to be

who can process what we're trying to do. Remember, when the blitz is coming here or the safety comes down, I know that this receiver is supposed to stop here. It's just about recognition of the offense and what the design is. And that being said, I can't imagine that it wouldn't be Cooper Rush, So that's who I would go with. If that is the case. Whoever understands this offense the best would be the guy go with Amber.

This doesn't really help the defense But if it was up to me, I practice, I would take time to allow the defense to win some of these matchups and create some pressure to the quarterback, and just based on that, see which of these two guys is able to make

better decisions under those kinds of pressures. You know, just try to create somewhat a close environment as to what you might get from the Steelers on Sunday, which shouldn't be too hard with this kind of old line right now, But just create the similar scenario just to see which of the two guys has better reaction to their pressure.

But I would lean towards Scooper rush. All right, just so I understand, are you saying, would you literally be like, all right, two offensive line, y'all just take the playoff. Let's just see what this looks like when guys just

run through. They already That's what I'm saying, Like I mean, I would be I would go and say, okay, the guys on the only line, let the defensive players win, let them go through, like don't play to just let them swing through and allow the defense to make place, just to create pressure and to see what how the

quarterback reacts. And based on that, that's what I would want create some false pressure because you know you're letting the defense win in that aspect, but just to kind of get a better feel as to how the quarterback reacts. It's almost like you take the offensive line off the field and you do like two alligator and you're like, y'all play two alligator defense. You got one alligator too? Alligator and did you go get the quarterback and let's make sure you can get the ball out quickly because

that's what he's gonna have. I don't know what that is? Ya there you go? Is that really? Did y'all know what the alligat is? That Mississippi? It's Mississippi. It's Mississippi. I don't know who who's We've never heard in Texas we say one alligator to alligat. That's how you play football when you had when you had to wait to rush. That's how we did it, right, I got it. It's Mississippi. We did get it. Okay, okay, the four percent of the world that did an alligator, but everyone else that's

less thing. It's Mississippi. Don't get us. Started grew up in Louisiana, where there are alligators everywhere, and I've never heard that you don't really like people from Mississippi anyways. True. You know, what I think it's funny about what Amber said is that is that we have to let the defense like you guys are gonna win this time. It's like they can't really do it on their own. You know, it's like, Okay, we know you probably won't so this time.

Even though that's kind of weird, because I would imagine, I would imagine the defense has some success in practice. I don't know, I get your point, though, get some get some pressure on these guys because you're gonna see it. Actually, what I would do is I would probably blitz. I would play like seven versus five, like that's what it's gonna be. Yeah, But you know, honestly, what we've seen coaches do, and this goes back to, you know, years

ago when when Parcelves is here. What we've seen coaches do is just have that horn out there and literally at two seconds or whatever it is, that horn goes off. That forces a quarterback in his mind to know, regardless of what you're seeing right now, in practice, this is the point where you need to be getting rid of the ball because well, whatever it is. You might want to put it at one and a half seconds, whatever

it is. Whatever it is, I think that is something we've seen coaches do just to make sure their quarterback is has a mental clock or starts to develop a mental clock of this is how fast you need to get rid of the ball because they're gonna be coming if it's too Like, They're glad you brought up parselves, because that's who I thought Amber sounded like, to be honest with you, like that sounds like some old school, like nineteen eighties stuff like I want you to kill

our quarterback please, so we can see who's better in dealing with with stress. I like the idea, though, to be honest with you, I thought it was interesting today. You know, I've talked to a lot of people since since Andy went down, just off the record conversations, talking with friends, talking with you know, me and Nick have talked about it. Everybody on the outside seems to think

Cooper Rush is a favorite. And then and I'm not saying he gave anything away, but today at his press conference, Mike McCarthy said, obviously Garrett has a little more experience than Cooper because he's been here, which for First of all, really has he I'm not sure that it was an interesting comment. Yeah, I was like, he's Mike. He's been here for like ten days. I don't know if that is enough to qualify, But um so, I don't know. Maybe maybe McCarthy thinks Scarrett Gilbert has more of a

leg up than we think. All right, let's move on to the next question. With the strength of pitts Rush being their defensive ends, those are the guys that we hear about. Those of the guys that tend to end with the sacks. I think they have three defensive ends that all have six plus sacks this season. That being said, is it in a better strategy to have Zach Martin at tackle this week? Now? I know I'm gonna preface this by saying, Dave, I know that the Cowboys are

probably not gonna do this. We know that. Okay, this is a hypothetical and this is your own analysis. Do you think this is a week where it makes more sense for the Cowboys to have him at tackle because of how good they're defensive or they're outside linebackers in this instance, are Let's start first with you, Dave. Okay, like it always act like I never always act like I never play along. Um, I will let me say this.

I mean, like I said when we were on with Bucky, like Pittsburgh's got some badass defensive tackles too, so you're giving up something there by moving him. But yes, I would, I would play. I would play Zack at tackle t J. Watt maybe, you know, maybe the best left end in the league. I don't know if that's true, but he's the he's the he's in the conversation. He's certainly in the conversation. I don't like that matchup for Terrence Steel at all. I would move Zach for sure. Well, but

let me ask you this, Dave. Do you think that they will do some more wild cut? And if they did more wild cut, I think keeping keeping Zach Martin there in the center of the line might be better because I mean, that's where some of those that's where some of the blocking is going to need to be. And I don't know if Terrence Steele is that bad of a run blocker. I mean, I think he's decent there. I think I think he just doesn't have the feet or the techniques really for those quick edge rushers like

t J. Wat. I kind of think this is going to be one of those slow down type of games that you do need to run the ball. I think you're having a better guard in there might be better. So I don't know if I would switch this week. Amber, and I agree, and I agree with what Dave said. I don't know if their strength is really there outside of the rush. I think they get the benefit because they get the meat there because the pockets always collapse. And I don't know if the strength really isn't in

the defensive title. So either way, I mean, I probably would keep Zach wary Is in this game. Dave, do you have something you rested throwing in there? That's a really good point. I guess I'm expecting them to play it pretty traditionally, and I mean, I'm sure there will be some wildcat snaps, but I still anticipated looking more normal than that, which I disagree with. I think they should run wildcat every play, but you know, if you're going to ask one of these guys to drop back,

you know, fifteen to twenty times. I feel very bad about Terrence Steele dealing with that. Amber. That's an interesting point that Nick made in today's point about the wildcat. I mean, I find it hard to see that they do play so many wildcat plays, you know, like that that's difficult to do, especially one you need to be successful at. If you are not successful well at the plays that you're creating, it's just not gonna work and

you're not fooling anyone. But going back to your question, one, of course, we don't think that sack Martin is gonna be moved to tackle, but me personally, I would I would like I've been wanting them to move him to tackle for several weeks now, but for some reason, they keep thinking that's steel, how's it down, and that's their man, and okay, good for you guys, protect the quarterback. Let's just try to limit injuries from now on. But it's

it's gonna be tough to watch that matchup. Yeah, I think that the interesting thing here is that you have to try to make the evaluation of is the difference between Steele at tackle and let's say McGovern at guard or loony whichever one. What's that delta, because that really is what you're what you're playing. Because I think Zach

Martin will be good at either one. I personally believe that that's what I was gonna say, though, do you think he would be just as good at tackle as we've seen it once this year and he looked really good, and see any problems there? So I'll have to Now, by the way, Seattle doesn't have a t J. Watt exactly. That's where I was going. If you're going up against t J. Watt, you're not gonna win all day. You're gonna give up something. I don't care who you are.

If Lyle Collins was out there this week, we'd be saying that's a matchup to watch it because he's gonna have some challenges there because t J. Watt is that good. But that all being said, giving up one sack if you're Martin versus giving up three sacks if you're still I think that's a sizeable difference. Yeah, one guy that needs to really step it up, especially if they do Wildcat is be honest, his snaps weren't very good, especially

the ones to Zeke. It always seemed like they were really slow and kind of off centered a little bit. So I mean that that's gonna be something that needs to be cleaned up too. I mean, if he's gonna get the ball, he's gotta get it quickly, all right, We're gonna take our final break when we come back. Go ahead, Dave, and do we think that Joe, like Tyler, be honest, is definitely the starting center? Do we think?

Do we know? That? Is actually a great question, because that is the question I was going to pose when we came back from break. So I'm gonna give you guys a break to tak about it, and then we will talk about what we think Joe Looney's role will be and what we think is role should be in this next game. We'll do that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's

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If you're craving the ATENC Stadium's famous Cowboys cheese steak or nachos or Cowboy rita when you're watching the Cowboys at home, bring your favorite stadium food to you. Place your order online and pick up at ATENC Stadium every week this season. Check out the menu at AT and T stadium dot com slash at home. Have you guys done that yet? I have not, but that's making me hungry, man, So I just want to know where does he coming from? Coming from the stadium? What do you mean comes from

the stadium? Yeah, that's where they make it. What do you mean it seems like kind of a trek up to all places if you had if you were like getting it, let's say in Frisco or yeah. Yeah, but people that don't know this area, that's like thirty forty five minutes, fifty minutes. Anyways, that's not part of the read part of the reason says, just do it. Yeah, just do it, Just do it. It'll be good, you'll enjoy it. All right, let's get back into the conversation

to this Cowboys offense. My next question was going to be for you guys, as Dave talked about just before the break, what do you expect Joe Looney's role to be this week and what do you think it should be. Let's start first with you Amber. I would imagine it to be similar to what we saw last week, and what I would like is not going to happen. They keep telling I mean, what I think requires a lot of shuffling around, and clearly they do not want to

do that. So I just I don't think they would take out Tyler Biadish out of center to plugging Joe Looney as a starter again. But then at the same time, I'm kind of doubtful about that comment. That was a unique that brought it up by comming that Joe made as he maybe he said next week, I should be out there next week. But then as Dave said, where, and I don't know, Yeah, somewhere. Uh, I don't know. This is this is tricky because I think it all stems down to what like, what are they really trying

to do? Like, I mean, are you Jerry made it clear last week what they're trying to do earlier this week when he said they are looking at young guys and that's kind of how they're thinking about then the rest of the season. Then, from from what I have been told, that they do want to keep that core of Connor Williams and be Honest and Zach Martin because those three are probably going to be the interior of the line next year. And if that is the case, then that's what I think they do. And I don't

know where Joe Looney fits into that. Then that's interesting. But to be honest with you, I mean, that probably makes the most sense. Dave, go ahead. I look at be Honest the same way I look at Treyvon Diggs. He needs to be out there, you know, I know, you know, mathematically they're still alive, but they're probably not going to win the division. And I know he's not gonna get to work with this preferred quarterback, but he can still. Reps are good. You need to be getting reps.

You need to be working on and and he's showed enough promise. He's not a liability. So he needs to be in there playing and getting better. So I hope and that it's no disrespect to Joe Looney. It's just business. You know, Joe Looney's got eight games left on his contract. Tyler Beatis is a rookie draft pit, so I hope

that they wouldn't plug him back in. Maybe, you know, maybe when he told you that he meant field goal team or something, I don't know, um, but or well he was if they want to move team, but he did well, So yeah, because that's I don't know the only guy that did. If they want to move yeah, if they want to move Zack to right tackle, I'd be fine playing Joe at right guard, but I don't think they're gonna do that. So yeah, I mean it's unless you're plugging him back in at center. I don't

know what would makes sense. And I hope you know, I don't think that's a good idea. And if you're talking about playing younger guys like, be honest, than McGovern would probably want to be your guy over over loaning was Lord knows he needs to play because he just doesn't have a lot of snaps under his belt. So if you want to play young guys. I just you know, it doesn't seem like a great spot for looney Yep.

All right, let's move to the next question. With all the tricks that Dallas pulled out last week versus Philadelphia, do you think they have to play more of a conventional game this week because they've now lost the element of surprise Nicholas. Um, You know, I like I like the trick plays um when they work. Um, But no, I like them. I mean, I think you have to. I think you have to do both. You can't just line up and beat them. You just can't do it.

You never saw the teams in the nineties really do it because they didn't have to. They just run over you and they this team obviously can't do that. So I do think you need to trick it up a little bit. But but I like to slow down. I mean, you know, slow down thing um game plan as well. I mean, but I'm taking my shots, I'm taking some reverses I'm doing. You know, I'm definitely gonna do a flea flicker for sure. Um, But you know, every game at least once. But yeah, I would, I would do

some of those tricks. I still would. Dave how many. I hate to put anybody on the spot, but how many trick players do we think they ran last week? Like five? Maybe? On what you're calling a trick play, right, I mean, you know, if you're calling a reverse or double reverse a trick player, those are, but they're relatively common in the NFL now, right, Not for this team, You're right, not for this more of the Cowboys though, Yeah,

that's true. I would My point, my point being, if you're an NFL offensive coordinator and that's all you can come up with, like you you shouldn't be one. Like people are like, oh, they they emptied the playbook, like I hope not. I hope. I hope you listens more of those and maybe they would never see the light of day. But like, that's what football coaches do. They draw up plays while they're eating lunch. That's what that's

fun for them. So I would hope Kellen Moore's got a lot more left in the bag, and they absolutely need to do it, you know, they need to. The Wildcat needs to be part of this. Some trick plays and not even real trick plays. That's a great point, Derek, Like a jet sweep in twenty twenty is not a trick play. It's something you should be doing anyway. You should be doing it all the time. And the other fun thing is, you know, like I bring up the rams all the time because I admire them so much.

Like all you have to do is change the formation that you run the same play out of, Like you can run the exact same play and move a guy to the other side of the formation and it's completely different. So it shouldn't be that hard to trick this thing up again. And if they think that they're gonna win playing traditionally, they got another thing coming. So yes, they need to be doing it again and again and again. Da I mean, Nick say, I got trick play? Was

that this this will work. I've seen it work before, all right, stat liberty. No, it's fourth and one and you're at midfield and you're like, are they really gonna snap this? Are they gonna snap it? Maybe they will, maybe they won't. And the guy goes up there, whoever it is, Rush or Gilbert, just like hut hut, I mean, really try to do it like ten times in a row, stand up, walk yourself to the line, to walk yourself

like you're gonna call it time out. Snap at Zeke because by that time those linemen are tired of being in their stants and they kind of see the quarterback walk off. It's all you need. Snap at Zeke first down. I've seen it work, it has worked before. Do it? You want to see it? Kellen, listen? All right? Rather see that or a flee flicker? And well, I want to see the fleeflicker. But I'm telling you this, if that happens and they score a touchdown, like my phone

will break like it'll I mean every flicker. Yeah, because every time if Cincinnati's playing Tulsa on a Thursday night and then somebody runs a fleeflicker, I get mentions, like a lot of them. So if the Cowboys ever running when Jason Garrett, seriously, Jason Garrett waited twelve years for you to do that, you come back here and throw a flee flicker. All right, let's see if we can get one or two fan questions here before we end

the show. Amber, what do you got? Well, speaking of Jason Garrett, this is a pretty blunt question, and since I don't have to answer it, I'm just gonna throw it, y'all's away. So after everything that we've seen so far this year. Could it be the Jason Garrett possibly was not the one necessarily to blame for the results that they've had in previous years. Dave, I want to take that. I'm not afraid that. I'm not afraid to answer the question. I'm just perplexed, like why it's being asked in the

first place. I guess, like, yes, he was the head coach for a decade, Like everything, everything that goes wrong falls on you when you're the head coach. And by the way, the Cowboys, you know, we hesitate to say effort, but like the Cowboys had these mental problems last year. They got their butts kicked half a dozen times. People are like, they never quit on Jason Garrett. Like they got destroyed four or five times last year, like Buffalo and Chicago just dragged them up and down the field.

And by the way, they went eight and eight and didn't have nearly the injury problems that they're having right now. So, yeah, this season's going poorly. It's about as bad of a start for Mike McCarthy as you could ask for. But that doesn't magically make the problems of the Jason Garrett era go away. Yeah. The fact the matter is the head coach is responsible for the result, probably more than anybody else in the franchise and or on the team

at least. And so the way I look at it is if you're if they played bad last year, yes, Jason was the problem. He was at least part of a major part of the problem. By the way, that also means that this year Mike McCarthy has to take his slumps for being a part of the problem because they are two and six. So yes, absolutely, last year Jason was a part of the problem, and absolutely this year Mike McCarthy's part of the problem. That's the point

of a head point coach. You have to figure out when things aren't going right, how to write the ship and how to get your team to play above their heads. If you can't do that, then you're not doing your job well enough. And I think most coaches will tell you that. They'll admit that that is their job. That's in the job description. You're responsible for the final result. I'll leave us with this and if we're done here

this I got a tweet easily. Don't take these tweets to the air, but this is from the handle it's this defense can't tackle. That's the name of the handle. And it says, man, who would you want to start on Sunday? Garrett or Cooper? And then he says, man, Jones is really love Jason Garrett. One quarterback has his last name, the other one looks like him. And with that, we appreciate you guys joining us. We will be back again tomorrow. I'll let you know what will happen Sunday

Cowboys versus Steelers. It is a three thirty kickoff at AT and T Stadium. Till then for Nick Eatman, Dave Helm and Amber Garcia. 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.