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It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. Right with Ambar Garcia, Brian brought us, Patrick Walker and Derek Eagleton.
It is Tuesday, December nineteenth, twenty twenty three, Season nineteen, episode number ninety one. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break. We are live from the s WBC Mortgage studios. At the start, we got Patrick and Brian and Amber with us today. Thank you guys for holding it down yesterday. Today, though, we're going to kind of extend the conversation because my guess is you guys tucked at nauseum about that game
on Sunday. But I want to take the conversation a little different problem, a little different direction and really focus in on three particular problems that showed themselves this last game and really have been problems that the Cowboys have had throughout the season when they've lost, and talk to you guys about how big those problems are and how maybe the Cowboys can go about fixing them. We've got
some player evaluations, I got a few player names. I want to throw at you guys and see how you're feeling about where they are in the season and how where they are after this last game. And of course we got to talk about the NFC. Man, that's getting really really interesting Philadelphia and the Cowboys feel like it feels almost like nobody really wants to just take it and it's going to be interesting all the way down the stretch. So we'll talk about that somewhere along the
line as well. Let's start first, though, with those problems that I mentioned, And here's what I want to do. I'm going to throw out three different problems. And as I throw out the problem, I need you guys to tell me number one, how big is this problem for the Cowboys? And number two, how you think they could possibly go about solving it. Let's start first with the rusty rushing defense. How big of a problem is the rushing defense at this point?
Okay, so, for more often than not the season, the Cowboys have been above sufficient and run defense. But when they give up the goat, man, do they give up the goat? There's no in between with them when they're having a bad day. Look at Arizona for example, then look back at the Buffalo Bills, look at Christian McCaffrey and the forty nine ers. When the Cowboys going to a game and they start struggling tackling the running back, it just turns out to be a long day for them.
They had twelve misstackles against the Bills and James Cook went absolutely off one and seventy nine yards on the ground to twenty to twenty one from scrimmage. So for me, it's not going to get any easier as you go up against this Miami Dolphins team who has arguably more talent in the backfield than what the Bills had with James Cook. But it's especially with Hankins probably not playing this week.
Either.
But if you can get back to tackling, just get back to the fundamental of if you get your hands on a guy, make sure that first man takes him down and he doesn't get to that second and third level. If you can get back to that, then you will cut down three quarters of those big gainers and then you can give you your offense a chance and you know you're passing a pass rushing chance as well.
So for me, that's what it boils down to.
I mean, they're going to have a hard time, like I said, without Hankins, but tackle, because missing tackles, especially on the road, you end up getting run through.
I mean, it is a huge problem, I think, and especially when you put out performances. When you keep putting out performances like the one they just had against Buffalo, you're showing once again the recipe for success for other teams to attack you and how to attack you. We know that Miami and Detroit they have the talent to run. They are really good at running. So it is a challenge that I don't. Don't ask me how because I
don't have the answer. I think I would be making more money if I did and working somewhere else over the.
But I don't have the answer.
I just don't know how you fix it in such a short amount of time, and in December, it's hard to change things. That's very difficult to do. And one big thing that will be huge is by the playoffs. Jonathan Hankins is supposed supposed to return by then, so hopefully that it's something that will clearly help them to have a body like him and a talent like him back on the lineup.
But I just I don't have an answer for you.
Oh no, it's an easy fix. Oh yeah, there's an easy fix here. It's your offense.
Look what happens when this team scores forty points a game. Nobody runs the ball on you. Your best weapon against the team that wants to run the ball on you is your offense.
Because you put people in a lot of hurt.
It's hard to be down thirty points in a game and sit there and run the football all day. Caroline did it? Carolina had some success run the ball. We forgot about Carolina. They ran the ball pretty well, and you misstackles and you didn't fit and you know so this is kind of an ongoing problem. Okay, to your bad road losses before the buy, which you've now kind of adapted your offense. This looked a lot better, but
you saw what happens when somebody shut your offense down, Buffalo. Okay, when you shut this cowboy offense down, it takes away two things. It takes away Dallas's ability to rush the passer because people are committed to just saying you know what, you're right now you're constructed in a way because of injury. You're having to find ways to play with players out of place, and those guys are doing the best they can. Bell is doing the best he can to play down
in the box. Curse is doing the best he can to play down in the box. All of a sudden, we've seen what Pennon pulled us to this team. Okay, when they have to deal with blockers on the move right at.
Them, it's tough.
When you're two hundred and twenty one pounds and you're taking on three hundred and twelve pound tackles all day, and guards and centers, it's not an easy task.
This team got.
This team lost its ability to defend the run when Layton Vanderush went down, When overshown went out, that's when this team, when they didn't get Shaq Lawson or she was Shack Leonard, that's when this team's ability to you know, we talk about Hankins all you want, but the ball.
Was run on the edge. It was the edge.
It was perimeter runs that killed you in that game the other day. But the best defense or the best way to stop this way of people running the ball on you is continued to score on offense, and that's what happened. Buffalo shut you down, and it took made their job a lot easier when they were just committed to like, okay, you're not going to stop the run and you're not going to score, We could play right with you. They were comfortable not throwing the ball at
all in that football game. You know why because Dallas pass rushes the best in the league. You know, when people get behind, they get a dose to that. Nobody wants to deal with that in a game. Buffalo had a great game plan and they executed it very well. The mistackles, yeah, the lack of size and ball positions, yeah, but your offense did nothing in that game.
And I love the point about offense, and I'll even add to that and just expanded a bit. It's just about scoring, period. Go back and look at Week one, rainy environment in New York and the offense just couldn't get going. But guess what, your defense put points on the board. So to that point, it's just about however you can be at offense and or defense, points have
to be put on the brinblet. Because de Brian's point, playing from behind, that's going to give that other team an opportunity to keep pushing at that run.
Defense, you have to take that away from them.
Yeah.
See Seattle, it got into a shootout game and defense was struggling their ass off to get a stop.
But what did they do.
Dallas's offense kept playing, kept playing, kept scoring, kept playing.
What happened. You got three four down stops that that game.
That's your fix, guys, that's your fix at your offense because people fear your offense, they fear your pass rush, but they know that they can if they that they take care of your offense, they're never going to see your pass rush.
Yeah, that's that's a good thinking outside the box a little bit here, trying to find solutions because when you go back to the beginning of the season, you were surviving because of your defense.
You were there hiding a little bit.
Of all the issues that the offense was having because of the defense. And then once the defense started getting hurt players coming out. You mentioned all the guys that were out and that they've struggled to that with that and having to adjust. Now, that's when the offense started getting their their stuff together and making it work. No, no,
I'm a lady. But yeah, they're making it work. But now, when, like you said, when you see the offense not being able to take care of business, then again, and the defense, it's clearly shown with teams are run heavy.
What happened to, Yeah, the game and I and I kind of put the I put the Arizona in San Francisco game in another category before because that's before you had the cross the hall meetings and fix the offense. Yeah, but you know what happened in those games. Offense didn't do anything against Arizona. Offense didn't do anything against San Francisco. Offense didn't do anything against Buffalo. Those are your losses
right there. When this team, when this quarterback's playing at a high level, which he has the majority of the season, you know they got they got shut down.
The other day.
It couldn't get open, You couldn't complete a pass. The one thing Buffalo let him do is run the ball. They're like, cool, we're not giving up any big plays. Yeah, let Pollard run for six seven yards of crack were okay, but the game was in hand. They knew you couldn't stop them, so I you know, that's that's the common
denominator here. To me, if the Cowboys are going to have success, it's going to be on the offense because the defense is wounded right now with the personnel that they're having to play with.
And that's no disrespect to the.
Guys playing, but man, you were asking guys to play in a in a situation that is it's tough. It's tough to deal with three hundred and eighteen pound guys coming at you all day when you're in the box and you're trying to fight blocks and find the ball, and you got to back like cook that's able to look it one way and then take it back all the way the other way, and.
You're gonna it's only gonna get worse. It's only gonna get worse for that.
Was there anything in what San Francisco, I'm sorry what Buffalo did to them defensively that can be used in the future this offense.
Yeah, they what they did was and they we called back in the day where we said clog and cover. Yeah, you know, and when you when you to me, there was one play where it seemed like the first shot to Cooks was a play where you actually saw another route effect the same to get the ball down the field.
They just missed the play.
Other than that, it looked very much like offense weeks one through five.
Nope, it was the Cowboys.
What the Cowboys did not with the Bills to.
Me, to me the Bills. We talked about this. We all on this panel believe in the metrics. We love to study the numbers. Now we love to look at this team was one of the worst in the league. When it came to separation, they.
Were one of the worst.
So what did they do to prevent separation? They played zone coverage. They played five across two on the back. Seven guys there, Okay, now find space. Okay, Then next time we're going to play four across three in the back. Find space. You know there was It was a time where they threw the route, the one route they had where they threw the corner route to seedy land along the sidelines. There was a nice deck through it over
the top bone, big play like fifteen eighteen yards. On that play, Tolbert's usually the guy running the clear out there. That place shouldn't have been That place shouldn't even have been contested. But what happened. They didn't affect the safety. You know Tolbert didn't run the route far fast enough to effect. We've seen routes. How about the route that went to the middle of the field of ceed Lamb. They rotate to two deep, two guys in the hash.
Dak reads it all the way. I'm gonna fit this thing. But you know why because that route by Cooks is going to affect Poyer.
The safety didn't affect him. He kept his eyes and hips inside, didn't turn.
How many times have we seen the safety turn the wrong way and now the ball's right behind him thirty seven yard game. We've seen that all year in this game. It didn't work. That didn't work, and so now that's the challenge. Like, okay, were we on the screws running routes in this game? You know, the Cowboys skill guys do a great job of helping each other, a great job of helping each other when when there's a route that needs to be thrown, two guys are running a
route to get guys out of the way. We saw a big play down in the Philadelphia game to Cooks was that Lamb and Tolbert took four eagles with him and it was one on one on the outside. I mean, that's that's when this team is really good. When the route running is good and when the quarterback has that ability to find that opening, he knows where you need to go with the ball, but he also has to have time to throw.
The ball to.
So you say they weren't affecting the safety, affecting the DETA. Is that a lot about the fact?
Was that?
Would you put it more on Buffalo through their film study saying we're not we know what their tendencies are, We're not going to fall for the eye can Was that more of what happened, just that they weren't running the right right route.
I think I think there was a combination of I'm not gonna say not running the right route. Yeah, I don't think the routes that the Cowboys were running. The combinations affected the Bills in a way Bills were Bills were comfortable with playing. You know, like, Okay, just sit in your zone, don't don't do anything stupid, don't go chasing a guy from one zone to another. And then Dallas is going to run a play behind it or run a route behind that.
Because that's what Dallas will do.
They'll take you, they'll take you inside and all of a sudden, you go chasing and you're playing zone and all leaves an area in Dack's like, oh right there, but are you the ball that didn't happen in this game? When we watch Dallas play with Dallas is really humming their Their tape is fun to watch because you see all the combinations, say that offense that we saw in Buffalo, very much like weeks one through five.
And also to that point, for whatever reason, the pre snat motion got turned down against the Bills. When you look at the trend that the Cowboys have been on the past several weeks, I mean they've been doing pre snatboy, they've really leaned into sixty and now forty percent. So that goes to the prestat motion, goes to the ability of you know, redirecting and getting guys thinking on defense.
And that's why you've been so successful in getting guys like Seeding Lamb on the heater that he was on over the past several weeks, getting Dak Prescott going with these these this offense, Jake Fergus and Brandon Cooks for example, some of these other guys, but in not doing the pre snat motion makes the offense a little bit less difficult to defend because whatever you're looking at more than half the time against the Bills, whatever they were looking at, that's.
What it was.
Once the ball was snapped, you got to get these guys moving around. And the Cowboys have shown that they can be a dominant offense more often than not when they use pre snap motion to a greater altitude than
what they were doing against the Bills. So for whatever reason, and you know, there's context around it when you start talking about the situations and that situational football, but for the most part, I'm kind of hard pressed to just sit back and look at this and say, you know, come to a determination as to why they chose to turn down the pre stat motion, especially in the game.
Well, it might have been because of the zone, because it's such a zone heavy team that motion. Mike said this, Mike said this before. I don't run motion just to run motion. It has to have a purpose to it.
And maybe he's getting so much zone that he's thinking like, well, if I motion this, and and I'm with you, Patrick, I'm with you about the motion stuff, but I'm also thinking, like maybe what McCarthy would say, I'm getting such a zone heavy look, that motion is not going to affect a team that's playing zone coverage ninety percent of the time.
You know that.
He's like, well, if I'm moving, what am I moving for? You know, now, maybe you can move it in order to get to your bunch formations and get four on one side and attack and flood zones and stuff like that. But they made a determination that moving in this game was not going to affect Buffalo because Buffalo was going to sit there. How many plays did Buffalo make where your receiver had to be a defensive back in that game?
That's that's the thing that that's what's disturbing to me that, like, man, that just wasn't That wasn't a good game for the play caller. I don't think it was particularly good for the quarterback, the receivers, anybody that was on the offensive side of the ball, really the whole team. But to
your point, we started this whole conversation. In my opinion, the best way to help this defense is be great on offense, because you can't do enough right now making teams one dimensional, where one dimensional turns into throwing the ball, that's your defensive strength.
And I agree with you wholeheartedly.
And it is amazing to see how far we can come in such a short period of time. Because back during training camp, I think we all agreed the defense was the best thing this team done.
The injuries have robbed completely changed Diggs being out.
Hook or not playing the other day.
I mean, there's a lot of things that went into that game the other day that that overshown. I mean, I'm watching over shown play a game, the last game of the year, and we're all watching the game. He's played six plays, he's got three tackles. How do you not tell me that doesn't translate into Okay, we got an idea for this guy. Yeah, you know, all of a sudden and now and then you lose, you know, and say what you want about Shackler, Say whatever you
want about that. That could have helped that something. Just having a veteran that knows how to play a little right. He might not be able to cover worth of damn, but my god, the guy could play some run defense.
All right, we're gonna take our first break when we come back.
We're gonna jump into these other problems to see if we can give you some solutions as good as that.
Yeah, I'm sorry, I move me much.
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Welcome back, second segment of the Break Life in that s WVC Morgan Studios at the Star, We're talking problems and solutions. Here we go, problems and solutions. I'll talk about the rush defense. No, we want your input. Penalties. Penalties is the next problem. The next problem were going to talk about. Tell me how big of this.
Pro get the offense going.
Let's put it.
All one score forty a game.
If it is don't matter.
You scored forty points a game and have eighteen penalties, you will still win the game.
How big of a problem is that those.
Look at this last game, look at what happened just recently, and again I have no I like just kicking off the show because this is something that's not new. We've been talking about it since forever and they've gone, they started getting a little better, and then all of a sudden you have games like this, And to be fair, there are so many penalties that should not happen. Like it's not on them that I think they're just complete bs.
But we come in here and we say yeah, but we say the same thing of like, Okay, it is what it is. You can't change the officiating. You can't change it's not in our power or hand. So it is up to you as a player to be cognizant and conscious of what kind of moves you're doing. Sam Williams, I absolutely love the guy. I love him so much and I'm rooting for him. I root every week for him. But you can never trust him. It's kind to the point that he's uh the Kelvin Joseph at the time,
where the inconsistencies there. He'll make a really good play and then get a penalty, and it's like it happens so often Psach Martin. Absolutely love the guy. He's one of my favorite players, and you have and he has a lot of power, but to come in, but that's my quarterback.
Get out of here.
But things like that that you you know better, you know better, and there's no reason why this should be such a reoccurring issue week after week.
All right, So it's it's twofold because one again, I mean, we could talk about the quality or lack there of in the NFL officiating. It is atrocious. But I'm not going to get on that soap box. Fine, yeah, don't don't make member.
You work for this team, don't don't have to answer to.
That, I'll say, Patrick right over there, go get his checked out. Ye at least at least wait until after the holiday.
Yeah, I can get away with this Afterliday.
But no, I'm literally type in texta Brian like, get off the official.
Yah.
I'm not going to get on that soap box. I did that a couple weeks or so ago. So I mean that's on record. So let's focus on what's controllable. And what's controllable is you know, you look at the penalty against Jayron Curs.
It shouldn't have happened.
But if you look at the penalty on Tank for example, yes that was Tiki tak, Yes, Josh Allen flop. But Tank be a little bit smarter there, don't. Don't get into him and then extend your arms and give him an opportunity to flop. They were driving down the field on that first drive, they get down deep and then guess what you hold them on on third and four and then you give them that right, So penalties three personal files. You award them eighteen of their first twenty
one points. You're down twenty one to three. And then on your first offensive drive, you're moving down the field. No you didn't connect on Brandon Cooks, but you didn't let that defeat you. You get on their side of the field and then holding on tip Do Smith and then that moves to a third and fourteen and then they pin their ears back. Your offensive line was already struggling, and then they sacked Dak Prescott.
You get nothing on that drive. That's a punt.
So you look no further than the Bills game to see just how problematic penalties can be. Now, what I will say, though, is not obviously not all penalties are created equal it's timing and it's type. That's how I break down penalties, type of penalty and the timing in which the penalty happens. You get a personal file when you're up forty points, no one cares, it doesn't matter. You get a personal foul when you know they're punting the ball and you run into the kicker, that's a
big deal. And on the road, so forth and so on. So it's just it's a discipline thing for the ones that you can control, and that's why they can be so infuriating, because when you know they know better and they still don't do better, that can be aggravating. So it's it's an easy fix in that. Don't put the game in the officials hands. Because they're going to make
bad CAUs at some point in the game. Don't compile that by giving them an opportunity to make calls against you when you probably later in the game you're probably gonna get or you're not going to get, or you might get it rough in the passer for whatever the case may be. And it might be completely bogus, but what if you actually gave them.
An opportunity to justify that cause?
Just don't give an opportunity to justify the bad calls are going to happen. Don't make don't give them good calls on top of the bad calls. That's what's frustrated about it.
Never worked for or covered a team that gets more penalties on third down than this crew and killer ones, killer penalties where you get off the field.
You know, and you know that.
I think they've done a better job with the alignment penalties. That's been a lot of problems they've had, you know, lining up off sides, those kind of things.
Uh, but there is there's no fix for this.
And I think McCarthy does a good job of talking about the officials. I know they study the officials. I know they go over what calls officials make. It's a segment I do every Friday on one O five to three the fan and I do it in a pregame show, talking about because you got to know, you've got to know that these guys called delay a game penalties. Can you take the clock down to it? Are they're going to call a lot of holding penalties? Are they gonna
let the are they going to let you play? You know, you've got to know these things going into this game. But I think the thing that that bothers me the most or those third down penalties where you just you know, you have your you're off the field and now you get a defensive holding on the other side of the field, or you get a hands to the face, or you get a roughing the passer penalty. You know, those are the ones to me that are killer, the holding penalties
and stuff. I understand it's tough blocking in the National Football League. They're really good athletes on the other side of the defense. You know, it's unfortunate, though, that your best player on defense doesn't get calls.
He doesn't get calls.
He really doesn't get Now up to thirty three, yeah, he orders that he.
Has had one since the Chargers games. Yeah, there's no way, and and there, and there was, you know. And they even put him in the middle in the Buffalo game and he draws a call where he's basically it's like a rodeo move the center. Morse has got his arms around his neck like he's doing my bulldog technique. But you know that that's you just got to keep playing. But I don't think there's a fix for this, because they talk about it all the time, and it's they talk about.
Discipline and all that.
You just hope it's not gonna be one of these penalties that kills them in a game. Like all of a sudden, you're in a tight game and then you get the running into the kicker yeah, or something like that, and now the game is completely flipped.
Can we make banners and be like, okay, every third down, key moments, be.
Careful, no penalty discipline.
Like everybody just reminder, Okay, this moment is not the Yeah, no penalties. No.
I just don't I just don't see it changing. And but I hope it doesn't happen where it kills you in a game and you lose a game because of you did something stupid. I mean, we saw what uh I mean, I don't mean stupid in a I'm not trying to be mean, but we saw Tolbert line up in Green Bay off sides.
You're lining up off side?
Why?
And we saw it in Kansas City the other day in the game they were in they're gonna win the game and they line up off side.
You literally have someone there who will tell you if you're okay or yeah.
You just have to have the discipline and I know it's not gonna change.
And Philly, you know, not man downfield because he didn't declare those types of that's just not mental area.
And that's that's my biggest challenge. And even in this last game, and you you highlighted the ones that I was thinking about, but it's the ones where it's like that didn't have to be a penalty, like you just da I mean, I'm sorry, a tank just pull up like it's okay, he got rid of the Boston.
You don't have to, Zach. You don't have approval point here.
Like you might go over there and you might run over there, and you might say some things, and you can call him everything from here to whatever, but don't hit him because the moment you hit him, now you've allowed them to get fifteen yards and you don't need to.
But but I remember a game against where Andy Dalton got lit up and nobody went to his defense and their offensive line got called out from that they did.
And but again I go back to he can run over there, he can jump in the guy's face, don't butt him because the moment you touch, the moment there's contact. Because I guarantee you this, I'll say this. There's a bunch of calls that players don't like from referees.
You ever see one hit a referee?
They don't And the reason why is because they know, because they know they're they have control, because they know the penalty is going to be severe, right, and they don't have severe penalty. Right. So that's that's my point, Like you have enough control to say, I can I can make my point. I can get over there and I can get in his face and I can let him know like whatever you need to tell him, like whatever you use your imagining, whatever you want to tell him.
But the moment you bump him is the moment you now have stepped into giving them yards that you just don't have to give away.
There's some sports where you can get away.
Yes, okay, last night, I'm gonna Dallas Stars yet Seattle Krakens in town and they they take a run at Wedgwood.
The goalie, he catches.
The puck, he's hold it. They take a run, guy runs over. All of a sudden, that guy that ran into Wedgwood goes to the corner and now all these green jerseys are just and the officials like, who do he send off the guy who ran into the goalie. That's the sport where they let they will let you, they will let you.
Defend anybody that you take you take a run at.
Yeah.
Yeah, so I'm and I and then quite frankly, I think it a sport like football. I would I would approach it the same way if I was the person making the league rules around that kind of show a little bit more would I would allow that kind of stuff a little bit more?
Did it?
For a while they used to have back in the day, though, the horns and those kind they were regulators on the court like it. They took care of that kind of stuff on the court. It's just that that, for whatever reason, the NFL just doesn't have an appetite for that, And the players have to know the NFL doesn't have the appetite for that, So don't invite it.
You can't invited.
That's my point.
I mean, bad calls are going to happen as far as officiating, you can't control those, But the ones you can't control, like those, just don't don't let that be one of the reasons that you lose the game.
They just nothing crazy happened, Like no, I agree, no, no, what I'm saying, like right before, when for Zach to do that, it wasn't like a crazy because what exactly happened to that, Like, it wasn't anything we've seen worse. We've seen worse of like interactions, and it wasn't actually.
Think you missed him my personally, Like it looked like he kind of went over deck and he hit him.
But I don't missed them. So it's I don't know, but it's yeah.
Run out of guy. That's for the whole thing about it is just taking a run. But what you lost was the fifteen yards.
Yep, that's what you lost. He lost fifteen yards.
That would have had you in their territory.
And the next play you actually got the fifteen yards on the next play, but imagine that if you had already been at the forty three and then you get fifteen.
Now where field goal range.
We're really cooking right as opposed to that, that drive ends up stalling and you get no points.
Out of type and time and type in time.
All right, let's take our final break. We'll come back. I got one more problem for you, guys.
You questions through the day. All right, we're doing good.
I know we're working through this thing. These problems are an issue. We'll be back Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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Back to the break.
The Marcus Lawrence is Dallas Cowboys nominee for the twenty twenty three Walter Pate NFL Man of the Year Award, presented by Nationwide. Help Tank raise funds for Dak Prescott's Faith Fight and Finish Foundation by casting your vote on NFL dot com slash Man of the Year or tweet your support using the hashtag wpm O Y Challenge. Voting ends on January eighth. Vote for Tank. That's one of the best awards you can win. Absolutely, there's a lot of awards you can win in the National Football League.
That's the best one.
And I actually love that for all the past winners on their helmet, on the helmet and on their jersey there's a decal denoting that they are previous winners of Man of the Year and it is.
It's a very well.
Respected award as well, huge try more respected than almost any other award, just from the standpoint of you got to be a good player and a good person and a good person. And I actually love that that that they're taking time to recognize the good players and good people.
Right.
All right, final segment, let's go. We got you know something. This segment's gonna be brought to you by blockchain dot Com.
Let's do that. Okay, All right, here we go. We got one more problem solve. You guys are doing a great job.
By the way, I'm gonna send all this stuff on packaging it up, send it over to coach. We'll see if we can get it and to start working on this stuff. But here's the final problem. And I don't know if there's a clear answer on this one, but let's try it. Road games. How big of a problem is it?
I mean, when you're three and four on the road, it's a problem. It's a pretty big problem. Well, and you're seven to no at home, but you're under five hundred on the road. It's something that let me be clear.
Is it that you're three and four on the road because you're three and four on.
The road, like the road has something to do with that?
Or is it that the three teams that you've lost to that were really good happened to be on the road and you may have lost those games at home as well.
For me, it's see all of the above because obviously when you're playing on the road, you don't have the benefit of you're playing in front of your crowd and a controlled environment in the dome. You don't have wind, you don't have this to account for. You get to sleep in your sleep number bid at home, and you don't have the right you don't have that added aspect of what part of the country you're traveling.
To exactly right, so you get up that lace acquire at it.
I think we can do right, that's me next next year place. But yeah, you don't have the added aspect of travel. Are you, you know, having to go to Buffalo then come back home and go to Miami. Do you have to go to the West Coast and lose time, et cetera, et cetera. So, I mean all of those are very real factors that and that's why playing on the road is always going to be more difficult in any sport, not just the NFL. You're going to typically play better at home. But it also goes to what
we're talking about. When you're on the road, you have to play more mistake free football. You can't you know, have self inflicted wounds with penalties, that's just going to
worsen the situation. So being that the type and timing of the penalties that are happening on the road seem to be worse than when they're happening at home, it just makes you wonder if the mentality is as sharp on the road as it is at home, And right now I would have to say the answer is no. And if we're talking about mentality of playing on the road, that combined with three and four is very concerning for me because let's assume you don't get the number two
seed or the number one seed. Your road to going to the NFC Championship and then the Super Bowl, it's on the road. Quite literally, in the Super Bowl. I mentioned it yesterday with Ambar hosting. The Super Bowl is not played at the AT and T Stadium, that's guess where. That's in Las Vegas. That's on the road as well. So even if you get to the Promised Land and you get an opportunity to end this drought, even that's not at home. So for me, it's a mentality thing.
They need to play sharper football and they need to get better at understanding, especially offense because the offense tends to turn down on the road. They need to get better on offense. They need to play more mistake free football, and then the rest will kind of handle it.
So the Legends actually does the hospitality and stuff in Vegas.
So I think we'll have a home game.
A piece of home. Got a little piece of home there. This comes down to communication. The problem with is when you play it, when you play on the road. Communication for your offense, when you watch them play at home, we always see this. Here we go, we hear it, we see it. The communication is better. The Buffalo game, you're watching frantically Dak smashing his foot against the ground trying to get the ball. All of a sudden it turns into you don't see.
That at home.
You don't see violence of trying to get the ball and get the thing snapped. You know, you don't see the panic, and it's panic because you're trying to read. You're trying to get the ball. You know these officials are going to call it delay a game on you. It's going to cost you five yards, you might have to burn a time out. Communication at home for the
Cowboys is elite. On the road, it wanes a little bit it wanes and all of a sudden, things that you think are clear and are taken care of on the road aren't.
What happened. They run a twist stunt the other day, they give up a sack, they man the stunt. I've seen him do that.
I haven't seen the Smith's man of stunt like that and get twisted and get a sack on him like that. Hadn't seen that at home, saw it on the road. Maybe they didn't get to Maybe they tried to man the stunt, thinking, oh, I'm trying to yell. I'm trying to tell you, you know, we're gonna twist it, twist and tweet. Know I'm trying to you don't hear it. They have problems, I believe, on the road with communication.
And I'm not saying it's it's one of those things where it's where Dak struggles to get the snap off all the time. I'm just saying I don't think is as clean, and I think that's the issue because they at home they run like a as they say, a well roll machine and there's no problems. We all hear it. Here we go and they boom, they go play football. Here it on the road, it's a little bit different. And I think it happens on the offense, and I think it happens on the defense too.
Uh well, positive Amber, Let's look at the price, yeah, wonder mean what wonder mean?
What?
Let's look at the bride side.
Okay, after this team had their come to Jesus moment after the loss against the forty nine ers, which is that's my I don't look anything before that because they became a different team after that. They won against the Chargers twenty seventeen. They lost against the Eagles twenty eight, twenty three, was very very close game, very competitive, and then they beat the Panthers thirty three ten, and then against Buffalo this was pretty bad.
So where I'm trying to.
Get at, if you look at just this window, it's not as bad as it seems. Yes, they're the points that they do score drops down ups down quite significantly. I can't even talk than the ones they do score at home. Very different there, but they're still playing competitive. What I was lacking in this game against the Bills is they just simply did not show up whatsoever. Right off the bat.
There was no.
Fire in them like, which is not very typical of them. Do you see them going out there after in this span after the forty nine ers, And they've been a pretty competitive team even when they've lost, they they're they're competing. And so I'm trying to look at this game against the Bills just hopefully that was just that one time. Well I say that, and I'm lying because I think I might pick Miami to win this weekend.
I don't know. Now, Oh my god, this is wherey this is the thing. There's so many things.
Yeah, that happened in my head at once because I feel that way. And then we and we were talking about this Patrick about like they usually bounced.
Back, like they don't lose so well, that game meant a lot though to them, that Buffalo game and a lot. It meant a lot to Buffalo, but it meant it meant a lot. I think a lot more to you because you know what your path is. You know, there was a time whether the Jason Garrett administration where they would never lose on the road.
They couldn't win at home.
Remember for a while they're at and T Stadium was not a home field advantage for the Dallas Cowboys.
Going on the road.
It was, and we asked the same questions, Well, what's the prom playing at home?
You know what? You know? So this team is it's funny. It's it's throughout.
It's the last say, you know, ten twelve years, it's been that way of like you've either played exceptionally well on the road or you played exceptionally well now at home. It's it's it's funny. They haven't been able to kind of put that together.
I have a quick question for you guys, and you look at the time. Oh well there quick question for y'all because I've seen this on Twitter. Do you guys think that them finding out or knowing that they clinched the spot in the play?
They didn't they did?
They say? They say they didn't.
Didn't There's no there's no way for.
Us to do everybody has a phoney. I'm just saying it's hard.
But they was just right ahead the kickoff, they're doing warm ups and everything, and I mean, I'm just.
Saying, I'm putting it out there. Do you I mean they say what they say, it wasn't.
Clear even if they hadn't clinched before that game, they I mean, every all of us knew this is a playoff team. They're going to the playoffs. I don't I don't think anything was revealed. They clinched it, but we all knew they were going to the playoffs. And and I I go back to what used to say, Brian, All the time, desperate team wins, the more desperate team wins. Buffalo, that was a playoff game. Right now, they're sitting outside
of the playoffs looking in. So every game for them at this point is a playoff game.
Everything.
They gotta win them all, probably to get into the playoffs they got. They certainly don't have any room for era. Dallas is not in the same boat. And so I know what you're saying, Brian, this game should have been important to Dallas. I don't think Dallas was as desperate as Buffalo, you know, but.
If you're, if you know that you're so much better at home.
Anything to secure a home game to start this thing and to maybe give you a chance to maybe get a couple of home games. That that's Dallas's recipe for getting to the super Bowl.
Right there. If you told me Dallas is give me Dallas's recipe. Play great offense and get home games. That's the recipe.
That's two of our three problems exactly.
That's what I'm saying to me.
I there there has to be desperation of wanting to win this division, you know.
And and they didn't have it the other day. They really didn't.
Just two different teams right now.
One one version of the Cowboys are at home and the other version, which is uh, you know significant minte.
Uh what was that having fun? It's a different it's a different team, all right, it's a different team.
Before you in the show, give us a lap coat? What you got, bring me in?
Beamer.
He was not ready to hear him over that, streaming like, oh man, Beamers already Beamers on Christmas?
Yes, science, there you go.
I got two.
Okay, to twenty one this is not a fun number for the Cowboys or Cowboys fans. To twenty one Cook he ran for two hundred twenty four. Well, he had two hundred and twenty one yards from scrimmage, one hundred and seventy nine of that was rushing and two touchdowns against the Cowboys. That is the most from scrimmage allowed by the Cowboys since Todd Gurley did it in Week four of twenty seventeen. The Cowboys lost that game as well. Guess what it was over thirty points allowed, No surprise.
But here's the positive and this what we have to try to take away from it. Hopefully the Cowboys can show some resiliency. They allowed two hundred and twenty two total to the Arizona Cardinals. Following game, they allowed only fifty three yards they won their game. They allowed one hundred seventy on the versus home.
I'm sorry that was the Patriots. I hear are fair enough.
He couldn't get it going that day.
They couldn't get it go on another day.
One hundred and seventy year tigh ground allowed to the forty nine Ers. Bounce back against the Chargers in Los Angeles, allowed only fifty three yards and a touchdown to a pre broken Austin Eckler. Okay, that was before Eckler was broken, and then you talked about it. The Cowboys have shown that they can bounce back and not lose two games in a row. They have a daunting, daunting task improving
that again against the Dolphins. But yeah, two hundred and twenty one Cowboys need to use that as few to never let that happen again this season yeah.
This will be the tough way.
I was just gonna says, funny, how we're holding onto that stat that they don't lose.
T it's because it continues to prove true. Unteah, it doesn't. It's actually, though, very very impressive stat like because look at the Eagles for example, right, they got decimated by the forty nine ers, and everybody was, well, not everybody, but most people were like, oh, well.
They will bounce back, especially against the Cowboys.
They got obliterated, and it's like, oh, well, they're not going to lose three in a row, especially to Drew. Oh so not losing two in a row stretching back to you know, late twenty twenty one, that's actually a huge accomplishment.
The interesting thing will be and I have to go back and look, is this the best opponent they've paid faced coming off.
Of a loss?
Because this is a really, really good Miami team, And as I kind of threw up there with New England, like New England beating them off a loss was one thing. Going to Miami and beating them off a loss that's a whole different ball game. And so this is gonna be an interesting one. I'm gonna go back and look at that just for you know, just for GrITT yes, to see if this is the best team that they've played coming off of a loss.
Miami also doesn't play well against teams above five hundred.
So have they had many of those? I don't think they've had many they've had.
It's similar to what the Cowboys. Yeah, so that's really don't know. Yeah, yeah, that narrative that's carried with the Cowboys, It's been true of Miami, just not as as pointed at.
They did lose to those Eagles, right, I'm pretty sure they lost the Eagles.
They did.
They did. Yeah, So all right.
I appreciate you guys.
Jones'll be back tomorrow. We'll start breaking the I know we'll start. We'll start breaking this thing down. Brian's gonna tell us about this Miami offense versus the Cowboys defense. Till then, for Patrick Walker, Brian brot us An Amber Garcia, I am Derek Eagles and this has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
This has been a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.