The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
Cowboys. Are you ready for a Break?
Yes?
Are you ready for a break?
Absolutely?
Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that.
It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com right with Mbar Garcia, Brian brought us, Nick Harris and Derek Eagleton.
It is Wednesday, November twentieth, twenty twenty four, Season twenty, episode number seventy one. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break. We are live from the WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. We're presented by LG. LG is the world's number one OLED TV brand for eleven ues accounting. See why at LG dot com Forward slash O led Evo. Nick's not with us today. He's got some responsibilities. He's handling an open locker room which is happening right now, So we'll.
Hold it down for today. We got a lot to talk about.
We'll talk about the Commander's offense and how they'll match up against this Dallas defense. But before we go, there lots of injury updates. There are a lot of things happening on the injury front. For the Cowboys. And so I'm gonna run down a list of guys, Brian, and I don't know. There are may be some that we have some answers on there, maybe some we've had some reports on. Sure, maybe some of you're like, we just don't know right now. And that's okay too, Zach, let's sell it, Zach Martin.
Yeah, he's dealing with a lot of things. Yeah, and so that one they're they're a little bit worried about this week. Really too many to name all the things he's dealing with. And in a way you feel sorry for a warrior like that that's just happened to you battle through things. But it's like you know, when you ask, it's which one which injury? You know, And so that that would be one I think that has a little concern this week. Yeah.
I started feeling bad because I forgot who I was talking to yesterday and he got me thinking it was in the topic about him, and I started thinking, man, here we are criticizing like how bad he's playing this year and probably not knowing to the extent that he's actually dealing with all these injuries, and like how much I mean, clearly is affecting him, but the reason of it not really being his fault, and he's just trying his best to be out there and do what he
can despite all these different pains that he's dealing with. So it's just one of those things that it sucks either way because you don't want to see him playing that way. But at the same time, it's like, damn, you gotta give credit to and like respect that he's actually tried so.
Hard show over back ankles, knee. I mean yeah, I mean, you know, you're better off name in which body parts aren't hood as opposed to which ones are hurting, and it is. It's compromised him as a player. It really really has compromised him. And you know, unfortunately that's uh, you know, we've we've seen that kind of happen here. Remember with Travis Frederick a little bit when he had the illness and then the next year he tried to
play and he just wasn't the same Travis Frederick. And I kind of feel like that that maybe Zach Martin is kind of feeling the same things right now.
Yeah, you have to you go and listen to Storyline with with Nick Eaman and Nick tells his story about It's a story that Darren Woodson told him about when his.
Career, when he knew his career was oh yeah, and how.
He's batting through all these injuries and just trying to get back on the field.
And he had this.
Moment with with britt the the athletic trainer here Brown, Yeah, and and and they were both kind of going through these drills and it just wasn't and they both kind of looked at each other at the same time, and and Darren was like, it's over, ain't it. He was like, yeah, man, yes, this is it. And so I think that's the hard part for any player when you there's you know, father times undefeated, right right, and there's comes a time when your body just won't let you do it anymore. And
I'm not trying to prematurely retire Zach Martin. What I am saying is yeah, but what I am saying is that there's a certain amount of respect that he's we have to call what we call what we see when we see play, we have to give an opinion, of an honest opinion about what we're seeing. But at the same time, there's a love of respect for that man because of what he's done to this point, and then you give him deference for the fact that, yeah, it might not look great on the field right now, but
he's battling. He's battling with everything he's got and and you just see where it goes from there. You know, let's move on. Let's talk about Jake Ferguson. What are we hearing about him?
Yeah, I don't think Jake Ferguson's going to play this week, and so that that, you know, he came out of the game after the interception. We talked about that a little bit yesterday and it doesn't look that he's going to be okay for this week.
How did you assess Brevin s van Ford and Luke Schoonmaker this I.
Think it was I think it was a positive game for both of us because I think both of them together had fourteen targets. But you know, span Ford is not a great catcher of the football. Schoonmaker has ability to catch the football. We've seen him be able to do that. He you know, he'll take a hit, you know, one of his better games. I think as a group together, it was one of their better games. When you start to talk about the young guys and what they were able to accomplish.
YEP.
About Tyler Smith.
Tyler Smith should be okay this week from what I'm here.
He did say in the locker room afterwards that that he felt pretty good. He didn't feel like he was he was really that right, So he said he expected everything he expected.
Yeah, that's the word I got this morning, that they expected him to be ready to go.
Let's talk about Tyler Giden.
Geiden should be okay to go as well.
Yeah, all right, let's talk about Brandon Cooks.
He both he and Marshawn Neelan they open their twenty one day window, either one of them you expect to be out there this week or do you think it's kind of a open the window, see how it goes.
I think it's an open the window, but we might be the point now break glass in case of emergency and trying to get guys back to make to make up for all the guys you've lost. But my anticipation is, once you open that window, I mean it's gonna have to be you know, practicing, you know, you know, two three days it's not you know, well, hey, we'll just get them acclimated and even Mike McCarthy said yesterday, when you do this, it's when you have these guys back
or get them back. You're not gonna play sixty plays anyway. So I think it's more about the acclamation than it is you know, right now, and then we'll see what happens. Man, it's unfortunate you got another you know you're gonna have a short week. You know, maybe it's a maybe you sacrifice this week to make sure you have guys for Thursday. You know, that's that's that's where you're really gonna need some healthy bodies if you can, if you can pull that off.
Yeah, running these games so close together, it's it's a difficult injuries.
When you're winning, it's you get into a flow. When you're losing, it's like bills coming at you know, when you when you don't have a job and you don't have money, bill show.
Up great, analogy bill show up really really fast.
When you've got a really healthy bank account, you're you know, you're on time with all your bills. It's like, oh man, did I pay that? Oh yeah, I can't. Okay, I gotta tell you know. But when you don't have that money, it seems like Bill show up every damn day.
We also right now with this one, it's not so much the losing aspect of it is the injury part of it that you're like, oh my god, like I keep getting worried, are we going to have enough players to play again? Because they just keep dropping down and the I mean, the good thing is like now you can put you're potentially gonna start having some of these guys back, but you start getting some back and then keep adding so you're you're still losing more than what
you're adding on. So that's just that's concerning there, because the health of the teams.
Really does happen to teams that that aren't winning. I mean, you look at teams that I'm sure that everybody that's you know, struggling right now that are you know three and seven or four and six or two and whatever, you know, I mean, they they everybody's struggling with that right now. I Mean, you got the aspect of your not playing well, but you've also got the you're dealing with the injuries. Those are just that's the thing that's even that makes it even worse when you're trying to
kind of play these games. You're right, Ambar, you look up and you know you're using three You know you're you're using all three of your activations off the practice squad to start a game. You know that's that's really no way to go.
Let me ask you this this off this is an offshoot. But let's assume for a second that Cowboys come back from they get allowed all these guys back from injury, uh, and they start playing really, really well.
Will you be more frustrated or will you be more happy?
And what I mean by that is frustrated at man, if they didn't have all these injuries, they'd be in a much better position for the season or happy with the fact that, Okay, it really was just the injuries. It wasn't everything else that has been painted as maybe the problems.
Maybe it was just that they were so bigged up. Which would you get which we did you feel more of?
I'm not forgetting about those like two first games of the season when you have most of your starters still in there.
But let's let's also be clear.
We've seen this happen, not just with the Cowboys, but every team in the league. You get started sometimes and you lose some games, and then you get going or you start really hot sometimes and you fall off, Like I don't, I don't know that you would make you wouldn't necessarily make a determination about an eight a seventeen game season off of two or three.
Well, I'm back to you because your point that where all the issues stems from is the offensive line, right, it's all question. I mean there, you have.
Your guys there, so it's just I'm not buying it.
That was the point.
Like for me, I think the problem is still the past. Yeah, but I just want to see how you guys felt about it.
I think Gambar's right. I think that you know, to me, the injuries are a part of this, especially ashen you're starting quarterback. I would feel better about it if Dak was back or was playing and they played better overall, maybe like with the rain. Did you know the Rams came here last year, took a loss and then I think there were three and three and six at the time, and then went on a run, you know, and and everything kind of then they got you know, got in
the playoffs and all on. You're kind of like, wow, you know, you would feel better that way, but no, they they you know, there's a lot of things that are not We're not right about this football team and I and I take responsibility too because of the platforms I have and talking about it on a daily basis. There's things that you know that you look at and you're like, Okay, this looks right, this looks right then,
and it really wasn't right. Just as badly as I've misevaluated, I think the guys and gals across the hall did as well. You know, there's things they do the autopsy on this season, and likely it's not going to be a very good ending, you know, with your starting quarterback being out and dealing with all the things you're dealing with. But when they do the autopsy, they've got to go back and look at, Okay, what were the things that we really believed in when we went into the season.
I'm not And you know, the possibility of having a new coaching staff, if the new if this daft gets to come back, you know you have to. You know, Mike always talks about what we have to do and evaluate. You know, you're gonna have to do a real, real deep evaluation of why you thought certain things were going to work. And and that's I think that's where I'm at right now with his football team. I do. I
feel bad for fans. I feel like I let him down in some ways that you know, talking about players in a way of like, hey, they're going to rely on this guy, and this guy looks okay, and they could you know this could be you know, the tight end room wasn't good enough, the wide receivers behind Lamb weren't good enough, The running back situation wasn't good enough, the offensive line wasn't good enough. You mean you didn't expect the fall off of Martin the way it was.
I mean, I was trying to figure out how A and I s Mark slarep this question yesterday on one O five three of the Fan. How does a team that's the second overall seed in the playoffs in the NFC turn into a team it's likely going to be picking in the top five of the NFL draft.
How does that happen?
And that's the autopsy that you're gonna have to do right now. You're going to have to figure that out.
Yeah, you want to know.
One of the interesting things I think that happened here is I think this is a situation where none of the individual players that they lost last year were players that we looked at and said, oh my gosh, wow, what are you gonna.
Do about that misvaluation?
But no, But my point is, I don't know that it was a misevaluation. As much as this may have been a situation where sometimes the individual issues are not as big, the cumulative is what becomes the problem. And maybe that's the issue, is that they lost so much talent that it's more than cumultive.
It changed the maybe it changed the locker room.
Maybe it changed your ability to absorb some of the injuries, because I know that's one thing we did talk about.
You didn't really lose a lot of your frontline players. You lost your depth.
And what we're seeing, especially at the defensive end position, like if you would have had these injuries, these same injuries on the defensive line from the defensive end position that you had this year, if you had those last year, you would have been okay because the depth was there. You had Dorn's Armstrong, you had Fouler, you had guys that you could kind of push up because you had such depth. You lost that depth, and so it wasn't necessarily that losing those players last year was going to
be huge. From the standpoint of your frontline starters, it was that you lost your depth, and.
The cumulative cumulative of.
All of those losses I think was greater than the parts individually by themselves.
Well, again, it's why you weren't able to do during the off season and during free agency due to the lack of money or the cap space that you had, but also having to rely on all of these younger talents so.
As a group, because yeah, as a group.
That you had so many, so much young talent, and you're just depending on them and betting on them that they're hopefully all at once be able to surpass and avoid that learning curve that naturally needs to happen for these younger players. But also to your question, what would make me happy? You know what would make me a
little bit happy? It's like, show me something different, try something different, be creative, like call different plays, and even if you fail, I can feel better and be like, Okay, maybe you were right.
We're all crazy here.
You know, if you fail, But if you're wining, it's like, okay, on you try something, it worked, let's go, and like you get it excited about that. So that's the only thing at this point that I what would make me excited is regardless of all the injuries that you're dealing with, Like, I think maybe you can take a little bit of pressure from yourself and just be like, you know, this is where we're at.
It is what it is. There's no turning back.
Now, you can't do anything but like, let's have fun, because I think a difference can be seen when you switch that mindset and you start just having fun and you just accept what you have.
Yeah.
I think, based on my own experiences some things that I've played or done, when you start having fun, it's just it's different, and sometimes that can lead to a different outcome because you can take some pressure of yourself.
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's it's a really good point. The thing that that I kind of worry about is, you know, in twenty twenty five, you're gonna have another big chunk of your talent leaving if you look at how this thing is set up. You know, we talked about Zach Martin, Marcus Lawrence, Brandon Cooks, Trey Lance, Eric Kendricks, Brian Anger, Jordan Lewis, Cooper, Rush Lynville, Joseph Ezekiel, Elliott c J. Goodwin, Chuma Doga, Trent c OsO, Diggi Zua.
I'm just going down the list all your free agency, Yeah, Rico Daddle, Chauncey Golsten, Nick Vigill, Carl Lawson, Carlos Watkins, brock Hoffman, Israel mcqualmu, Marquis Bell Turpin, jan Ya, Thomas, Tyres, Wheat. You're gonna have another just another big wave of guys, you know. So now you're in a situation where, yeah, you lost a lot of depth one year, and now you're about to lose the second half of that depth and depth. Those are some starters. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
I mean, you know, we've talked about Martin, you know, Lawrence Cooks. Those are all voidable contracts right there. You know. But yeah, you're gonna lose you know, Uh, Kendrick has played a big part. Brian Anger is a punter. Jordan Lewis has probably been one of your better defensive players. You know.
C J.
Goodwin, they you know, they feel he's their one of their best special teams. Guys, you're gonna lose your deep snapper. You're gonna lose maybe your best three technique and O so Diggy Zuwa, you're gonna lose your starting running back in Rico Daddle. You're gonna lose Chauncey Golston, who's kind of shown that he could be a a you know, he could be a guy when he has to start.
You know, it's you're not gonna you're you're not gonna be It might not be the best, but it's better than you know what you thought it was gonna be. You know, it's just it's one of those things where you kind of look at it and you're going to go, Okay, well, how do you how do you replace that? Okay? You know what that turns into. Yeah, you're only going to get likely ten draft picks, and then they're going to turn around. They're going to sign. They're going to sign
some guys you know, college free agency. They will They've proven that they will spend money to go out. They'll give two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to span Ford because he's on their draft board, he was a draftable player. They'll spend that money. Well, they spend the money in free agency. You know, I mean, I'm not asking him to play Day one, but they might have to play in this year, in this draft.
I will tell you this.
I think you know what they've what they've done traditionally. They didn't do it this last year. But what they've done traditional is they usually sign their own, right. I wonder if they go back to that this offseason.
To say and will want you back, h Jordan Lewison, we want you back, Jordan Lewis, we want you back, like pick and choose the ones.
I would I would assume, see we want you back like those kind of players. Asume you're going to see a litany of those kind of signings where you keep those guys because again, you don't want to lose.
You can't lose too much down because you only got so many picks.
They did that thing just they they they a lot of guys went out the door. And I mean I can say I just named I named all the guys that are eligible to go out the door now. And you're right about trying to resign. But I think you have to be careful about who you pick and choose to sign. You know, maybe some guys they can't.
Afford the last That's what I was gonna say. In the last few years, we've seen guys that we've been surprised how much money they were able to get from other teams and get signed.
So that's fan free agency, let's be clear.
But that's the other aspect of it that you might lose it because of that, where these players can get more money. And another thing is like, I mean, we'll see what happened with the whole coaching situation, because it makes me wonder there's a lot of stuff that we don't get to hear or really truly know how certain players feel. And I'm saying this because yesterday I saw a video that Dalton Shultz posted, so lame by the way, but I'm like, what where did all this animal animosity come from?
Like what what's happening?
And you're like, well, you know what it is? For him? I think, my personal opinion.
I think it's that like in Dallas, the media was on him pretty hard, Fans were on him pretty hard.
People wanted him out of town.
Because he didn't he wasn't performing at the level that they thought he should. And then all of a sudden he popped up and had a season where it's like, oh, okay, Thaling.
Child's pretty good.
And then you came free agent but nobody was like, oh man, you gotta sign him.
Everybody's kind of like he's all right.
But I don't think he ever felt like he got the respect here that he thought he was.
That's just my own personal thing. I've not talked to him. That's that's my.
Thing is players that I didn't expect them to feel a certain way after leaving or once free agency hit. It makes me wonder, Okay, who's another one, because I get like Cole Beastley, we're not gonna get into that, and that might be another one that I love being here and then all of a sudden he leaves and you're like, wait, what where is this kind.
It's a hard place to play when you talk about the media and fans like expectations are hot.
Dalton Schultz's last game for the Cowboys was in the forty nine Ers game in the playoffs, and it wasn't one of his better games. It really wasn't, and I think the fan base really went after him for that, like bro sidelined. You got to care. You know, you're not going for the ball, You're not trying to get upfield, You're not you know. There were a lot of things and he immediately. I know, I got blocked on him, blocked by him. One of his better blocks. He got
me on Twitter shuts. Yeah, So I mean literally, you know, And I was and I was very critical of him because I was thinking, man, you've got to be better as a point of attack. He still struggles as a point of attack blocker. You watch him play against the tech. He is who he is. There's times where he's a really good football player and in other times he's just very ordinary, you know. And so he took it very personal when people were calling him very ordinary. You know,
that wasn't his you know, that wasn't his bag. He's like, no, you can't criticize me. I'm gonna block you. Okay, congratulations, you actually got a block.
And I think for some players, the spotlight of playing at the Dallas Cowboys is a little too much because you do have to take a lot of criticism, like yeah, and it comes from a lot of different points. And I don't think every player yet, I don't think every player wants necessarily deal with that. You go and play in the city where it's not as bright, and let's be clear, like Houston is maybe one of those kind
of franchises where maybe it's not as bright. Everybody in town loves you and you feel that love all the time, and when you mess up, nobody really says much about it. And I just don't think that's Dallas. That's not Dallas.
And so that's the part where I look at it for some of these players, and to your point in but I think they leave, they go other places, and they can be another places where they're like, you know, this is just better for my own mental health because I don't like having to listen to people criticize me in that way. You know, that's just my personal poll.
Take it out on the fans, not on the team. I mean, but again, we don't.
Know what some of those relationships were like in that side of.
The He might be unhappy that they didn't make a play to sign him for more money. Yeah, that's that could also be a part of it, right, So again, there's lots of things involved there. But we're gonna take our first break when to come back. We're going to dive into this commander's offense versus the Cowboys defense. Will be back Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the Cheetah Savannah. 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 day. But the good news is Todd has at and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew at and T five G. Fast reliable, Secure.
Five G requires compatable plan and device five G may not be available in your area. See add dot com slash five G for you fifty deals.
It's the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys Jack Black, and right now Cowboys fans could get fifteen percent off their seventy five dollars order. Plus because every deal needs a playmaker, your order will include a free five piece skincare set and free shipping. The Jack Black Playmaker is four of Jack's favorites and a full sized intense therapy wipball. Make a play for the playmaker at Getjack Black dot com slash Cowboys with the code Cowboys vip.
That's get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys with the code Cowboys VIP.
Don't put off getting your oil change Dallas Take five Oil Change, a proud partner of the Cowboys is faster than you think.
They're so fast you don't even have to get out of your car.
You can take advantage of Take fives. Stay in your car ten minute oil change at any of their locations.
Across the Dallas area.
And remember at Take five you stay in your car because they're faster than you think. That means you won't even have time to show off your best touchdown celebration. Take five the official oil change of the Dallas Cowboys.
From the field to the festivities. Lu Casey embodies the essence of luxury and tradition. Handcrafted with meticulous precision, each pair offers unmatched comfort and style. Stand tall while you're tailgating or cheering in the stands with the Dallas Cowboys Collection by Lucasey. Shop the collection today at the Lucasey store at the Star and Frisco, or online at lucasey dot com. Lucasey the official boot of the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Hey y'all.
Matt Pittman of meat church here. With football season kicking off, I'm already gear enough to bring the smoker back to AT and T Stadium for some epic tailgates. But with that Texas heat, it's crucial to keep my beer handcramping cold. That's where Yeti's insulated colster can cooler comes in clutch this year. You can even get them with the iconic star engraved on the side. Licensed Yettie Cowboys gear is now available at stadium pro shops, concessions and on yetti
dot com. Check it out today. YETI Official cooler and drinkware of the Dallas Cowboys.
Back to the break, lgoled evo is the best TV in the game, but don't take our work for it. Digital Trends said that LGOLEDG four has the best picture quality they've ever seen. See for yourself at LG dot com slash ol at.
Evo Welcome Back.
It is the second segment of the Break life from that WBC Mortgage Studios at the Start, presented by LG. This segment is brought to you by blockchain dot Com. All right, let's talk about the commanders. We'll start with this offense. Jaden Daniels checked us out. In the first eight games of this season, he was averaging nine rushing
attempts per game fifty one rushing yards per game. Over the last two games now he's only averaging five rush attempts per game and only averaging eleven point five rush yards per game. My question is, is in your study, is that more about the injury or do you think there's been something that's that's maybe even about the opponents that they've played. They've played Pittsburgh and Philly the last
two weeks. Maybe it's the opponent. What do you think is the reason why there's less rushing by Jayden Daniels.
I think that I think that dan Quinn probably went into Cliff Kingsbury and said, listen, stop running the dude.
You gotta get it killed.
Yeah.
Yeah, the only chance we got is with this young quarterback in and he has been outstanding. He is he's deadly accurate throwing the ball. Uh, he doesn't turn over the ball. He has the ability to make you miss in the pocket. When he's been sacked, it's it's generally been pretty quick. They've they've had some problems, you know,
at the left tackle spot. Brandon Coleman is a rookie, and you know him and Cornelius Lucas have kind of switched some spots there, but they've played they've played this rookie Coleman, and he's and he's had some trouble on that left side him him and then you know, I think some other areas in that offensive line that have given up some pressures, but Coleman's the one that seems
to have the most problems. And where he has problems, it's very similar to where and I know we're talking about the quarterback, and I'm gonna get to it how this affects the quarterback because Coleman's with these guys that's got some some terrence steel to him that he really can't handle the inside rush all day. That well, me personally, I'm taking Micah Parsons and I'm running him as hard
as I can into the inside there. Maybe cover the cover the left guard Alligretti, then Nick Alligretti the left guard, cover him so you can't double or can't help him, and just see if Parsons can win one on one because it's been quick pressure, quick sacks. Because if you let Daniels kind of float around back there and and and and survey the field. You know he's gonna find guys that are open, but he wants to get rid
of the ball quick. That's that's the whole thing. Like, you know, he's like an eighty percent passer when that ball comes out like at two point five or better. So you make him hold the ball a little bit more. That's a little bit of a that's a little bit of an advantage to you. But Brandon Coleman, number seventy four of the left tackle is the one that struggled the most. Again, they've all given up pressures and it
affects the Daniels a little bit. And I say he's been dealing with a little bit of that that rib oblique kind of thing, and I think that's affected his play.
One other thing that jumped out to me, and this was again about Jayden Daniels running the ball. Three of the four games that they've lost this year, he was held under three point seven rush yards per tempt. That was against Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Cincinnati was the only exception. They end up losing that game.
Thirty eight to thirty three. How teams limited his rushing because.
It feels like that's a big part of being able to limit their office if you can keep it from running the ball. Not that he's not going to be able to get his in the passing game, but we'll get the receivers in a second. Those receivers leave a little bit to be desired, in my opinion. So if you can stop him from being multi dimensional, that gives you I think it had an advantage.
How have teams stopped him when theyve stopped him FM running.
His best runs are out the right side.
Okay, So what's.
Happened is that if he's comfortable taking the ball and he sees it breaking down, or they run these design runs. And early in the year it was a lot of design runs and now not so much. Maybe it's more about scrambles or feeling pressure and all that. Because he wants to throw out of the middle of the pocket. All his tds are from the middle of the pocket,
none of them are from the outside running. You would think a guy that's that athletic, and I remember, you know, from my days at LSU, it was like he could get outside and throw the ball and then throw it down the field. But all his touchdowns have all been from the middle of the pocket. So and what he's done is he's really good at running out the right side. So what he does is that's in going back. That's the vision, that's you know, he's looking and then he
sees it and go. Teams have done a better job of not allowing him to escape route. You know, they kind of overplayed him a little bit. Like you know, is when he drops back, hey, don't lose contain on our defensive left side, keep him, keep him down. Now he'll throw it in the pocket, like I mentioned, But if you're going to get pressure on him and keep him in the pocket, his avenue has been the majority of his snaps not out the left side of the pocket.
It's been out the right side of the pocket. So teams have done a better job keeping him squeezing him in there and then and not allowing him that scape, that escape route that he's had in the previous weeks.
All Right, I mentioned the receivers. Terry McLaren, as we know, is a real big threat for them. Yeah, he leads them in receptions with forty eight and receiving yard with seven hundred and twenty one.
I think having a stellar year. Now he's finally got a quarterback, right, Yeah, but we've always.
Seen that even with back quarterbacks. Terry McLaren is a scary dude, scary quarter yeah, but with a quarterback he's even scarier.
Yeah.
That being said, what other receivers on this roster should the Cowby's Cowboys be concerned about?
You know, I feel like that. You know, we've all familiar with Noah Brown from the cap I mean, he Noah is. It's funny, the only touchdown reception he has this year was the Hail Mary. Yeah, that's the only one he's had. Uh, Noah Brown is still very capable. Luke McCaffrey has done a really nice job as well.
I'm a rice player former.
Yeah, I mean, and you know he's a Christian, McCaffrey's brother, and you know it was converted converted a quarterback and then into a wide receiver and has done a really, really nice job for them. I'll tell you what. Here's here's a blast from the past. Though you talk about with Zach Ertz has been okay, I know he's not a wide receiver, he's a tight end. But that's where it. You know, when you look at the second most targets and the second most receptions on this team, it's been
zach Ertz has been. So what you're going to get is McLaren is really good as a vertical player. We've seen that. I mean, they the one thing that of all the opponents the Cowboys have had this year, Jalen Daniels throw is the best deep ball. So that's Terry McLaurin making it on the on the fly, on the go, on the go routes. That's that's a big part of
their offense. But they also run those intermediate routes. But we talk about ten to nineteen yards kind of in that area, you see a lot of a lot of McLaren is his ability to cross and play in that and that zach Ertz has also played in that area too. So when they don't go to McLaren or they go to McCaffrey or Brown, it's going to be zach Ernz. But I kind of feel like that to me, zach Ertz is not the most athletic guy. There was a
time when he was a hard stop. When when he was at Philly, he was a hard guy to stop. He doesn't run as well, but man, he still catches the ball really really well. So find a way to be alert about about McLaren, be worried about him. But then the next thing you might need to take care of his zach Ertz. And then like, okay, if Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey are going to beat you in this game, then that's tip your cap. That's kind of where that's at though. But they they.
Take the chances.
Yeah, well, but Dallas is you know, Dallas has made pretty average receivers look good too at times. I mean they have not they have not covered well in the middle of the field. They've you know, they they're playing with guys, like I say, they're you know, you know nothing against you know, Butler guys like that. But that's
that's who they played. Carson guys. They've played guys that have young guys that have struggled a little bit and coverage and you know, and and if you're a starting caliber wide receiver for the Washington Commanders and you're lining up against you know, Butler, you've got a chance to get separation and make a cash.
You just feel with Dan Quinn being the head coach, I just feel like he's gonna find the way to know exactly how to attack you.
Well, actually, that's that was gonna be the next question. We're gonna take our break and when we come back, I'm ask you guys, how much how much does that really matter? Because sometimes you think coach and changes don't really matter. But in this instance, because he worked with these guys on this defense for so long and kind of knows them really well, how much does that matter into this this matchup. We'll talk about that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
If you can't be at the stadium, there's no better way to watch your Cowboys then on an LG oled Evil TV. That's because everything you see is more lifelike, every play.
Every hit.
I mean, you might just will be on the sidelines, that's how clear it is. It's all thanks to LG's legendary technology, perfect black over eight point three million self lit pixels.
No one comes close. Lgo led Evo is the best TV in the game for a reason.
See for yourself at LG dot com slash o Leedevo.
They say champions are remembered, but legends are never forgotten. United Agon Turf offers a winning lineup of John Deere equipment built to.
Tackle any challenge on and off the field.
Legendary John Deere Tractors combines residential mowers, commercial mowers, compact construction equipment, cater utility vehicles, and a full line of golf and sports turf equipment. United Agon Turf the official agonturf equipment supplier of the Dallas Cowboys. Visit United dagonturf dot com to find a location near you.
If you shout how about them Cowboys, you have that undeniable passion that's the heart of Cowboys Nation. And if you like to drink Doctor Pepper, you love the unique blend of its twenty three flame. Together, you're one of a kind fandom paired with the one of a kind taste of a delicious ice cold Doctor Pepper is the game day lineup that can't be beat better yet, Gather your Cowboys and Doctor Pepper fan friends to watch the next game and crack open a delicious ice cold Doctor
Pepper for everyone. The wins will be even tasteier.
It's a pepper thing, and we're going to overtie Erica. How much have I spent on concessions.
For questions about their money Dallas Cowboys fans can turn to Erica, the virtual financial Assistant in the Bank of America Mobile banking app. Learn more at Bankofamerica dot com, slash Erica by your Side. Bank of America Official Bank of the Dallas Cowboys. Erica responses me very digital tools featured required downloading the mobile banking app and may only be available on select mobile devices. Erica is a mobile
feature only available in the English language. Your chap may be recorded and monitored for quality asurance, message data rates. Additional terms may apply. Bank of America and a member FDIC.
Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the Cheetah Savannah. 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. But the good news is Todd has AT and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew At and T five G. Fast reliable, Secure.
Five G requires compatible plan and device five G may not be available in your area. See add dot Com slash five g for you for details.
Back to the.
Break at and T connecting changes everything.
Welcome back.
Final segment of the Break Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios.
At the Star.
We're talking about the Washington offense versus the Dallas defense and Amber you t this up before the Break, but dan Quinn's familiarity with this defense, in my opinion, could be a challenge for them, because if anyone knows, how do you mess with a guy like Michael Parsons, how do you mess with a guy like Trayvon Diggs.
You know, I think he knows because.
Those guys, Yeah, and so how much do you think in this instance, this this map, do you think that that will be a challenge for Dallas because of his familiarity.
A lot, Like he's a guy that knows his players, Like he's a guy that was very hands on, very in there and involved with all these players. So I fully trust that he knows all these guys. Granted, there are guys that he hasn't worked with in the past, but some of those players that you mentioned, they're still here.
And I think.
He will know exactly where their weaknesses are and how to get to them and exploit that. So I do think he is in a more favorable position this week when coming up against the Cowboys.
You could say it on the flip side too, though dan Quinn was here, Joe Witt was here. You know, you kind of have an understanding, maybe Mike McCarthy, if Brian Schottenheimer actually want to do. Yeah, Brian Schottenheimer actually started before he was the offensive coordinator here. He was working with the defensive staff for the whole entire year, working for dan Quinn, breaking stuff down, breaking film down.
If anybody has an idea of what dan Quinn's gonna do against certain formations and certain looks, I sure hope that Brian Schottenheimer has that same type of knowledge. Yeah, you know, I mean I think there's a you know you kind of everybody kind of goes, ah, it's not that big of a don't no. In a way, it
is a big deal because you do. To me, and we've seen a lot of teams that are really good at this, they take advantage of your bad players, or they if they know, you know, if they know guys are not very good, or they'd have weaknesses in certain areas. You don't think Dan Quinn has an understanding of how to attack Michael Parsons. He dealt with it for three years. You know, He's like, Hey, I watched Philadelphia do this. I watch San Francisco do this. I watched you know,
this is what we had to do. And I think if you're the d if you're Mike Zimmer and those guys, I think you have to be ready for that. You know, I have to think you have to be ready. I think this is where Al Harris comes into to play for you here. Yeah, because Al Harris is a holdover from the old staff. You know, Al sat in those meetings every single day with Dan Quinn talking about personnel. So you know, it's kind of a I think it's a little bit of a two way street in this
particular game. Hey, let's be honest, though, the the the Commanders have more talent available to him now than any other point in time since they played the Cowboys. You'd have to go back to the you know, maybe the Robert Griffin, you know, the Third Days, where you know the talent. Dallas has always had the better talent in a lot of ways, but in this particular matchup, because of injuries and things like that the Commanders are clearly the better team when you when you look at talent,
and we'll coaching take advantage of the better talent. You know, the good ones do ye.
All right, let's let's flip back.
I want to talk about the running backs. We haven't gotten to them yet. Brian Robinson, Austin Eckler. You're gonna have to handle two backs this week. Tell me what each one does best, and and then tell me how you you would go about trying to defend them.
Yeah. The thing with with Brian Robinson is that he is He's a really good inside runner. So not to say that he can't bounce it outside. I think Austin Eckler is a little bit better about getting it to the corner. But Brian Robinson is a little bit more attack your attacking over the left tackle or tackle, excuse me, attack you between the guard and the tackle. That's kind of his way of running the football. He's a hand it to him and get downhill quick.
Uh.
He can bounce it to the outside, but I think that you're going to have to be able to not allow him just to have those straight shots, those dive shots that they take where you know he gets the ball and the next thing you know, it's a it's a second and four. You know he's running for six yards. So he's a really tough guy. Austin Eckler is a
really tough guy too. I will say this though, if you can get these guys in passing situations, and we talked about how accurate Jayden Daniels could be, but they've had problems with blitz pickups. Austin Eckler has had problems. He is never sure of who he's supposed to get. He's kind of a like a am I supposed to block? Or am I supposed to get out in the flat? Now you could throw him the ball in the flat. He leads their team and run after catch. You know.
That's that's something that's really really big for them. So there, you know, if you find a way, if you can get your rushers on Austin Eckler in the pocket, there's a chance for pressure or there's a chance for sack because he struggled in that area. But but they're both really quality backs. At Robinson Is he's missed a couple of games. I mean, but he is so tough running the ball, you're gonna you hand it to him. It's
a pile. It's a five yard game. It seems like it's the way every time you watch the tape playing this guy and around the goal line. He's extremely tough as well.
Yeah, you look at this last game against Joe Mixon. Joe Mixon put up twenty carries for one hundred and nine yards a five point five average.
Forty five of that was one carry.
It was, it was, and then there was also two receptions for forty four yard. You had total hundred and fifty three yard greens. Here's my question for you, based on what we saw in that game, what were the areas where you think Dallas or how did you assess Dallas's run defense against Mixing and do you think there's something that can carry over from that into this matchup.
Yeah, the thing with Mixing is everything was going to bounce, you know, and it was he was going to attack you front side, and then as soon as the play looked like it was stopped, he was going to bounce it outside. And then on the forty five yard run. They were just bad at the you know, they they they got what they wanted with Parsons and those guys squeezing it and forcing it back to the inside. But the cut, the cut was so perfect that you know Golston got knocked down.
That was the play where Golston y.
Israel mcwamu was out of position and then Hooker was a terrible angle and next you know, it's a forty five yard touchdown. When Dallas is bad in run defense, it's usually mistackles. It's that you know, when they get bodies to the ball, they can get a guy down on the ground. But the problem is they'll at the worst times, they'll miss tackles. And I think this is where Robinson and Eckler can maybe cause you some problems.
These are, like I said, they're two tough runners, but here here's you know, they're coming right at you coming downhill. That's a little bit different than the guys they've had to deal with. They've had a little bit more quickness to them. These guys run with a little bit more power, and I think Mixing was kind of the same way. But you take away that forty five yard run, you kind of had to feel good about what they did against him, and not.
All that was a pretty good day. Yeah standpoint, Yeah.
From that standpoint. Yeah, but when Dallas is bad playing run defense, they they get knocked out of position and then they also struggle with tackling. And we've known that and we've seen it, and that's that's kind of what I always worry about, you know, in these games when you have quality running backs.
All Right, that's the wrap. We will be back tomorrow.
We will jump into Dallas's offense versus the Washington defense, and we'll talk about all that, all those topics tomorrow. Until then for Brian brought us, Amber Garciam Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
This has been a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club