Cowboys Break: Memory Lane

twenty two, Season seventeen, episode number ninety seven. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break, live from s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. We've got a lot to get into. We're getting you guys ready for Cowboys versus forty nine Ers. That happens this Sunday, three thirty pm at AT and T STADI will be joined in a little bit in the second segment by Bucky Brooks NFL Network. He'll help us break down the San Francisco defense versus Dallas offense. But let's get this thing started, and it

give me a ninety seven. Let's get this thing started. No, Roy Glover, don't do that. Glover was a great football player. He was, Yeah, I mean he I think he was the first guy to have four straight Pro Bowls in his first four years. Zach Martin has since done that, but he was announced standing player on some bad teams. I'm kind of surprised he doesn't get more, doesn't get at least to being a finalist for the Hall of Fame.

He was one of those players. I was so good and he was so underrated, and he was on bad teams at the Cowboys. I assume I don't know what the Saints were like while he was there. Roy that stung that I hated. I hated the Cowboys for because he was one of the saints best players at a time when I mean the Dome Patrol obviously, but they were always second fiddle to the Niners. Those teams, they weren't.

They never like commanded their division, and so like late nineties, early two thousands, it was like the first taste of the Saints being like a playoff type team. And Leroy left in free agency, and I think it was like the first time the Saints had a player than anybody

else wanted. And I just I was probably like twelve, and I just like damn count He used to piss off the TV cameras too, because he would sit in his locker and we'd go to interview him a couple of riders, and then the cameras you would show up late and h after you do the work, and then he had this big dip in his mouth and he'd be like, no cameras, just just you know, writers only, and they were like they were getting pissed about it. Was like, because they had this big dip, want to

show what's my kind of guy? Screw the TV people didn't It didn't It didn't matter if we're doing it. You know, He's like, well, they're a good team. That doesn't matter, so you know you don't, but you don't translate that. He was such a good player. I mean, and that's the other thing about it. Sometimes when you talk about interior defensive lineman, they don't get all the shine. But that guy was a really, really good player. And you could see it on a bad team, which is

sometimes even harder to do. But he was really really a good player. All right, Nick, I want to also take a little moment and i'll Amber and Dave. I'm not sure if you guys have any but I'll open it up to you if you if you do, but i'd like to start to show off today getting just some memories of Cowboys forty nine ers, because there are this is one of the most storied rivalries probably in the NFL. Um and Nick, I know because I've had some conversations with you and you have lots of memories

from that. But let's let's just kind of see if you have something, if you guys to have some by by by all means jump in. My favorite play of all time is in this series. I mean, and we're gonna do a video here in a little bit about my favorite moments from the Cowboys forty nine ers. But Alvin Harper Catch to me was the play it was. It was, It's my favorite play of all time because that is what the catch was for the forty nine ers.

Was what that was for the Cowboys. It kind of propelled them for the entire dynasty, and it was more of um, you know, yeah, nice comeback. Crowds into it. Four minutes to go. We've been in these games, we've seen them, were like, how do you get rid of this? Four minutes? You're gonna run the ball, they're gonna call timeouts, you're gonna put They just said, we're gonna throw it over to Alvin Harper and he's gonna break away, and

we're gonna win this thing right here, right now. It was a mentality that they had with Jimmy Johnson that right there. There's a lot of great ones. I got more, but that play right there symbolized more than just the play, symbolize kind of what they were about to be in taking control over the dynasty there from the Niners. I let Nick have the shine there, Like, I mean, my answers just aren't gonna be that good. I really, I'm old enough to remember that stretch of time, but not vividly.

Especially I wasn't a Cowboy fan so I or a forty nine er fan, so I wasn't invested in it. But I just remember those two teams there. They were just always on, like you were just always aware that that was a big deal and like the winner was probably gonna win the super Bowl. For me, my most vivid Cowboys Niners memory, other than games I've actually covered, is again, probably I don't know, thirteen or fourteen, watching whatever Saints game was happening that day, and you know

that Jim Brown does the break in. He's like, let's see what's going on in Tio's standing on the star and you're like, okay, okay, that's interesting, Like what the hell? And then they were like and then you're like, JB, something else is happening in Dallas. Let's cut away from the Saints ray oh my god, like Emmitt Smith, Tio's

doing it. Like I vividly remember that. It was like they just kept cutting into that game, and like Dallas wasn't good that year, right, and so you didn't really have a reason to be paying attention to it until all of that started, and it was like riveting and by the time George Tigue finally hit him, I feel like I was more interested in that than whatever the

Saints were doing. Yeah, that was that kind of game, And to be honesty, that was probably my most vivid memory of Cowboys forty nine ers as well, just because of the craziness of the game. Again, this was not a good team that year, but the way that game transpired, it just there was just all these moments where it was kind of like TiO goes to the Star, then Emmett goes to the Star, then it TiO goes to

the Star again. It was just kind of kept going, and it was like, Okay, this is probably the most excitement we're gonna see all season, so let's just lean into it. That's fun. That's a very unique NFL thing because I mean it sucks, but like the way that

they still broadcast the league is so outdated. You know, like if unless you have NFL package, you get two games even in twenty twenty two, which is insane, but um, but every now and then you'll have a moment like that where there's like drama playing out in the other game and they're like, let's get you back to Texas Stadium where all hell has broken loose, you know. So

we had a game and it turned into something else. Yeah, you know, I I never no one's ever really said this, And I asked he know this, and he kind of just smiled or and didn't really answer it. But I always believe that he did that because he recently, right before that, had filmed the movie Any Given Sunday, which was filmed at the stadium, and he was on the other team, and he I think he did that in the middle of the movie or you know, like a play or something like that. So I think, you know,

he'd just been there and he'd done. I think that was part of it too, I asked him once again. He didn't really answer, or you're just kind of like whatever, you know. I mean, well, obviously it was perceived as much more than that, and it's you've seen it over

the years. It's continued to play out, you know, teams that go out to the logo of the other team on the fifty and during their warm up and they're jumping around on it, and it turned into this whole level of disrespect that then they feel like they have to, you know, do something to to show it. I mean, it's just like it has become a thing. And I don't know if before that i'd really seen it be

a thing, but it certainly became a thing. That day was Oh, I'm not that old, Sorry to be honest, and this is gonna sound ridiculous, but I am just now this week finding out how big this game is as far as like rivalry and this being a classic game and going back to those times, like to me, the times that I've been working here and covering this team, the forty nine ers have never been like such a

big deal. You know. You you talked about the opponent, the week you're playing them and all that, but never like this. I didn't know that there was this kind of history behind the Cowboys and forty which And don't let anybody call you silly for that, by the way, because I mean, if you've been a fan of the game for years and years, you know. But but I mean, I've worked here since thirteen, and so they played here in fourteen. We've been out to Levi's a bunch, like

I've lost track of it all. And they even at one of those games, I think I think the Cowboys kicked their ass because they've the last few times they've gone out there, the forty nine ers haven't been a very good team, but they honored Dwight Clark at halftime and one of those games it was when he was still alive, and I remember kind of not being surprised, but I was like, oh yeah, Like I guess this did used to be a big deal, because even the four or five times that they've played in the regular

season while I've been here, it hasn't felt like that to me, Like it hasn't been like it's nine Ers week. So it's been very fun to have all of this kind of rekindled this week and have everybody sharing all of these memories, and you know that's the thing too. You think about this forty nine ers matchup, like even recently when there hasn't been as much consequence to the game, there's still drama. Like you think about Jesse Holly's game

like that. We did a documentary on Jesse Holly and it was all built around that game because there was so much in that game for him that was, you know, kind of this crowning moment. Obviously he makes the game winning play in overtime, and so it's there have been those kind of moments. This is that kind of drama that tends to happen when these two teams match up, and there's history that goes back even before the nineties,

obviously the catch that we talked about. So there's so many dramatic wonder because we know there are a lot of young players here on the roster. So it makes me wonder when you have older coaches, people like Dan Quinn.

He mentioned that how big this game is and all that people that know the history that are passionate about it that I want to go out there and compete with everything, Like how do they transmit that kind of passion a message to the younger players and get them pumped up the same type of I mean, they're gonna be pumped either way. They're gonna go out there play playoff game. But you know, just I'm curious to see what those meetings look like and what kind of like

fiery message they take. It matters. I think that does matter, even though they don't know it. I think that they just kind of understand how big the moment is. It is bigger than they even thought, you know, and we'll see if they rise to it. But they've said something about, you know, just you always knew that these two teams were good and all that. I wrote this in the mail bag this morning, and on a question like that.

The greatest line ever said to me, I mean you ever said was in about this Robert was Pat Somemer all in then open for the ninety four game, ninety four NFC Championship. They've played ninety three. Here they are again and that was when the Pro Bowl was after um, I think they had twelve and thirteen players each team. And he says at the end of this whole intro, he says, he says in two weeks. The super Bowl will be played after that, the Pro Bowl today, we'll

play both. And I just thought that that right there, because it's like it is, it was the super Bowl. The charges weren't gonna be any of them. Oh yeah, for those years, it was everybody knew the NFC Championship game was the super Bowl for those years. I thought

it was cool Troy. Troy talks to thirteen ten the ticket here every week, He's done that forever, and they asked him about being part of that, and it was cool how candid he was, because I mean he went through the whole stretch of all of those years and he was like, yeah, I mean, it definitely hurt because we knew that we would have treated San Diego the same way they did like we we would have won

that game, There's no question about it. Just it just speaks to the level that those two teams were on. He said that they would win four straight because they you know, they didn't win that year, but then they came back, and I don't know that it's true. I mean, because I don't know if if Jerry breaks the bank for Dion after that, because they you know, I don't

if you don't have the on that fourth year. Maybe I don't know, you know, maybe I mean, does he go kind of all in in ninety five if he won three in a row, did they lose more guys? It's hard to say, but they certainly would have competed for it. But yeah, it's kind of thing we talk about with games all the time, like one thing kind of precipitates another, so you can't really say good, no, no, no, you didn't really say what it's gonna be. Yeah, if

those things don't happen before that. I just he said another really interesting thing to me, which was that he said losing the ninety four game, which like any Cowboy fan that remembers that game, it's like they go to a different place when you bring it up like it without fail. See Nick, it hurts every fan I've ever talked to who remembers that game. They just their eyes, They just go to a dark place. I was a freshman college and man that that I mean, crying wouldn't

have helped, but I could have. But Troy, Troy said something that I thought was interesting. He's like, he was like that, That's one of the proudest feelings I've ever had leaving a football field, and I got it when he explained it made a lot of sense. He was like, you know, by then, we had just become associated with dominance, Like you know, we killed the Bills in two Super Bowls, Like every time we play a big game, we just

show up and kick ass. And for us to get down big like that and look vulnerable and not look our best and still fight back, he was like, I was proud to show America like what we were really about that, like we wouldn't go down without a fight or whatever. I have two rewind moments in my life for the Cowboys, two that I would just want to rewind and replay it and see what happens. One of them is twenty fourteen in Green Bay. I don't know if they would have won, but I just would have

liked to seeing a touchdown there. See if they go for two ye see what Rogers does. And we're talking obviously the Desk game. Then the other one is the ninety four game. I think Dion Sanders definitely had a past interference on Urban. They call that at the five, they're gonna go score. It's gonna be thirty eight thirty five with five minutes to go. I want to see that because I think they could have stopped up in won, you know, and that don't even remember all that five

minutes ago. There are the thirty five like, oh my god, because I just rose my hand like that one hurt. Those moments, those moments turn into your brain, they really do. Everyone's got a moment like that. And you're right, I mean you went too straight. This is the game and it's their down twenty one to nothing before you can even get get through the first beer. I mean it was twenty one nothing, you know, and not to go too off the rails. I'm sure you want to take

a break. I've been thinking about this all week though, because it got like this is what I said when they hired McCarthy. Obviously, right now, in this moment, their goal is to win the Super Bowl. It will be very disappointing if they don't win this game. All that good stuff, but like, that is the goal when you

hire Mike McCarthy, I said it. Then it's like year after year being in the playoffs, like Huhet three was great, but ninety four was heartbreaking, Whereas around here recently it's been more like it's been three years since they've been in the playoffs, Like, I hope these guys remember what it takes, Like that's what needs to change, like they need to success for Mike McCarthy is getting back to a standard of like every year you're in the playoffs

and sometimes it's going to go really well and sometimes it's not. But you're there every year. And you know, something that's interesting. I actually was thinking about this this morning. I don't know how many fans out there. Started to see this word victory that's on a lot of the stuff that we do, and it came actually from coach McCarthy. It's something he's been preaching to the team all season. It's been talking about this word victory, and for the

first time it kind of hit me. He basically took away their safety net. You know, you have a lot of the thing back to when Garrett was here. He talked about what's important is the process, what's important is the fight, Like it's all these things that you can control, right and so, but it does leave that that little gray area that even if you don't win, you should be happy for the fight, you should be happy for the process. If you do those things, that's enough. I

think Mike McCarthy took away that safety net. There is nothing else other than victory. There is nothing else other than winning. That's a really scary way to kind of put everything because that means you either are successful or not and it's all dependent on the end of the day, did you get the W and A. That's a pretty bold thing to do, and it also can be a very scary thing to do. But it goes to what Dave's talking about. Being a coach and creating the standard

of our standard is not necessarily just the process. Yeah, we want you to do the same things and be good at doing the same things and even preparing. But at the end of the day, you're judged by did you win or did you lose? There is no moral victory. You either one of you didn't. And I think that, I know, I think that to me is one of the things I look at. I'm like, that's kind of that tells you a little bit about his mentality and what he wants, how he wants his team to think.

That's a little bit different than maybe the previous regime. All Right, were gonna take our first recon we co back. We're gonna be John by Bucky Brooks of NFL Network. We're gonna talk about this San Francisco defense versus the Cowboys offense. We'll be right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. At ATNT, everyone new and existing customers get our best deals on every smartphone. Why because you deserve it for turning your living room into your office

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Bucky Brooks, NFL Network. Bucky. Let's start. Let's talk about the San Francisco defense. First of all, tell me what is it that they do best and where are they most vulnerable. The thing that they do well is they dominated the point of attack. They are a team that has always put their premium and invested in the defensive line, and the defensive line allows them to control of the game. The most notable guy is Nick Bolson. He has sixteen and a half sacks coming off in Ato, which is remarkable.

But he's joined by two guys on the inside. Eric Olmstead, who's done a great job I think six and a half sacks, and then you have Art and t who's the situational pass rusher that has given them some help. So this is a team that wants to rush for They want to drop seven and they believe that they can whip you upfront with the D line and then they can protect the back end and coverage. Their secondary

is their weakest part. But a lot of times you can't get to attack the back end because Nick Won the company are knocking you around and making you leave the pocket before you can really attack. Bucky. How we talked yesterday about the running game. They're the forty nine ers defense. Is it good because of those guys you said? Or are they even better when their offense is actually running the ball, getting the clock and kind of controlling the game and allowing them to kind of take advantage

of that. Yeah, it's a complimentary approach. I mean they're good. I wouldn't say that they're necessarily like top five good on their own accord. I would say that it's the way that they play that helps them when you're running

the ball. Then the forty nine hasn't done this in a couple of games where the first drive is fifteen play, they make you punted and they get it and go another fifteen plays and before you know a year, I mean midway in the second quarter and you have no rhythm of field on the offense and you're chasing point. And so that allows them to play the kind of style of defense that they want to play because they want to rush the pass that they don't really want to have to go straight up and deal with the

running game and stuff like that. And so as much as we talk the forty nine ers running game, making opponents with and fear them, they also don't want to face a steady data run because that's not necessarily what

they're built for. They're built to rush to pass. Bucky, speaking of which you just talked about him, imagine my surprise when I turn on this tape and my old friend from LSU arden Key is not just playing well for them, but doing it at a new position Like it seems like they use him a lot as a d tackle. Just what I mean, what have they found in this guy? And how much of a problem is that for the interior alignment on the Cowboys. Well, what they have wanted to build line coaches in pullball and

Chris cons and he is unlocked. Arden Key arden keyed is found at home by playing on the inside, and they are a team to use a lot of movement at the line of scrimmage, slamming, stunning, getting them on the move by whether the ball goes jumping in guests. I mean, he's skilled, and you're seeing when you put a defensive in a guy who's a natural two hungere and forty pounder on the inside, he's working the edges

of the offensive line. So he wins with quickness and hand skills as opposed to like sheer strength and power. And it's working for them. And if they get you in those situations where they're able to unleash him, he doesn't have to worry about the run. Well, then it becomes a problem. And so you see an art and he kind of playing the way that maybe some imagine him being a disruptive force. He's just doing it at

a different position. Man, I don't really even know what to ask because I feel like every week it's like, Okay, we'll always have one more week, but then this week it's like this is it. They're all in with this. So I guess what I want to ask you, Bucky, is after seeing the way that they played last week, even though it was with an opponent that didn't have

many of their starters or anything like that. What are some of the things that you think that the Cowboys might still struggle with this fight of the kind of performance they put out last week. This game comes down to the offensive line. It comes down to how well they play at the point of attack. If Sen Smith play all Colin Zach more in time betters and kind of willing to play well, then the Cowboys win. If they have any problems, then it's gonna be a long day.

And that's just what it comes down to. And so if the ability to control the guys upfront, and if you can do that and slow down Bosa and Aunstead and contain Fred Warner and those guys at the second level, then you dominate the game and you do it the way that you've done it for most of the season. But if you have issues and it cracks up front, it's going to make it very uncomfortable because you won't

be able to run the football. And in death, you have to maybe do too much in terms of like having to make more players, because I wouldn't want to see him have to throw it forty plus times, even though he's more than paple of being able to do that. That's not the game that the Cowboys should want to be able to get into and the pole season. So it's all about the trenches. Whoever wins the trenches often is gonna win the game. Bucky, I'm gonna ask you

a bigger picture question. We actually got this question from one of our listeners, Colin Brennan. He says, he asked, what areas on offense and defense? Does Dallas have the advantage over San Francisco Because I think all week listening to our show and listening to a lot of media, Everybody's like, man, this is a tough matchup for Dallas. Where's it a tough matchup for San Francisco? I mean

defending the Cowboys. I mean, let's be honest, like the star power is real and it We do play these narratives in the media like, oh, you never want to face the Niners, get the hottest team, but look, they got seven losses on their legends, so they have issues too. And the big thing with the Niners is you have to make sure that you're attacking. What you want to do is you want to play from in front and put the game on Jimmy Garoppolo. So the advantage is

for the Cowboys quarterback, wide receiver. Even though Dego saying is legit, the wide receivers still go that way. The offensive line, I would say, is almost a bit of a push defended upon, like which version of Trent will you comes back? Because he's played it at a great level. The defensive line, I would say it's fairly even. Linebackers. I mean, it's kind of even. The defensive backs would go to the Cowboys, and so it's kind of an

even matchup. The really style, it's who's able to impose their style early in the game and make the game be played out a certain way. If the Cowboys jump in front and are able to play the game from their front dinners, it's an easier game for them. If it's one of those games where the Niners shorten the game and they run it, then it becomes an all

day affair. But now we have overblown it and maybe where the forty nine or the forty nine is from the nineties and the nine that yeah, So that being said about playing in the lead, when when the referee announces before the kickoff that the Cowboys have won the toss. What's your decision? What do you think it should be? Well, I'm always always want to defer because the reason why I want to deferge because at the end of half,

there is what we call a double score opportunity. Right, So if you score at the end of the half and then you get the ball back, you get a chance to really separate and explode from the opponent. So I would rather play it that way, even though I understand what you're saying. If you feel like your offense is debt potent that you want to go ahead and jump on him, I steal with out for that. Even though I know if the Niners getting the opening kick, they're gonna sit on the ball. Now. I mean, it's

gonna be like watching Wisconsin play basketball. It's half court, it's the cloud. I mean, it's the cloud draining and all that. So that's why it's gonna be really important for them to jump on the running game early and get them out of that. Because if you can force Jimmy Garoppolo to pass, I would say more than twenty seven times the Cowboys winning. He's not gonna throw that

much and be effective. Do you think that they? I mean, if they try this because it seems like there's there should be a lot of plays to be made against their secondary. Do you trust the Dallas offensive line to keep Dak on his feet long enough to take advantage of that? Basically, I would say they can do that, But I said the ball needs to come out quick. I say I would say that looking at how they want to play, because they want to drop seven and coverage.

They're not necessarily a Tampa two or a Cover two team. They kind of play single high safety or some quarters. You want to get the ball out quickly. Let him Maury Cooper and CD Lamb. You want them to go to work on run after the catch plays you can attempt to kind of push you down the field, but you have to set those up. We saw how the Rams struggle when they just got grief for no reason because they're gonna play over the top because just like we can see it, let me go it runs. No,

a man, my corners are not the best. Let's keep everything in front. Let's not let it flow over ahead. And so you have to be patient. So it's gonna take some patience, some discipline. And I heard you guys talking before about the playoffs. And like it's been three years. The people that I'm really looking at are not the players, it's Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn and how they handle

calling the game in the postseason. Kellen More in particular, as a young play caller, when the game is very emotional, you can deviate and leave the running game when it's not successful early. How patient is he going to be with taking a balance approach that might be the deciding fact in whether the Cowboys win or not. How Killing Moore handles the playoff environment and atmosphere, having never called

the game in the Vosseas, Hey Bucky real quick. As a follow up to that, how much do you put on the head coach though he has a lot of experience, knowing that he has a young play caller, is it his responsibility to also be able to get in Kellen's ear if he feels like he's not being patient enough and say, hey, let's remember, let's stick to our plan, let's continue to run the ball even if it's not necessarily working. I would say this, if we're looking at

the game, you guys will be there. But if you're looking at the game on TV, if you don't see Mike McCarthy doing a lot of talking. He is doing his job at disservice. This is a game where a Super Bowl winning head coach has to put his imprint on the game. He needs to be more active, more involved in the stuff. And I'm not saying take to play card from killing Moore, but this game has to go according to the script that Mike McCarthy has. That's

why he was hired. He was hired because he's been the one to win super Bowls, not those other guys. He has to lead this team until. Yeah, he has to play a bigger role in managing the game. And I know for some of us that makes the squeamish based on what we've seen, but he has won it. He needs to play and perform and make sure the game looks like a championship level game. Bucky, And then I just want to ask you, how good is their kicker. I think the thing about Robbie Gold is you kind

of just know what you're getting. Look, he's made some big kicks throughout this time. He has some This is this year. I think if we're comparing the two, he's been more consistent this year. But look, man, in the game, it's a fifty to fifty proposition when you're dealing with kickers of all levels. So you know, you just hope that Grigs is on if he's called upon to make kicks. But Rod, oh the solid you know. And so it's just one of those things where you just hope that

Gregg V is on his game. If he's on his game, then you don't worry about Man, they squeamish because I heard you guys talking about two point conversions or whatever yesterday. You don't want it. You don't want it to get to that, and you can't. And that's the thing, because I didn't get a chance to say it. But in the playoffs, the one thing that you can't do is you cannot change if you've done things a certain way the entire time. You cannot decide in the playoffs we're

switching it up. We're more aggressive, we're going for it on fourth downs. That's not I am up. You still got to play the way that you've always played it because players would look around, like coaches trip and why do you panicking? So you just gotta player straight. If Greggs teams you got, you gotta trust them. You just gotta live with it all right, give us a prediction. What do you think is gonna happen this Sunday. I think the couple was gonna win. I think the couple

was an a better team. I think it has to playoff. I think it would be tight, just because I worry about the inexperienced um for some of their guys Micah and Trey Vine and some of those guys. But if they can get through the first quarter and the game is either even or they're up, I think they begin to separate away from them late. All right, we appreciate that, Bucky. We will talk to you hopefully next weekend as we're getting your heady for round two. We'll see about that.

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a retailer nearest to you at Stetson dot com. Slash Cowboys Back to the break all right, Sunday three thirty against the forty nine ers, It's time to white out the stadium at AT and T Stadium, where You're white. Visit Dallas Cowboys dot com. Slash twenty twenty one playoffs for more details. If you need more, it's really just where white. Pretty simple. It's gonna look end zones are gonna look like, you know, like a little I'm not worried.

I'm not worried about this. There will be red in the stadium, but it won't it won't be like last week when they come close to looking like that. It's gonna stand out a lot more snap it will. It's gonna stand out because it's red. I think that's the big thing. It's just it's the easiest color to notice of any but just if you're white, if you've got a white out. I don't remember if I said this here or on something else, but like they played Green Bay in the playoffs, and then nobody said did Ley

about this? And Green Bay's just like San Francisco, like they've got fans in every building in the league. I just playoffs are different. Yeah, and it ain't gonna be that big of a deal. We will see. It'll be interesting. And I do think that they're better on the road anyways. I mean, it's not like it really matters the Cowboys are a better football team on the road, or do they have a better record on the road than I

don't like that, which it won't happen. But like Matt Stafford had to go to a silent count in his own building last week. You don't want that. But that's also the thing about at and T Stadium. It's and Jerry talked about this on the Fan earlier this week.

It's such as it's one of the largest stadiums from the standpoint of number of seats that it accommodates or number of people that it accommodates, And so by the nature of that, you're going to have more visiting fans that will be at the stadium than you typically see all around the league. So I think there's gonna be some. I just don't think there'll be a ton of Cowboys fans or wearing cell tickets for a playoff game. And also, I think you got to remember that game was all

obviously on the schedule. That's the first time the forty nine ers have ever played in so far where the fans could come in. Yeah, so you know they didn't. They weren't allowed last year, So that one's probably been marked on calendars for a long time to go see the stadium and go watch them play the Rams and all that. So that was probably a lot of that. All right, real goad Ama can I ask a question. I didn't ask Bucky because we were already finishing up.

But when one of the last things he said he mentioned was inexperience and how they might struggle with that

with the younger players. But I'm wondering, like, how, like how does that really change at a playoff game with guys For example, he mentioned Mica, how would his quote unquote inexperience effect in a playoff game the first week because you get into the playoffs and it's not like you instantly got ten times better as the opposing team, you know, So you know what I'm trying, Well, yeah, it's just to me, it's it's how are they mentally?

You know? I mean, how do they how do they handle the pressure all this talk and now especially with the historical significance if that even matters. I mean, it's just you're just putting a lot of pressure in there. Are they focused on what they need to do? Can they block all that and still perform? Some players do it, some players don't. And the idea, I mean, it's over, it's over if you lose this, and that's so the

stakes are higher. You're you're not only you're one loss away from eight months of whatever, and you're only three wins away from the Super Bowl. So I mean that that way, and it ratchets up each time you advance. You're like, if we win two more games, like we're super Bowl champs. I mean that, that's only human nature that that would get to you. I don't I don't worry about it, especially with Mica. Mica hasn't been phased

by anything that's happened to him this entire time. I would be surprised if he's not up for that challenge. But it is a mental challenge, yeah, And a lot of that mental I think also goes to the fact of the intensity of the game. I remember first time I just started working for the Cowboys, Nick, you might remember, it was that that playoff game against Minnesota, and I was standing on the sideline watching the teams come out and you could just feel it. It's a different feeling.

It's a different level of intensity. And again, once the whistle blows, is still a football game. But for every round, that intensity ratchets up because all week you got friends and family like, oh, it's the playoffs, Like it's it's just that, Like Day said, it is that mental of being able to get rid of the noise and the distractions and the thoughts of how big and the magnitude of the game, and being able to settle in and

play football. So when you're experienced, you have a little bit more to rely on, like, Okay, this is still just the football game. When you're less experienced, it's like sometimes you can get caught up in that and it can take you a while to settle down into the game and just play football. You know Brett Farve had, you know that that was a big problem for him.

He's one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and you know, he was an MVP, and he would go in to the Cowboy games and it take him a second quarter before he could set it up, before he realized that there is an actual crown on the stadium and you got to throw those out routes. He's throwing him in the stands because he's so jacked up. So even some of the best players, it kind of gets to him. Well, and you'll see it. Watch every game

of this magnitude. Whoever makes like the first few plays of the game, the first guy that makes a big hit or a nice catch, it's gonna be over the top, like if Mica gets a tackle for loss on like the first series of the I mean the flexing and the scream. I mean, it's just it's a different level of intensity. And Bucky's right, I mean getting through like the first quarter, once you get into the flow of the game and you're just kind of in the zone

and not worrying about it. That's that's really important in these types of games. And to give you an indication. I've heard players talk about this in Super Bowls. It

will just tell you the magnitude. When the magnitude goes up, sometimes feeling like they're hyperventilating when the game's starting because they're so hyped up, they're so ampt there's so much juice flowing through them that it just it can get you and you can take you away a little bit and you you kind of have to settle back into playing football. So yeah, I think when you talk about the playoffs, it is an increased level of intensity and

it gets a little bit tougher mentally. I think the game's still going to be the game, though, and once they settle in, I think they're fine. I do think, I really do think a lot of the key guys on this team are well suited for it, though. I agree. I mean, there's just a lot of guys on this team where I just don't think things get to them very easily. Yeah, and Nick, I remember we were in Carolina and that pre game and we were both standing

down there and every fan's going crazy. The teams are like seething at each other and it's just and Nick turn to me. He said, we're not winning this game. That's just where the white towel theories started. Yeah, it was like when they introduced Stephen Davis, They're running back and it was like and they had just beating them like a thanksgivings, just beating them and it was a big win, and you're it just felt different. Well, you're

that was went out of the game when nine and seven. Yeah, well Steve Smith hit him with the let he say. He said something pretty pretty crazy after the game. I couln't even remember what he said, but he said something like we whipped as Yeah, but it was it was, Yeah, it was. It was pretty clear that Steve Smith, now right, it doesn't sound like him, but that you could just you feel it like you go down on the sideline

for a regular season game. For all the regular season games, and then you go down for one for postseason game. It is a very very different feeling. It is a very high level. I'm so ready for this game, cannot wait play to play. Yeah, I do not want all brought us like, let's play. Let's go play the game. That's a wrap. We got another show to do tomorrow, so we do. And when we come in tomorrow, our goal will be to get these guys, these listeners ready

for this game. Will have lots of thoughts about what we think is going to happen, what we think is going to have a good and bad for the Cowboys that tomorrow. Till then for Nick Even, Dave helm and Amber Garcia. I'm Derek Eagletons. We've been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.