Cowboys Break: Falling Into Place

to the latest edition of The Break. We are lifting nest WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, it is a victory Monday Cowboys are heading to the playoffs. They get a big win on Saturday night versus Philadelphia Eagles, fifty one to twenty six. We're gonna talk all about that, and it starts a little talk on the playoffs here Later in the show, Nick, we'll start off with the ninety four. They can really only be one, right, Michael Myers? Sure,

Michael Myers, let on, there's three? Is it? Yes? That's why they do it, and that's why they do it. I know, he's just my favorite. Which one? Yes, my favorite? Who's the third? Am I bad, oh yours, Hey, Randy's my guy? Guys, Well, I didn't know we were putting him there with d Weare and Hayley. I mean, that's he's got the number, but that ring of honor they end Gary put him there. He didn't. You gave him the number and he stuck by him. True, Okay, which

is another reason why they gotta pay him. Because if you're gonna stick by him, who was one of you guys were making that point last week. If you're gonna stick by them all this time and then get to a point where now he's playing, well, don't let him go at this point exactly. Get the dividends off of all that invested time that you put into him. All right, let's talk about this this win Cowboys win fifty one

twenty six. I don't know, it was just from the beginning of the game, you just saw that, especially offensively, this Cowboys team was clicking. Let's go through first and get some storylines. What's the big storyline takeaway from that game here on Monday morning? I mean a big, big, big picture storyline is that it worked out perfectly. I kind of like my eyebrows went up when you said

they were clicking. They were don't get me wrong, they were playing the B team or the C team even I mean, I guess the big pictures that Philly made it really clear what their priorities were going into that game. I mean, they left eleven starters on the COVID list and they pulled another ten healthy players. So not to take credit away from what the Cowboys did, like they wanted to go get some work, get some momentum going. They did all of that. Let's see how it translates.

I thought they did a great job, you know, in the offense. I mean, it doesn't matter who you're playing against. I thought Dec threw the ball better. You can tell his throws were on point. That was early on in the game. They went and scored just every time they had to. And I think they had some fun. They had fun out there and they needed to do that. And you know, beating the little brother like that and

beating him up. I guess I don't have a little brother, but if you had one, I guess that's what you knows what it feels like, because that's what they did to filling so and the roles have been flipped. But right now, that's the way, it is absolutely perfect game for the Cowboys. Everything they needed work to their advantage. They walked out with no really any major injuries or

anything like that. That worked out. They played all the way into the third quarter with their starters, that worked out. They beat a team that, even though you could say it be her See team, that's what they needed because they needed to walk out of that game with the kind of confidence that they walked out of there. So I think it was great. I think it's a great start into the playoffs. And we'll see now we're all

in this is it. It's happening, and we'll see how they played this week and again the better teams than the Eagles. That's oh sorry, but that's a really great point. And I guess my big takeaway is just it was a weekend full of people's decisions that maybe I didn't agree with working out, you know like that I don't I don't make the decisions. And that's why, like Cowboys decided to play everybody for as long as they needed to. They got out of it without anything really bad happening.

They got the win, they get to feel good about themselves. I'm over here, like why are we playing this on a Saturday. Well, the Cowboys one, which put pressure on the other teams. Why are we flexing all these games to three thirty in the afternoon. That's why, Like yesterday was amazing. So like all the league's decisions worked out, the Cowboys decisions worked out, and I just have to eat crow. I guess records and made the first of

the last time. Nope, records in milestones matter to the players and to the coaches doing it to the fans maybe, but they matter. Trust me. We were in the press box. We could see there was technology radio waves going back and forth on stats in the game. People down there wanted to know what the status where. Oh yeah, where Zeke was one thousand yards? Well, I mean, I mean Dax's on the two yard line. He was never running the ball in until that record was there. And then

the record gets there. Now we're handing the ball off to every running back that's even thought about being on this series. Now, just that like the sequence of like they threw it or maybe they handed it to Corey Clement, they threw it to Jeremy Sprinkle, then they threw it to Corey Clement. Then Jaquan Hardy gets in the game. There was definitely a moment in the fourth quarter of Smith Edo Smith, Me and Nick were just like, they're going for this record and I don't care what they say,

Like they can downplay it all they want to. Yeah, And I would say this, I kind of agree with Amber on this. I think it was about rhythm. Like what we keep hearing from this offense is they haven't quite found they haven't found the rhythm here all the games where they weren't playing at their best, and so it didn't matter who they were playing. It doesn't really matter if you're playing the B B team, C team, whatever.

The point is, you wanted to find a rhythm. So they're heading into the playoffs, you feel like you're just operating at a different level. And that's what I think they were able to get out of this game. I will see, I hope. So for their sake, we don't know if it's gonna work. I'm saying that was their goal. Their goal was to find none of them that you're right, well,

that was their goal. We don't know if it worked, honestly, like I hope it did, because if you watch that RAMS game, that's a nasty front coming to at and T Stadium on Sunday afternoons, so I hope they found something. Yeah, and even more importantly, that run game we're gonna get. We'll get to it. That is not you didn't win

anything great by having to face San Francisco. We watched that game, and like Nick and I were texting back and forth all afternoon just sort of trying to I mean, we had a funny exchange where like in the second quarter of that game, I texted Nick and Rob and I was like, all right, so it's the Rams. Let's like, let's get that story ready. Sorry Cardinals. But Nick was like Jesus, like, or the Ram's gonna win the Super Bowl.

This is ridiculous. And then an hour later I texted Nick and I was like, you think we should write a story about maybe needing to play the forty nine ers, And like by the end of that game, I was just like, is it good that they're moving up? Or

are we should we not be happy about that? That's kind of Twitter yesterday, Like if you're on Twitter, Twitter was all over the map yesterday because there were so many games where it was like you'd think one thing and then a little bit later it's like, whoa, whoa, hold the presses. I don't know what's happening here. Everything's changing right right. You know. Somebody tweeted at us too, that said, everyone keeps talking about not playing Green Bay.

You know, now, you don't play Green Bay in the second round. If you get to the second round, you just have to go play Tom Brady probably who's never beaten you. You've never beaten you know, so either way, like you gotta stop this nasty run. Have you ever beat Aaron Rodgers? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, that beat him a couple of times. They've beaten him a couple of times. Not. I mean, I'll tell you like this, in the playoffs, I'd much rather go to Tampa Bay. Yeah, didn't go

to Green Well, this is no doubt. That's what I said on the radio this morning too, was it doesn't matter where you play. You know this for the first two if you get to two games, you know that you're not gonna be in cold weather. You're just not. You're gonna be at home or you're gonna be in Tampa. So Das had good games at home. He had a really good game in Tampa as well. When you can throw the ball, the weather is not a factor. It

was not a factor against Philly. Wasn't windy like as I as I it was kind of funny though, as I let you guys know, it wasn't so good. Good job meteorol. Just Derek over here. It was the weather Apple. It still wasn't pleasant outside. I'm sure it looked like it was kind of cold. You can tell by look on people's faces. All right, Um, here's what I'm gonna do. We're gonna do a little thing real quick. What's funny. It's like you guys keep talking about the opponent O

good things, not Green Bay or whatever. But in reality, it's like any team is gonna be a struggle, like but the Cows. These are the kinds of teams that they have struggled with in the regular season this year. So regardless of who it is, and I get it, some things are better than the other, but either way, it's gonna be a problem. There are no cupcakes in the playoffs. This looks a lot like Inver though, which is scary because then it's just that a really strong

running game. You don't even know who the running backs are. They're just good because they run the ball well. Their quarterback. You know, I don't think he's that great, but you know he can manage the game and he can he can get it going. Yeah, and so this I don't know if Denver is a good example because that was so embarrassing, But you're right. I mean, it's a game like that where it's just it's now it's a different type of game. You thought it was gonna be more,

you know, fast paced whatever lust. Now it's some more of a fistfight. So the tow Boys have showed they could win both ways. So this they're gonna be tested though. And as we know who've been around AT and T Stadium, when San Francisco comes to town, they are gonna be some fans there. I would assume I'm interested somebody. I did a radio hit last night and they were asking me like, yeah, his AT and T really that good

of a home field? And I was like, look, your criticisms in the regular season are valid, Like we've seen that that plays out. But I've covered three playoff game? Is it three? I've been I've covered the playoffs at AT AT and T and it's different. It's different, But this is San Franciscos a lot. This is a different. Favorite time they're here. They tendis you up at games, but for the playoffs, tickets are harder to come by, I

would assume. But we're gonna find out. We're gonna like that. Well, you know day our marketing department has decided to put you know, a certain color on this game. So we're gonna find out real quick. We'll see what it looks like. It's gonna if you're if, you will be a white out. So always fans where you're white. But yeah, that's I mean, at forty nine, fans are gonna be whearing the white jerseys. Rams were would easily see that that Rams were playing

for the West. Yesterday and so far was red. I mean, it's been a while the game that everybody like that. It was eight years ago at this point. It was twenty fourteen season opener. They lost to the Niners. Um, I think Kaepernick was still their quarterback and it was like sixty percent red. It was worse yesterday. It's so far like it was even worse. That won't happen in the playoffs, though I trust the Cowboys fan base in the playoffs. I mean, I think sometimes in a regular

season and this is the part. You gotta remember in the regular season, a lot of times fans are thinking, you know, games I want to go to, games I want to go to where can I sell my tickets and maybe make back enough to cover most of my costs for the entire season, And those tend to be some of the games. It's not the division game, it's not a big time opponent. Let's say, if the forty nine Ers aren't great that year. So yeah, that could

be a part of the reason why. But I just know every time I've since i've been here, every time San Francisco comes to town, you see a lot of it. You see a lot of it. So, and they got a lot of fans. They're one of the teams in the league that have a lot of fans, and there is a traditional rivalry here between the Cowboys and the forty nine Ers. Yeah, well, it'll have to happen this week. You know, it's stuff that's this week. I mean, you Cowboy fans are secondary market, I guess has it, So yes,

we'll see, we'll see what happens. I mean, I'm sure there will be some But either way, like Dave said, it's different, it's just different. There. I mean, we've all covered it, we've been there, and and that's another thing. I thought. It was an absolute perfect weekend for the cow Boys. Yeah, they're not gonna get all three wins. Carolina wasn't gonna beat Tampa, but they got two, and you had to have the Rams and that was the

only one that had you had to have. And then we had heard all week it was gonna be Monday Night and it was gonna be a Monday night game. And the reason why it's not is because of those West Coast matchup. Because when they when they they could put those two teams in a good spot for them that they only they kick off at what's five o'clock Pacific time? Yeah, yeah, five, you know, but it's seven or whatever Monday night football, but it's favorable for them.

So when they got that four or five matchup, that's that that's what moved it. And the Cowboys get three thirty on Nickelodeon. So if it had been if it had been Cowboys Cardinals, we'd probably be talking about a Monday night right right right? Yeah? But I mean three thirty. And the good thing there, that's your rhythm, that's what you do anyways, you do Sunday to Sunday. This is no nothing out of the ordinary. And this week I means you get an extra extra day because you played Saturday.

So yeah, yeah, it actually helps you a little bit having that shorter week lass week. Are we gonna take our first break when we come back and then to do a little that I call talk about it. I'm gonna give you guys some things I saw in the game, and you guys are gonna talk about it. We'll come right back. This is the Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. At ATNC, everyone new and existing customers get our best

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is basic. Restrictions and exceptions may apply. Hi, I'm Clint Tillison. I'm Jay Novachek. And we're both with Turf, the official tractor provider of the Dallas Cowboys. So if you need a tractor to bail some hay, I'm more to cut some grass or a gator to get some chores done, get a John dere at Unitedagin Turf and then let's get to work. Hey, Jay, that's my line, Well not today. Hey, get to work with a Jaundeer tractor package that's just right for you in your budget. Visit you Nan at

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Doctor Pepper zero sugar, the zero you deserve. He is finally here. Back to the break. All right, Cowboy Nation, it's playoff time. We just talked about it. Getting ready to wipe out at and T Stadium and cheer the Cowboys under victory this Sunday, January sixteenth, three thirty playoff updates. Visit Dallas Cowboys dot com Slash twenty twenty one Playoffs Welcome back. It is the second segment of The Break Life in s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. Let's

do some talk about it. I asked some some things that I noticed in the game that I'll throw out to you guys, and I'll let you guys talk about what you saw regarding these topics. Let's start first with Dak Prescott. He was twenty one of twenty seven for two hundred ninety five yards, five touchdown, zero interceptions, one hundred and fifty one point eight, rating pretty much a perfect day for him. He did set a club single season record for the most touchdown passes with thirty seven,

passing Tony Romo at thirty six. Talk about well, I thought it was. It was outstanding for Jimmy, for for Dak. He played an outstanding game. They wanted that record for him. Um he wanted, you know, he wanted to. You could tell they were down to yard line, they were they were trying to throw it in there. Uh, he did it, and you know he did it in sixteen games. Um. Romo played I believe sixteen games that year. He set out a half and at the end of the Washington

game and guess what, so did Tony? I mean, so did day He said, how to half? You know, at the end of the season as well. Um, it's it's well deserved. What does it mean? I don't know. But there's a really great inside journalism like analogy here, because a lot of time, like kind of lazy reporters who maybe aren't doing their job right or just want the player to do their job, for him to just say, talk about how you played today? And you weren't there

on Saturday. So that's what me and Nick are doing right now. I'm just like, hey, talk about this thing that I didn't see. Yeah, An, You're like, yeah, that's exactly, that's exactly. I was not there. Jerry Madelon doesn't like the talk, no, no no, but yess we're gonna do it. The big thing, the big thing for me, and I want to be clear that this is in no way intended as shade um Cedric Wilson man that they got

they have something they like. I thought that was the most impressive part about that game, about that performance for me. I mean, Dak was incredibly only through six shade because they look yeah, they look better and it go. They looked better and like some of his best completions were to Cedric the some of the concepts that they got him open on the out breakers. The was it was it a third down or it was it was it

was a third down. On the first possession of the game, Cedric just ran like a ten and out and Dak just it was it was probably it was. It was his best throw of the night. It was just a really pretty throw and I get the way what I

meant by I don't mean it by Shade is. I just can't help but think about the way this offense was moving when Cedric was in the lineup in the first half of the season, when Gallup got hurt, and just maybe something about the like he plays the slot and that opens Amari's and CDs rolls up a little bit. I think you also have to mention that again, Philly wasn't playing anyone good, so that's probably part of it.

But they just looked really fluid, and it just makes me wonder, you know, I think Cedric Wilson maybe has something to do with that. I think one of the biggest things for me is that, you know, the Eagles going there, the offense starts moving. They almost intercepted a pass which ended up creating a big play for the Eagles, and typically when things like that happened, the Cowboys tend to struggle a little bit if the offense is unable

to score once they go back into the field. So I think that the biggest thing for me was that they didn't necessarily miss a beat that went out there and were never really falling behind or trailing behind. So that's when I see them struggle. The most when the opposing team scores, and then they feel like they start

feeling some kind of pressure. I think Dak he seemed pretty confident and comfortable out there on the field, which is huge because one of the things that I've been saying this whole time is that to me, he struggled he's been struggling with something mentally when it comes to the game after he got back from that injury. So he seemed pretty confident and the way that he played is just gonna be a great start. Like I said earlier to this next week, let's jump to Zeke Elliott.

He had eighteen carries for eighty seven yards, a four point at average, pretty good day for him. He did have a twenty six yard long run, which I thought was a really good run for him as well. Dak before, I mean I had it Zeke before, I thought he looked good. I thought he looked fresh. Yeah, twenty six yard run, he had some burst to him. I think my entire experience watching Zeke on Saturday night was Okay, that was really good. Go sit down. Okay, that looked nice.

Please go sit dow and I like again it worked out for him, but especially in the second half, and I know he wanted a thousand yards, but I was just like, You're like you, you have an opportunity to get this guy off the field and get him some rest, and you're not taking it. And I mean, they finally did take him out, but I would have I would have sat him at halftime. And but again, I know the milestone's important, I get all that, but I thought

he looked good all things considered. What's funny about a thousand yards season is when I first started working here, a thousand yard season was really good year, and then the middle of the year, a thousand yards season became h Now it's become a really good year again. It's the cycle of the way the league is. I saw a stat that this is the NFL. This is the fewest amount of one thousand yards of rushing seasons ever in the history of the NFL, only six. Dam that.

That just goes to show that it is definitely a passing league. Talk about why that is, well, I mean there's a lot of reasons. Number one, there's not many dual backs. I mean there's not many, you know, just one back systems, and the Cowboys don't have one. They got two two backs, So they got two guys that are sharing it. They're throwing the ball around a lot, very much turned into a passing league. And the durability of keeping these players healthy. We I mean, Derrick Henry

is unbelievable and he's sitting in like nine fifteen. He's only played like half the year. It's just really hard to get it out. One of the few guys that actually runs is the primary runner for his team. Derrick Henry finished the regular season ninth within nine hundred and thirty seven yards. He played eight games. Yeah my god, I mean, and then well two thousand if he can stay healthy. But that's the thing about a running back Elijah Mitchell, who will see this weekend for San Francisco

nine sixty three and only played eleven. They can run the ball man. You know, this reminds me, and we're gonna talk about this more this week as we get into it. But the more I start thinking about it, I'm like, this is reminding me more and more what he's doing in San Francisco, and I'm talking about Shanahan. It reminds me so much of what his dad did in Denver. You remember how they used to just plug in rent backs. They were talking about it on the

show on the game broadcast last night. You know you gotta land us Gary and you know who had driven Mike Anderson. Yeah, they got all these guys. It just seemed like every year they'd run somebody in there. And if you played fantasy football, you just want to whoever was the back in Denver because you knew he was gonna get production. And it's way more. And there is another thing they mentioned, way more about the scheme there

than it is about who's actually running the ball. And uh and and I think it's the same thing here. I think these running backs they can really hurt you. And it's not that they're great running backs, it's that they have a system that works. And as they said last night, if they have a running back that can actually find the hole consistently, he can work in that system. Man. I think that's what you're probably gonna see this weekend. They look they just look different when they run the ball,

Like the way the way they scheme their blocks. They've got a true fullback that gets involved. Obviously they got Deebo doing his thing, but like at time when they just battened down the hatches, like we're gonna run the ball like they had like a fourteen or fifteen play drive yesterday where it felt like they ran the ball twelve of those fourteen plays and it actually maybe rapping.

They ran the ball tunnel. They look like they're running the wing tea like they just they got tight ends pulling with guards and fullbacks out in space like it just it looks very unique compared to what the rest

of the league is doing. And you know what, I'm pretty impressed with Zeke right now because we've been talking about his injury since like week four is when I think he started getting hurt a little bit, and then weeks came by and when and then we were like, Okay, maybe this is the time to sit him out so he can rest a little bit. He never did. He

was always there out there on the field. So it's impressive to me that right now he's looking the way that he's looking because I see since the last two weeks, I would say he has a different kind of burst. He seems more energized, more powerful, He's able to move a little bit better right now, and that was all done without him actually resting. So congratulations to them. I don't know what exactly they've been doing with the training

staff and all that. But it worked and I am glad that this is the type of Sea that's going into the playoffs. All right, I want to go back to Cedric Wilson. You mentioned him. He was five. He had five five catches on six targets, four hundred and nineteen yards and two touchdowns. My question for you guys is what are they missing by not having Gallop and replacing him with Wilson And is there anything This I think is the more important part. Is there anything you

think they gain? Is there anything that Cedric Wilson does maybe better than Michael Gallop or do you think it's pretty much an even split one way or the other. I think there's things that they both do better than the other. I mean, to me, I think Cedric Wilson is a little bit more versatile in his and where

he lines up then that they play different positions. But I think that that he compliments the other two guys a little bit better because of just when they're When Gallup is one of the three, you just got like three really good receivers out there. I think Wilson is a little bit more of a slot I think he's he's just a lot more versatile. You can do some more trickery with him and all that. Gallup is just I think he's a he's an outstanding sideline catcher and

you know, contested catcher. Um. But I mean, they're both great that they just feel it feels like it's just a better connection between DAK and Centricals. And I'm glad you brought this up because that's I don't I'm I don't think like they're better without Michael Gallup. That's silly. And I think Michael Gallup is the best contested ball catcher and the best deep ball catcher on this team.

Like if they're on the opposing forty and they gotta you gotta take a shot at the end zone to win the game, I would want the ball targeted at Michael Gallop in a perfect world. But something which it sounds weird because yeah, Michael, Mike's a boundary guy, like he doesn't really play that he can, but they just don't ask him to play the slot. So you would think that you have Gallop and Cooper on the outside

with Lamb in the slot. Like that's that that sounds very favorable to me, and they've looked good doing that. I mean, the offense was great against Tampa Bay when they were all healthy, but moving Cedric into the slot and having those other two guys kind of interchange around him, it just seems like it works. He has chemistry with Dak. The guy's made so many great plays this season, and I don't know what to attribute it to, but it

just kind of looks fluid when he's in there. To me and make said the word connection Dave side chemistry, and that's exactly what it is to me. I don't think that one player is necessarily better than the other. It's like, if you're a professional dancer, you can dance with another professional dancer, but you're always gonna look better with your partner. So it's it's to me, that's what it is. Like they can both dance and all do and do it well, but for some reason, Dak can

dance better with set. You know, like that analogy actually good, that's true. That is a good point, but it kind of messes up my point now. I was thinking about hal Cedric in the in the open field has really been good. He's probably the best on the team, and he was that one time when he was dancing with Cooper Rush in Minnesota. Um, that was still working. But that pass over the middle, you know, if you remember the touchdown, he was weaving through and turning the safety around.

He had a touchdown six years ago which was really like Week four against I think Carolina, when he caught a he caught like a slant over the middle and he did like that spin. Remember that. Oh yeah, that was like whoa that was this season? This season? God right, it feels And he had some plays in this last game where I mean he's really yardists after catch is you know, for a guy that weighs one hundred and twenty six pounds, he does kind of you know, he's

very fluid in the in the open field. He had a play thinking thinking of plays that feel like a lifetime ago he did. He had a play on a bubble screen against the Chargers, just you know, Dak just flashed it to him in the flat and he weaved. He weaved his way between about four guys. He picked up like eighteen But I just remember thinking like, oh, if you'd cut that a different direction, you might be going to the house. But yeah, no, I'm agreeing with you.

So if they were gonna give Michael Gallup an offer to stay, which was probably going to be something that they would would reject, just that over to Cedric Wilson. That's interesting though, because maybe the injury affects what Gallup is willing to sign for. And I would love to have Michael Gallop back, Like That's my point is I'm not trying to sit here and be like they're better without him. They should sign Cedric and not Gallop. I don't know about all that, but Cedric Wilson has had

a really nice season. I don't even think of him as like, well, he's got to step up for this starter. It's like, no, you're just starter. Be like you're three A instead of four, you know what I mean. Like Stephen Jones, he said that they were not going to base their decision off Michael Gallup's injury. That's not really gonna be a factor. But I mean that is it is gonna be a factor. So that's another thing to

look at, is injury wise. And I mean how many games he played total this year because he got that an injury the first Michael, Yes, he played the opener, and then he came back against Atlanta and got her. So I mean different injuries less than less than half the season, like yeah, five, five or six, I don't know the number, but yeah, it's just it doesn't help him. It allows the Cowboys to see a preview of what it could be without him. He actually he started eight games.

That seems high. But yeah, all right, we're gonna stack our final break. When we come back, we're gonna jump to the defense. I got some questions for you guys on defense, and we also got to talk about the kicker. We'll do that when we come right back to Dallas Cowboys dot com radio. I want to use what the pros use. How about the official men's skincare brand or the Dallas Cowboys Jack Black. Right now, you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker

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living room into your office and your gym. We're teaching. Grandma had a video call and teaching her again. It's the button on your left Nanna, Okay, your other laughs. It's not complicated. Everyone deserves something new, so ATNC has given everyone new and existing customers are best deals with every unlimited plan on every smartphone, even the latest ones. A ten team a temporarily slidated speach at the network.

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United Aginturf dot com. Before there was a draft, you could size up a Cowboy by three simple factors, the crease in his hat, the bend of his brim, and his unbending attitude. A man, Stetson didn't just protect him from what life throw at him. It projected a rugged, unstoppable spirit. Stetson hats are still American, made with pride. Right here in Texas. There's still the unofficial crowd of all self respecting Cowboys, and Stetson is proud to be

on the field with America's team. Find a retailer nearest you at Stetson dot com slash Cowboys. Back to the Break WrestleMania comes to AT and T Stadium April second. In April third to two day event visits he dot com, the official ticketing partner of AT and T Stadium. Welcome back, final segment of the Break Life f WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, let's talk some defense and some special teams.

Let's start first with the Dallas defense. They allowed one hundred and forty nine rush yards in this game against Philadelphia four point five average. Here's the kicker. Ninety four of that came in the first half, and that was when the game was still I guess somewhat in doubt. That being said, I concerned to you about this run game. I mean, I'm sorry, this run defense very and I mean nothing to do with the Eagles game, just just

in general. Well, we asked this question last week, and no one seemed to be I asked this question last week, nobody seemed to be too concerned about the run defense at that No, I mean, and I don't think you're I mean, let's just throw that game out the window, because that's not how the Eagles run the ball. Cowboys didn't have, you know, I mean, Cowboys have three really key pieces that did not play in that game, including

Michael Parsons. They don't have their guy or their best if they don't have their short down corner, they don't have their leading tackler and jay Ron Curse, and then they don't have the rookie of the year. And Michael Parsons, you know, who's not gonna win defensive a Player of the Year, but he's gonna win a Rookie of the Year. And that's fine. So I think that, you know, I think that they'll be They'll be as good as they can be. They're still going to have problems with the

team that really does like to run the ball. But if they can stop it early and they couldn't put third and eight, third and nine situations, then I think it'll be a fun match up to see what digs against Deebo. I think he'll probably follow him around a lot. It'll be interesting to see how that how that shakes out. I did. I said last week that I wasn't super concerned about it, but for everything missing on the Cowboys defense, the Eagles didn't play Landon Dickerson, they didn't play their

starting right guard, they didn't play Lane Johnson. They didn't play Jalen Hurtz, who having a running quarterback is a big part of being successful at running. Didn't play Miles Sanders, didn't play Jordan Howard. So that was the B team offense. Kenneth Gainwell, rookie out of Memphis, fifth round pick, just gashed him. And I know they didn't have guys, but

it's discon asserting and even still the thing. If they were playing the Rams, I'd be like, yeah, whatever, they didn't play anybody, But they're playing a team in San Francisco that not only can run the ball, they are determined to do it. They got back into a game that they were trailing by three possessions by running the ball. Second half starts, they're down seventeen to three. Quote Brian brought us here, we go gonna ram it right up your rear. They just marched down the field on it.

So my point is, that's like my thing football one oh one is like build a lead and take the run game out of it. I don't know if you can do that against San Francisco, and so that's definitely disconcerting. I'm still feeling the same as last week pretty much. Think I would be freaking out and probably crying on my couch. Mica Parsons is unable to play for whatever reason, So if that was my not that I needed any

more proof of what Micah Parson means. But that was like another revelation of like, oh my god, Like the amount of impact that he creates on that feel in general, in the defense overall, it's unbelievable. So I'm good as long as Mica is back on the field. It is a very good point Nick and I were talking about in the press box, and Dig's not being there was part of it, but I was just like, there's a lot less fun without Micah, Like it's not as fun

watching this defense when he's not out there flying around. Yeah, he's the most exciting defensive player that since I've been here, and the only player that I've ever like looked for every snap. Like I in the press box, I'm not even the quarterback that's about to get hit by him. I'm just I'm just where is he? Where's he lining it up? This time? He's something fun? Yeah, and uh and then of course, you know when he's not out there, then I go crazy in the press box, get pissed off.

Happened in Week two against the Chargers. That's why I wanted the Chargers to win, because you know, at least they could be a playoff team, because in my opinion, I think it's the most important victory of the season for the Cowboys. That game was the game where we found out a lot about a lot of things. We found out that Terrence Steele can block, He's a pretty good player. We found out Michael Parsons can watch to

the pastor so did Herbert. We found out if we needed at the Cowboy fan base in LA still as strong as ever, and we found out you know, they're not going to go in two there they sput this thing. They go one and one, and they needed that win after that first loss of the season. We thought it was good against Tampa, but they didn't win. They gotta win. I thought that game really changed everything and it led to a big winning stry. I actually asked Dan about

that last week. I was like, yep, ye, sorry, Daniel, don't know what Dan. It would be Dan Quinn the Cowboys. Rather, I was like, you think it's fair, Well, you think it's fair to say that, like and not to paint it as a good thing when you lose your guys, but like you were forced to move Mica to end. Do you think it's fair to say that that changed the trajectory of his season? Like maybe you don't just

throw him a rookie into the deep end? And he was like, yeah, that's absolutely fair because it's like we asked him to do it on short notice, he responded, And now you've got a better idea of what he's capable of. You feel more confident. You just learned. You learned so much new stuff about him because of that. So I agree with you that I think that game launched the Micah Parsons that we saw this season. I don't know if he would have had the same season

if DeMarcus hadn't broke. I'll say this real quick too. It probably created a certain amount of confidence for him too, not just in Dan, but also I'm sure Mica came out of that game feeling like, huh, okay, I can do that too. Okay, I can do this NFL thing right. You know what else happened in that game too, is they also we also find out that when he really, really really have to make the kick, Zora Line can make the kick. Wow, what a segue? Are we going

to go there? Go there? You said we were going to? Would I wasn't gonna go there right then? But let's go there. Let's just go there, Zerline. This is another extra point. They did not take Day's advice and just sit him for the game. And he goes out and he does what I think all of us were hoping he wouldn't do. We were hoping it's like the offense, he would find his rhythm and everything. Would you go

into the playoffs feeling better about him? He found his rhythm. True, he didn't exactly get what he's done for two years. I looked this up. He's an eighty seven percent on his extra points last year, this year, eighty seven percent on extra points. He goes out and kicks seven extra points, he makes six of them, which is eighty six percent. That's what he is. He's an eighty six eighty seven percent extra point kicker. That's what he did. It is what it is. Man. He did. He did. He's nothing

you can do. I know you're you're right. There is nothing he's going to do. I thought, I thought about you after the game, and I thought we we talked about you and and the zeroline thing in the press pot. Yeah, by the you know, by late third quarter, we're just like, okay, this is we don't have to just be following this as closed. So we were just sitting over there talking trash about you and your kicker, your kicker thoughts. But but there's something that I thought of, what what you

want to happen? And what cowboy fans, not just you, cow boy fans want to happen, is they they want to feel good about it. Buck He said it too. I really want to be able to see a field goal and feel he's gonna make this kick. I don't want to have to worry about extra point point kick is one thing, like the extra point. I want to feel like I can go to a restaurroom during an extra You will not be able to do that. I know.

It doesn't matter if they cut a guy, they bring another guy in, like it's you're not gonna feel better about it, so that part of the game is over, Like want might as well take a guy who has done it. He corrects himself for the most part, he went out and made all those kicks and all that he's it is what it is like, it's not going

to be better. Let me ask you this though, if if it's possible, because I think this might be it that it's just a mental thing with extra points, because it's not he can't kick an extra point, he just is missing them. Is it worth maybe going and getting a guy off the street and keeping both of them and you're on your roster and using one for extra points in one and for the cakes And again I'm not I am not no, I wasn't really can now you can never do it before, but now you can

with the way you could just elevate a guy. Is it worth doing? I don't know, I guess, I mean, I don't know. They're not going to That's I know, that's a bummer of a way to approach this, but I just what's the point they're not gonna do that? And also, I a weird part of me this is backward logic maybe, but like better the devil I know

than the one I don't like. Let me, I know, I kind of know what to expect from Zerline, Like he's gonna he'll miss and then he'll make the next few in a row and I'm not gonna feel good about it, but you know, he'll hit the important ones. Whereas like some new guy who I've never seen kick, and now, well we won't see a new guy kick unless it's in a playoff game, which is absolutely terrifying

for me. I get that I would rather like, I'd rather the guy that I don't trust that I've been watching for two years than some new guy that's never kicked in a Cowboy game. Ever that I don't like the sound of that at all. Right, all right, for the kicking export over here. No, it's just it is what it is. You guys said it already. I don't bring it in a guy. It's like, Okay, how much confident confidence do you have any guy that is just brand new in here? Also, how is he building that

connection to me? Like kicking Sin's pretty easy, but in reality, you got to connect with the placeholder who's holding the ball and all that. So that's already there, that's already established with who they got here with, sirline. But it just like I said a few weeks ago, have your offense score enough points, don't rely on your kickers. So yeah, that's what it is. That's what it comes down to

at this point. I think play well enough to give him a lot of opportunities because if you go five of six on extra points, I'm okay, so you scored north of thirty points, that's pretty good chances with that here. The only thing is that I think going into the playoffs where you're gonna be playing much better or opponents, then you know, as soon as you miss an extra point, it changes the strategy of the game. Yes, now it calls into question who's going to go for two? And

when are they going to go for two? And how not just your team, the other team as well, And so I think the strategy changes when you have those kinds of missus. And that's the part that's disconcerting is you start tinkering with that and you find yourself in games that are just kind of you know, you're having to do things you wouldn't normally do, or your opponent starts doing things they wouldn't normally do just to kind

of play that point game. Right. Well, I can't recall other than one time, and I don't even remember what game that was, but I can't recall where they haven't felt confident enough to where it changed their game plan as far as what they're doing. What do you mean what the couple is everything that you mentioned like are okay, are you going for or you know, are you kicking or whatever? I feel like that has that affected their

game plan? Well? I think I think it. There have been games where, yeah, obviously, when you start trying to figure out okay, okay, now that we're at six versus seven, Now you the other team those case, say, scores two touchdowns, when do you go for two? At what point do you go for do you get to do it the next time you get a touchdown? Do you go for

two at that point? Do you hold until later? Now you start having those kind of questions, and then the other team they're also playing that point game two now because they're like, is this a time where maybe we try to get up by ten, so do we go for two? Right? So I think it just changes the strategy for everybody when you start getting misses of an extra point. I got it, but I guess I wondered

it wrong. But what I'm wondering is has there really been a time the season this year where you feel that the Cowboys decision were based on maybe them not feeling confident enough in their kicker. No, I don't know that's what I was trying. I don't think. I don't think they've run from their kicker, Like, if that's what you're asking, Like, I don't think there their situations we're like, we're gonna go for it on fourth down just because

we don't trust our kicker. Here's been a good example of that in the first game of the season against Tampa Bay. I think he missed an extra point and as a field goal. Yeah, it was a very very bad start to the season. At the end of the game, they were very conservative and waiting for him or you know, setting up a forty eight yarder to take the lead.

They were kind of playing for the field goal there, and so even though you know he had been kind of a train wreck throughout that game, so that if you're going to run from him, you would have done it in that one. But you're you're not. And Nick made the best point of all. You're just you're not going to feel good about this. You're just not based on the body of work this season. But and I'm I'm kind of going off the dome here, but how many opportunities at like must have field goals has Zerline

had this year? Tampa Bay Uh, New England tied it with like twenty seconds left sentence overtime Raiders, which I mean, they lost that game, but it is when he's Chargers. Chargers is the big one. When he's had an opportunity at like a must have end of game fuel goal, I'm pretty sure he's made them all except for New England. He missed before that. Yeah, he missed because he wanted Digs to get an interception on the next play and

that set up the interception. Said he said it up and going back, I didn't missed that one, but he missed it. But they got the ball back and then presented he needed to make a kick with twenty seconds left to sendence overtime, and he did and it was even forty forty nine yards. So that's how I would consulet myself. It's just like when he's had to make him he's been pretty reliable. And that was kind of the point of the question I was asking earlier, can

you get somebody in here to kick extra points? Because he can make those kicks. He can make those forty fifty yard kicks when he needs them in games, like, he's pretty consistent at doing that and doing that pretty well. It's the extra points for whatever reason, and that's why I think it's a mental thing. Like at this point, it is a mental thing for him, those extra points. It just really is. It's the whole job is mental because every kicker in the league can kick from fifty

yards out that you're that's why they're here. But you have to be really, really good at it. It has to be a mental thing because they all have a very similar physical skill set, Like they can all kick the crap out of the ball. Yeah, we almost and we got one points. I want to say one more thing about special teams. You know, John Fossil has been outstanding. I mean the special teams has been really really good this year when you think about not just the block

punts and things. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown, but he hasn't had one fake. He hasn't They haven't faked the ball at all. And yet just the fakes he did last year, look what it led to. The Cowboys set a franchise record in net average, which means when everyone's worried about his fakes, so they're not really worried about I mean, they're not gonna just rush. They don't worry about a return. You just punt the ball. It's a fair catch. And it's to the point of

a Cowboys record that there's a method to it. I say it all the time, and when we're seeing it, they are really good on special teams because he throws that fake out there and everyone's worried about it to the point where they're setting records for field position. So I think kudos to them and what they've done. Yes, the field extra point field goals have been in shaky, but special teams have been really really good this year. That's a great point. All Right, we appreciate you, guys,

joann Us. We'll be back tomorrow we're gonna start talking a little. Cowboys verses forty nine are still live for Nick Eatm, Dave Film and in Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club