Cowboys Break: Defensive Letdown

season eighteen, episode number fifty two. Welcome to the Lettus edition of The Break, live from That's WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star Wear presented by mill of Light, the only beer of the Dallas Cowboys, And for the first time in a long time, we come in on a Monday morning ready to talk about something other than a win Cowboys lose at Philadelphi for Him twenty six seventeen.

At some point in this show, we will get to our feelings on where we feel about this team, because I've had I've heard a lot of mixed feelings this morning from people, some very optimistic, some very pessimistic. I'd be interested to hear what you guys think. We'll do that a little later in the show, but let's start first where we start on Mondays. Give me storyline of the game, nick uh, storyline of the game. Cooper Rush. You know, it looked like a backup quarterback out there

for a little while. He did. He looked like it. Finally, I mean he did. He took your advice lose a game. That was your advice, lose a game. You know, he didn't. He he had some moments there where he was trying to force the ball in there and just it just didn't didn't work. But I mean I give them credit that, you know, they were fighting and him. Boy, it would have been interesting. It would have been interesting if if

it was twenty seventeen. It was like, if he gets this ball back and they go I'm like, they even got quiet, and it was it was gonna be obvious, just thinking, Holy f like, if he does this, Wow. But he didn't. He didn't any you know, he made a bad throw. Um. You know, Tyler Smith was some of the part of that that deep throw. But you know, the defense and then I'll let them, you know, there's other points there, But I just thought, I just thought

Cooper Rush, he didn't play like we've seen before. We kept saying don't make mistakes, and he made them. Yeah. Yeah, I to me, it really started early when you started talking about some of the decision making. They get the third and two play and they have a chance with the read option. They hand the ball to Seek and it's a gain of one and he pulls that ball and just goes forward. Then it's a first down. Now

you're keeping the drives going. So from that point on, he started making bad decisions in the game, you know. And that's something that with Cooper Rush. You know, it's max protection, you got routes, you get you know where you need to go with the ball. You can't throw the ball behind people, you know. And that's the thing with him. He had done a really good job of when it was okay, this is how we have to play.

And he played a little hero ball last night, you know it with some of his throws, and we kind of get on Dak Prescott about that a little bit. You know, Hey, you can't force the ball into that coverage. You gotta read this. You know, you've got guys that are open to this side. Why are you just going

at one guy right here? So I think it started very early with him and some of the decision making it approved in the second half with the stuff when they started to move the pocket a little bit and the boots and the waggles and things like that, the left throws were giving him an opportunity, some simple stuff. You know. The Eagles made some really good plays along

the way. The tip ball by hardgrade before the half, it could have been twenty to seven at that point, you know, and that would have been a good momentum builder for the Cowboys. They max protect the deep ball that Nick was talking about that gets intercepted, They max protect another interception. I mean, it was just kind of they were trying to help him, but he wasn't helping himself. But I want to say this is for point, my

point for this. Your best unit on the field didn't get a stop when it needed to get a stop, and they ran the ball into eleven straight times, and

you didn't get a stop. And I think that to me right there, you could say all the things you wanted I just did about Cooper Rush, but the fact that that the Cowboys needed a stop in the second half defensively, when the momentum was swinging their direction and they couldn't get a stop and that to me was really the when you start to talk about this game, you know, could they brought this thing back? Sure, they

could have. Philadelphia we talked about this. Philadelphia is a team that doesn't Once they scored the second they kind they kind of slow down in the second half and you caught them there, and I think it's just disappointed that the team that you just hanger had on through all this is that defense and they couldn't get off the field on that one last final drive that Philadelphia rando to kill the game. Yeah, as far as storylines,

I mean, you can talk about the quarterback situation. You can talk about how the Eagles were able to neutralize Micah Parsons and how that affected the whole defense overall. But to me, the way I see this game is, you know, even though there's still a lot of football left to play, we're gonna see them again in December.

And I think that the way that the Cowboys were able to play some of the things that they showed, despite the penalties, despite the mistake, despite them not stopping at critical moment, this is a very they can compete and this was a game they could have won. And to Brian's point. And you can mention it last week, how they just kind of come to a stopping point where they can't keep producing points and moving the ball around. Well, this team, the Cowboys team just showed me that. You know,

the Eagles aren't. I don't want to say they're not that good because they are. They're not. They're not. It's okay to say it. I mean, is this the best team in football? No? No, no, no no, no. I mean when you're best in football. No, they may be the best team in the NFC. I don't think they're the best team in football, but I think there's a very clear no one cares about No one cares about that

because you're not going to play them until it really matters. Yeah, and then, but I do think they're the best team they see. You know, I don't mean to cut you off, but I'm saying that's okay to say that because I don't think that they're If this is the best team in the NFC, I would be like, Okay, we'll see you again, definitely once, maybe twice, because it would anybody be afraid to go play them again in Philadelphia with foot at full strength. I mean, I wouldn't be afraid

to play him again. This team can win. I mean they beat themselves. The Eagles and Cowboys both beat the Cowboys last night. Sorry, I keep finishing. No, no, no, that's my point exactly. It's just like, it's not this untouchable, unbeatable team that you keep thinking of because of the way they've been playing and the fact that they've been winning every single game so far. It's just it was, it showed me a clear vision. They'll like, Okay, we can definitely beat their butts next time we see them.

But they made they made critical plays and you couldn't. I mean the fourth and threes, the you know, and when you look at this and Mica looks like that he's missing coverage. No, they're running picks. I mean, they had some really good designs of plays, they really really did. And you're like, and and the fact that the titan didn't kill you in this game, the quarterback running didn't kill you in this game. But they found a way

to win this game. And it might be because of Cooper Rush, but they also along the way made some critical plays and I think that's the that's the thing you have to worry about. They put you in a lot of They put a lot of stress on you for having to try and defend them. That's the thing I worry about. And you know, I man, I just feel like that you made some mistakes along the way. But man, the one thing that I just keep saying is your defense is you're calling card right now and

you needed to stop. You couldn't afford them to drive the ball on you like that and score that that touchdown. You needed to stop and you didn't get it. And that's the thing that's the most disappointing to me right now. It's not that Cooper Rush struggled the way he did. You know, Ezekiellott played his ass off. The offensive line. You watched him play. It's not pretty with the pass block and stuff. But they didn't. The offensive line didn't kill you in this game. You know, Philly, just Philly

made some really really good plays along the way. Yeah. I'll say this, Nick, you said, you know you're not afraid to play this team. I don't think the Cowboys should be afraid. But I will say this, I think they exposed yesterday what will be a challenge for the Cowboys to win a game because of and what I mean by that is the stopping the run has been a problem for them throughout this season. We know that this is a team that can run the ball. Quite frankly,

I don't think the numbers tell the story. They had a lot of short feels, That's why they didn't get a lot of yards. I think they had longer fields data gotten a lot more yards, and they probably would have scored the same amount of points. So when I would have liked to have seen that fields, dude, No, that's fine. My point though, is I do think that I don't think yesterday this defense. Yesterday, I come out of that game feeling like the Cowboys defense is more

susceptible than I thought they were. Um, I mean to give up three touchdowns and that last one, and what you talked about it bring that last touchdown. Basically your offense got you back into the game. Now's the time when if you're that defense, this is when you need to make that stop. And what did they do seventy five yards just methodically ran the ball right down their throats.

And that's the part that worries me. And I've been talking about this for a few weeks now that I think the run defense is a bit of a problem, Like they get into games and they have a hard time stop in the run at times. And until I see them consistently doing that, especially in situations where they need to, that's a concern. They missed some tackles in the hole in the running game and the first run and I'm just ch I can hear to see the Sanders run. Okay, Sanders had seventy one yards. This long

run was thirteen. The thirteen yard run came on the very first play of the long drive, and it was and what happened is this is where you got to give them credit. Because Dallas runs what they call a slant front, and they slant everybody do the right. They're gonna bring a polar back the other way. And now it's a polar one on one on vander ash and the ball coming behind him, and so you've got everybody caved down to one side. Sometimes the offense is just good.

Sometimes you guess the right kind of lucky Yeah, it's a lucky good whatever you wanted. Sometimes they make a call and you're like, going, damn it, they caught us in a they caught us in a slant front, and we you know, we're trying to like we're trying to do but yeah, the runs were like five yards, four yards, one yard, five yards, six yards, one yard. It was that kind of a running game, and you know, yeah, it looked really really bad and they just couldn't do

anything about it. I'm not worried as much about it, but for other teams, because I don't think they have that ability. I don't they don't have Jalen Hurts. You know, Jalen Hurts hurt him with with his with his legs, um not in this game, but in the previous games. Because three three twelve rushes for twenty seven yards. I mean that's that. One of them was on the quarterback yard like that. But it was it was the RPOs.

It was the yeah, when you said before we started that it freezes your team your team, and that's and that's you know, you're gonna play fields in a couple of weeks. Not to look ahead, but I mean, he's an incredible athlete, but they don't have the running game, the Sanders and all that, and I'll give you know, Miles Sanders. I always thought that their running game was kind of tricky a little bit and not I'll power running game. They they because of the RPO and stuff

like that. They ran a lot of it in the middle. You got to give them credit for that. They lost their best offensive linemen and in the second half. And see, that's the thing that's the most disappointed, because we talked on this show about how bad Jack Driscoll was. Were like, if he's in the game, parts flip right to see that's what I'm saying that you could never get him in the situation. And they realized this. They're like, listen, if we dropped back and pass Jack Driscoll is going

to get our quarterback killed. And so they made they made the concern. Even if it was one yards, two yards, three yards, whatever it was, it was good enough for them not to get their quarterback hit. Right. They don't go down Phil hardly at all. They were All the passes were quick passes and in the running game like that's how they moved the ball, and they did it effectively. And by the way, they had to do it cleanly.

That's the key. If you're gonna do that play that kind of football, you can't have a lot of penalties. And they did it pretty cleanly. I said it last week. I'm like, Okay, this defense needs to start off the game making a statement, but the statement was made against them, and there was something that was just off about the defense because it wasn't like they got in the game and then as you go on, okay, they're starting to kind of embarrass you a little bit, and then you

start trailing back and falling behind and all that. I just felt like, right off the bat, like first quarter, the defense was just not playing with the explosiveness, the energy, the like something was off. Michael Parsons was like slow in the way he was playing. So the whole thing just didn't look right like their usual self, the type of defense that they've been playing this whole season so far. It just didn't start that way. And I don't know why.

I don't know what what happened exactly, but it wasn't like a thing that, oh, as the game went along, you got tired, your defense got tired because they were on the field so much, and the Eagles offense was just kind of draining you. It wasn't that because it just started like that right off the bat. Yeah, I honestly think, and you guys can correct me if you feel a different way, but I think it's the RPO off. I mean, I think it's the fact that there's so

much indecision when you're playing that kind of offense. Every play you don't know exactly where the ball's going. And they were holding the ball to the last second. I mean, Hurst is holding ball the last second to figure out whether you're coming to get him, you're gonna get that running back, and that is causing to slow down. Like if that is a way to slow an aggressive defense is make them have to think, and make them have

to think on every single playoff. I think that's exactly you know, and there are also you know the Cowboys. What goes against them sometimes, mean what works for them is just how they have mismatches. They have undersized players playing, you know, but but they're quicker. And then sometimes you get in a situation like this where it can work

against you. I mean, like if you when you think about a defensive line that has Dorn's Armstrong playing at the end and d Law playing tackle and Mica Partson is playing in on third and nine, yeah you're worried, But on third and two or second and four and you're running downhill, it's a mismatch. So it's kind of on to pick your poison type things like it works when it works, but sometimes you can go to your point,

to your point. When you watch you All twenty two, you'll see that Doran's Armstrong is an effective pass rusher. You'll also see the All twenty two where Dorant's Armstrong is getting hooked and hooked and bullied and beating at the point of attack. So then you wonder why the Running Game, You're going, Okay, well, I see what's happening. Ninety two is getting blocked, ninety nine is getting blocked inside. You know, I mean, those are the things that happened

to you in the Running Game. When you watch, you're like, well, what happened on that play? Ninety two got hooked, Oh, ninety two got knocked inside? Oh, you know, I mean those are the things that that show up and ask you about this. Because every time he gets a sack, it's so easy to say, Durance Armstrong. It's so easy to say, what's Randy Gregory doing? You know, like, and I get it. I mean he's got the sack numbers.

Did Gregory? Was Gregory a liability in the Running I think it was a little bit more of a jump around and kind of get pushed outside kind of thing. Ball come up inside. N No, No, actually your best defender, well, Tank is good against the run to his side, but actually, uh, you know when you when you look also too, they have a situation inside where they tend to move these guys around. And I'm trying to think about who I'm

thinking about here No. Ninety nine why I'm always Yeah, Gholston is one of those guys that plays the run better because he could play. There was a couple of times playing tackle that he was able to defeat blocks and get in on a play. And then when he's playing on the edge, he was able to defeat the Tank and Gholston are the two best run defenders then anybody else that's that's on the on the defensive line

when it comes to the ends. But speaking of the run, like Layton Vanders, he has to have better vision than that because there were multiple touchdown the touchdown it was a bad one, yeah, and there were a couple of other ones that weren't a touchdown. There were just runs. But it was like, Okay, you get this hole in the middle and Layton is right there, just sitting there.

But he's just kind of he loses track of like he can't locate the ball where it's at, So now he's paying attention to this crowd over here and up. So there are a lot of times that I just felt like he wasn't vendor Ish to be the guy to kind of put the stop or try to make the stop there, and the hole was just completely free and empty for the guy to run. So linebikers need

to play better. Yeah, the Sanders touchdown run, the ball is going really off the tackle between the tackle and the guard, and Vanderish reads it and he jumps inside. He's right there on the outside of position for the collision, and then something carried him inside, his eyes carried him inside. So now he's behind a stack and then the ball comes and he can't get back to the outside. There were several times in this game where where Cowboys were

in position. Donovan Wilson was in position to make a tackle. Hooker was in position to make a tackle on a fill that would have been a two yard game that all of a sudden turns into a spin run in an eight yard game. You know, they had to your point, Ambar, they had guys in positions to make plays. They did a poor job at finishing on some of these runs in this game. And it's just one more thing I was uncommon for them yesterday because they've been a pretty

good tackling team when they had opportunities. Yesterday they were not. It seemed like there were a number of times when they missed tackles that they should have made and that you would expect them to make because they're good enough players to make them. Are we gonna take our first break, We're gonna come back. We'll dive a little deeper into some of these topics. We'll talk about Cooper Rushan we

come back. In the offense, I want to talk about this, at least this wide receiver corps and whether this offense was hindered more by the quarterback or by the wide receivers and their ability to get open. We'll talk about that when we come back. Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the Cheetahs Savanna. Todd believed the big cat repellent he bought online was reliable. And now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per hour.

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at and T Stadium. Cowboys take on the Lions and the Bears at home next two weeks. Welcome back, second segment of The Break Life in Nest WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. Cowboys lose to Philadelphia twenty six seventeen. They go to four and two. Giants win yesterday, so they're at five and one. It's amazing that win against the Giants, and the way you beat him is looking

more and more impressive by the week. But that team, as much as I don't know if I want to believe in them, they certainly are making the case that they are a pretty good team. You know, I don't know how good the Packers and the Ravens are right now, true, you know, but the fact that they beat all the Rams put the Rams in there. Yeah, they beat the Packers in London, came back, didn't take the off week. Now, traveling New York to London is not a huge trip.

That would be, yeah, a very easy trip. But the fact that you go over there kind of pick up your operation win a game. They're well coached now and they got Daniel Jones playing pretty well, Barkley running the football defensively. I mean they were down in that game, you know, the Ravens just I don't know what you know, Lamar Jackson, they talk about him as being an I know it's the Cowboy Show, but they're talking about him would be an MVP candidate. He fumbles the snap, he

throws the ball in the middle of the field. You're going, what are you doing? What are you doing? You know, and I just you know, it's crazy, but strange lady is I like to say, indeed is. And they and they'll play each other, you know, it's like forget with the Giants and Eagles to play each other and it'll

figure itself out. And yeah, this division got yeah, I mean there's you know, you know, and you're driving your neighborhood and there's people that have like haunted house things in their neighborhood, you know, like they got like stuff going on for Halloween. That scares me more than like the Giants. I mean just that just that crowd. They they're not good. They're not good. That's fine. I mean they're five and one. Give them credit, but it'll you

are what your record says. You are, right, they're good at the end of They may not be great, but they're good, but they're good that I'm gonna keep saying that they're when we look at it, right, that only applies at the end of what this fluid it Joc Taylor says all the time. I think it's the best thing. He says. It's true. Sports is fluid. As of now, they're a good team. Now that may change season, but that's it. Right now, they are a good team. But

no five win team has ever made the playoffs. That's That's what I'm saying. So so so yeah, but I'm just saying right now never matters because rankings and all that doesn't matter, or it doesn't. See, I don't think that they're very good. They're not the microwave Society. Now, now, I get it. We don't have time. We don't have time to All I'm saying is is that I think, I really believe that the Cowboys at third place in the NFC East, I think that is the best team

in this division. I think I think they are the best team in the NFCAS and I think that they're gonna win the NFC East. Okay, I think right now I think that the best the second best team. I do think they're better than the Giants. I don't know, there's not been anything I've seen. It gives me evidence that they're better than Philadelphia because Philadelphia took it to

him last night. And I know that they came back and they made it interesting, but they took it to him, and I don't know that there was a point in the game where I thought Dallas has winning this game. Now, the saving graces, you did that with your backup quarterback. You gotta feel really good about the fact you did that with your backup quarterback. The thing about Cooper Rush is that he was doing a nice job of managing the game and the defense was carried and then the

defense got in the situa each one. They can't carry you the whole time. But there's just zero running ability from your quarterback. Yeah, just zero, Like like it's not third and three like you said, or RPO. He did pulls that it's a six yard gain. Yeah, I mean literally, no, that's I'm saying. It's one of those decisions that you're saying. And he's looking at he's looking at Sweat, and you know, he's like, I'm looking at you. I'm looking at you. I'm still going to hand this ball off and I

get it. You hand it to Zeke. You're thinking, well, he could get two yards Zeke, Yeah, he could get two yards, but he pulls that ball. It's like a seven yard gain and you just fall down and now you keep the drive going. How many yards did Zeke run last night? Backwards? He was twisting? Yeah, two really

good twisting runs to the middle of their defense. I mean, I hate ran well, I hate saying this about a guy that's been like so good and you're like eighty one yards rushing and you're like, he ran is that he did eighty one yard mighters will have been a hundred and sixty one yards It might as well have been. I mean, the way that he was trying touchdown was the old old school Zeke it was it was he needed.

But but man, think about what it RPO does. Yeah, I mean, Miles Sanders ain't isn't just lining up running like that if it's not for the quarterback Thart So I think getting that back I would have loved that. We can we're doing that. It's what we saw being real quick, though. I would love to have seen Mohr make that field goal, Yeah, because I wanted to see I wanted to see if this if the Beagles would really fall apart. It was so chaotic we were we

were down, walking down. I didn't even know how they got into that range and you know it was three. I mean, if he passes in a row, right, all incomplete, all incomplete, and you think if you get to me, I started calculating, like I'm going, They've got to kick this field goal. Now they can't go. They can't let the scene get Like when it was a minute forty, I was thinking, all right, get a first down or get close, kick the field goal, now go for it.

Just try walking, just try and just try, and you know, see if you can get an onside kick. I will say this though, Brian. Last week you talked about this defense, and I remember asking you a question, was it the front that made the back end look better? Or was it the back end that was really that good? And you talk about the back end, and I wasn't so sold on what you were saying. But last night I came by of that game being that secondary might be

the best secondary football. Yeah. They they don't give up much to anything. They're gonna play. Last night, they are right there in position and they will knock the ball down. Like how many times did you see balls getting knocked down? Some of them were bad throws, but some of them were good throws. And it was just like those guys were all over those receivers. You see a little bit of lack of the arm strength the quarterback too when

that ball goes the outside. But no, not to take anything away from they were in great position really all night, you know, with the plays they were able to make. But they cut a break, they cut a break, the corner falls down, you know, and they just they could not. Brandy Graham is one of those guys who will forever when you say his name, I just think about him making one or two plays every Cowboy game that he's

ever played against them. That is that what you're talking about on the goal line talking the one, the one where that would have been a CD yard. Yeah, it would have been. It would have been the interception that that uh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I mean he literally the corner falls down that I mean, it's gonna be.

It's gonna be if the ball if they just they max protected too, which is so, and they leave Smith one on one on the outside, you know, they leave him one on one and that super brint Billy Blitzen on that play. No, no, they weren't. So if they were max protecting, how did he end up over there by himself? They just slide everything every other way. Everything.

All the blockers were to the right. They were worried about what was going on in the right right side there, and they were just they said, you know what, Smith's good enough to hold up over here on the left side by himself. There needs to be a new rule in the NFL. Like if you get under the hood and you say, okay, was this in or out? And you're like, I don't know, but is this a Sports Center Top ten play? And you're like yes, then you're like, you know what, let's give it to him if we

called it on the field, I'm kidding. So okay, well you're kidding, But I wish he'd have challenged a fourth in one spot with ceedee lamb. Yeah, you know, let's go there. He may not have had a good angle because he was only like six years You see the all twenty two in the in the official the official to the Cowboys side marks as a first down. She marked it as a first he when he extended and

put the ball down she went. She went half a yard beyond the marker on front, and I could see where Dallas got confused because the way she marked it, the way she went past the marker and went up the line. So they're just like, go, let's go first and then and then the other side. The other official came in short and she went. She went from going first down, first down, first down to oh, like a little bit like the stock market, which is the way they do it. If you notice side, they kind of

merged back forth the right. She she she had the better view, she had the better view to her side, and she's marking it, and I think Dallas got a little confused. He's like, whoa's McCarthy's recent. And then he talked about it in the press conference after the game. He basically said they were on turbo, and then when he talked to the official, the what he got from the official was kind of like they weren't gonna give it to him. So that's why he decided not to

challenge the player. They were already up at the line too. That was something. When you said they were already turbo, they were already moving. That's what I don't understand. How could the official without the benefit of replay tell him we're not changing that that doesn't Based on what the official kind of said to him, he felt that it wasn't something that they would get, so he decided to just keep going. She marked it, I don't buy that,

because the whole point of replay is you stop everything. Yeah, you give them the benefit of somebody looking at it on camerons and slowing it down and saying, whoa where was he? And by the way, from the replay, we could see from the TVs that were sitting right in front of us, it seemed like he stretched out round. Yeah. Terry McCauley, who's the official for NBC, who they hire, said that's a first down. Yeah, he said it, And you know, so you're like going, And to me, it

was such an important point of the game. You're down fourteen, you need you got to drive, you know if even if, even if you don't have another challenge left, I mean challenge that you just have to. You can't let that, you can't let the official. But they're they're hurrying to the line, and then the play call, you're going, why why whoa? Whoa? What do we do it? And because

you know, everything happens. You know, CD's trying to run around, he gets knocked down, and you know it's all this clutter and stuff, and you're thinking, Okay, we'll just run the ball. Then you got you got a zeke, Ohiott, just run the ball. It's like third and one. He gets it every single time. It's fourth one, he gets it every single time. Yeah, you know, it's just that's

that's the disappointing things. Well, as like I said to you in the press box, is like I think a lot of times fans just they're watching games on TV and they always see a yellow line so they know what a first down is. That that's obviously not there in real life. But in this case, because it was started at the twenty five, the first down markers the thirty five, there's the line. You see it, and he goes across of it. So I don't understand that. I

think that's a terrible reasoning. If that's really what McCarthy said, that's I think that's that's terrible. See because you're down fourteen to nothing, So if anything, call a timeout, throw a challenge, if anything, the slowest, crap down, slow it down. And then but but I tweeted this out, don't tell me you trust Zeke in this offensive line if you're not going to give him the ball both in one for a a mobile quarterback to roll right and throw it to a tight end that hasn't proven he can

make a play. Now he's getting there. Talking about Hindershot, yeah, I mean he's getting there and he made a nice catch, and I mean the team was disappointed obviously. You know, you look at the defensive side, they were pretty quiet down there. And I'm not saying these guys don't don't like football or anything like that, but Hindershot and Ferguson, you know, they're they're like two guys in one, you know,

they're always joining the hip. They're like I think you could just tell the confidence that they had, Like they both played really well last night, and I think you know, now what happens in the future and tied in I don't know, but uh well, yeah, I mean it's it's just it's just a shame of it. If he's losing money, by the man, and by the way, he might not be losing money. He's just losing money here, Like there's somebody that might be willing to pay that money market Yeah,

that market value. He's just waiting for Dak to come back, and that's true. That will help him, That will help him. All right, let's take our final break. When we come back, Actually have a question for you guys. We're gonna talk about not only that that that play we just talked about, the one on where they maybe should have challenged it, but I also want to talk about another play that was critical for the Cowboys where Fowler jumped off so

I got into the neutral zone. I want to find out which play you think affected this team more by the outcome. We'll talk about that when we come back. Dalla Scout Boys that come radio. The season is finally here. For months, we've been gearing up to win. Now it's

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to approval. Restrictions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Back to the Break, NFL Plus gives you live local and primetime regular season and postseason game him on your phone and tablet game replays it more. Go toplus dot NFL dot com and start your free trial of NFL Plus today. Welcome back, final segment of the Break Life nest WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, we are dissecting the cowboys second loss of the season. They lose to

the Philadelphia Eagles twenty six to seventeen. So here's my question for you guys, which was the bigger mistake in last night's game That third and nine passed the CD where coach McCarthy decided not to try to challenge. Let me read the child real quick, because I found it exactly what he said. He said, you know, the communication was originally first down and then we went turbo on the ball for a quick play. Then the communication when they pulled it back forth down with Robin on the hideline,

she told him the knee down. The knee was down before he extended, So he said, in his history has been when the official tells you that, it's usually pretty clear. And because they were in turbo, they were on the other side of the fence. And then he's like, from my experience, when I'm communicated by the official, I'm usually discouraged from challenging that play. So basically it was a back call. But given the time of the moment, that's what happened, and he just kind of went with what

he was being told. Look, I understand his experience. I don't want to negate that because coaches do have to make some of these decisions based upon their experience. My thing, though, is that's what replay is for, is because the fact that we know that referees are human, that means that what they thought they saw may not have been what they what really happened. And so by the way he should be watching, which he was I'm sure all the guys he's got up in the boot, they got plenty

of assistant coaches. They should have all been watching. There should have been somebody saying, hey, Mike, by the way, looks like he might have that first down and that in that situation, that should have at least triggered to him. Okay, I know she said that, but maybe on review they'll

see what my guys are seeing. Somebody should have given him that information, I would think, well, but yeah, and and why are you worried about a challenge When you're down fourteen to nothing, you're gonna try to go for it and you're gonna go down twenty one to nothing. I mean, they didn't, but in your mind you're thinking, why would I not feel this way? So you're on your own with thirty five yard line or whatever. It is, like, this is the biggest play in the game. Yeah, it's

the biggest player in the game. So I'm I'm I'm just gonna wait throw I mean, I'm gonna wait as long as I can here and then throw the challenge flag and then and then just see it's it's it's it was too critical of a play, and that's what you always say, Brian about knowing your team and knowing getting to feel for the game, and I mean, you're about to lose it right there. I mean that I think it's the biggest play in the game. Yeah, I

think that. I think that the thing I was disappointed, I was more disappointed in the play call than I think the lack of the challenge to be honest with you, just what they did, you know, But still the fact that she marked it as a first down initially that and then you know, that's the thing about it. Did

she get talked out of that? She had the best angle. Seriously, when you watch the All twenty two sideline, she's past the stick, she's come down the line and then you see her start to drift because she's looking at the Now the official on the other side, he didn't have the play wasn't near him. It was near her. So if there was a discussion right there, she's just said no, no, no,

he reached. Still, I think you have to look at that play even if she even if she told him, hey, the knee was down, well, you didn't mark his knee down. You said first down, And so you know, to me, if you're telling me first down, then I'm gonna I'm gonna challenge this thing, you know, but I think it's I just think the play call was bad for that. Okay, fine, we didn't challenge. We're gonna turbot run it, get the

first down and then you know, go from there. But all right, so that all being said, and we all have talked about how pivotal that that play was. Then you also had a fourth and four where you got Dante Fowler getting a neutral zone in fraction that led to a touchdown. I've tend to believe that Philly would have if they would have they were trying to draw them off sides. If they wouldn't have, then they would have kicked the field goal. Probably saves you four points,

would you guys think? I thought it was huge, and I think it's very very comparable to that other play because it's gonna be three to nothing instead of seven to nothing. And also, you know, you just got fooled. I mean, well one guy got fooled. All takes us one and the rest of the day. But everybody knows that we're up there talking in the press box. We know what they're gonna do. Everyone sees what they're gonna do. They're just gonna run the clock down, and it's just

like a free a few seconds. We'll see if fIF the Cowboys or someone's dumb enough to go offside you here and then and he was, I mean, he wasn't paying attention and he jumped off side. He had a pretty good game throughout Fowler, he had a sack, he made some other plays, But that right there, I mean, that to me, that's in excusable for a veteran player.

I agree, you know, I just I think that the clock was running down there, they're just trying to get off the field, and that they'd run the motion and all that just to draw and the fact that he he it wasn't even like a tackle. It was just a tight end moving you know. Again that the thing is, you know that that's a disciplinting. You know, we talk about that you need to play with discipline, and that was the furthest thing from the word of discipline right there.

Which one do you think hurt them more? Which of those two plays hurt hurt them more? That one? The fourth and four? I man, I mean it's it's a four point swinging there, and it's a three point swinging the other way around. But but I think I think going down three to nothing and then if, if, even if Eagles do what they're doing again ten to nothing, you know, I think it's way more manageable. I think

that right there was was pretty big. Yeah, I would say the to me, the the lack of discipline was big. I just think the sideline management in that, I think you gotta you gotta know what's going on. I mean, that was a big point in the game right there there. I mean, you gave up three points on the drive anyway, right, I mean you gave up points. You know, who knows even if you have to punt. Maybe they don't. I don't know. It's just it was one of us. I

just felt like that McCarthy. I've been I really liked the way that Mike mc arthy's coach. And that's hard for me to say, but I really last night, I'm like, why did you let us down last night? You got to manage the game better than that. And you could make the argument back back to the fourth down play

or not. The challenge is that it's not so much just the three you gave up, but also you need some kind of spark you've got a first down, let's keep it going, Let's go maybe get you know, so what if they go down and just keep that and get a field goal, make it fourteen to three instead of seventeen to nothing, So you can call it a three point swing. And maybe it was a six point swing. So I mean, you can make the argument for both.

I think they're both very critical. But I was thinking, I'm like, Okay, which one because the end result result would have been kind of the same, you know, but who which side of the ball from your team needs that extra spark at the moment. So and I'm keep going back and forth in my mind as you guys are discussing this. I'm like, Okay, would have been nice for the offense to kind of get going and have

that tempo and momento kind of building up. And then but then I filled back, I'm like, Okay, it would have been nice for the defense to start making kind of that statement and not letting them kind of score a touchdown later on. So it's just I tell you, who would you say which side of the ball at

that point off the game. Let's also be clear he's going four on fourth down before giving this softense spark the past of the Cincinnati game, and he goes, oh man, you gotta punt this ball, and he goes where he throws the ball to nowhere Brown over the middle of the field, and you're like going, oh man, huge play right there. I would say this though, but the way the game was going the fourth and four, we know, we feel very certain what would have been the outcome.

They go for the field goal, there's no guarantee, and I certainly didn't feel confident they're still on their side that was still on its side of the field there at the thirty four I want to say their own thirty four. I don't feel confident that even if they get that first down, even if they challenge that and get the first down, that they're going to turn that into points because at that point in the game, the

offense was not clicking. So yeah, that all being said, I know maybe that I know on four point third play, I got another one for you throw it to me. I mean, first quarter games still, you know, scoreless, and you just throw a pass the midfield to Ferguson to the forty eight yard line and I'm sorry there, I mean, is anyone checked on Darius Slay's back because I mean he I mean, he got a huge block in the back from CD. I'm certainly being facetious there two hands

on the back that that's ridiculous, and that called. I mean then then it was an off setting penalties pushed from back the Cowboys head to pump. But you know now you're yeah, yeah, you're but you're moving, you know, first first down at midfield, you know, and this is the this is the second possession of the game. I think that was that was huge right there. Yeah. The only reason I don't put that one in the same category, the same category, yeah, because it was off setting. So

you still got first and ten. You were still at first and ten. You didn't really lose anything. You didn't get that play. You didn't know that the point at that point in the game, how much you needed that stuff. You didn't know it till later. You're like, man, we

were close to midfield. They didn't get the midfield until Turpin gave him, you know, put him the ball at midfield, by the way, for the first time this season, in my opinion, they got an opportunity to see what a weapon that guy can be because they were kicking it they were giving him opportunities yesterday and I thought you saw some of that, and one of them got negated by a penalty. But that's sixty three yard return that

put him in position. But I want to get field goal out of it, but that he was gonna do that and the opening kickoff, yeah, he could cut back. I think, honestly, I think that the blades of grass there, I mean, he's not used to that, you know it. It was a very soft, spongy, thick grass and and you're you know, you're not used to playing against that kind of stuff. And he tried to make a cut he used used to making. But um, I hed a

mcquam who had a great block on that return. Because if they're gonna try and run it to the middle and instead he says, I gonna just take it up the sidelines because they got everybody pins inside. Mcquamo with a just really good one on one block in space that got him sprung out the door. Vision is this is a really good pickup by the cowboy, and he's he's a weapon. He makes plays that you don't without

even touching the ball. We've seen some bad punts this year, shank punts and stuff like that, and and it's because of him. He's putting that on tape that you need to be fearful of him. And I think he'll he'll break one before with these colder weather games. That's what I was thinking too. You're gonna have to kick the ball and it's gonna be short, and he's gonna come flying and you're gonna block and he's gonna give you feel position or score. Yeah, that's the end of our show.

But tomorrow we will talk about Dak coming back and what we think of Dak coming back. We got a chance to see him yesterday before the game and doctor said, Derek said, he's ready to play. I saw his sweet I think he's ready to play. But and then we heard from him after the game. We'll talk about that all tomorrow and tell you where we think he is and what the prognosis is as far as him coming back this week. We'll do that tomorrow. So then for

Nick even Brian brought us Amber Garcia. I am Derek Heels. 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 How