Cowboys Break: Get-Right Game?

We're live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Got my crew with me, Dave, Amber and Nick, and of course we're joined by Bucky Brooks of NFL Network, as we do every Wednesday and Thursday. Today, Bucky's gonna break down the upcoming game Cowboys versus the Giants, and today we're focusing in on the Giants offense versus the Dallas defense. Bucky, how you doing today? Man? I'm great.

How are you guys doing? Awesome? Awesome? I'm I'm gonna start the verse with the question that we normally ask, but at some point I got to ask you about Jalen Smith because you had some comments a couple weeks ago that I think we got to go back and revisit a little bit. But before we get to that, let's start with give me the greatest asset and the greatest weakness of this Giants offense. Okay, we're gonna keep it real about the New York Giants to New York

Giants offensively, don't have a lot of weapons. There's not a lot of firepower. This should be a get right game for the Dallas Cowboys. When you look at the Giants, Daniel Jones is where it starts. He is the starting quarterback. He's three and thirteen since being the starting quarterback, twenty six touchdowns, twenty nine turnovers As a starter. This year, he has the second lowest passer rating in the league.

The only person who is playing worse at the position in him would be Carson Wentz based on those numbers. Devanta Freeman is their running back. He has forty three yards since stepping in for sae Quon Barkley. Darius Slayton would be considered their number one receiver. He's an explosive athlete, a big time playmaker. Has their only receiving touchdown, and

the other weapon that they have is Evan Ingram. You hear people talk about Golden Tate, but Golden Tate is just a guy at this stage of his career, and the offensive line has really really struggled. They have been pressured at a rate that only ranks with Dallas Cowboys in terms of the amount of pressure that they have

allowed on the quarterback in the league. And so if the Dallas Cowboys get right in play to their potential, this should be a game for their defense to regain their confidence and really use it as a building block to start to perform better. Well, Bucky, you just basically answer my question right there at the end. I was going to ask you between when you have one of the worst offense in the league versus one of the worst defense in the league, which side of the balls

should usually win. The one thing that is kind of the X fact, and I will say this, I think Jason Garrett is certainly familiar with some of the personnel on defense, so maybe that gives him an advantage in game planning and play calling, just kind of understanding some of the strength and weaknesses of the personnel. That's it. This should be a game where if it comes down to which who has the better players offensively for the Giants and defensive for the Cowboys. That advantage should go

to the Cowboys. Now, it's about putting the Cowboys defenders in a position where they can go and make plays and dominate this game. And so it'll be interesting to see how Mike Nolan approaches this because this should be an opportunity for the Cowboys to going to run facing an NFC East opponent. How does he attempt to kind of get them going, because you would like to use this game as a game that propels them to start to play better and make incremental improvements as a defense.

I was gonna I was trying to write a story this week about a familiar face coming to AG and T Stadium, But that's not really the case with Jason Garrett because you don't ever see that their faces anymore. I mean, like, but he's gonna be here and he's gonna be the offensive coordinator he lost Sequon Barkley. Is it hard to evaluate what he's doing on an offense because he took that job probably thinking he's got one

of the most dynamic players in the NFL. I think with Jason Garrett, the thing that sometimes gots struggle with when you go from being the head coach back to the offensive coordinator. And it's been such a long time since he's been the coordinator, his offense hasn't necessarily involved to the twenty twenties and generic offense. It's very not a lot of motion, not a lot of tricks, not a lot of gadgets. We won't see all of the things that the La Rams presented as problems with the

motion and doing those things. And so it is a pretty line up and go offense. And so this is when we talk about this being a game where the Cowboys defense can get right. It really is that because there's not a lot of trickery and stuff that's going on. It's kind of a lined up with ball out there, let's go play. And so for a team, a defense that has been struggling, this is exactly what you want.

You want to see someone who's going to play a pretty vanilla Let's talk draft Bucky because it feels like ancient history at this point. But the Giants had the pickup. You know, we all knew they were going to pick an offensive tackle. They had the pick of all the ones they wanted, and you know it seems like McKay beck Then and Tristan Worth's and Jedrick Wills are all having really great rookie seasons. What does Andrew Thomas look like? And is it early to think that maybe the Giants

picked the wrong guy. I mean it's the earliest four games into it. He didn't have a full compliment of a training camp in preseason. But like everyone on the offensive line, he has struggled. Part of the fascination that Dave Getleman had with Thomas, he was experienced, he was long. He kind of fits what I call that Giant's molde going all the way back to when George Young was the general manager there. The Giants always like big guys. They want big, long, athletic guys to play on that

offensive line, and so he fit the prototype. We can debate whether he was a better player than mackay Beckton in terms of upside and potential and Tristan Worths, who was a fantastic player on the right side of Iowa. But he's been okay, but he's had his struggles, like that offensive line, and I think there's so many moving parts when you have a new coordinator, a rebuilt offensive line,

a second year quarterback moving into a second system. There are a lot of things in place, and I just don't think it's come together for the New York Giants at the time. Yeah, Bucky, I assumed, and this is going back to previous question about Barkley. I assumed that when he went down, their offense would take a huge hit. But last week against the Rams, I noticed that they had their best by far the best rushing day with

one hundred and thirty six yards on the ground. Their previous high on the season was seventy five at Chicago. What do they do differently last week in the running game? Particularly? That made them, I guess better running the ball than they've been in any of the previous games before that. Even with bark you know, yeah, I think he's just a commitment and I think with sae Quon Barkley, going back to him, he's kind of a hit or miss

type running back. It reminds me a lot, and I'm not gonna put him exactly in his class, but it reminded me a lot of like the debate that you would have with Barry Sanders and Emma Smith. Barry Sanders would have two negative one negative three fifty and he would end up with a great day where Emmett was a steady and consistent four and five and four and five, and it would tally it up. Sae Quon Barkley is a running back that is like that. He is a

big play running back. So when you lose him and you bring on DeVante Freeman's just a little more of the persistent three and four and five yard games. That's kind of steadied out their offense. Maybe Jason has made a little more commitment to it. And to be honest, against the Rams, their defense played in a way where they were able to stay in the game. And because they could stay in the game, they could be a little more stubborn when it came to handing the ball off,

from really sticking with the running game. Now, this next question isn't necessarily about the Giants because honestly, I don't have many more questions on them right now. But I do believe that the Cowboys are going to win this game. Let's say they do win, but regardless of them winning, the defense just played a bad game once again. If that happens, I mean, is this a point Let's say Week five, it's it's a point where you start seeing players maybe giving up, not giving up on the game,

but giving up on their coach. You know, it's interesting being on the outside looking in. You do want to because you've heard the questions, You've heard guys talk about like the game and simplifying in those things. It's obviously a difference in terms of leadership and management style between Mike Nolan and Rob Mary Nelly and Chris Rashard, and I think everyone is adjusting. I think the big thing Mike McCarthy and Mike Nolan have to get on the same page and they have to figure out what they

want to demand from each of the defenders. And Mike McCarthy has to figure out what does he want to demand from Mike Nolan, because the head coach's job is to solve problems, to go to the dcord and say, hey, it appears that we're having a lot of communication errors. Let's scale it back. Let's put them in something that they can just go play so they can get comfortable with. And then it's really on Mike Nolan to challenge the guys. He has to get them to play at a high level.

And I know it's tough because you're a new staff, and depending on how you relate to your players, you want to always protect them. But at some point they know what it looks like because we've seen how the defense is supposed to look in recent years in terms of the effort and the energy. Now it's on Mike Nolan and his assistant coaches to kind of hold them to their standard. Well, I don't want to get into

the whole Waldo thing. Again. We spent a lot of time last week and I even got a couple of tweets that said, we have eleven Waldo's on this dam this defense, but what's the ope? What's the opposite of that? And by the way, I was somebody pointed out that Waldo spelled backwards. Is o d law? Don't know where what that means? That pointed out, however, what's the opposite of that? When when you're in the scant ye're like,

who's who's the one guy to target? Is there a term for the one guy that you have to target for the other reason he's the badass of the group, And who's that for the cowboys? So so we used to talk about that guy is the one who wears the big sombrero um, meaning that the game is on him. Whoever has that matchup, he has to wear the big hat that week because he has the toughest matchup. Um. If you want to say, for the Giants, who who is the guy that you're worried about in the matchup?

I don't defend. I don't think you know, like so so like It's funny because early on in the season, I think Alden Smith has to be the guy that you would point out as he has been the best defender. And in saying that, there were some bad snaps that he put on tape against the Cleveland Browns where he didn't really fight hard to fight against a reach block which allowed guys to get around the corner. He wasn't always a guy that was running fully to the ball.

But he has been the most disruptive player. He's the one that obviously leads him in sacks. He has created more of the disruptive plays from their front line. There's some talented players there. I really don't know what is going on in terms of why they're not playing to the potential that we should see based on what is on paper. But they're not playing well. And I'm gonna say Dantari Poe is a guy who should be on

notice because his lackluster performance has really stood out. And he was brought in to be a guy that really helped him against the run, and they have struggled so poorly against the run. And when you see him dropped into Jaylen Smith's lap and Joe Thomas's lap and they're knocked off the ball, that's problematic. And when a team runs for three hundred yards on you man. We could talk about schemes and all that. At some point, pride

has to come in. This week. We would just like to see the Cowboys fight back up front if they get hid in the mouth by the offense, where if we're punchback. I think it really comes down to as simple as that. I'm glad you said that, Bucky, because that I mean if I'm looking, if I'm looking for something for the Cowboys to be afraid of, I don't know. You can laugh at me, but I think it's got to be Daniel Jones because he's athletic, he can extend plays.

The Cowboys aren't pressuring the quarterback, and their front seven hasn't been disciplined, so you put them up against the quarterback who can make plays with his feet and extend plays to give himself time to throw. How troubling should that be? You know, I know he's not Aaron Rodgers, but Daniel Jones has some of that adaptability to his game. Yeah, now he does have some of that, and ming no

mistake about it. The Jats are going to view the Cowboys as a get right game as well, because offensively, when they pop in their tape and they see that the Browns had five hundred yards and three hundred yards rushing the ball, their coach is gonna stand in front of me and say, hey, we're gonna try and jam it right down the Cowboys throat. And so if we can run it and throw play action like the Browns were able to, this can make a game very easy

for the quarterback. So a lot of what we'll see very early in the game would be a replication of what the Cleveland Browns did early. And they want to see if the Cowboys have fixed the problems. If the Cowboys having fixed the problems, they can get a steady diet of the game plan today. Yeah, last week against the Cleveland Browns. That game plan also works for a

young quarterback. Because the Cleveland Browns were hiding Baker Mayfield with the way that they played, the New York guys won't to do something similar to take some of the pressure off of Daniel Jones, to give him easy throws on the outside. So I would think we would see a lot of run early to say Daniel Jones be able to make some plays on play action. All right, So I got I want to get to this question.

I was going to throw out you at the beginning about Jalen A couple of weeks ago, Nick ask you the question of who you thought was performing best on the Cowboys defense, and you threw out Jalen Smith's name. I had a question, and I'll set it up by saying, after looking at this last game, I was really concerned about Jalen Smith and how he's playing. But what I want to get to the heart of is what may be the reasons if you agree that he is he

at least struggled in that Cleveland game. Is it more a function of him being slow to read to play, him being slow to react to the play, him being slow to get to the play, or do you think it's more a function of poor defensive tackle play that's now not being able to allow him to float to the ball. Yeah, Derek, I think it's a combination of everything.

I think the one thing that every defender has to have is they got to have belief that the coordinators putting the best plan for everybody out there, and sometimes that belief has to believe. It has to be blind faith that regardless of what has happened, I'm gonna trust and believe that Coach Nolan's putt him in a position where I'm gonna make plays. The other thing that has to happen with Jalen. A lot of what linebackers are doing are depending upon what the guys up front are doing.

So our Antoine was in Tristan Hill and Don Terry part. Are they occupying blocks and now I can run clear and free to the ball so I can make plays? Am I uninstructed? Or am I having to run around this trash that's preventing me from making it. The final point is you talked about him looking slow to the ball, not necessarily running. He's not alone because counted players with Alden Smith and Jalen, even Trevan Diggs didn't run to the ball. I think what has changed. And you guys

know because you've been there. I will say this and say what you want to about Rod, mary Nelly and christih Chard are one thing I do believe When I used to go to Oxnard and I ask players this, Rod mary Nellie had a standard of effort when they talked about loafs. And I heard you guys. I listened actually to the podcast the other day and you guys were talking about professional players. I believe they give effort. I don't believe professional players loaf but there's a difference.

And what I will ask everybody to do, you guys and Cowboys fans included, rewatch the game and if you're looking at the defense, do the defenders change speed? Do they slow down then speed up? Are they running all the way to the ball? And do you see eleven hands at the ball when the guy is tackled. Because if you don't see that, that is a change from what the expectation was previously under Mary Nelly. And what Mary Nelly and those guys did is they called everybody

out when they didn't do it. When I used to talk to Jeff Heath, he said, that's the culture, that's the standard. What happened with players. Players are the same and pros, college, high school, youth ball. If you let them get away with things, they will continue to get away with it. De Lard look d Law. It was one of my favorites. But d Law has cut corners this year that I didn't see them cut corners in

other years. And so somebody in that room, being a player or a coach, they have to tell the truth. And if the coaches aren't telling the truth to the players, it's going to be hard to fix the problem. So I think some of it happens when you're getting rolled over like the Browns were rolling over the Cowboys. You get discouraged, and your discouragement just like our kids, they get discouraged so they don't give effort. So some of

that plays into it. But another part of it is are you coaching it or are you allowing it to happen? So I think they have to have those hard conversations about what is the standard expectation for everyone on this side of the ball. That's great stuff. I do remember that them having that loath standard that they would check like literally after every game they had. They had a statistical category for loaves and I remember players talking about

that back when Rod marinellos here. We appreciate you joining us, Bucket. We'll be back tomorrow and we're gonna have you talk a little bit about this Giant's defense against the Cowboys offense. We're gonna take our first break we come back. We're gonna talk a little bit more about this matchup Cowboys defense versus a Giant's offense. We'll also get into a couple of things at Mike McCarthy had to say today on his press conference. A couple of guys coming back

to practice today. We talk about when they come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio. We're back in the tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor cream Soda. Is he a new Combone's music to my ears? Okay, doctor time, music to my ears and mouth? New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Delas, just do bay. I want to use what the pros use. How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black.

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free shipping since eighteen sixty five. Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two You can by purchasing your own stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson Hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop dot Dallas, Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com.

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we fly back to the break. Help your fellow Cowboys Nation fans in their fight against cancer by purchasing Dallas Cowboys crucial catch gear, support at great cause and look good doing it. Visit your local Dallas Cowboys Pro shop or shop Dallas Cowboys dot com. Welcome back. It is the second segment of the show live from the SWBC Market Barge Studios at the Star. We just finished our second with Bucky Brooks. Some good stuff he had there

about the Cowboys defense versus the Giants offense. Before we get back into the conversation on those matchups, let's talk a little bit of about some players that coach McCarthy talked about this morning. It seems like there's a growing list of guys that are out due to injury, and some of them, it looks like this week may start their their progress toward coming back. Dave, why don't you line out some of the guys that have been out and kind of where they are in their process of

coming back to the team. Well, I probably want to start with the guy that McCarthy mentioned unprompted, which is always a good idea. He was asked why they released Brandon Carr, and he specifically said, we feel pretty good about where Anthony Brown is in his recovery. So you know, Brown's been out for a couple of games at this point. I think that's something to watch. Um. I don't know if that means he's ready on Sunday, but I mean if you're willing to release a guy because of that,

that seems like a good sign. So I would be keeping a close eye on Anthony brown situation. Hopefully he can get back to the secondary Leyton vander Esh McCarthy kind of I want to be careful about this because McCarthy said, you know, he's gonna try to start ramping up. I'm not one hundred percent sure what he's gonna do. He might not leave the rehab group, but we want him to start practicing. So it's easy to hear that and get excited and say, oh, yeah, Leyton's coming back.

I don't one hundred percent know the timeline on that. I think it's great that they're gonna start trying to ramp him up, but I need to see more before I'm sitting here saying he might be ready to go. Obviously, it's been three weeks since he went on IR. He can come back whenever he wants, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's still a little ways off. And Dave just and then the other real quick, I want to bump in on that LV thing. That was a broken

collar bone. So my assumption that's not the kind of injury where you're testing out to see if he feels good. That's more a thing of what are the x rays saying? Is is the bone healed right? Right? Okay, that's always right, I think, And yeah, that's that's kind of yeah. No, I mean he's he's been out there working with Britt Brown in the rehab group for a while, like he can move around round and run and take part in

football stuff. But yeah, I just don't think he's at a point where he's ready to be hitting people in football action yet. So that's kind of my point is it's easy to get excited that they're ramping him up, but if I had to guess, I think he's probably still at least a couple weeks away, at the least that's just my guess. The other big one is Randy Gregory. He can start practicing today. They're gonna let him mix into practice. I don't think it'll be a big workload.

He's not eligible to play until the twenty fifths, so he's again he's still a couple of weeks off until you would expect to see him in the lineup. But they're gonna start trying to get him ready and condition so that when October twenty fifth rolls around, he can jump in as soon as possible. So Amber and Nick, I want you guys to chime in on this part. Who do you think of those three guys he mentioned, who do you think the Cowboys need back most? Who is more of the who would give this team more

of a lift by returning to the line up. Nick, let's start with you. Well, I think that Layton vander esh would gives them more of a lift. But like Dave said, I'm not thinking it happens this week. Let's you know, don't move down down the line too far. Anthony Brown returning this week is gonna help them. I mean I think that it just will. So um he's the one that I that I would you know, if they're all come back at the same time, I would probably say Layton. But you know, I do think it's

important for have Anthony Brown back. I never thought I would, you know, say it like that. Well that that's also the part I'm kind of wondering, like I think everybody's looking at him as somewhat of a savior, but I just I look at it and and I'm like, I mean, Anthony was to me, he's an average cornerback. I don't think he's a great cornerback. Think he's an average cornerback. I don't know that it gets it. Does it get a lot better? Well, I would assume maybe he's better

than an average defense, and no, no, it's not. So if you can get an average player, it's going to elevate the defense. Good point, gooint Amer. What do you think who give them the big, biggest jump. I think that that will probably get the most right away from Anthony Brown, just because again when you talk about late and I am ready to have him back on the defense.

I think the Cowboys do need him. But it makes me wonder because you know, when players get hurt and they come back, You've seen it in the past where it creates some kind of hesitation just in their game. Not that they want to do that, but it just naturally happens because of the things that your body has had to deal with. It creates certain hesitation when trying to tackle or hit somebody. So in that scenario, it just makes me wonder just how late In will really

feel once he's actually in the game. I'm excited to see Randy Gregory come back in, but at the same time, I don't think neither of those three guys it's just gonna come in and just completely change the defense like a miracle. So the Cowboys need a lot more help than that, a lot bigger change than just having these guys come back. But it's good. It's good to hear that they're on their way to making him back to the field again. There were two players that left the

game Sunday, Joe Looney and Dalton Schultz. We already know that Looney's gonna be out for a few weeks. Tyler Beadiest will be the guy that's going to be playing for him, presumably. Let's talk about Dalton Schultz. Though I personally believe Dalton Schultz has been a bright spot for this offense from the standpoint that, what if you talk about any player on this team where your expectations were

one level and they've played significantly above that. Dalton Schultz, to me, is hands down the player I put in that category as the player who has exceeded his expectations way more than what I had for him coming into the year. So my question is, let's assume for a second that he can't play for a couple of weeks and this is already a position where you don't have Blake Jarwin. How much does that affect this offense not

having Dalton Schultz in the lineup? And now I know that sounds weird asking that, but how much does that affect this office day? Let's go to you ten personnel, baby. I mean, yeah, Dalton Schultz has had He's been a bright spot. I've been very impressed. Um, but let's just roll these receivers out here. Cedric Wilson and Noah Brown are showing you what they can do. Um. You know,

they're kind of us. They've been using their tight ends as big receivers anyway, So just let's play some ten personnel. That's my response, Nick, how much this dog Chiel hurts. Well, it's hurt. It hurts just from you know, being able to run your offense the way they want to in the in the passing game and all that. But you know the fact is is that Blake Darwin would have done this, you know, even and probably better than this.

And this is this is the product of the offense the way it is is that the tight end is gonna get open a lot. Uh, And this set up The problem is they don't they don't block very well, and he hasn't been that good of a blocker, and none of them have really and they don't they don't do a great job of blocking on short yardage and down in the red zone. But they're passing their way in which which helps, especially in the second half. So it's it's not gonna be I don't think it's gonna

be a huge difference. I really don't. I mean, I think they'll slide somebody else in there and they'll be able to catch and eight ten yard passes. I mean, he's been better than I thought, but I don't think it's been like really dynamic. All right, Amber, what do you think I think the Cowboys will be fine considering all the other offensive weapons that they have, but the tight end position it always I've always seated as a

comfort spot for Dak. I know Dak does like just finding that tight end and connected with them in certain scenarios where he can find open guys as the wide receivers. But just overall and considering also the way that Dak has been playing, how dynamic has been, and how well he's been connecting with his receivers, I think that they should be okay, just with everyone else and changing the personnel. Yeah,

let's go ahead and take our final break. When we come back, I want to get to this topic that Amber brought up earlier this week of how to fix this. We didn't get a chance to get to it yesterday, but I have a few areas where I want to throw out to you guys and get your opinions on how the Cowboys can fix some of the things that ail them right now sitting at one and three. We'll do that when we come right back. This is Dallas

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use the code word team JB. That's Get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys. The Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor pepper and cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Baba cream Soda. Is he a Newcombonet's music to my ears? Okay, doctor music to my ears and mouth? New Doctor pepper and cream Soda. Let's just do back back to the break? Does your

Cowboys fandom go beyond the game? As part of the NFL Fan of the Year contest, we're launching a search for one extraordinary Cowboys fan who is a positive influence and inspires others through their love of the game. Is the NFL dot com Slash Fan of the Year. Now to learn more and nominate Today, We're gonna find out who the Fans of the Year are this year? Are we? Yeah? I mean that's who you know? I mean the ones that are calling in week twelve, week thirteen and wanting

to do this and that. Yeah, those are the those are the fans of the years. Of course, do we even have call ins anymore? You know, that's a good question. Our producer, Chris, I'm gonna have to ask him that after the show, is can we get calling? I mean, he doesn't have much on his plate. I think we could put more things on there like that. Yeah, Chris, Chris didn't around just chilling right now. He has nothing to do. Probably is when one show does it, the

other eleven want to do it too. Yeah, all right,

we welcome back to the show. We are live from s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star and we're gonna now take a little bit of a turn and we're gonna put on our fix it hats, Like we're gonna figure out what's going on with this team and how we can fix it for them, and hopefully, hopefully right now the team is listening to the show and they will walk away with some real bullet points that they can go out and you know, do some things and see if we can get this thing back on track.

All right, So let's start first with the right tackle position. Lyle Collins is now gone for the season. My question for you guys is who is best to replace him? And does that make a big difference in what we've seen through the first four games relative to going forward. You've got Brandon Knight, You've got Zach Martin, or do you look somewhere else. Let's start first with you Amber. I think I would go with Brandon Knight, um and just have him there. We've seen what the Cowboys are

capable of. They just need to limit their mistakes and over as a whole, the offense as a whole, just make it work. We've seen it all the time in the fourth quarter. It might be the sense of urgency and you know, you got adrenaline rushing in and that competitive side of you kicks in and maybe get gives you extra talent. I don't know where. I don't know, but we've seen it happened, so we know that they can do it. I would stick to Brandon Knight and

just actually stick to it. Stop shuffling around. We've been talking about it on the show. Just quit shuffling, figure out exactly which combination you want and stick to it throughout practice and until you know something else crazy happens. As far as an injury, all right, Nick, Brandon Knight would be the guy right now. The Looney injury affects things because you could you could see maybe sliding Zach

out and putting Looney it right guard. But now that that's not happening and he's hurt, and I don't think Conrad mcgovernin looks like he's ready or they don't think he's ready, So then then I would go with Brandon Knight. I think he'll can continue to get better. I think the right side is the better spot for him, um and, especially if Timan could stay on that left side, um and and be healthy. Yeah, I think that that's the

best that's the best route. But also I think that you need to to chip more, you need to block more, keep those guys in. Those receivers can get open on their own. I don't think you need to have five six guys out in every route. Yeah, you can max protect with this offense and still be able to get guys open that you can get exact ye, Dave, Yeah, I think I'm I'm the guy that said ten personnel in the last segment. But if Brandon Knight is struggling,

and I don't think he will against this team. But you know, next time they go against the badass pass rusher, Blake Bell is there and you can attach Blake Bell to Brandon Knight's hip, uh, you know, tiring his back at left tackle, and he can help Williams. I think it's fine the way it is. I haven't seen anything from Brandon Knight that hurts my confidence that he can handle the job. All right, let's move on to a

personnel question. I know this week there's been a lot of talk of shit to Cowboys be looking in free agency, and there are a lot of players right now that the Cowboys have that are out due to injury. So my question for you is, if you take the whole lot of them. You got Sean Lee, you got Layton vander esh, you got Randy Gregory, Cheeto, you got Anthony Brown.

If you get all those guys back, do you think that's enough to change the tie, particularly of what's happening on defense, or do you think the Cowboys still need to look outside for reinforcements. Let's start first with you, Nick. You know it's just so hard to look outside now, I mean, when you really think about it. There's five hundred players on rosters now or you know, or allocated to teams I are or practice squad. Five hundred more

players than there were last year. That's just the is just shrinking of players that are available now, the veterans that you know, what kind of shape are they in? You know? And now the NFL's protocol of the they have to whether you have to test six, you have to pass six tests. Now, I think they loved it from three to six. So you got to think a whole week ahead now that you know that that you you need to get somebody in here. So which is

why now it would be the time. Now you think New York you can manage see kiss through the game, come back to the next game. You got a Monday night game the following that. So so yeah, I mean, I just I just don't think that they believe that there's a there's a there's guys out there that can really help them. Um, and they've looked at all the names, and they've they've seen them. They they've looked at the tape. I just don't think that they've So they answer your question,

I think they have. It has to be. It has to be enough right now to patch it through amber. That's just a it's a really hard question because it's such a mix, sure, a mix of everything combined. I don't think that even if you get let's say, a guy like Earl Thomas, the defense is not just magically gonna change. I think it's something bigger than just talent specifically speaking of it and these guys, the return of them. Yes,

it's gonna help the Cowboys. It should help them, but at the end of the day, they need something bigger, something bigger needs to happen as far as and I don't know what that is because me, I said it the other day, my patience in football is very very low. So me right now I'm thinking, Okay, who do I need to fire? Who do I need to bring in here? And when I started thinking that way, I am I, Okay, well, shoot, who would I bring in here? I don't know. I

don't know who I would bring in here. I don't know who would be available to come in here and start changing things around as far as the defense go. So it should help, but it's not gonna That's that's not the solution, Dave. I don't get why they don't have any interest in Max Harrison. I never really understood that, especially once the season started and it was obvious that the defensive tackle position is a problem. Get I mean, on one hand, I think I even said during the offseason,

I was like, he's a two down player. He's not going to help you rush the passer. Well, I don't think I counted on the run defense being this bad. So it sounds pretty nice to have somebody who could really be a force in the run game right now, somewhat, I guess you could say. Fortunately, it sounds like Snacks is going to Seattle, so I mean, that's not good for the Cowboys, but at the very least we don't have to talk about him anymore. Well, you know, Earl

Thomas is Earl Thomas is obviously the other one. But at this point, I'm comfortable in the knowledge that dude's been out there for a long time. It ain't just the Cowboys that are ignoring him, and nobody seems interested, which there's just got to be something there. So I'm not gonna kill him. I'm not gonna kill him for not doing that. But those are a couple names. Eric Reid's another one, Tony Jefferson. Yeah, like I would look

at some of these guys. It can't be worse than what they're putting out there, and no, it's not going to transform you into a top tier defense. But they don't need to be a top tier defense, so they need to be average to below average. Like if the Cowboys were twentieth in the league in total defense right now, they would have a winning record. But they're in the bottom three in like every important category, So I don't really buy that there's no way to improve this defense.

I do think getting some of these hurt guys back will help, Like if Sean and Leyton and Cheeto and Anthony Brown are all healthy and contributing, I do think that'll make a difference. But that still wouldn't stop me from kicking the tires on some better players. You know. I'll throw something in there about Earl Thomas because we don't get a chance to talk to a lot of people anymore, but I did this week talked to a

couple of people, some scouts, coaches. They had looked at Earl Thomas multiple times, and the reason why he hasn't been signed by the Cowboys is on the field now off the field probably certainly doesn't help, but it's on the field tape that is the reason why he hasn't been signed. And so I know a lot of us is to say, well he's a bad guy or bad

teammate or you know whatever, undisciplined. It's it's on the tape that is the issue versus I think the other stuff that's out there, plus the money he's looking for. But it's it's it's the type of player that you know. Now you can look at it and say, well, it's got to be better than Darren Thompson. Right, that's gonna

be my question. Better than what I think it's. I think it's on the tape combined with just some of the things that that's happened in the money and all that, and I would yeah, And honestly, if he is not a drastic upgrade over over DT and he brings all of that other baggage, like it makes sense, Like I said, like it really it doesn't bother me that they haven't signed Earl Thomas, Like between the off field stuff the money he's probably looking for, and I don't have a

problem believing that the tape has declined so purely from a football standpoint, he is probably better than darry and Thompson and Donovan Wilson, but not so much better that it's worth all of that crap. And so I get it. Yeah, I've moved on from the Earl Thomas thing for quite a while. But where I am and I agree with Dave on this, where I am still a little bit perplexed is that they didn't make a play for Snacks Harrison.

If Poe really isn't performing at the level that everybody and I have yet to hear anybody say disagree with that, that Poe was playing at a level where he should be playing right now, and I think it's affecting that second level as well as as Buck you mentioned. You know, when you're getting guys that are pushing pole back into the linebackers, that's a problem for the linebackers as well.

I'm kind of shocked that they wouldn't at least look at a three hundred and fifty pound guy who wasn't at one point in all pro I mean, to me, that just makes a lot of sense. And I will say this, Dave, you mentioned he's in Seattle. What I read this morning is that he's on the practice squad, and the rules are if he's on the practice squad,

you can go sign someone from someone's practice squad. So it's still not lost cause at this point, I do think it's something that Cowboys should at least take a look at, right and just because I think that they that is a position where if you clear that position up, you actually might make two or three positions better by just clearing up that position. And I don't think they have that guy on this team right now. Derek. Derek turns out that it doesn't matter what we think, it

doesn't matter what you think. They're gonna do what they're gonna do. And I mean, I don't understand why. I don't understand why not at least try to bring someone in just to look at them in person, get at work out. I know that COVID doesn't help. All these protocols doesn't help, and I'm sure that's a factor. I still okay, So I really want to spend time trying to examinate this if I'm not fully convinced because of everything, but that's the perception. It's a big thing, and to

me right now, it is upsetting. And I know that fans are upset to the fact that they're not even trying, and we don't know what happens behind doors, but at least what we get to see or hear, we don't hear or see anything happening. And that's when it makes you just upset. Day. Were you about to say something it does No, it doesn't upset me. I mean, it's

just it is what it is. They teams think they're smarter than everybody else, and sometimes they are, and sometimes they have to swap tackles in the middle of the game. It just is what it is. Like I don't I don't let it upset me, but it is. It's interesting to see how these decisions play out. And I mean, Derek, you're right, there's nothing stopping them from looking at snacks.

But I mean, if they weren't interested when he was unemployed, why are they going to be interested once he's in Seattle. I just I don't see saying that with my with my tongue firm, with playing it in my cheek. But the point is, like, I think that that's an area where they could clearly, in my opinion, could upgrade the position and give yourself a guy in the middle that

at least won't get pushed around. I don't think at three fifty and everything I've ever watched of Snacks Harrison, you can claim maybe he doesn't always go as hard as he should. You can claim he's not going to be able to do much more than be a two down player. What I've never heard anybody says he gets

pushed around. So if you can give me a three hundred and fifty pound guy that I can put in the middle that at least keeps those offensive lineman from getting to the second level to my linebackers and allow my linebackers to float to the ball, I'm good with that. I'll take that right now, and I think that can help your defense. It's a lot. Yeah, I just three hundred and fifty pounds, and I don't know him at all. I mean, but number one, he has a nickname for

a reason. And two, he's three hundred and fifty pounds, and he hasn't had any training camp any offseason. And then nobody's signing him, and the team that is signing him is putting on their practice squad, which means to me, it looks like there's no way he's in any kind of football shape. And that maybe think that may be true. But again, the way I look at that is three

hundred and fifty pounds playing defensive tackle. Hey, until we get you in shape where you can run to the sideline, all we're gonna do is just put you in there and say don't let anybody move beyond you, like, just hold the point, right. What do you mean they're moving Poe moving him around? Okay, but I think snacks will be a little bit more and if he's if he's as snack hungry as you think he is, then maybe it's even more of him to push around. So you're

not gonna push him around. I just feel like, give me another body and let's see if that big body can stop people from getting to the second level. Okay, it really it just it. It reminds me of the same thing like we said it at the start of the season. It's like there's always there's always a threshold for when you break the glass in case of an emergency.

We I mean, Zach Martin had never played right tackle in his entire career until everything completely hit the fan and they were like, we gotta do something or it's gonna go south. And through four weeks, the Cowboys don't feel like they're there. But if this keeps up, there there's a threshold. There is a threshold for where they say, ef it, we gotta do something. We can't just keep

expecting to get better results with what we have. So you know, this is gonna be a topic of conversation until the guys that are here either get better or the results get bad enough that they can't take it anymore. All Right, we appreciate you guys join us. We're back tomorrow. We will talk Cowboys offense versus Giants defense. We'll have Bucky on and we'll get some opinions from these guys as well. Until then. For Nick Eatman, Dave Helmet, Amber Garcia,

I am Derek Eagleson. 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. M hmmm,