Cowboys Break: Concern After Week 2?

We're locking SBbc Mortgage Studios talking Cowboys football. If you guys, We've got a full show, lots to talk about here to kind of recap on what's gone on in Week two of the NFL season. We'll take tuesdays to kind of get a bigger picture look and figure out what's happening across the NFC East and talk about some bigger things with regards to the Cowboys. Every Tuesday here on the Break. Haws everybody this morning. Every good. Everyone's doing good? Good?

What I don't know, I'm speaking for everyone. That's fine. I haven't talked to anyone yet, but I feel like they're all doing good. Well. Was this the first time you've talked all morning. No, no, no, no, I've been doing some talking, a little parenting. It's a little bit. All right, let's jump in, let's talk some some Cowboys. I think the first thing I wanted to do is just kind of give everybody a kind of a recap of what's going on across the NFCS and get an

opinion or two from you guys. Right now, the Cowboys are are deadlocked as of two weeks. It really doesn't make a big difference, but there are three teams sitting in first place, tied at one and one, Cowboys, Eagles, Washington. Cowboys obviously lose this week, Philly loses as well, and then Washington gets to win against the Rams. The Giants are sitting at the end of the division at owen two after they lose on Monday Night Football last night. Oh the question I have for you guys, and I

think memory serves correct. I think when we talked about this before, it may have been on on the air, may have been off the air. It seems like I thought we all were in agreement that the Giants were the team that you that you felt like was closest to the Cowboys. From the standpoint of either they win a division Cowboys win the division. If that's the case, do you still feel that way? And if not, who do you think is the team after two weeks that you would tab as the team that's closest to the

Cowboys as far as winning the division. Dave, We'll start with you. It's way too soon into the season for this conversation to hold any merit. And I know oh and two is a big hole to dig out of, but I'm I mean, I'm not writing the Giants off as like this horrible team yet. And I watched that game. I know how bad they looked. I don't care. Eric

Flowers is not a very good left tackle. But the whole NFL looks like crap right now, to be honest with you, that's my main impression through two weeks, except for maybe the Kansas City Chiefs. Awkins looked pretty good, the Falcons, the Steelers, and hey, the Detroit Lions look pretty solid. But it looks like nobody had a preseason like you just see a lot of bad, disjointed football. So yeah, the Giants look like crap. I still think the combination of the experience that they have on offense

and that defense did. The Lions won that game despite Matt Stafford throwing for one hundred and twenty yards, the highest player, highest paid player in the NFL, a damn good quarterback in my opinion. I know Nick doesn't like him that much, but he threw for one hundred and twenty yards on the road and still managed to beat them. That's how bad their offense was. But that's also how good their defense is. And I mean their defense looked pretty damn good against the Cowboys last week too, So

I'm not ruling them out as some crappy team. It is a long season, I don't I don't get the feeling a lot of teams are really going to find out who they are and hit their stride until how you know, Halloween or so. So that said, from what I've seen of the Eagles and the Redskins, they both look like they have their strong suits. I haven't seen a ton. I know offensive line is maybe a problem for those guys, but the Eagles have an awesome defense.

I know they gave Kansas City a decent game on the road and Arrowhead, So you still think the Giants are the team that was a lot I'm just asking you still think the Giants are the team. What do you think about the Falcons. I haven't seen a lot of the Falcons, but they box right. They only play one game? Um team boys, Yo, Mississippi State. Damn they look good. Well you had to throw that when kind of a low blow, I think, so I didn't mean that. We don't really do that to each other. That's kind

of low. Oh I do that to everybody. So I mean, are you doing if anybody if I deserve it all back when ls who loses? Because I'm a jerk when I when they're winning. I try to leave people alone about their college team. But whatever, I digress. Team to beat, the team to beats probably the Cowboys in terms of like who looks the most well rounded out of right? And the question is outside of the Cowboys, who's that team? Right?

It's I don't don't know. I'm all I know is the Giants have had a crappy star but I'm not ready to write them off yet. Nick Philly, We'll just say, Philly, I don't know they I mean, I just look at it. They haven't lost at home. Everyone else is lost at home, and so Philly hasn't lost at home. The Cowboys haven't lost at home. I mean, that's how early it is, so you just kind of start saying things like that.

The Kansas City seems to be good. They played them fairly well up there, lost and then they've handled the Redskins. But I don't think their offensive line doesn't look that great. Neither does the Redskins needs the Giants. Neither does the Cowboys. Actually, from week one week two, I mean offensive line, so like everybody's offensive lines got issues. But I think if you have to make a call, it'say Eagles. That's a pretty big statement. You think the Cowboys have offensive line problems. Yeah,

they look like crap against Denver. I mean bad, bad, bad, bad offensive And maybe maybe it's just me, but I think that was one game. I don't I don't think the Cowboys have offensive line problems. I think they had off line problems in that game. There is a difference. We've only played understand that, but there is a difference between saying you have offensive line problems and you had

offensive line problems in a game. Well, you know what, Jason Garrett tells everyone to recommit, don't worry about last year. Start from scratch, started zero and at zero, we've played two games. One of them they could not get more than one yard. You know, average per carry for for Zeke the best in the league and the second. In the Giants game, they didn't have a great success but I mean they did fairly well in that game against the Giants, against what we think is a good defense.

But they've only played two games. Yeah, I think the offensive line played well in Week one. You don't. Yeah, I mean they played well, and then they've played horrible. So what are they That's all. That's all I'm saying. I think Derek is trying to say he's willing to give them the benefit of the doubt from last year, just from well based on again, if you look at body of work, I think that's a good way to put it. You look at body of work. Let's just

go back to last year, last year. If you start at the beginning of last year earlier, all the way through these first two games of this season, two of the things have way more They have way more successes than they have failures. And I'm not one that believes that one game or two games in a body of eighteen games says that you're bad. Two of your five starters don't have a body of work. Okay, I'm just saying so you can't lump Chadz and Lyle into that.

But I'm talking about as a whole. And you got three of those guys that have a ton of body of work, and they didn't play well this game either. No, I guess the point I'm making still is I think there is a distinction between you have offensive line problems in general, or you had offensive line problems in one game. I think we all agree they played horribly this last game, and we should say they played horribly this last game, But I don't think that generally means that they have

offensive line problems. I agree with you, But going back to the point I made yesterday, it was like the totality of how bad they were should alarm you. I mean it should be concerning at least. I'm not saying it'll play them again. Yes, it would alarm. But I think the main concern with the offensive line has been whether Collins would do good at that position and task Green and I think they managed well. Yeah, No, Lyle. Actually I thought it was pretty good against what's considered

the best pass rusher in the league. I'm not and I'm I'm not overly worried that it's going to be. I don't think they have offensive line problems. To go back to your point, but again, it's not like they ran for seventy yards and three point two yards per carry. Like they got owned. They got destroyed. They got owned, absolutely, And so that should at least be concerning that fifty percent of your sample size for this season was real,

real bad. Yeah. So, and if we start to see that becoming a trend, then I think you got you've got some issues. But right now, I'm not ready to say that's a trend yet. I'm not willing to say that that is a an overall problem for them right now. I agree, build the best thing they do. Yeah, but you know, like I said, to struggle is to one is one thing, and to do what they did on

Sunday is another thing. So I got, I got, so Okay, aside from the Giants defense, Broncos D defense, what's the other defense that you guys would be concerned that this team will be facing. Maybe we we actually yesterday we kind of talked about that a little bit, and we didn't throw in the team that they're gonna play next week. But they have similar components to what we talked about before. They don't have them in mass like the like the

Broncos do. But they've got a dominant cornerback that they could presumably put on Dez. They've got a dominant pass rusher and KLi Campbell, who I think he had four sacks in Week one. Now he's not, he's not you know, he's not a Jaguar. I'm sorry, jas, I'm sorry, I'm thinking something he was with him last year. Yeah, who's their pass rusher? Don't they have a pass rusher? They have?

They got the kid. They got the kid from um it was he was a top three pick though, right he was just never turned out to be worth the top three. They traded for the kid from New England, Chandler Jones. And I want to say, something's up with him. I don't. We're not supposed to preview the Cardinals, right, We're not. We're not. But I guess I asked that question while I was going to a question of So, with that being said, who are those defense? It is

what Arizona qualifies one of those defenses? I'm not sure, but they do have at least some components that suggest they can give the Cowboys some problems. Yeah. I mean, they're gonna have some defensive guys, and you know that they've got two playmakers in the secondary in you know, Peterson and then the honey Badger who made a game winning play last week for them, I believe interception. Yeah, so I gotta be careful for those two guys. And you know, I'm not as familiar with them upfront, but

I'm sure that they'll be good. And you know, Monday night football and playing it, you know up there where are out there, crazy things happen. To your point, am, I mean, I don't know that there I've been saying this over and over and over again. I don't know that there are many defenses that can mimic what the Broncos were able to do. But there are some good defenses left on the schedule Seattle, Kansas City. I don't know about their whole defense, but the Rams have Aaron Donald.

So if your offensive line is a problem, that's that'll be an issue for you. So there'll be some challenge. There'll be a couple, but I don't think I don't think that By and large. You have a lot of teams in the NFL, let alone teams on the Cowboys schedule that have the defensive the defensive players at the positions that can give Cowboys problems. Yeah, Denver, I think is a unique beast, and their defense has been good to last several years, one of the best in league.

Throw Denver in there with like the there's like four teams in the league that have looked pretty good through two weeks, and then the other twenty eight are kind of a mixed bag of crap. Three of them in the same division. Yes, Oakland, in Kansas City and Denver, and we gotta play all three. That's Hey. I don't buy into the strength of schedule thing like like, oh, we got a tough SCT like the difference, but it's minuscule. But AFC West as a hell of a draw. That's

and I think we've already seen the worst. It can't get anywhere. Honestly, I think Kansas City is better. I think Kansas City is better than Denver. I don't know what you guys think. Yeah, but you're gonna be at home. I mean it won't be how about as bad as that nuggal go about the black hole at Christmas time, guy that was a candidate for NFL MVP and a guy who was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

I mean, when you start comparing the two, though, you compare those two teams, I don't think Oakland's I don't David Irving will be back. I don't think I don't think Oakland's defense is better than Kansas City's defense, and I think Kansas City's offense will be as explosive as Oakland. Thanks changed throughout the year, you know, freas and stuff like that, especially by the time you get to something, it will be two both teams will be very different. Man.

But did you have an opinion on who you think is the team next to the Cowboys that's battling for the most battling for the MC's. Well, again, like they've said, it's just I mean, for me, it's too early to

kind of determine that. Again, looking at the Cowboys, I thought the Cowboys were gonna come in And I know we're talking about other teams inside the Cowboys, but just to talk in that regard, the Cowboys, I thought were gonna come in this year very strong, and after Week one, I thought okay, seeing them manage the New York Giants, although they had a lot of things that they needed to improve, you know, actually make it being touched on, getting you know, points on that scoreboard. But man, after

week two, everything just kind of changed. You know. The best team that I thought was in this division is now almost to the bottom of my list right now, especially with how their defense is. It's just, I don't know, my thoughts have kind of changed all over the place with this whole Cowboys don't. I don't know what to tell you. Honestly, you sound so disappointed. I am, because I thought they were going to win eleven in a row. Again. No,

definitely not. But I think I think the Cowboys everyone came in hoping that the Cowboys were gonna have a very good season, right you would say that although it's a brand new season. But thinking of the guys that got during the draft, all these rookies. We saw how the rookies did during training camp. A lot of them were out, couldn't get any you know, practice time. Then we move in here we see injuries happening again. Orlando's Kendrick to me, not the greatest, but he still gets

the job done. Now we have Nolan Carroll who's out. Not the worst than Orlando, but now he's out too. So it's very concerning, especially when you see how they perform, and again looking at them against the Giants, Oh, I'm like, okay, there's some hope here. You know, they did good Orlando was out, they still didn't miss a beat. They were able to manage. But then now we see this and again going against the Broncos' is totally different. But I

don't know what they're gonna do. I don't know how they're going to resolve this issue, but they need to figure it out, and I know how there are some guys that are working out. But yeah, you know that. And maybe I'm just maybe I'm just the eternal optimists. Sunshine pumper. It's not a sunshine pumper. It's it's how I live life. But I'm just not I don't think this is a huge deal. Yeah, they got the butts whoop,

it happened. If you go back right now and you look at week look at Week two last year, I guarantee you the teams that everybody was saying, we're great and we're on the up, and they were. They were the teams that were gonna be in the mix. I bet there are several of those that didn't. They fell off.

I want to say Minnesota was five and oh at some point last year, I don't remember, but and there were probably some teams that had lost a game in those first two weeks that everybody's kind of like, man, what's going on with them? And they ended up being in the mix when the whole thing was done. All I'm saying is it's week two in the NFL. There are gonna be some weeks that you look at where you like, man, they just really laid an egg that week.

It doesn't necessarily mean that they're not the same team you thought they were, whether they were good or whether they were bad. There are examples of it all throughout the league, every single Now it is true, but did you analyze each player in each position? Unalyze position? Sorry, and you look at the players that you have, do they have the right guys to stop all these people? I'm talking on the defense side. I'm not worried about

the offense. I think Dak Prescott last week, everyone we know, everyone played bad. The ability that they have, they have so many tools. You know, whether it's a running game, the passing game. They have so many things that they could do, and the Broncos were just able to eliminate all aspects for them. But it's a combination. Once the offensive line does their job. They helped Dak obviously, and so they helped Seek. I'm not worried about the offense,

but defense, Derek, you should be worried. Honestly, I don't know that the defense is worse than it was last years. A matter of fact, I think from the past rush standpoint, it may be better. What we've seen from DeMarcus Lawn so far suggest it may be better. We all believe Molle Collins is going to be a player, it may be better. We believe Pie is a better player than what they had last year. May be better. Yeah, the secondary is an issue right now. We'll see what happens

with Carol. I've never been a fan since he's gotten here. I've made it clear I'm not a fan of what he brings to the table, and I do think they made a mistake by not bringing back one of those veteran guys. But we'll see how that plays all out. Um. I will say again, I think though, when you look at the defense. I don't know that it's worse than what you had last year. I don't know. I don't know. Baron Jones and Jeff Heath I had my hopes for them, and this I mean right now, I haven't seen them

play up to their potential. I haven't seen much from them. And when you talk about veteran gay guys in the secondary, I mean, they're not doing much really if you analyze them aside from those guys what nick Oh, I mean, they're not You're right, and the safeties aren't doing anything. Um, I haven't seen. We haven't seen guys that we were

kind of hoping for. We haven't really seen a lot out of uh, you know, I guess unless you're gonna say to Marcus Lawrence and he looks like he's ready to, you know, turn the corner and he already has I mean two sacks and in two games each, So what if that's yeah, I understand what that too into a sport. I'm just saying, I don't know. I was trying to say elementary school. I think that's four times as many as he had last year. He had one right one, So he's a third of the way to his career

total three games. I mean, you're right, Derek about last year, this team went thirteen and three. In twenty fourteen they went twelve and four. Both of those teams were one and one, so that's what they are right now. It could go either way. But you know in twenty fifteen there were two and oh and they went four and twelve. So it's early. It's early. I think I'm a little bit too early than what you know. Amber's ready for. I mean, she's got the panic button like down, No,

she's like laying on it. Yeah. No, I think they'll come back. I just think if they don't do something with this defense right now, you know, there needs to be some improvement. If not, it's not going anywhere. I think we all agree with Secondary is gonna have to play better, and I don't know how they're gonna get him there. They got to get these guys coached up quickly because they're young, they're they're just learning this NFL game and they missed a lot of training camps, so

they're gonna have to do something. I don't think they have a lot of other options because it's not like you're just gonna grab somebodies from the street. I think that the secondary was worse than the front seven yesterday or Sunday. Does that mean I don't think they were stopping anybody in the running game. Yeah, I kind of think that was the issue. You put that on the linebackers though, more than the front flour just everybody, all

of them. Yeah, I don't know why. I don't know why. Yeah, I was about say, I don't know why were splitting hairs and picking between units, like your best player, Dan Bailey as well. Yeah, as Nick said, like Dan Bailey's probably the only guy that got on the bus, you know, Like, and he was too. We got on that bus and he was just like, that's the best y'all got. I can't believe he was acting like that. All right, let's take our first break. When we come back, I want

to talk a little bit about Ezekiel Elliott. Coach Garrett had a little say about him yesterday and some of the things that are swirling around about him and how he played on Sunday. We'll do it when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We the entertainment loving people demand the best unlimited wireless plan ever. From ATNT. What else do you what? Are you in a car? Maybe only AT and T offers you unlimited

data with HBO included and never pay overages. Get ATNT Unlimited plus our best wireless dealer unlimited data plus say twenty five dollars per month on Direct TV. It's entertainment your way after twenty two three good yes of data ug tamy Slow Speeds plan includes stream saving videos, will streaming standard definition unless you're turn it off. Twenty five dollars direct savings across AT and T Unlimited plus credits

start within three bills. Service prices subject to change. Other usage speed fees, charges and restriction supplies the att dot com slash unlimited for details. Hey Cowboys fans, did you know that over the next few years, more than a million service members will transition from military to civilian life.

Veterans face unique challenges when they get out of the military, and Bank of America and the Dallas Cowboys are teaming up to help with financial education, career opportunities, and support of military nonprofits and organizations locally in North Texas and across the country. We're proud to support our troops and are deeply grateful for the dedication and sacrifice of our

service members and veterans. Bank of America Official Bank of the Dallas Cowboys invites you to join us in our efforts to get involved by tagging game day photos on social media using hashtag troop thanks. That's hashtag troop thanks, and by learning more about our commitment to veterans at Bank of America dot com slash Military Support. Together, we can thank our troops in ways that make a real difference. Copyrank,

twenty sixteen, Bank of America Corporation. It's pulling night with brands and you're hanging down together, bit up us there, but you're craving something better, but they're frost deep inside. You don't know what to do. The same with doctor Pepper when you're craving pepper. When you crave a doctor Pepper, nothing else will do. Pick up a nice cold, twenty ounce bottle today, doctor Pepper, the one you crave. I hear all this talk about what it takes to be

a cowboy. Everyone's got their ideas, but I just say to my self, it's what's up top that matters. Sure, you need men with the muscle and heart to get her done. But if your scouts and coaches are listening out there. A word of advice. Pick the man with the most well worn stetson. That's the one most cut out to be a cowboy. Stetson hats are handmade right here in Texas and have been on cowboys heads for

over one hundred and fifty years. The rest of you can visit stetson dot com slash cowboy to find a retailer nearest you. Back to the break, Welcome back at second to second segment of the break lacking SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star. I want to talk a little bit about Ezekiel Elliott this last game. After the game was over, we started hearing different people around the media being very critical of his not necessarily his performance overall.

I think a lot of people are saying talking about the offensive line from the standpoint the performance, but particularly about a couple of plays where he didn't show the kind of effort that you would expect from an NFL player. I guess this is the best way to say it. D I think Ken has that audio force. Ken, can you play an audio of what coach Garrett had to say yesterday about Ezekiel Eli Well, he had the two

plays that were not good plays, the two interceptions. Obviously, you know, one of the things that we preached to our team on both sides of the ball, when there's a turnover, everybody's involved for an offensive player to become a defensive player on a fumble or an interception. And you know, Zeke is one of the most natural competitors I've ever been around. He loves to play, he loves to practice. I think we've seen that through his first

year playing. And those two players were not indicative of the kind of competitor that he was, and we have to get that addressed. So my question for you guys is is this a big deal? You think this is a big deal? Is this much to do about nothing? I want to I want to share a personal anecdote that shed some light on this. It comes from the fourth quarter of this game. I was standing with you

on the sideline. We were about eight feet away from a keept league when he picked six Dak, and Dak was doing his thing, and good for him, great effort and all that. He's chasing the play down trying to do that, and Derek's standing right next to me going, what are you doing? Get away? From there. Don't you don't need to make this tackle. This is talking about that Dak He's get out of there. Stop And I

agreed with you. I was like, it's like, I know, like that's what you want your quarterback to do, but let's not get hurt on the last meetingless play of this game. And that kind of I mean, that kind of sums it up for me. But is it different, because I know for me it is different for you. Is it different for the quarterback versus all the other players? I know that sounds bad, but the quarterback trying to replace the quarterback is a lot harder than every other player.

And I just think I think of my quarterback differently. If you're down there trying to make that tackle and there guys blocking, just get out of the way. The game was tied. If the game was tied, it's a different story. Well then it's a different story then, because every player that you're talking about a play in the middle of the field Zeke, like middle midway through the game. I mean, you only said that because the game was over and you don't need him get hurt with fifty

seconds to go. But the Zeke play, and that's different you need to go make a play. If you're gonna do all this stuff like let's eat, let's eat, then go eat, eat all the time, be hungry every time. I think it is an issue because because he showed his disinterest when he doesn't want when things aren't going well. So the line wasn't there, the blocking wasn't there. But

there's more you could do. You don't just stop. The play's over and you put your hands on your hips and then you go to the sideline and you don't talk to anyone. To me, it was a too cool for school attitude that I mean. I don't think it will be a huge issue, because I think it'll be addressed in a lot more stern tone than that. I mean, I think it'll be addressed. I hear you. I do,

and I'm not. I don't want to completely absolve him and say, hey, that's fine, but I don't think this should be a storyline that lasts longer than about today. I agree, and I perfect agree. It'll get taken care of, I think. And I'm about to make excuses for them and say they're not excuses. But I was thinking about it last night. I was talking about it with somebody, you go back. I mean, we've it's well documented that this guy has been a beast at every step of

the way. I don't know the stats, but you remember in twenty fifteen, his last year at Ohio State, he made national news for yet like basically calling out his coaches for not giving him the ball they lost to Michigan State. I guarantee you he had better stats in that game than he did on Sunday, and that was

probably the low light of his career to this point. Well, he said in the press conversence, and when we're talking him in the locker room afterwards, he said, and somebody asked, have you ever had a game worse in this and he was like, no, this worst game out. So you're literally witnessing the worst moment of his career. He's he's immature, and we know that. We've that's been the storyline surrounding the Cowboys since he was drafted basically, but even more

so in the last eight weeks for obvious reasons. He's an immature guy. You hope that he's working on it, but it's fair to call him that based on everything that we know. So no, I don't think it's it's the right play, but in a seventeen twenty five point game in the third quarter, he's obviously very frustrated about the way it's going. I don't, yeah, But going back to Dak's play at the end, obviously we all knew he wasn't gonna get there on time, he wasn't gonna

make that tackle, but he still tried. And although it was a complete meaningless run for him to even go and try to do that, and he is the quarterback, he needs to be careful even then, it's still I mean to me, that meant a lot for him to even go and try to do that. I think these players see everything, as you know, in the moment, this is the game, this is the time. You don't you're not really thinking, You're just trying to act on you know, make whatever play you need to make. And he did that.

He well, he tried to. But it shows a lot for He's a football player, and football players in the mentality of the moment, says, the ball's going the other way, I need to make a tackle. Right in all, I'm a quarterback and to get back. In all aspects of everything, Dak is what the Cowboys want Zeeke to be, but to this point, he's not. They're different people. I mean, that's something to work on and it'll be a teaching point. I'm yeah. I mean Garrett said as much. He's going

to talk to Zeke about this. I would be fairly surprised if we saw him do it again, at least anytime soon. This is not an excuse for Zeke. But but I will say this. You know, to every other player on the team, this is their second game, this is their second game, this is their second fight. Zeke's been fighting for a while. He he has I mean this, this is this. To say that this isn't weighing on him would be ridiculous. This whole yeah, and it is.

I mean, everyone else is here and he's in Sherman, Texas, He's in a suit and tie, and this whole thing has been weighing on him and and I it's affected his demeanor. There's no doubt about it. And I'm not again, I'm not dissolving of this. I mean that should be your sanctuary to go out there and play. Everything's you know, off the table, just go play football. And you know

the frustration is mounting. But I'll say this though he's got to be tired physically, tired for us mentally and yeah, mentally for sure, but that affects you physically, and I think, you know, I think that that is probably weighing on him. He's got to be able to correct that. So I don't agree that. I mean, I don't think this is going to be a big deal, but I think it it was. It could be something that needs to be

nipped into. But if he's as much of a competitor as Jason Garrett said, then he needs to show that more. And I think that's what Garrett was saying. I mean, I think anyone's concerned moving forward. Yeah, that's I guess. I agree, But I just don't think it's like this huge deal. It doesn't need to be a first take segment for many more days. It was. It's funny because Garrett, for everything that he answered about about Zeke, he said

everything the other way about Dak. Yeah, and that's interesting. Actually, let's hear that audio of what Garrett had to say about Dak Prescott in this last game. Well, if you get a chance to go back and watch the tape at number four numberfore as a special player was not an easy game for him. I got knocked around a little bit, got banged up early, and talk about a guy who battles, talk about a guy who fights, talk about a guy who leads the team under adversity, under duress.

It was special. And you know, I reflect back on the best quarterbacks I've been around, and oftentimes the games that I remember most are the ones that the situations were the most challenging. And you see how they respond, how they respond to a turnover, how they respond to guys hitting him in the face over and over and over again. You've heard me say this before. My old man says, you know, you can hit him in the face with a shovel and he keeps coming back. And

that's what Dak Prescott again demonstrated yesterday. So I have no real concern about him responding the right way. Certainly, Zeke had a couple of those plays that we talked about already. We have to address those with him. But again, he's a natural competitor, he loves to play, he plays the game the right way. We'll get him right going forward.

All right, that's Coach Garrett talking about Dak Prescott, and actually, Nick, you made a simil a similar argument yesterday talking about how how impressed you were with Dak and not necessarily results of his play, right, but just how he went about it yet in a game that was full of adversity and things not going his way. You know, I always take that line Bill Parcells used to say about it.

You know, you don't really know about a player until they get beat thirty five to seven, and everyone's kind of looking sideways at the quarterback and is you know, wait, every play he's getting up looking out of the ear hole because he's just been hit every time, and we'll find out then how how he comes back. And so I thought that that was kind of indicative of that just just showed it reminded me of a Brett Farve type of thing of like you're a football player playing quarterback.

There's a difference between a quarterback and then football players that play it. I think Walter Payton was the best football player to ever play running back. I'm not saying he's the best running back, but I think he was the best football player to ever play running back. And I think Dak is playing it like that, you know,

never give up that that that type of stuff. And then actually after the press conference when Garrett kind of talks to us a little bit, and most of it's off the record, but one story he shared was Troy Aikman and his favorite Aikman moment. It's the same favorite moment for him at Smith the ninety four championship game against the Niners when they lost and they had a chance for a three peat. But it was that game.

But he said, agmam was just standing in there taking shot after shot after shot, and that's what he was talking about. Dak just standing in the pocket, hit a couple of throws like that we talked about, you know, we're just standing right there and knowing that he's gonna get hit. So he showed some toughness in that game. Yeah, I think a lot of things about that you like, not only the things he did during the game, think

after the game. You liked the way that he approached handling the media from the standpoint of yeah, I didn't have the greatest game, and I gotta be better. I

gotta do more for my team. Now, I think the most important thing is what does he do in response to that in the next game, Because you can let those kinds of games snowball to where you get beat twice off of a really bad game, and so can he somehow play better, and not only that, but bring his teammates along with him to play better, to get out of that funk, to get themselves back on the right track going into or out of Week three and into week four in the rest of the season. I

hope it was hot in the press conference room. He was sweaty, because he was sweating more than he ever has. And I wonder if you know it, it it was one of those situations where you're just kind of feeling the pressure a little bit. I didn't notice it to be too hot, but maybe it was. I wasn't in there. Maybe the altitude, maybe no. But he handled it like like he played the worst game of his life and

he was the one that messed it up. Yeah, and that's what a quarterback it's really supposed to do, which was a common thing thing in that locker room. I know you guys were in there, and I think, almost to a man that I heard talk, they all said, Hey, I didn't play my best game. I didn't play up to standards. We didn't play up to standards. I think everybody kind of had that same thought that same mentality. I don't know how it couldn't be a humbling experience.

Even Garrett yesterday I thought was a lot were forthcoming and offered better explanations than typical, you know, like he's big on coach speak and not giving away too much, and he was still himself, but he I mean, you know, he was very forthcoming about the Zeke stuff. He was very forthcoming about praising Dak and talking about, you know, the way that Denver defense played them and how that's difficult to deal with when you do it the right way.

And I just I thought it was more than we typically get from him, and I was wondering if maybe that was because after a performance like that, you kind of don't have a choice but to swallow your pride and go with the flow. Basically, you know what they say the whole time in training camp that you know, we start at the bottom, you don't build off of last year. You're starting, And I think it's easy to

say that. It's harder for players to really believe that until you get hit in the mouth like this and then you realize, oh, this is different now, and hopefully, hopefully for Cowboys and Cowboys fans, this is the kind of game that kind of waked him up to the reality of every single week, this is a new opponent, and that new opponent can really just destroy you if you don't play your best game, and especially when you're playing really good team. So maybe maybe it has that

kind of effect. That is the toughest place to play in the NFL, absolutely, because what is it nineteen and one in the last twenty games. I want to say, well, they that host to last year, but I mean it's no, it's not a lot. They don't. They don't lose often, they don't lose often. I mean there's a lot of factors. I mean, it's it's loud. Well, first of all, the team is good, really good. It's it's a loud stadium. They and you look around. They do not give their

tickets away. It's orange. I mean, Dick Haboys hadn't played their nine year eight years. Usually when that happens, you start. No, we didn't even talk about the fact that the press box shook on every second and third down from the moment the game was about to start. I told I remember telling Nick, I was like, this is gonna get on my nerves. Like the whole thing is just shaking. Everybody's beating like you can just you hear the audible sound of people stopping their feet and beating on stuff.

And that starts when the game begins. It stops at halftime. It did stop during the rain delay that luckily, and then it starts. The game starts back up. You usually see a crowd like a crowd is usually thinner after a raindelay, not that. They were just waiting right under the under overhang and they ran right back out and their seats are all blue and even that, even then, all you can see was orange. Yeah, I didn't think

about that. Yes, you know. So at some point Garrett's going to have to address this situation of I mean, he said it two years ago, we like to take the ball and start the second half, because he had this whole theory about how fans don't come back into their seat at halftime and it's not as loud, but before the game they're all jacked up and all that. So I don't understand why he continues to take the football and when he when he wins the toss, that

doesn't make any sense to me. The Broncos start out, you kick it off to the twenty five yard line. You can't hear you go three and out and you punt, Like, why why don't you play defense first? I think I kind of understand his philosophy. I'd love last game, and I think I think it's more about, you know, with him, everything is a t shirt of mentality or whatever. I think what he's trying to say to his team is, we take the ball all the time. Our offense is

that good. We're not going to be afraid because we're on the road against a good defense to take the ball. Give us the ball. I think it was a mentality thing. I don't think it's about strategy for him. I think it's more about we do this all the time because we believe that we're going to get out to a fast start. And getting out to a fast start means putting our all and put it on your defense. I think I think that is strategy though, because where we

talk about this team plays best with a lead. You want to run the ball, you want to control the clock, you want to be in front so that their offense has to throw the ball, and that if you do it right, that starts with points on the first possession. Obviously, it's a big gamble, and usually I do get points on the first which I and you know, it's funny because we just mentioned that it worked very well for them last year year, right, that doesn't mean it will

work well for them this year. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays because I think they got points. They did this all last year and they got points six out of the seven first games. Well now they're one and one, so I wonder if that affects their thought process going forward. What we know about Jason Garrett is he is a He is really a creature of habit. I have a hard time thinking he's going to change

it up. That seems to be what he's done. Since he's got it, I would hesitate to just call it like a Jason Garrett thing. Though, Amber and I had a conversation with mister Prescott on Oh Yeah Friday. He loves it. He's like, yeah, we're good. We're good at the start of the game. That's why we take the ball. That's a matter of fact part of the game. Whenever Derek decides we'll play this audio, hopefully sometime this week. Let's because people were very passionate about this subject through

you know, people on Twitter. So you know what, I'm motivating me to go ahead and go ask the man himself and hopefully you guys will get to listen to that audio. For people that don't know we're talking about last week, it was a very interesting conversation. I think it happened on Thursday, was that right, Wendsay or Thursday, one of the two. Anyway, there's a conversation that happened on the air, and Amber was making the argument that Dak specifically has that is starting and I want to

make sure I get this right. That is that he doesn't he has a better He's better in the second half than he is in the first half. Um and Nick and Dave argued that point on the other side that they think it's pretty consistent. He's pretty much the same guy first half, second half. I think you've already butchered it. Yeah, sorry, it's it's that's not how it started. It started, let's say. Anyway, the point was, the point was you asked Dak about it to get Dak's word

on it, and we did get audio from that. We're gonna play that sometime later this week, probably we might do it tomorrow. We'll play that later this week, just so people can hear and then hopefully put this whole thing to bed, because I'm oh, we don't, we don't need to this cast it again. I just went ahead. You can listen to the audio. And she just wants to know that the quarterback series right. She wants to say I was right. Okay, So we're gonna we're gonna

take our final break. We're gonna come back. I do need to talk about something a little more administrative. We need to talk about dem Entre Morris. He's gonna be back on this team. I would assume as of today he's gonna finish the suspension. Question is who's going Cowboys are gonna have to make some kind of transaction in order to make room for him. I'll ask that question these guys when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys

dot Com Radio. To work this big land, you need equipment with values rooted as deep in Texas soil as you are. Like John Deer compact tractors for the six year power training. Warrant to him big features that help you work less so you have more time to do what you love. John Deer was first in the Texas fields and We're proud to be on the field as the official agg and turf equipment of the Dallas Cowboys.

Find Texas Sized deals and my John Deer Dealer dot com Slash Football Terms, conditions, exclusions, and warranty limitations apply so you can you love For details, we the entertainment loving people to mand the best unlimited wireless plan ever from ATNT. What else do you want? Are you unicorn? Maybe only AT and T offers you unlimited data with HBO included and never pay over. Just get a TNT Unlimited plus our best wire dealer and unlimited data plus

say twenty five dollars per month on Direct TV. It's entertainment. You're way after twenty two kid devices of Data, UC and TAM Slow speeds plan includes stream saving videos with streaming standard definition unless you turn it off. Twenty five dollars dirett savings Acrise AT and T Unlimited plus credits start within three bills. Service prices subject to change, other usage speed fees, charges and strictions. Supplies the att dot

com Slange Unlimited for details. Star Sports Tours is the only official fan travel partner of the Dallas Cowboys, offering exclusive game weekend travel packages with sideline access and photo ops with current players, alumni and cheerleaders. That's not all, though, You'll get to talk x's and those with Senior Director of Player Personnel Will McClay and of course with yours truly me, Brian Broadus you can trust the official fan travel partner of the Dallas Cowboys, and with us you'll

travel like a pro. Visit Cowboys travel dot com to book your travel package today. Back to the break, Welcome back. It's the final segment of The Great Black from the SWBC Mortgage Studios. Let's talk a little bit about Demontrey Moore. He's been on suspension for the first two games of the season. He should be I guess activated today. A Cowboys will have to make a move. I think is it true that they have a twenty four hour period in order to make that move or do they have

to immediately cut somebody whenever he is well. He's been back in the building, right back on the team today. They have until three today, three today to make the move. So they will have to make a transaction of some sort um, either cutting a player or maybe moving a player to IR in order to get him onto the fifty three man roster. So I'll ask you guys the question, who do you think is going to be the odd

man out? About three o'clock today. I don't get the impression that Nolan Carroll's concussion is like an ir type of deal. I could be wrong. So if there's an injury thing, that's totally different. But if you're just if you have to release a healthy player, I think I would go with jay Ron Elliott. And that's just me speculating. I don't know anything, but I'm just trying to put the pieces together. I don't think how did they get him trade? They claimf waivers, but they claimed Brian Price

off waivers. They traded for jail And isn't it the same thing? Like their compensation is tied to how much he's exact, they're not using him at all. He did not participate in the Giants game at all. He was inactive on Sunday, So clearly he was inactive on Sunday despite you know, you're already sort of thin at linebacker as it is with Anthony Hitchins injured, so clearly they feel like they can get through a game without him.

I'm not going to say Demontre Moore can play linebacker, but he does do some stand up stuff as a pass rusher, especially in that nickel and dime sub packages. And j Elliott is a kind of an outside linebacker pass rusher, right, So it's kind of that similar. Yeah, So if you're not using him and you get your draft pick back, if you cut him and they sort of fill a similar role, I think it makes sense.

And you know he wasn't active, but Tapper would probably be inactive anyways, You're just gonna make Tapper in active. You don't want to cut Tapper, but obviously what you want to and Demontre Moore should be in um I would you know what, I would think that way, But would you make Tapper inactive or Taco because there's no way they make Taco inactive. Huh. I mean it looks bad, Yes,

it looks bad. That's about this. The optics that Charles Tapper is one of two players on this team with a sack, right, Yeah, So I'm just saying, and I've been critical of Charles Tapper, but he has played well enough that I don't know that I'm sitting him down. And I am the president of the Taco Charloton Fan Club going back to draft time. But if you gotta sit him, you gotta sit him. I mean, he's not starting anyway, so he's already he's already not meeting people's

the hype of the expectations or whatever. So if you gotta sit him for Demontre Moore, I mean whatever. I think, though, when you when you're talking about what they're asking these guys to do, I think, Taco, Um, I've only really seen Tapper on third downs or at least pass rushing situa us and I know that they asked Oacho to do a little bit more than that, so I wouldn't imagine. I'm I'm you're right. I think it would be between

those two though. Yeah, with Monty can slide tackle in to play defensive tackles right right, it can, but they haven't. They really haven't. Don't like and he can play left end too, but he's really only played right and I take issue with that. But he's the first round pick, so they want him to play the sexy position. I guess I don't know. Yeah, you guys agreed, Jay Jay, but that seems logical. I mean I could see a cornerback though getting in the mix here really like who well,

I mean it would have to be. I mean, if you've got a good maybe cheeto on ir you mentioned that yesterday. You really think that's an option? If it's the same is it the same hamstring? It's the same hamstring. Although Stephen Jones said yesterday they he went through an MRI, they didn't see anything super troubling. It's it sounds like they hope he can practice this week. So I don't get an I all right, And it's the same thing as what you were saying too about um, I'm drown

a blank on the tight end. Rico gathers. The reason why you would do the I R for only the set the eight weeks is because you need he needs to practice. I think with a rookie like Tito, he needs to practice as well. So you wouldn't want him on R four and extended periods. Andy, you'd be done with your if you're gonna bring him back, if you're gonna do another guy, I are you're gonna bring him back, then you'd don't be out of guys. Don't have too, Yeah,

I don't have too. Yeah, they don't have to bring Rico back. But what were you gonna say now, I was. I was just gonna say to that point, I think that would be a good move if they weren't last week in the position, you know, yeah, if they weren't having all these troubles with I mean, to have him out for like eight weeks, I don't think it would be good. And the reason why is it gives you a spot. It opens a spot to get another guy.

That's kind of why. Yeah, but the guy, the guy you're gonna bring in doesn't have a job, so he's not any good either. The same reason when they could release Ben abin Wickery too. But I don't think that's a good idea with what they're dealing with in the secondary right now. Yeah, I'd be interested to see if they would make that. Has anybody asked him, you guys may know it. Has anybody asked the coaches why they made the decision to have him in active last week

knowing they only had four active. I mean he said it after the game. He said, because of Noah Brown. Because they wanted they didn't know about Terrence and they wanted to make sure that they had the receivers there. I mean, again, it doesn't make sense to me, But I mean five and five would seem right, Yeah, it's at four and six, yes, and they got bit. I mean maybe they're winning to this week thinking feeling pretty confident after the Giants game with yeah, guys they had

playing out there. But see the way I look at it is with Scandrick being hurt, wouldn't you want to kind of hey, what do we know about? What do we know about Cheeto? Lease, Let's let this guy maybe play if he gets down to it. And then of course Nolan Carroll goes out and has a bad game before Yeah, yeah, I mean he unfortunately, I mean he played better than the last three quarters than he did

the first time. Like Carol well Um saying, I wouldn't agree with either of these, but I mean, as long as we're covering our bases, Rod Smith and and Noah Brown are guys that I mean, when you look at what role they feel, it's small enough that if you absolutely had to have a spot. And Demontreamore plays special teams too, so h those are guys they could release. I wouldn't expect it. I would be kind of surprised and I would disagree with it if that's what they did.

But I disagreed with Darius Jackson last year. You know, I mean, if they got a good handle on the zeke thing, you could always cut one of the running backs, one of the veteran running backs. Yeah, cut McFadden. I don't think they'd have a handle on it though. No. So all right, let's let's get some phone calls. You guys call us at two one, four eight seven two twenty one h two. You can also hit us on Twitter at Cowboys Break will start with a call from

Rob in Vegas. Rob, What up? Hey, everybody? How are you? I mean, if you would tell me that after two weeks we'd have a division win against the team we couldn't beat last year and a road loss against Denver and be like, Okay, I take that. But there's three guys that I'm a little concerned about. One is Byron Jones. I'm starting to think he was just a combined superstar because I don't I just don't see it. I hear it in practice and I hear it in training camps.

He just doesn't make enough plays at the safety position. Another guy is crossed. How many years have we talked that? Now? This guy, you know, he's healthy he's that was just a mistake paying him and another guy that I'm concerned about a Scott Linahan, because I'm wondering if he's in his mind he's saying I'm going to prove that Dak Prescott's the guy and he's not gonna have a sophomore slump. And I started to see it in the playoff game against Green Bay. Zeke Elliott is ab player on offense

and that's your best option. And I didn't think they leaned on him enough in that game. Even the Giant game, he first been goal from the three. You didn't even give him one touch, and I'm sorry, Zeke should have been frustrated eight touches. I know he wasn't getting anything, but he's the only guy on your offense that could score from anywhere on the field. You still have to run the ball, especially when you know your defense is not playing good. You got to eat up some clock

and hope to get the game going. I'm a little concerned about him. I don't see him using Dez. You got to stop acting like Dez runs a four three forty and running him down the sideline. You guys know Dez's best players are always short pros where he makes a guy miss and he runs after the catch, more bubble screens put him in the flot stop treating you know these jump balls, these fifty fifty balls, And that's

what you guys were talking about. You look at Deck's percentage to all the other wide receivers, it's high and again, and when he throws the Dez it's low, and all the interceptions. What throws to Dez? So lenihan um, I need him to change his philosophy a little bit. And and the other two guys, I don't know. I think we're going to be looking for a safety come next year. All right, thanks for the call. What do you guys

think about Byron Jones? You know, I don't have like much of a problem with anything that guy just said. I mean, you could quibble over like the semantics of it, but like the overall theme of that call pretty much agree with. I'm not that far out on Byron yet, I don't. I mean, I don't think anybody was good in that game. They got their butts kick. But he made a nice play in pass coverage. I did see.

Did y'all see that thing going around Twitter? It's like a it's a replay where it's a pulling play and CJ it was CJ Anderson's touchdown. Do you see Byron on where it looked like he had a clear path to the ball carrier and kind of chose to pick up a block instead. I mean, I hate to, you know, I hate to sign that without knowing for sure, but that's certainly what it looked like on tape. So not a great day by anybody in the defense. I think

everybody knows that. But was it I can't point to him being terrible, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. It was just a collective letdown across all fronts. So I'm not ready to single him out as like the reason why the defense sucks. Let me make a bigger question out of that, though, Do you think that has he lived up to what you expected as a first round pick when the Cowboys made that pick. These years that have passed, has he lived up to what you

expected of him to this point? You know what's funny is when he was a rookie and they were they didn't have a spot for him in the starting lineup, and he was like the handyman who handled the tight end and played dime. I thought he was better than I expected him to be as a rookie. In the time since when they've tried to plug him into a full time role, he hasn't been as good grading on the curve right, which which But that happens. I mean

that's what you do. Your expectations do go up. I mean, rookie, you have rookie expectations, just like the same with Dak. I mean Dak's expectations last year as a rookie. Now he's a superstar, so he's gonna get he's gonna get evaluated differently. I mean as far as Byron Jones, I he hasn't He's not there yet and I'm not even sure what his best position is, but I guess it's I mean, I thought it was safety. I was saying

safety from his rookie year, But I don't know. There's issues that I think that are there that I'd rather not say. So I don't know. I don't know about him. I mean, I think he'll get better though, like everyone else, that jury's out and Crawford, it's just hard to knock a guy that's playing so many different positions. It's playing hard he's playing. He's been playing hurt for two years. So you know, I don't think he's special though. Ye, well that's and he's getting paid to be. This is

It's a conversation we've had a million times. Like I, I love him as a locker room presence. He's gonna play through any injury. He's gonna he'll play anywhere. He's a great team guy. The only reason he ever comes up is because of the contract he's playing under wad Car. At this point, you don't have a choice but to say, yeah, they probably shouldn't have given him that deal, but that's

where they are, that's what they're dealing with. Yeah, Like I'm not I have a hard time dogging on him for the effort that he puts in and what I know about him as a high character guy. But it's a fair criticism that he's not living up to that contract. You know, when you draft a guy, you draft these guys that aren't first rounders, and you know, whether it be third, fourth, whatever it is, and you draft them to develop them, and then when you do develop them,

it sounds good. But this is not the seventy five Cowboys anymore, where you can just develop these guys until they get good. You have to make decisions on them, and sometimes you have to make decisions before you really know what they are. And I go back to ten years ago when they had to make those decisions, Like, you know, Miles Austin had played four years, but he had a couple of big games, and now they got to make it a call on him, and so they

said they got to pay him. That's what the market was. Doug Free, Tony Romo, same thing. Doug Free worked out, Tony Romo definitely worked out. But sometimes you have to make a call. So they had to make a call on Crawford. He'd played a few years, he'd gotten hurt or he toward his achilles. So he's about to be a free agent after the end of the year. So what do you do. This is kind of the market value, and you just you kind of say, well, let's go

for it. And honestly, it doesn't work. The saving grace is that a few years later, like it's not a good contract, but it's not terrible either, Like he's not even one of the like super highest paid tackles in the league anymore. After I mean Sue and Atkins and McCoy, like those deals are substantially bigger than his. So it's not it's not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not like it's it's not like that Romo deal that just hangs over your salary cap.

So I to think people forget that you have to make decisions on guys before you really know what they are, and you just you just a hope and that they turned out to what you think, and sometimes it doesn't work out. That last point. I think about Levian Bell all the time and the way the Steelers seemingly when he's when he's healthy and not and when he's playing and kind of in the you know, the the swing of things, they do everything with him. He plays like

straight up receiver. I know Zeke lines up out there, but he doesn't ever get the ball like they never they the screen pass, even as well as it worked in that Pittsburgh game, it's like something they refuse to ever run with him. I know he had I think he's I think he's already got nine or ten receptions on the year, but they don't. It doesn't seem like they're that interested in putting him in space like swing

passes and things like that. I just I agree with the caller, like he's he's the best player, He's the best skill player on your team and one of the best skill players in the league. But the space, I mean, I thought he was lined out in the and as a receiver more than I've ever seen him, he was out there. They never get from the ball. And here's my problem with it, Like it doesn't seem like they do much creatively with him when it comes to the passing game, Like they'll throw the ball to him on

a little flare route. Have you seen him run any other routes? Like, That's not the only route you can run with a running back, you know. There there are lots of things that you can do with a running back, and I think Levon Bell is a good example different kind of routes. Use that that Texas you know route when you kind of go out and then you flip come back into the middle of the field where typically you're gonna be lined up with a you're gonna be

manned up with a linebacker. I think that is a great route for him, especially if you got went and clear in the middle out There are things that they could do creatively with him in the passing game, they just don't seem to do. Where's the wheel route that

he killed linebackers on throughout training camp? Where's that? I mean? Yeah, I mean, and I know even eleven on eleven is different than one on one, but I just he's way too dynamic of a player for at what he went into the locker room with like four touches or five times like and I thought the same thing in the Green Bay game, like back in the play, he's he's the thing that makes this whole thing run. And I just think their scope of how to use him seems limited.

I still go back to what I remember Gary Brown told me this after draft day when they drafted Ezequelely. He see it when we were going through and we were we were working him out and working him out, and we were thinking about how he compared to other running backs. We actually were comparing him to wide receivers as far as how good his pass catching game is.

He's that good of a dynamic player. It's not just what he does when he's running the ball, it's also what he does in the past the game, and they have yet to realize that. I don't think this coaching staff they do some things really well. I think it's they're good, they're fine. They're not that creative. And you know, in terms of like looking around the league, I've said that about the defense before, Like they they're like everybody has a square hole and we have square pegs that

go everywhere. Like you don't see those hybrid type of honey Badger players. You don't see that type of mismatching and all that type of stuff. I just I think they're very traditional. This is an old school coaching staff, and some of that stuff seems like it gets away from him. All right, guys, appreciate you joining us. Back tomorrow at nine thirty am. We'll start getting into Cowboys versus Cardinals. That'll happen next Monday night. Till then. For

Nick Eaman, Dave Hellman, amro Garcia. I'm Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.