Cowboys Break: Danger-Russ Week

We are live from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star, got Dave Amber. Dave's actually at the Star here today. Amber's at our own home and we've got our special guests as we do every Wednesday in third see you guys. Welcome man, Bucky Brooks from NFL Network. How's it going, Bucky Man? That's all good. How you guys doing doing well? And let me just start by saying, Man, I've really enjoyed having you on the last two weeks.

Been some really good nuggets you've dropped for us. So I'm looking forward to what you have to say about the Seattle Seahawks team and particularly today the Seattle Seahawks offense. Maybe you can give us some reason to believe that the Cowboys defense can stop them, but I'm not really optimistic about that. But let's start with the question that

we ask, like the big, big picture question. I ask every week to you tell me what is their greatest asset, which we know they probably have a lot, and what is their greatest weakness? Talking specifically about Seattle offense, the greatest asset is Russell Wilson. And the reason he is a valuable asset is because Pete Carroll has finally relented to the twelves. The twelve men have been asking for Pete Carroll to let Russ cook, and this year he has let Russ cook from the beginning of the game

to the end. And by that, I mean they had put the ball in Russell Wilson's hands and allowed him to do what he does, which is magical. When you look at how Russell has played this year, He's completing eighty two percent of his passes, average over three hundred yards per game. He has nine touchdowns and only one interception.

Pass rating of one forty. He is playing like an MVP candidate, and this is what the fan base has been begging them to do to allow him to really throw the ball all over the yard, and he's had a ton of success being able to do so. Their bigness weakness when you look at it, you would say it's still their offensive line. Their offensive line is just kind of a collection of misfits and parts kind of thrown together and they're kind of finding a way to

do it. But because Russell is so elusive and they can escape, they've been able to have a lot of success. Is one of the more remarkable things because when you really look at it, I don't know how many blue chip players they really have across the board, but when you put it all together, it is really working out.

And part of that is because Russell Wilson is so special. Well, last week before the game, we found out that Anthony Brown made it into ir and then just recently we just heard Mike McCarthy to talk about Chitoga Woozier and how he's gonna be out for a few weeks. Can you just talk about some of the matchup that we might see there with the cornerbacks and the receivers the Seattle House, Well, it's gonna be a problem because what has happened the last couple of weeks the Dallas Cowboys

and put some bad stuff on tape. And when you think about like the way teams attack, I'm sorry because you hear my dog in the back round ticking. So what they've done, they've put bad stuff on tape, and so Woozier and Jordan Lewis in particular, they've had a tough time holding up in man coverage. And so the Seattle Seahawks, the most dangerous part of their passing game

is when Russell escapes the pocket. And when you have a big guy like DK Metcalf who's a big vertical stretch player, it is really problematic for those guys with him. We saw the work that he gave Stefan Gilmore, who's the reigning defensive Player of the Year. And so when you think about the dilemma that Mike Nolan has, they haven't been able to generate a pass rush with four, so they can't really play zone because then quarterbacks have

too much time. When you do dolled up and go man to man with pressure, the guys on the outside haven't been able to hold up. So really, I don't know how Mike Nolan's going to be able to do it unless he gets better performers from Alden Smith, Everson Griffin, and to Marcus Lawrence. If anybody has to wear the big sumbrero this week, it's the defensive line. They got a challenge the defensive line to get home with four because you can't expose the cornerbacks down after down to

man to man coverage. That's a perfect segue, Bucky, because I mean, obviously, yeah, the pass rush needs to be better, or anybody that's watched the Cowboys knows that, and you would like to think it's a favorable matchup against Seattle's offensive line. But the problem that you already alluded to is Russell Wilson. I mean, you can do everything right and he still makes you look silly. So what is the best strategy for getting after him without creating six

or seven broken plays that turn into junk games. Well, I think the main thing is you still got to come after him. You can't just let him sit back and have all day, because that is a recipe for disaster. Because he is too good in terms of his accuracy and efficiency to just pick your part with surgical precision. So you have to pick and choose those moments. I'm gonna say this the best. The biggest part of the

game will be early down situations. Canna, Dallas Cowboys win first down many can they hold the Seattle Seahawks the four yards of fewer because if you can get the Seahawks in the long yard situations, now you can dictate the terms. Dallas hasn't been able to do that the last couple of weeks. They haven't been able to really get the game on their terms, and so defensively, they

have to find a way to win early downs. And because Seattle has kind of flipped the script before, they would run then pass on third down, very predictable, but now that they're throwing more, Mike Nolan may have to develop some early down pressures to hope that they can get them behind the chains and then they can pick and choose when they mix in some of the man in zone on those second and third down situations. Bucky, you've been putting out this article. I don't know if

all fans know about the five bucks. It's five points that you put out on Tuesday. It's great stuff, especially yesterday you said McCarthy eats the curve is gambling happening. I thought that was pretty awesome. But another one you said was tempo tempo tempo. You think the Cowboys on offense need to have a faster tempo because that was what was working against Russell Wilson and this offense. Is it smart for the Cowboys to have that high tempo

and try to score with the seattle here? Yeah, because I actually think that what the Cowboys can do. I think a couple of things when they discovered when they go tempo and play faster, not only is Dak Prescott in more control, but what it does is allows you to dictate the terms to the defense. Meaning Atlanta was having a lot of success with the pressure upfront the first quarter. They were able to blitz, they were wearing them down. But when you play faster, you limit the substitutions.

Those pass rushers they can rush the entire game at the same level. What that also does is when they begin to get tired and fatigue, it creates bigger lanes for the run game and Ezekiel Elliott. Now the beauty of playing with tempo. They can play fast but not really play out of control, meaning they can play what I call up tempo no huddle, but slow the game down.

So if you think about how the Rams played against the Cowboys in the first game, Jerry Golf was go, go, go, but a lot of times they would sit into line wait fifteen ten seconds on the playcock before they would go. But what it does is it limits what the defense can do from a communication standpoint, so they're reluctant to blitz. And then what it does is protect your officsive alignment with those undrafted free agents playing on the edges. If you can slow down the pass rush from Seattle, you

give those guys a great chance. We saw that they didn't give up many pressures after this went up tempo. I think it's something that you have to use. And it's also one of the things that Mike mccarthur used successfully back in Green Bay. He look at the Seattle offense and I want to take it back to Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson right now has been hit as much as most of the quarterbacks in the league. He's now taking thirteen quarterbacks quarterback hits that ranks them about twenty ninth

in the league right now. So where on this offensive line, I know you set the offensive lines kind of patchwork. Where on the offensive line, though, do you think they are most susceptible And where do you think there's a good matchup for the Cowboys to possibly expoy thinking about the Cowboys front Seattle's offensive line. So here's the thing about the Seattle Seahawks offensive line. Everybody's vulnerable if you

can get them into one on one situations. The thing that has been concerning because and this is why Pete Carroll has been reluctant to let Russ cook, because he knows that the best way to protect Russell is to really lean on the running game. He knows that by leaning on the running game, he can help his offensive line because they struggle when they're forced to really get pass protection situations. I don't think it's really the matchup.

I think the deal is Aldus Smith, Everson Griffin, and to Marcus Lawrence have to play up to expectations, particularly de Marcus Lawrence. And I know he's battling through a knee injury in those things, but the expectation coming into the year that he was going to be a premier pass rusher, we haven't seen that to this point. He has to be the guy that set the tone for the pass rush. Everson Griffin and Smith were supposed to be compliments. They weren't supposed to be the main andree.

They're supposed to be the side dishes. We need to Marcus Lawrence to step up and be a guy that can be a factor because if he can get a couple hits early, they then slide the protection. Then you will really see Aldus Smith and Everson Griffin have to kind of big days that we want to see them happen. Now. Obviously in this game, we're gonna see Russell Wilson throwing

the ball a lot. And you mentioned the running game and I just wanted to ask you about that specifically because when you talk about Seattle, Russell usually takes the spotlight. But how is the running game currently and what does how doing them there? Chris Carson has been a great discovery for them. I will say this about the Seattle

Seahawks and what they've been able to do. They've been able to take late round players and really develop put them in situations where they can see Chris Carson is big, fast, physical. They've done a great job of not only use them as a runner, but this year we've seen them become a bigger part of the passing game, catching screen passes, swings. We saw him catch the wheel, routed the railroad down

the boundary against the New England Patriots. You have to deal with him and they haven't gotten to the running game. But just no, Pete Carroll wants to run the ball. I will say this though, because they're very aware. The last couple of times that the Dallas Cowboys that played the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas's offense has been able to control the game because they've been able to run the ball

and kind of play keepaway. Pete Carroll is very aware of that, and so they may try and come out fast and kind of put Dallas in a hole and make Dallas chase points. It is a fascinating matchup to watch because look, sometimes matchups makes fights, and this is a great matchup for what a reason Dallas typically play. He's very very well a gains to see how will Seahawks. It's another wonderful segue Bucky, thank you, because I'm not I'm not saying this is a great idea, but I

don't know if the Cowboys have a choice. I mean, you know, we just learned this morning. It doesn't sound like Cheeto Woogie is going to be available for the foreseeable future. Anthony Brown is already on injured reserve. That seems like it leaves Treyvon Diggs as the best option to deal with DK Metcalf. Just from a side it sounds weird to say have a rookie shadow their best receiver, but you don't have a choice in my off base here, No, no, I think, actually think it'd be a great twist. And

here's why. The reason why is because Trayvon Dix has been in the SEC He's seen DK Metcalf. So all of that superman stuff that DK Metcalf has given the rest of the league, Well, when you're Alabama and if you dealt with oh Miss, they may have his kryptonite and treyvon Dix has the length to go toe to toe with him. Now, the thing that you have to do if you're treyvon Dix, you have to have a plan for how you want to end him, Meaning you don't want to go nose to nose each and every

down with him. Because DK Metcalf welcomes the physicality at the line of scrimmage. So maybe you want to play a little shadow technique, playoff and make him run. The one thing that we'll say about DK Metcalf, if you let him get going and do the things that he likes to do comfortably in terms of run the vertical rouse, he's great, but he's still not a great guy when it comes to stopping and starting. You have to challenge him, you can't back down, and you have to see if

he can be the consistent player. He has been great through the first two weeks of the season, But is that really the DK Metcalf that we think we're gonna see for the rest of the time. I think if you Trevon Dicks, you have to see if he's really that guy, and if he is, you tip your cap, you go on and you play the next week. But I think you have to challenge him. I don't think you can give him easy access and let him have the kind of days that we've seen him have the

last couple weeks. Black he's been the best defensive player on the Cowboys team in the first two games. You're a pick, I guess, so it's just who's in the bad No, I guess. I guess. I would say Jalen Smith has been the best in terms of just kind of being able to be active and make plays. And I know he's undergone a lot of criticism like the first week, but I think, um, he's been pretty solid. I think the rest of the squad has been up and down. I think guys have had moments, but I

think the most consistent player has been Jalen Smith. And I think it's troubling because we thought he would be one of the Blue Chippers, but he has to get the rest of the game to come along with him. DeMarcus Lawrence and Everson Griffin and all the Smith and those other guys. I see everyone making faces. Hey, hey, Bucky, just so you know, we had this conversation yesterday at Nick throughout Jalen Smith. So he's sitting over there right now,

just waiting. He's got something for us in the next segment. And I laughed at him when he said it, but but I'm sure he's got something for me as soon as we get to the next the season. I think, I don't think he played that great against the Rams. Yeah, I thought the Rams was a little shaky, but yeah, go ahead, Hey, I mean somebody's I mean, somebody has to lead the team in tackles. You know what I mean,

somebody has to be the best player. I mean you Gene Lockhart was the best player on the worst team back in the eighty nine. That just happens. Somebody's got to do. It doesn't mean he's playing well. I thought you might say Tristan Hill. Honestly, I mean, I mean, look, he's played well, but in terms in terms of impact, I think Jalen Smith has probably made a greater impact. And look, they hadn't made many impactful plays, but I think he has been able to kind of step over.

He was like surprisingly given the calls because they didn't expect Lve to go out, and so he's kind of had to do a lot. But I think he settled in the second game. And let's be honest about the defense. Look, the defense didn't play well early, but they did play well in spots. They were put in a tough situation, a lot of sudden change defense, playing on short fields, and they were able to hold the Falcons the field goals. It wasn't ideal because they've given up some plays, but

I think overall there's something he's built up on. I think the main thing for Mike Nolan is to identify what is the best way to play. And I think when we look at Mike Nolan, here's the thing. I think we thought he was going to be more aggressive than he has been, but I think he's kind of had his hands tied behind his back because he hasn't been able to really get the coverage from the young guys on the outside. I was going to ask you the real quick on that touchdown to hayden Hurst and

Jalen was in there or safety? What was your thought on It's hard to say what the Cowboys were asking the players to do, but what do you think was the breakdown there? I think it was just a blown coverage. I think I just think they blew the coverage. I think they didn't get it communicated who was responsible for

everybody and that's why hayden Hurst was running free. And look early in the year, when you don't have the preseason games, you're going to see some of those things, particularly when you're Mike Nolan and you're trying to do a lot, meaning you're trying to show different disguises, You're trying to mix in a variety of coverage. Unlike your predecessor, and so sometimes you get some of those things lost in translations and you have some communication issues that league

guys to run free down the field. I think as we kind of continue to get through the first quarter of the season, we'll see those things tightened up, because this really is kind of like the preseason. They will begin to settle in and really understand what they're being asked to do, and also Mike Nolan have a better feel for what he has and what he's really able to do from a play call and standpoint bucket. Before we let you go, I didn't want to ask you

this question about Dak Prescott and Russell Wilson. I've always believed that that if you want to compare Dak Prescott's trajectory as a quarterback to anybody in the league, to me, it is Russell Wilson. You saw when both of them came into the league. They came in on teams where they were not even close to being the most of the best thing that their teams did. But over time you saw with Russell how he became and is now clearly the best thing that they do. He is how

everything works there. And my personal belief is that Dak is on that same trajectory. What have you seen from Dak? If you're trying to compare the two, what have you seen from Dak that may he says yes he's on that trajecty or not quite sure if he's going to get there. It's funny during because I completely agree with you. I wrote about this last year that I thought the

blueprint for Dak Prescott has always been Russell Wilson. You come in the league and you're given responsibilities as a game manager, and as you mature and as the team changes around you, you become the central playmaker. I think what we're seeing is Dak Prescott is ready to be that central playmaker. Yes, the offense still runs through Ezekiel Elliott and all those things like Seattle ran through Marshawn

Lynch for years. But then as Dak has shown more command, more control of the huddle the passing game, he's shown more confidence and efficiency as a passer. You now can trust him do more. And part of my urging for the Cowboys to play faster is because in that game, I felt like he was the epiphany of Oh, he's ready to take it over. He's ready to take it home because everyone coming into that last game, oh, let's

see if Dak Prescott can do it. He doesn't have the vaunted offensive line, he doesn't have everything around him. They've fallen behind early deficit, and all he did was show composure, poise and playmaking ability. I think he is in line to be that Russell Wilson type quarterback, and I think you can make the argument that, look, he's bumping up against the top five in terms of being in that conversation. I think we are at a time where the quarterback play from the young guys in particular

is great in this league. But I think every conversation when we talk about top five quarterbacks, Dak Prescott has to be in there with Pat Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Kyla Murray, anybody and everybody that you want to put in there. There's not a thing that Dak can do that he can't do that those guys do. He does everything, and so look, I think Russell Wilson is a great model. I think he is on that trajectory and I think we have to get comfortable thinking that he is a

Tier one type quarterback. All right, man, great stuff again as usual, We'll be back we'll have you back with us again tomorrow. We'll talk a little bit about the Seattle defense. We're gonna take our first break and we come back. We're gonna talk a little bit more about Cowboys defense versus the sand I'm sorry, versus the Seattle Seahawks offense that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio. We're backing the tasty treat

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fly back to the break. Cowboys single game tickets still available. Get your tickets to see the Cowboys take on the Cleveland Browns when they return to AT and T Stadium on Sunday, October the fourth. A limited number of tickets are on sale kits your ors at Dallas Cowboys dot com slash tickets. Welcome back. It is a second segment of the Break Life nest WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start,

we just finished our segment with Bucky Brooks. Good stuff there about the Cowboys defense versus the Seattle Seahawks offense. And before we talk a little bit more about that matchup, we do need to talk about some injury updates. We found out today that Tyren Smith will be working with the trainers, and found out DeMarcus Lawrence will miss practice for a personal reasons, as coach McCarthy says, good personal reason as opposed to I guess a bad personal reason.

And then the part that um that I don't know that we really knew going in, which is at cheet Obey A Woozier will be out for multiple weeks with an injury. What do you think when you first heard that, nick um crap, like like that's not good, Like Anthony Brown's out, Cheetos out. Darryl Worley is gonna have to play a lot with um, you know, with Jordan and Trayvon Diggs. And you know, my first thought really was, does that mean Reggie Robinson's gonna play Okay, okay, get better?

Not now Brandon Carr We're thrown there. I mean, it's just you know, it's I think I said to Dave just before the show of like, is Metcalf good locket? I mean, are they they? I mean if they run in by st to find Gilmore and doing those things against the Patriots, then yeah, they might be doing that against the Cowboys. David Moore made the that's catch of the entire night the other night, number three receiver. That's one of the most impressive things I've seen in a

long time. So I thought your troubling. Yeah, I mean not, I'm talking about the Seahawks receiver he made, Like oh my god. Yeah. The interesting thing is they got they got speed, and then you've got DK Metcalf who's also big, and so it's like, how do you match up with that? You know, at the time when when Brandon Carr was originally here, I know, Brandon was a kind of guy where you'd like, okay, if you're gonna have a big receiver.

You put him up against a big receiver. It's rare that you see a guy the size of d Kid Matt Metcalf that can also run, right. That's the part that's really rough, is how do you like, how do you how do you match up with that guy? Because it's rare to find size and speed combined like that, and I think that's gonna be one of the biggest challenges here for the Cowboys. Yeah, that's why I asked Bucky that question, is because Treyvon Diggs is the only

guy on this roster that's healthy. That seems like a good idea. I mean, I love Jordan Lewis, but you're gonna put him up against the guy that's got three four inches on him. I mean that, you know, that's what we all. That's that's the snapshot of Treyvon Diggs is that he's got rare length and athleticism for a cornerback, like guys his size don't typically move as well as him,

which is that's the case for DK as well. So you know, hey, with the best skill set, hopefully Worley can stop it up because he had a good training camp. I know, last game. He had some plays where it wasn't all that great, but hopefully these guys can get into this game and take advantage of it. He was a guy that was impressive to me during training camp. And you mentioned Jordan Lewis, and I remember something that Brian brought us would always point out about Jordan's is

his long arms. Like the length of his arms, which helps him. But at the same time, you need length on your feet and legs so you can be able to jump high enough in order to cover people like that that are much bigger in size than him. So I'm very concerned because this is a position that we have been talking about all of season. With these guys that were healthy, we were already very concerned and worried, and now you got more injured players, so it raises

more questions. You know, as good as metcalf is and and and you know, he's scary just because just looking at his measurables. The guy that's scary it scares me the most is Locket. I mean that guy, and that's where Jordan Lewis will probably be matched up on with.

But he is really good, I mean, and he's one of those players that he can get down the field, it makes big plays, but he also over the middle and bubble screens, and you know, I know I've had him on my fantasy team for a long time, and it just he just always seems to get seven eight catches a game for eighty ninety yards. I mean, if not more than that. So he's he's a problem. So how would you guys match up? I mean, obviously, Dave, you're you're saying that you would probably go digs. Are

you saying you travel digs with with with DK? It's you know, it's never really been a thing for the Cowboys. It seems like where they like actually exclusively travel a guy. Yeah, I don't know if we lost Dave, I'm thinking we may have lost him. Nick would would you? Would you agree with that going on? Dave? I don't know what's going on, Dave, But yeah, I come back. Yeah, you're back? With the deal is you're back? Now? How'd you why'd you go again? Let's see what you get through it

this time. I don't know either. And you're in two different places, right, it doesn't Yeah, like it ain't even my apartment. Yeah, and sorry, anyway, the Cowboys never seem to like actually exclusively travel a corner with a receiver, Like, that's not something we ever saw under Rod. It's not thing that I that that looks like they do, you know. I mean it's only two games, so we'll see so

every snap. No, but as many times as I can get that matchup, I would prefer it because, like I said, I just I feel better about his odds than anybody else's. That's healthy. You know what I will say though, David, when you're when you're trying to do that, Sorry, I was gonna ask, when you're trying to do that, what are some of the what would you say is the advantage or disadvantage between the two different scenarios as to why you would prefer or not prefer for him to

be able to travel with him. I just think he's he's the best blend of size and athleticism that they have. I mean, Cheeto is another one, but he's not able to play, so you know, I mean, Treyvon is what he's like six one two something. I mean, he like he's got almost safety type size. Then you think about Jordan. Jordan's you know, five ten and a half five eleven, He's got long arms. Um, but when you do that,

because you're really talked about that. I'm saying more when you when you do that, Let's say he does travel with him, what does that mean for the rest of the secondary and what does that look like? Yeah, that's a really that's a wonderful question, which I mean you mentioned Darryl Worley. I would guess Brandon Carr is going to need to be available to play some cornerback. He's another guy with size opposite side from where that seems

like at least an idea. But I guess we're going to see how they We're going to have to see how they practice them. Yeah. The one thing I will say is they've talked about this throughout training camp. They've mentioned several times that they really believe a lot in matchups,

that this is a game of matchups. So it does make me wonder if Dave, even though we haven't seen that from the old coaching staff very much, if this coaching staff looks at it and does agree with you that, Hey, if we're looking at a guy like DK Metcalf that has this really weird and uncommon blend of size and speed, maybe we have to match him up with our guy that we think that can manage best manage his size

and speed. I just think about that play that that Diggs was able to break up and maybe almost get the interception there when he was covering Julio up. I look at that and I say, Okay, that's what you need. You need a guy like that if you're going to be playing up against DK metcalf right. But you also got to remember too, you send matchups that you can get yourself in a bad matchup. So just like what Amber is just asking, is what happens when you do

travel players, they can put you in bad matchups. The Julio Diggs is a good example of that. Diggs doesn't play in the slot very much, and so if you if he matches up with a receiver like let's say Julio did last week, he runs right past them down the field. He's not that much more athletic than than Diggs, but he's in a spot where he's not used. But do they use DK in the in the slot? I don't know. All I'm saying is is when you do that, you can put yourself. Well, I travel with him wherever

he goes. Okay, well I'm putting Jordan Lewis on the outside where he's not good, or I'm putting this corner on the inside where he's not as good and you can be exposed that way as opposed to if you just kind of play your game and you know where players are, that might be the better solution. But I will say this, I don't think it has to be all or none. Like they could say when he's on the outside. Let's assume they put DK in the slot. They could say when he's on the outside, we match

him up. When they put him in the slot, we're gonna bracket him. We're gonna use Jordan and a safety to be able to bracket him, to be able to better get some coverage around him. Right. So, all I'm saying is, I think right now the way they've talked, at least during training camp makes me think that every week we may see something a little different from this defense because they want to create matchups and favorable matchups for themselves, both on the offensive and defensive side of

the ball. And I'll be interested to see if this is one of those weeks who they're willing to do that. Real quick, Let's also talk a little bit about Chris Carson Right now, he's second on their team in receptions with nine, so he is a threat coming out of the backfield, probably more so than he is running the ball,

at least through two games this season. My question for you guys is, do you guys look at this and say, hey, I think we need to really well we can trust our linebackers to be able to handle him coming out of the backfield. Or is this a situation where you really got to get the safety's more involved, which creates even more strain on a secondary it's already got his hands full with some of those receivers. Let's start first with you, Dave. I know what Bucky said in the

last segment makes me excited. Are you really again? No, you're You're back now, Dave, I know how to fix the problem. Come sitting here down at us. Yeah, come put your mask on, the whole show of your masks. Come on, Nick, Nick, give us. Oh, Dave, I gets you're back. Tell us real quick. You were saying something about Bucky, which I know what you were saying, but go ahead and say that for the people out there listening.

I know what Bucky said in the first segment, but I don't feel great about the Cowboys linebackers and coverage right now. It seems like a problem for the time being. So but at the same time, like, and I think Xavier Woods is off to a really nice start, but I don't think of him as a coverage ace either. Somebody make me feel better. Yeah, um, I think go ahead,

go ahead. I was just gonna say, I think this is a game where you're gonna have to be all hands on deck and get a little bit of from everyone just because of you know, Bucky just talked about the Seattle offense, and we know how Russell Wilson is and what he can do. So I think that hopefully the Cowboys are able to adjust as the game goes on and figure out exactly what combination is better for

their defense in order to handle their offense. But I think it'll it'll just end up being some where where hopefully the linebackers are able to chip in more and play a little better than they've been playing so far. Yeah, I'm not sure. Nine is that a lot of catches. I mean, he's second on the team, but I mean Dalton Charlts had nine in the game. I mean, but he's a running back. He's for running back to be averaging five catches a game like that's that's a decent clip.

I'm not sure. I think he's got at least I think five is a decent clip, especially on a team like this one, where you know where you got a quarterback. See, the thing I think makes it really interesting is you got a quarterback that runs, and so when you can have a running back that can also get out of the backfield, I think now you put a lot of pressure on the defense to cover all areas of him to throw it too. Yeah, absolutely, he can do. Russell

can do anybody that's open. He's gonna he's gonna find him. He's he makes it so tough. But I mean he's a tough guy to tackle. Carson. I mean he was a problem last year. I remember I think it was last year or two years ago, that game where Dave was actually saying, Carson, you know, should get the ball way more than he does. And he gave it to him that game and and we saw why so um and that was two years z Zeke has nine receptions on the year. Yeah, I mean four or five a game.

That's that's about what that is. I mean that but that's that. But that is but when you start thinking about like him ranked in on the teams, Dak is what fourth or fifth? I mean fifth? At this point, I would think a number of receptions on the Cowboys, Zeke you mean, I'm sorry, Zeke gets probably probably fifth, right,

So when you look at that and Carson is second. Yeah, So that that's all the point I'm making is that he is an integral part of what they do in the passing game, more so than even than Zeke is. You know, I don't think Gallup has that many catches actually, and so maybe it's those others interesting plays and some you know, but he hasn't really come on yet with with you know, consistent and that's gonna happen. We know Schultz has nine at least at least nine because he

had nine last week, right right? Ten? Ten? All right? All right, let's like our final break. When we come back, we can get some fan questions. Amber got some questions for us from you guys out there listening. We'll do when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio since eighteen sixty five. Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two you can

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and taste buds. It's new Doctor pepper and cream soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor back and cream soda. Is he a Newcombonent's music to my ears? Okay? Doctor back Time, Music to my ears and mouths new Doctor pepper and cream soda. Let's just do bad. Back to the break. Are you coming to the Cowboys game next weekend? Make sure you know before you go? What's that? Are you you are? Okay? Derek? Make sure you know before you go? Derek wear a mask, will keep distance. I will prepared

for cashless transactions. I will get credit cards, of course. Please be aware that all safe stadium policies prior to arriva att Stadium. You visit Dallas Cowboys dot com. Do you do that? I will all right slash safe Stadium from details good good, I'm all over that. Welcome back to the final segment of the Break and Amber and next week makes you you keep a close distance, I mean a far distance. I know sometimes you want to come over and talk and everything, but it makes sure

you stay away. And we're gonna get through this together. I mean, they say in the press box. I mean that things spread out. I mean, you know so much. For twenty years we've been You've been like breaking your own ribs having to write write with all these people here, and now it's just like hey, I mean David Robert, like, hey, are you writing that? Okay? And just as a side note, at and T, I did itself again with the food. I was not expecting much with COVID, but man, they

had some good food in there this week. It was so good. I don't know. I went home thinking about those little tiketos to brisket taketos. Man, I wish I could get some more of those. It was so good. I was expecting like a ham and cheese sandwich. Yeah, I got a I got a bacon egg and cheese croissant with some collops. It was so good, like they had like they made like hash brown. Um. They were like tater tots with mashed potatoes, if that makes sense. Like it had like cheese and bacons like in it.

It was, Oh my god. Yeah, anybody eat a gummy bear? No no, no, no, no, you don't waste you don't waste calories in the in the AT and T Stadium press box on candy, I don't like they got to the foods too good, if you agree, Nick disagrees with all right, y'all are ready for some questions? Yes, sure, yeah, sorry sorry, She's like, let's say the Cowboys um once again start off with a slow start. How confident are you guys, and then turning things around again in the

second half of the game. Oh, I'm I'm very confident. I mean, if they can, if they can do it against Atlanta, and I mean obviously not like a twenty point whole, but Seattle's Seattle's defense is susceptible, like you know that there should be big plays for the for the offense to make in the run and the past, so I'm not worried about their ability to you know, if they happen to fall behind, that doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is I just think the world of Russell Wilson, and I don't think he's gonna let his team squander a second half lead the way the Falcons did. Yeah, that's where I'm more skeptical than Dave, is it. I don't think they will get in a situation where they're not going to match the Cowboys score for score. If you get into that second half where they have a lead, if the Cowboys get a score, I think Russell's gonna go right back and get a score.

It's not gonna be that kind of sea. So I think the Cowboys have to get out fast in this game, because if not, I think, you know, he could be pretty ugly. Yeah, well, I do think that when you're playing, you know, the style of offense the way the Seahawks do and the Falcons do, you can come back phone teams like that because they're forced to play a way that they don't really want to. Like Atlanta doesn't really

want to run out the clock. They don't have I mean, girly of girley, but that's not really the way they play. And I don't even know if Seattle plays that way. So yes, I agree, he's gonna keep being aggressive regardless if he's got a ten point lead or fifteen point lead.

But I do think you can come back against teams like that a little bit more than you would because they're gonna try to run the ball a little bit, and that's not it's harder to come back against Dallas a team like that, because if they could just run Zeke all the time, that would be good. But you know, I get the impression Seattle's not the kind of team that's gonna try to salt the way a win like I think they're just gonna keep being aggressive and keep

their foot on the pedals. So they're still bombing the ball out there, and you know, and they got a two score lead, like, I mean, I get that, but healthy. But I'm just saying, if they're so as efficient as they've been, they might just put up fifty points on you. So I just think that's the part that's gonna make this a lot harder. You're dealing with a much much better offense and than you had in in Atlanta, in my opinion, did you see, Yeah, did you see what

they did? On third and one against the Patriots the other night, end of game situation, end of game situation, dying minutes, you need a first down and you can kneel it out. They bombed at forty yards down field, and I remember that it was incomplete, which worked. It worked in New England's favor. But if they're willing to do that in that situation an skier that that worries me. It worries me that how willing they're gonna be to air the ball out? I don't think they're gonna be shy? Yep.

How concern are you guys about them just going on the road again? We know that this year because of COVID, they're different stadiums that have different capacity of fans and loud crowd noises and all of that. How are you expecting this game to be? And how he could have affect the whole environment? How could the environment affect the Cowboys in this game? I'll start This is a break. I mean, this is one of those breaks that they talk about it because not playing Seattle in that stadium

like it typically is. I mean, it's been a problem. They've won there, but not a lot, and so you know they might lose, but it won't be because of that. It'll be unless and that being the crowd noise. Yeah, unless Seattle, you know, figures out a way to pipe in some crowd bays. They're gonna pipe in crowd noise because everybody has the right to do it. But there's only a certain amount of decibels. I think it's seventy decibels is the max that you can put on it.

I would suspect regularly they're well above seventy years. All about experience, though, Do you want your quarterback to have a fifty starts or one start? You know, they're they're decibel guys, got experience, That's all I'm saying. He knows how to hype it up. Well, you know, I can always just pull out my trusty watch and I can tell you how many decimals. Maybe I need to let you take that with you. No, you can't have one knew that. Derek loves doing that at every stadium. He'll

pull out the watch and measure. Let's see how loud this crowd. I want to know. I want next to you. For twenty years, I've never seen you do that all the time, and I always did it with Amber because I knew she hated it, so I would purposely be like, Amber, look how loud it is? You know? So yeah, he'll show me. I'm like, get away. Well, I wish you would have done it again against the Rams. There's nothing, No, there's nothing. Drop something me eating a chip? Probably. Do

we have time for one last question? Yeah, let's throw one in there, all right, last question? Um, we know we heard Dak Prescott in the press conference talk about how this can become a domino effect and get the whole team pumped up and playing at a high level and energized. Again, when you look at this game, in case they were to lose, what do you think that will do to the team as a whole and just the spirit of what they're you know, just the whole mood of the team if they go on the road

and lose another game. Dave mean, I think that's one of the many reasons why beating the Falcons was so important is that, I mean, they're professionals. I would hope if they lose, they say, well, that's arguably the best player in the league, and you know, one of the better teams in the NFC, and we're below five hundred. We got to get back to work and beat Cleveland

so we can keep treading water. Like I mean, obviously, you want to win every game that you play, but I think beating the Falcons gives you the margin for error that you're not in deep crap if you lose this game. Because even as bad as the NFC East looks, oh and three is not the place to be ever. You just very rarely do you rebound well from that.

But one and two, A lot of teams are one and two, and you know, Cleveland, Cleveland, It's got Cleveland, and after that it's the Giants and at the Cardinals Cardinals who the Cardinals looking really good. That's going to be a big challenging game that that I don't know that we thought of in the same way when the schedule first came out. But it's gonna be a challenge, definitely gonna be challenge. But all three of them at

home lost they've just for a second. But what I was gonna say about that, sorry about sorry, we'll see we'll see you tomorrow. I don't know where I cut off. But being Atlanta gives you the leeway that you don't have to beat Seattle in my opinion, Well, go ahead, and what I was gonna say is, if there's any team player wise that understands what it takes to go up and then down and then up and then down,

it would be the Cowboys. I mean, that's how you get to the eight and eight land is because you you have to come back from a really tough loss. But you also didn't really capitalize on the win. And I say it for years, I always think that the Week two game is the most important game of the season because it kind of sets a tone for what you're going to be or if you won the first one.

You know. Of course last year you could say they didn't because they got three and oh, but I just think you this that was, like Dave said, huge, huge win. But I don't know if this team has been a very good at capitalizing on those big wins. Yeah, but

Joe McCarthy can help. I'll look at this from the opposite view, which is if the Cowboys should happen to be able to go to Seattle and win, I think that game last week maybe the turn of this front of this team, this particular team starting to realize, Okay, we're up there at the top. Echelon the league, and it could put them on a trajectory to where they end up being one of the best teams in NFC. You see that all the time with teams. They have

that moment. There are moments in seasons where teams are successful where you're like, that was a moment. When you go back and look at totality of the season at the end, you find these little moments where it kind of changed for them. That could be a moment for the Cowboys if they can go to Seattle and win.

This is a great test for them, I think, and we're about to find out if they can use that last week as a springboard or if it's just going to be another game that they just barely eked out and they're right back to doing what they do and you're right back to that five hundred football that they've been in the situation they've been in for so many years. All Right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We'll be back tomorrow. We're gonna talk about Cowboys offense versus Seattle defense.

Till then for Nick Eatman, Dave helm and Amber Garcia. I am Derek Hickleton. This has been the break Live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.