Cowboys Break: Purdy Good Offense

Welcome to the latest edition of The Break. We're live from this s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star, presenter by Bill Like the only beer of the Dallas Cowboys a day. Our job is get you guys ready for Cowboys versus forty nine Ers. It is the divisional rounds of the playoffs, down to the final four teams in the NFC. It's getting real and so we got a lot we're gonna talk about today. We'll jump into the

San Francisco offense versus the Dallas defense. Before we do that, though, I wanted to ask you guys a bigger picture question. This actually came from one of our listeners, Jose Rodriguez. He says I've been a Cowboys fan since the seventies and will continue to be. But I have to ask, can you really expect to have the same performance from both sides of the ball against the forty nine ers? Is what we saw versus Tampa Bay? How do you

put that all in context? What we saw last week and now going up against or you can play as bad as you did against the Commanders, Yeah, I'll say, I mean like it's it's everything's different. I mean, you went up against a team that doesn't want to run the football versus a team that runs the football, and so you know it's it's going to be a different game plans. They're a different personnel. I mean, I don't know if they're gonna put Galimore and Bohanna inactive for

this game or both of them. I mean, I think you have to play it a little bit differently, knowing you know they say at all time, style styles make fights, and thinking in this case it's gonna be it's gonna be different, So I expect a completely different game plan. I can I ask you guys a question. I know you just asked me one. Can I ask you guys a question? And then I'll circle back with your question, UM, do you feel like that dan Quinn played the last

couple of games not showing Israel? Kuam wu to you said that on the radio this morning. I thought we talked about that, Bobby, Bobby Belt and I do a podcast, Love with the Star, and Bobby brought that up last night in the podcast. I didn't think of it that way, And I'm sorry I missed you this morning driving in and I appreciate all you've done all season for us at one O five three the UM, I just wonder

if you know what else? Is there something else that dan Quinn's not showing us right now that he's got up his sleeve. And the thing about it is he understands this play caller. He's been with this play caller, but the play caller has been with him. Yeah, so there's a lot of that that you know that that game that you can play. Let me ask that though, to how much difference does that make when you say

the play call has also been with him. Yeah, he wasn't a defensive coordinate at that time, he was the head coach. How much does he really know how Dan wants to call the defense? Yeah? If he didn't, if he experienced it more as a head coach than a defensive coordinator. I think that. I think there's things those those days where Dan probably sat in on a lot of meetings, and you know when you practice against somebody every day and it's their d it's let's be honest.

You know who was the coach? It was Morse right that used it was Dan's defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris. Ya, Raheem Morrise was his defensive coordinator when he was the head coach. So how about those practice times where he knew it was Dan influence and Raheem Morris And so Kyle working against that kind of thinking, or maybe you have a question. These coaches do interact with each other, and so the thing I think that Nick's right about this is can it be the same? Sure, you know

they're they're capable. We've seen Dak Prescott play at a very high level. He played at an extremely high level in that game the other day. So and if you and scouts are taught, if you've seen it one time, you can see it again. So Dallas is capable of playing like that. I do wonder is there something else

that Kellen Moore and Dan Quinn. And maybe you could say the same thing for what's going on in San Francisco right now, because I went back and watched their game against Atlanta where they got beat and it looks like a completely different team than what you're seeing right now. So you're wondering what both sides. And yeah, it's the problem that Dallas is running into is they had extra days to help and prepare for the Tampa game. They don't have a whole heck of a lot of extra

days to Okay, let's implement. And McCarthy's very much like, well, I don't like to just show new stuff. I don't like he said that the other day to Brad Sham on the pregame show, or I'm not interested in trying. And I think maybe he just said it to Brad does make people think something else, because I do believe Dan Quinn is going to come. You're gonna have to show something different. I know in the pregame show I even talked about this with Brady. You have two different

game plans. You have a first half game plan in a second half game plan, whether it's playing Man, whether it's playing Zone, you know you're mixing it up. However you do it, you have different plans. You're just not gonna sit there and let them get a beat on you of how you're gonna play this game. And I think the same thing goes with Kyle Shanahan. I don't think that Dan Quinn is going to give him a similar game plan. So, yeah, you're capable of doing it,

absolutely you are. It might look different though, of how you did it from how you played that Tampa game. One other thing I'll throw out to you guys, as you look at the San Francisco team on defense, they have I mean also this overall team, they're on an eleven game win streak. They're starting quarterback now, Brock Purdy is on a six game win streak. I think it is when you look at this team, you start thinking, man,

how do you beat them? But then when you dive in a little deeper, the thing that stuck out to me is they have played this so far this year. They have played five teams that have winning records. Only one of them you would think of as a really good team. That's Kansas City and they got destroyed forty four twenty five. They beat the Chargers twenty two sixteen.

They beat their ten and seven, They beat the nine and eight Seattle Seahawks twice, beat them twenty seven to seven during the regular season, and then beat him last week forty one twenty three. And then they beat the Miami Dolphins, who are also a nine and eight team,

thirty three to seventeen. My question seventeen, My question becomes to you, guys, is this team really as good as we think or is it a lot about the fact that they haven't played the upper echelon teams in the NFL, which makes you think Dallas has a much better chance than you would think otherwise. Yeah, but they are beating them pretty handily, though I would say that. I mean, there's not been a lot of close games. Oh sorry, Raiders was one of them. Yeah, but for the most part,

they're winning these games pretty handily. So I saw that too, and I thought, well, yeah, you're right, they're not playing a lot of these great teams, but they're playing well in those games. So I think that should give them confidence. And I don't care who you are. Eleven in the rows, Yeah,

pretty good. Well, even then, it's one of those things where I've learned to sometimes look at it like in this perspective that it doesn't necessarily matter who the opponent is because the Cowboys have We've seen they can play whichever way. They can play really good or really bad. They tend to kind of either level up or level down according to who their opponent is. So I think that the Cowboys have a chance to win any game against any opponent. It just depends on what team decides

to show up for the Cowboys that day. Yeah, that's it's I don't look at the opponent because I think Nick said it right. You win eleven straight games. You know that that in itself is that they didn't have a bad week. You know that the Raider game was really interesting of how they played that and gave me some clues how I would attack them. Uh, you know, watching the Seattle game at first half, at least she gets some ideas how you would attack. I think Atlanta

had a good plan for how to attack. That was a Jimmy garoppolo game. But I wanted to see, you know, what did they do? And so yeah, there's there's there's some keys to this thing, this matchup that you could take from it. And I'm not looking at who they played. I'm looking Okay, what did what those teams that they played what gave the forty nine ers trouble? And there's

some clues for that, you know. I also think the forty nine ers are not going to do what the Bucks did obviously that they want to run the ball. But the games where we've seen Parsons just be neutralized somewhat. It's those teams that like to run the ball and can run it in different, unique, creative ways. That's the ones that I think give him some problems. Tampa. I just wanted to go back and you saw it on

the first drive of the game. I mean, he was able to just get back there and go up against the left tackle and you know, they called holding and it was just like, oh so it's gonna be like that, and and Parsons was destructive of the whole game. Offensive I was gonna ask you, offensively, who do you think this San Francisco team compares to the most as far as the opponents that the Cowboys have already faced Philadelphilly, Philly, Philadelphia, And even at that, as you watch them, it's very,

very different. I don't know that I've seen a team this season in the NFL that does some of the things that they do offensively, justin how they move their personnel around. Well, the way it compares to me is not the running quarterback, because this quarterback's not going to run. I mean he'll run to escape. He won't run to run a play where they where Derek is right though, is it is uniquely different. But the use of personnel, the use of the tight end. This team plays with

a full back. Not many teams do that. I mean a lot of teams and they play and this team will run back to back screens. Philly will do that. Philly will get a bunch formation, they'll bring guys by jet sweet this team will do that. The way that they use their personnel is similar to Philly. But the biggest difference to me is Philly's quarterback can run as a weapon. This guy, I think that he's not going to be willing to run the football like we saw

him Phil. But the way they use their personnel in a lot of different ways is very similar to me. I'll give you an example. You saw. You'll see primarily the same guys on the field most of the time. The difference will be they'll line these guys up everywhere. I saw one play where they had Yuschek, who is the fullback, they had him out wide, they had they had um McCaffrey's running back kind of as a flanker

off of him out wide. They had the receiver Debo in the backfield at the running back position, and then you got killed all that tight end. And it's just like in every play you can see a different guy at a different place. So when you start thinking about it from a matchup standpoint, if you really let's say, for example, Dallas says, who's the best wide receiver? Okay, obviously is Diebo Samuel? Okay, we're gonna put digs on him? Okay, where are you going digs? If he's in the backfield?

What are you doing? Like, it's hard to really match up because every play, different guys are doing different things and all of them can do it well. They're running back and catch out of the backfield and can catch from a wide receiver position very very well. So it's a very very tough matchup. How do you how do you what do you do to try to prepare for something like that? Or how do you what are you going? A job interview that could help you try and get

the cold shot real quick. Yeah, I mean honestly, but that's that's what he did. Honestly. What makes me feel good about this game defensively is what he did last week. Not the result, but how he changed things up. We just finished talking about it. The fact that he said, you know, I'm gonna take Nashan Wright. I'm gonna put him down. I'm gonna take Bohan, I'm gonna put him down.

I'm gonna I'm gonna actually use this other guy that I haven't really used in this way as a as a slot corner, who has actually been a safety for us. I'm gonna use him in this game because I think it's a good matchup situation. That makes me feel good that he knows he's at least thinking about this, Like, I know this team is going to do a lot of different things. I have some tricks in my back too that I can trick things up and I could

show them something maybe they haven't seen and that may help. Right, I would do it with a Sean right too. I mean not this game, but next season. I mean I'm using these two guys like that. I've said it all year long. I don't think he's a good outside corner. It's hard for that guy's that tall to be that good against NFL receivers. But they can play in the middle if they're smart and they're aware and they got these you know, I mean, they could just touch both sidelines.

I mean with their arms. I mean, it doesn't it doesn't pass the eye test. When it comes to tall corners playing in this league, there's not a whole lot of them because of how leggy and how it hard it is to turn. But that kid who's he sees himself as a corner. He didn't see himself as the safety.

And so you know, he's adapted. And I'm talking about Izzy, he's adapted himself to say, listen, I could play this position and I could show quickness and I you know, when the ball goes in side, he's got the length where he doesn't have to drape his arm over to make a play. He's got the ability to play off hand. And so yeah, I think that to me, they're gonna need,

they're gonna need. It's such a matchup dependent game this week, and tackling is top of the list, but matchup depending because to me, you know, you talk about their receivers and and what you know and how they and how they operate. Deebo Samuel has missed several games. But to me, Brandy and Ayuk is a problem. Yeah, you know they're other receiver number eleven. He's a problem, and Kittles a problem and us checks a problem. But you got, okay, when they start spreading you out and they put the

McCaffrey trade has put them over the top. The McCaffrey trade went mate. If you watch the Atlanta game, no McCaffrey. Okay, good offense. They get McCaffrey. Now they got this ability to toss the ball, throw the ball, they do all this stuff with him, and it's like it's just set their offense into a completely different direction. And so now

you know Brandon Aiyuk. They get on the goal line, where they do they put the fullback out there, They put Ayuk out there, and they thought a screen and then they just blow it into the end zone and you're like going, all right, So you have to figure out when all of a sudden, when they put Deebo Samuel in the backfield, you're taking a corner if you're traveling Diggs and he's now playing in the middle, in

the box, and all of a sudden they run the ball. Well, Diggs is in the box, is he gonna make a play? Is he going to come up and tackle. That's what they're banking on. They're banking on that your corner as you drag him into the box, is not going to make that tackle or not gonna be able to help make the play. So they create mismatches. They make you move guys who can tackle in the box against the running game to the outside to cover a fullback and

a running back that's standing out there. It's just it's they mess with you. They really do mess with you, and they mess with your alignment and how you play. Like you said, well, we've got to keep this box. We're gonna keep it tight. We gotta keep all our guy, you know, we gotta keep All of a sudden, vander esh just walking out there and covering somebody, and now that takes him out of the box to make a

play and they run the ball. That's that's pretty creative stuff if you ask man, Yeah, I'll throw this in real quick before we go to the break. I was looking at that New Orleans game where they held him the thirteen points. One of the things you notice in that game is they didn't allow them to kind of take them out of what they did. They tried to kind of stay where they were. They played some zones. And so what it does it forces because because you're right,

Shanahan's gonna look to kind of mess with you. He's trying to get you to do all the things. Look at the I can he say, I got this fullback out here, so maybe I gotta take a lineback out the linebacker out there with him. And and what New Orleans did was we're gonna stay where we are right, to stay in our base and and we're just gonna basically play four down line and three linebackers and we're just gonna kind of move and play zone and figure it out. And it takes the way that superpower that

that San Francisco creates with Shanahan. I actually think that might be a smart way to handle. See. The thing about it is like, and I think you're exactly right about this. And you know, if you can get Dan Quinn in the building at lunch or wherever you guys can see him, it's a good question what Derek just talked about, because what happens is you become so matchup

conscious a play in these guys. Okay, this is who I'm gonna have takeaway, ayook, this is who I'm gonna play against, Deebo Samuel, this is who I'm gonna play against Kittle. And now it turns into they've got you so spread out, and now they've got your bad players on. They're good players, you know, and all of a sudden you're in. You're in a little bit of a bind that way because of all the adjustments you're having to make.

And to Derek's point, it's a great question for dan Quinn if you could get him off on the side. He's not gonna say in front of the meta or anything like that, but how do you play? I mean, I'm going to talk to some coaches today around the league that I know that played against the forty nine ers and say, you know, okay, how do you how do you play against this this front, how do you play against this how do you move the ball or

how do you attack this and that? And so I'm looking forward to that because they are a fascinating team to watch on tape, just because of all the things that they do to fun team to watch. Yeah, all, we're gonna take our first break. We're gonna come back dive in light. Right, We're gonna dive in a little bit more into this offense to San Francisco offense versus the Dallas defense. We'll do that in just moments. Dallas Cowboys dot com? Are you? Todd thought it would be

secure to jog in the cheetah Savannah. Todd believed the big cat repellent he bought online was reliable, and now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per hour. But the good news is Todd has AT and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew At and T five G. Fast, reliable, secure, It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plan and device.

Five G may not be available in your area. See att dot com Slash five G for you for details. So what do you call a group of grown men and women with their faces painted silver and blue who get together every week to share a three hour long ritual of jumping, sinking, and toasting Miller Lite and Tim Gallant hats while yelling, how about them cowboys? You call it Miller time in Dallas. Here's to the cowboys, Here's to the original light beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly.

Twenty twenty one Miller Brewing Company for Worts Texas. Want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Black skincare favorites, plus a full sized and tense therapy whip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys and use

the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys. The Jack Black Starter ten bucks, free shipping. When you build, you start with the foundation, and homeownership is a foundation of a stable future. The Bank of America Community Homeownership Commitment has helped over thirty four thousand people lay the groundwork so far with up to ten thousand dollars towars your down payment or three percent of the purchase price whichever is less, the satisfaction of owning

your own place can become a reality. Visit Bank of America dot com slash helmon it to learn more. What would you like the power to do Bank of America in a equal housing lender credit in collateral lets ife to approval restrictions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Back to the Break, the Country Music Awards are coming to Ford Center and The Star in Frisco on May eleventh. Get your tickets at SeatGeek dot com. Welcome back second second of the Break Life in that WBC Mortgage studios

at the Star. The segment presented by blockchain dot com. All right, let us jump into the San Francisco offense versus the Dallas defense even more than we have already. Here's what I'd like to do, Brian. There are four players on that offense that are unique talents, unique guys that Cowboys are going to have to know about. Yeah, I'd like you to walk us through. I'm going to give you the name, and I want you to tell me what is the thing that they do well and

how would you if you're the Cowboys, combat that. So let's start first with there can I say, one guy real quick or Trent Williams, the deef, the left tackle might tip plays runner pass. Oh okay, look at look at his feet. When he plays narrow bass, it's a run play. When he plays wide bass, it's a pass. You get Dan Quinn off to the side. Get that message over there to the locker. I believe. I believe they know these things. Yeah, I believe. If I believe,

because you could watch Trent Williams. Trent Williams is a very out We all understand Trent Williams from the Commander's stays way back in the day. He is always mean, nasty, s ob As a player, he's one of the best left tackles in the league. When I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for how mean and nasty he is. That's a tough matchup. But you watch him play narrow bass, they run wide bass, they throw. Keep an eye on that. If you're if you're a Cowboy fan, all right, okay,

And I don't think I think cowboys. I think people around the league have an idea of that. I hope they do. I just know that's from my days of pro scouting. I was watching him play and it kind of that's the way he plays upright. He doesn't get down in a stance, so you could tell by the way he puts his feet like when he's when he's real close, he's going to fire off and get into you. When he's a little bit wider, he's kicking out of there. So something to keep an eye him. Okay, you're gonna

ask me about Samuel? Is what you're gonna ask me? Yes, Okay, Deebo Samuel. And when you watch Diebo Samuel play when he was at South Carolina as a player, though he was a guy that he's got a running back body, you would probably you would probably say, I don't like the way this guy, but he's got a running back body.

He's a big guy that plays wide receiver. The thing about him is he's a really powerful guy, and so what you have to deal with with him is when the ball gets to him, he's a hard guy to tackle because he's a thick, lower body guy. He runs through people. He's powerful. He's not afraid of making those types of the contact and just taking on people. They

use him a lot of different ways. They use him tight, they use him in the backfield like there was a time where they were talking about him just handing him the football and they just you know, as a running back when they really didn't have one. And he's like, ah, not too interested in doing that. But here we are. Every time they throw him the ball, it's like dealing with a running back that catches the ball really well.

So very powerful guy in that regard. Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey is when he came out of Stanford, I thought, I go, I've never seen it back like this. His dad was Ed McCaffrey, played for the old Denver Broncos. Yeah, his mom was a soccer player at Stanford. She might be the best athlete of the family right there when

you're talking about him. But you could tell the athletic ability that he has that Christian McCaffrey has never been able to stay healthy at Carolina when he's done, when he has stayed healthy, he's had huge games. But here with the forty nine ers, he's playing well. They toss him the ball. They throw him the ball in the screens, they put him wide outside, they throw him the ball there. They think a ways, creative ways to try and get

him the ball. A lot of the stuff is they try and toss it to him and let him run down hill. That's a big thing. Take the snap, pitch it to him, let him run down hill. Get blockers out in front. He's an exceptional pass catcher out of the backfield. You gotta worry about the screens, but you just gotta worry about the downhill running style. He broke the Seattle game open last week with a sixty five yard run and it was blocked perfectly. Nobody on the edge and he just hit the gap. And when he's

got speed to finish as well. George Kittle. George Kittle is a tight end that plays in line for you figure for a superstar. When I mean in line, I mean a guy that plays right next to the offensive tackle that you see him sometimes the flex and the slots and stuff. A lot of these really good tight ends now play detached away. He's one of these guys that plays in line. Okay, there's your problem. When he plays in line, you lose track where he is on

the field. He runs routes from in line, So all of a sudden, now you're in a situation where you're going, oh, where'd he go? You know, you lose him because there's all kinds of crossing and stuff, and here's Kittle. You know, it's like it's like a Terminator movie, you know, with all the smoke and all that, and Arnold Schwartzener comes walking out of the smoke. Well that's what this guy does.

And so yeah, but the fact that he plays in line, people lose him, and they also throw him the ball on the screens, the delays, the stuff we were talking about with Philadelphia. Just a really accomplished player. He's one of those guys to in the Seattle game, he's got a first down, he's running parallel to the marker and instead of just turning up, he out runs the defense and then turns up the field for like another twelve yards.

Instead of just trying to get it and get tackled, he's running, run and run it and then he turns up the field and goes So accomplished player that way, Brandon Ayuk, this might be their best Yeah, this might this might be there in my opinion, this might be their best receiver. And I know he's played four more games than when Deebo Samuel's played, but this guy is a is a threat down the field. Red zone threat, catches the ball really really well. He's a very he's

a north south guy. He gets the ball and he gets up the field in the hurry. These guys are all really difficult to tackle. That's they They put so much pressure on you run after catch, and this guy's one of those guys that can catch in traffic. He's not afraid to take the routes in the middle. You got to watch him in the red zone because he'll work the back of the end zone and they'll throw him the football. They'll throw him the screen real quick in the red zone and then let him run into

the end zone as well. Like that. They're all really really good players. I'm surprised that because you said I got four unique players. I think the most unique guy they have on that offense is you check. You check. Yeah, Because there's teams Accolays a face with good receivers, explosive backs. Maybe not a debo type of guy, uh good tight ends,

really good tight ends like that. But but I think what sets them apart, and this is just me, is that they have a fullback tight end guy that wide receiver. You never know you can do everything because when he's on the field. You don't know what personnel that really means. That doesn't mean they can they don't throw, that doesn't mean they don't run. You know that they can play power, they can play. I think he's one of the most versatile guys they've got there is that. There's no question

they had a vision for this player. They got him from Baltimore, and Baltimore has always done a good job. But in my opinion, Pozzy Newson and that crew with their personnel and they got Kyle's us check, You're absolutely right. They you know, they put him wide and they pair him with somebody wide, and all of a sudden, you have a blocker the fullback's blocking for a guy out on the screen. They did it with Brandon and Ayuk in the Atlanta game. They put them both right there

and then they just hammered. They hammered us check on the corner and the and then all of a sudden, Auk comes inside. They throw him the ball and now they've just got it going up the field. So yeah, usually where my watching him play, wherever he lines up generally is where the ball's going, So keep an eye on that. So if you see him kind of offset, then the ball is likely going to go to that side.

They like to follow him with the block. He's just so hard to deal with because he's coming down hill at you and he's this big number forty four and you're trying to fight him to get off the block to make the play. Because you got this shifty guy behind him. They can also break tackles. So yeah, that's the usually where the ball is going is behind that

number forty four. When you when you're watching him play well against Tampa, we saw the Cowboys defense be so close many many, many times, I'd like intercepting the ball or getting their hands on the ball. Is this team that you can can be very close and actually create some turn Yeah, you can this guy, you know. I mean the numbers say, but there's there were times when I was watching him throw and teams he's been extremely

fortunate that teams have not picked him off. And so to me, that's where I think that the Cowboys probably left what three turnovers on the field last week in this game against the Buccaneers that they could have had. You know, you've got to make this guy pay if he's going to I was watching some clips in the Arizona game of him, and Arizona did a good job at him. Like when he gets Seattle, he was much

better stepping up in the pocket and making throws. See, Arizona made him kind of play back door and he was trying to roll and get out of stuff. And then that's where he got a little crazy throwing the football.

So if you can make him not have to deal, let him step up but go back around like what Arizona did, you can get him to make some numbers say he hasn't turned over the ball a ton, but there's been some opportunities that teams have not taken advantage of as a guy that was drafted the little, very last pick in the NFL draft, mister irrelevant, is this a situation where everybody in the league just misevaluated him or is this a situation where that system just works

for him? And by the way, it is a very good and I mean we've seen Garoppolo, who a lot of people think this is good quarterback, not a great quarterback, have really good games and lead his team deep into the playoffs. Do you think this is more about the system. I think it's both. I really do. I know that's not the answer. Everyone loves, But I mean, I think people misevaluated Kurt Warner, and I also think Kurt Warner got got into a system that actually worked for him.

I mean, I know there's different stories like that Romo, same thing. Anytime you get a guy that's undrafted or drafted very late. It's a combination of Yeah, they didn't not necessarily see everything, but it's also the system. You can say the same from Micah Parsons. You know, they misevaluated him. Ten teams did not think he was a pass rusher like that. The Cowboys say that they did. But whatever, they got him and and they bared him with Dan Quinn. Yeah, it's a system. It's also a badass.

And I think for Purdy is you know he's he's he's in a and you watched him play, and Derek, you know this because you your your alma mater is a big twelve team, so you've played games against Iowa State. He was a four year starter at Iowa State. Iowa State was in the top twenty five basically every year he was there. What happened Iwa State this year when he left Iowa State went in to be Iowa State. From the early nineties when they were absolutely no good there.

Iowa stayed again where everybody went to, you know, Ames Iowa and then smashed them and got a victory and went home. You know, they were the homecoming team for everybody before Brock Purdy got there. This guy throws. He's in a perfect system because what the forty nine ers do. The ball is not flying down the field. The ball is intermediate and short. And that's what he did it.

I was date now he you know, he had a really you know he's had he's had the Breust Hall, the running back who was with the Jets, who before he ripped up his knee, was having a could have been Bookie of the year. This Iowa State, Alan Lazar, they don't have a hell of a lot of players. You know. It's very similar too. It's very similar to Dak Prescott. Mississippi State was number one in the country for several weeks and then when every when Dak left,

everybody went, we're all the good players. Yeah, well fourth round, Dallas, pick one, thirty five, you know, that's where that's where this guy. I don't think it was. I think people kind of saw this guy as like he doesn't have that ability to really smash the ball down the field. What he does is he's really accurate, he's really smart, and it's short intermediate and that's how the forty nine ers play, short intermediate, run after catch. It's a perfect

offense for a guy to play. And I could see why they drafted him because of the trades. It's the trade we're gonna pick a quarterback here with mister irrelevant. Oh okay, we'll take the guy that's got these traits, that throws the ball like seventy one percent of the time to underneath or intermediate. And when you and Brian

you know this more than anybody. When you take a quarterback in the seventh round, especially the last pick of the draft, that tells me that he's got a ton of teams that were looking at him, that we're probably going to try to get him as a priority free agent, which means you don't want to have to You don't want to fight that fight for them, or pay for it all that stuff, so might as well draft him.

What's really funny is in this playoffs, you're you played a quarterback that was drafted six in the sixth round. Tom Brady Grays ever to play, and now you're taking to play in a chance against mister irrelevant seventh round guy. So usually talk about and you know, and depending on if Daniel Jones somehow wins and you win, that that would be the first round quarterback you play against. But if you're a crazy, Daniel Jones is the highest drafted

quarterback left in the NFC. Left, yeah, and he's the one that everybody hates the most. One two, four seven, right yeah, right out the other side, one one, one one. They all first round, yeah, yeah, and wait, some of them are the first pick of the draft, right, Burrow Burrow number one, Lawrence Laws number one. Yeah, the eleventh pick was my home maybe not eleven. He's at ten ten yeah, and then uh Josh Allen like seven, right,

all four of them are top ten picks NC. It's just Daniel j It's the it's the it's the Westminister dog Show versus the Mutts, you know, and you hope that your MutS MutS are good enough to be Yeah, but that's where you know. But they took San Francisco. They had of it, and you could call it luck.

You could call it luck, but you're if you're looking at it you're thinking, who's the most accurate quarterback for the offense that we would you know the way that we play, and Brock Purties looks like a pretty good guided. You know, he's you say, he's seventy one percent in college throwing the ball underneath. You know, that's what he does mentally, like if you got, if you managed to get.

I haven't seen him lose yet. I have seen him lose, but it is were there are times that you can I mean did yeah, regardless of them winning, or there are times how you can see I can't. I don't see him rattled. There are games where he played at Iowa stay those big games where they just didn't have enough players. They were getting these games that they won. I believe they beat uh they won a game, well, the Fiesta Bowl game that they won. They went and he was a part of that, and he's he's a

good player. Yes, to Nick's point, a lot of teams missed and it's a hard position. It's a hard position to evaluate, and yeah, a lot, but I haven't seen this guy get rattled. I've seen where he's He's made some questionable throws, but he's perfect for offense. Great comparison to dak at Mississippi State. Yeah, when you're recruiting, I mean when you're when you're scouting players and you think, you know, here's here's the list of Iowa State greats,

you know, and it's like worth the other page. I noticed that the same with Mississippi State. I mean, there's not a lot. So he probably was a big reason for that. And so when you're evaluating him, we're like, well, is he really good or was he just playing in a system that, you know, a school that does Iowa State. Iowa State was always in the top twenty five because of him and the running back and Alan Lazar. That's

other than that. I mean, I'm sure there's a defensive guy that I'm missing, a rush end or something like that, but yeah, that's it. I mean you're talking about they went from like they went from having four or five players and being were like, wow, this team is in the top twenty five. Yeah, been in the top twenty five because Brock Purty, you know, and when Brock Purty leaves, they become a three, three and eight team. You know, it's kind of wallass. Yeah, like the last player there

been a long time. Wow, that's been a long time. All right, we gonna take our final break. We're gonna come back. Let's talk more about this Dallas defense and how they match up. We'll do that when we come back. Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. The season is finally here. For months, we've been gearing up to win. Now it's

time for the team that performs on any field. United egg in Turf with John Deer zero turns for mowing, compact tractors for loading, many excavators for digging, Gator utility vehicles for hauling, implements for grading, ay tools for bailing. United Aggin Turf for winning the official LaGG and Turf equipment supplier of the Dallas Cowboys. Visit United Agginturf dot com for more. Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the Cheetah Savannah. Todd believed the big Cat

repellent he bought online was reliable. And now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per hour. But the good news is Todd has at and T five g. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew at and T five G Fast, reliable, Secure, It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plan and device five G may not be available in their areas. See

att docom slash five G for you for details. Did you get to work on time? Yeah, but I just realized it's Sunday. Little sweets his head on home. Doctor Pepper is on its way, and maybe there's nothing better. I bet you've probably done something. You investoristic NFTE, and I don't even know what that is. It's the non functable total something. When you build, you start with the foundation,

and homeownership is a foundation of a stable future. The Bank of America Community Homeownership Commitment has helped over thirty four thousand people lay the ground work so far, with up to ten thousand dollars to it's your down payment or three percent of the purchase price, whichever is less. The satisfaction of owning your own place can become a reality. Visit Bank of America dot com slash homeowner to learn more.

What would you like the power to do? Bank of America an a equal housing lender, credit and collateral as sooft to approval restrictions apply. This is not a commitment to lend back to the break. Get your hands on the premium gear at the nearest Dallas Cowboys Pro shop or log onto shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com a fanatics experience and level up your game day. Look for the NFC Conference Championship Playoffs. I don't know. I don't like the way that was written. I'm sorry. This is

just the playoffs. About that NFC Playoffs Divisional round, That's what you need, not super Wildcard Weekend. Hey do you think do you think I deleted that every time I saw that in a story. I don't know if it's called that or not. Is it called Dalls Super Wildcard? Is it called Super Divisional? I don't think so. Why why it's called divine Divisional? Ah? Here we go. Why is it super now? Because there's another game? Because they added another game, because they superly screwed you by making

you play on Monday? You know, uh, real quick talking about do you think that this Mike? Do you think McCarthy superstitious? Yeah? Do you think we're gonna see the big Cowboy Joe logo outfit this week? On the on the sidelines in San Francisco. Good point in Santa Clair that what he had he had on the Big Cowboy Joe. I was kind of like, I love the logo. I love the nineteen sixty logo myself. I change it up because you your players are changing it up. I mean,

like they came back to cow Jersey this week. How about it. How about if he wore the Jimmy Johnson Apex jacket with a white turtleneck like Jimmy Warren back in the back in the day when they're playing at San Francisco. Only if he stands on the table and says, how about them Cowboys? If they I want to see him? Were the big Apex? That was Jackie? Yeah. So it was just thirty year anniversary of the right yesterday I think, which still had that jacker that was the last road win.

Yeah yeah, and Cowboys history and the playoffs. So got that out of the way. Yeah, go with the white turtleneck with the Apex jacket. I think I think we gotta look. I think we're good. Let's talk about this Cowboys defense. Huh, that'd be nice. Oh yeah, does he is a guy? It looks like meat? It was, it was. It was Yeah, it was that. But um, seeing things like that just make me makes me like him eybe more just him doing like I can't even picture Jason

Garrett doing that. I don't know what the team so it's just one of those little other elements that do you just know he can relate to the players in a different level. Ye. All right, So let's talk about this run defense. Um that it's been a question all year. We've talked about it all year. This last game they didn't really have a problem stop in the run. But then again, Tampa Bay, as you said, Nick, they don't

really want to run. Nope, they'd never committed to it and uh, and so you really don't know whether it was a factor of they got away from it or they really couldn't do it so they got away from it. What do you think of this rush defense now having to face a team that runs the ball, not only runs the ball, runs the ball stream. Well, I think their lowest output over the last six games that Rock Purdy has been starting has been a They've been over one hundred fifty rush yards and every one of those

had a chunk play last week. Yeah, they're they're gonna put up yards on the ground. What do you think of this rush defense. I'm a little worried about it, honestly, because this is the best running team I think that they'll face even a couple of years ago when they weren't very good and they beat him with Andy Dalton in twenty twenty. Even that game, you could tell that they ran the ball well. They had uh most or

I forgot how to say his names. I mean they had they you know whoever it is a running back. Now they've got McCaffrey. I think. I think what the issue is is the Cowboys are going to have to be very disciplined in their in their defense, and that's something that we just haven't seen from the run defense, you know, standing in your lanes all that, even Micah Parsons included. I mean, like these guys are trying to get after the quarterback and sometimes you sacrifice being out

of the lane. They haven't seen a fullback like this. It's gonna be a challenge. Yeah, this is gonna come down to how quickly can you get off blocks because what's going to happen is the running game is going to be because of movement of the offensive line. They I don't think They particularly want to run the ball between the tackles with Christian McCaffrey. But he can he can't. Now you got to get ready, get ready for tackle movement,

guard movement, center movement, tight end movement. I mean fullback movement. You know, that's that's where this game is gonna hinge because what happens is they want to get the ball in the outside. They're gonna toss it and they're gonna play everybody downhill. And if you're if you're running sideways fighting blocks, that's what and then the ball's gonna cut behind that. So to me, this is I don't think that they want to run the ball inside on Hankins

and those guys. I don't think they do. I think, you know, guys like Osa Gholston, you know, we'll see, we'll see. To me, I still might not dress those guys. And I say this in a way. Up I need upfield guys. I need Gholsten up the field. I needs up the field. I need I need everybody. Get them to stop. I mean the problem with the with the

fourty nine ring game, it's all about momentum. It's just a big wave of bodies and what kills those types of plays penetration, you know, getting blockers, getting knocked off, backs, having some indecision there. To me, I'm trying to get as many guys up the field and and and rally to that point to where you can like trap them.

I know, negative plays. I think it's gonna be tough, but to me, a gain of two or three is a big, big, big win in this because this team is capable if they capture that corner and slam you and get everybody blocked. We've seen big plays from this team. It's gonna be about how many guys can you get up the field and disrupt them wanting to run the

ball on the outside of the perimeter. So last week, um it was it was known all week that the biggest issue I think McCarthy was having was ten dvs or ten d lineman that keeping them active, that was the biggest one. And I think when you look at it, Marquise Bell was active and they went with the ten dbs. I wonder in a game like this, you know, with a team that throws a ball more ay, because that's what it comes down to you at nine and nine as well, it's just the one guy that's where I

could see a Gallimore maybe over a Marquise Belle. But you know, it could be something completely different. It may not be them, but I could just see where maybe they go one more one more guy on the defensive line. But to me, one big thing, and it hasn't been a tendency for them, but just keeping their cool, like not allowing themselves to get frustrated. You get you talk about all the talent that the offense has and as soon as they start making plays on them, because it's

gonna happen, it's gonna happen. They're gonna make some big plays and all that, but making sure that your defensive players just stay focused and not allow that frustrtiontion and to start kicking in because we have seen I forget which one was the most evident game. I can't remember, but I remember there was one specific game where they started doing the finger pointing And do you guys remember what game that was? Remember I can't remember what the green Bay Green Bay that was the one green Bay

was running the ball? Well, yeah, they were, they were, they were. That's a big problem. When he starts getting to you mentally, it just it messes you up and completely messages you up. So just making sure that everyone sticks to doing their own job, taking care of their own business, and allowing themselves to not get frustrated. They can't get mad, but just don't let that frustration kick in. I would say to me, I'm gonna I'm gonna try and make it where brock Purty beats me throwing the ball.

That's what I'm gonna do. I'm trying. I mean, infact, if if brock Purty is good enough to line up and just keep throwing the ball underneath and all that, this game is going to if you do not tackle, well, I'm not gonna say because I think San Francisco we'll talk about this tomorrow. I think San Francisco's got some issues on defense in the secondary. I think there's I

think there's some throws to be made. Now can you can you control what's going on up front, But I think there's some corners on this defense you can attack. And teams have attacked him, and I'm like I said, I'm gonna talk to my coach buddies and get the scoop of how they attack these guys, and we'll talk about that tomorrow. The touchdown last year the Deebo Samuel had in the playoff game. He remember it was like

a reverse. Yeah, yeah, they had it kind of bottled up and the next thing, you know, he kind of sneaks out and like like you said, like the terminator, he sneaks out of the pack and he scores a touchdown. And that was That was a play that stands out to me. I think something at the end happened that was weird, you know, like a played bad for half the breast came in and and just like ran over.

If anything, Bill Vinovich is your official this weekend, and of the four referees that are, he's the one that calls the least penalty. So I have a feeling they're gonna let the players decide this one. You know, you talk about that a lot, and I saw him. I believe it that something I believe in my heart. That's and that's fine. But but I'm thinking this, A lot of people are like, man, I hope they you know, let him play. Yeah, they don't call a lot of penalties.

Is that a good thing? Because Micah Parsons gets like got a holding call the other day, right, Like he gets like man handled every single game you know, and and and you know they choke him in the throat and all this stuff. And I'm saying, maybe I want them to call it a little bit, you know, I don't know, I kind of I kind of look at

it this way. If they're not going to call it on you against Mica, then Tyler Smith and McGovern and Schultz Schultz could get away with that holding at the point of attack that we need to happen so the ball can get outside and get a first down. If you're not calling it on us, by all means, let let Dalton Schultz hold all he can at the point of attack. That's true, that's a good point. They have a badass too. And let's not forget he got hurt in the game last year in the playoffs. He got

hurt in second quarter. Yeah, and I was like, oh good. You know, bad problems with these tight ends. Talking about that tomorrow real quick before we leave. Well, what would you do you know the percentage between passing and rushing that they do? No, No, I can get that for you though. Yeah. I'm curious to see how often they run the ball versus just passing. It seems like they read it seems like they run the ball. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't know the percent say this too.

The crazy part by a lot of their passing game of their run. Yeah, they a lot of what they do is quick passes and and you you, I don't know how many times I've seen this year Deebo Samuel, short crossing route, get the ball, He's off to the races like this happens all the time because if you can't tackle, well, Brian, you hit on the the nail

on the head. If you can't tackle all against this seemed good luck because it's really about being able to you know, rally to the ball and tackle and get them. If it's a three yard catch, make it be a three yard game. If it's not, like if you ever, if you're letting them kind of keep going, they're gonna eat you up all day. It's a lot of short passes, a ton of them. All right, Appreciate you guys, John Us. We'll be back tomorrow. We'll get into the Cowboys often

versus San Francisco, Diana. Shot in for Nick Eatman, Brian Broadness, Ambergarcia. I'm Derek Hilton. 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.