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It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. Were on with mbar Garcia. Brian brought us, Patrick Walker and Derek Eagleton.
It is Wednesday, January twenty fourth, twenty twenty four, Season nineteen, episode number one nine. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break. We are live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Stars the off season, and so we freestyle here in the off season. We got a lot of different topics.
Today.
There will actually be a segment where Brian has a question for us. It is a tightly kept secret of what that question is, so stick around for that.
Who knows where we're going to go in that segment.
We'll also get to a little bit of NFL Championship weekend talk. At the end of the show, we'll get these guys to pick their winners who they think is going to go to the super Bowl out of this weekend's games.
But let's start.
First with the news that came out last week when we'd already done our show. I haven't had a chance to talk much about it. I think most of us probably assumed that Mike McCarthy would be retained, and he was. My first question is a big questure, big picture question. What do you think or what do you like about this decision to keep Mike McCarthy.
I like that they found an opportunity to split the difference as far as the decision, because what I talked about going into the decision was that there was a lot of past evidence as to why they should retain McCarthy when you talk about the regular season success, but when you look at the monumental collapse against the Packers, obviously there's reason to want to part ways with him. So instead, what they did was say, you know what, We're going to let you remain, but we're not going
to extend your contract, right. We're going to push you into a proven year, not dissimilar to what they do with a player, and say, if you want this extension, go out there and earn it next year. So I like that set up because it provides that added motivation for McCarthy to get the job done. Because there is no twenty twenty five if things don't go well in twenty twenty four.
I like the continuity, you know, I think, just from a scouting perspective, what I have liked to have seen change. Sure, but the way you frame the question, I think the thing that you have to look at is the continuity of it. When you look at it's difficult for scouts to be on the road all year and be evaluating players and then have to turn around and have a coaching change and deal with that, and then your roster looks remarkably different than all the work that they did.
Maybe some players they didn't particularly like because they didn't fit, now they fit because of a coaching change. There's so much just that uncertainty there with that. But the thing that helps you the most is you know the head coach is going to be here. Now you've got to see if your defensive coordinator is going to be here. In likelihood, we're running out of chairs, I think for the defensive coordinator to get a job, so probably have
everybody back. And that's the continuity that you look for when you're building your team.
Yeah, I think.
I like well, not, I think I do like the decision, but I'm interested to see what it looks like for another year with him as a play caller. We saw some really great things this season, especially after that forty nine Ers game. We saw how the offense changed and the new scheme was better fitted for Dak Prescott as a quarterback. So there were some good things, some really bad things too, some questionable decisions towards the end of games.
But I'm just you know, while you're left in the contract, let's just play it out and see hopefully it goes well and for the better. But I think there are a lot of positive things that he was able to do, So I would like to see just a full season of and again you're gonna have elements that are going to change and different players and talent on the field.
But we'll see.
And I don't think Dak is going anywhere either, So curious to see just them two working together again for another year under this new scheme.
I'm going to be really interested to see if they let this contract run for Dak. That's what I'm I'm that's my next thing looking at now. Your coaching situation is kind of put to bed. I wonder if they're going to let this thing ride and say, you know what, we'll take the massive cap and go for it and see what happens, you know, and make a decision there.
I know they are people that talk about the potentially of extensions and things like that, but I just wonder there's a side of me that just like, Okay, what's the one thing that could could really change how this offseason was? Would we would go? And I would think that that not extending Dak would be one of those things, you know, just you know, you you take the cap hit and you play, and you know, like you said, you prove it, you prove that you deserve another contract.
You know. That's that's where I'm at. I know people talk about cap space and business and all that. It's a really good roster, it really really is. But you know, like I say, the the option of maybe making your quarterback pay for his next play, for his next contract, I think is something that that might be inviting to me. If you're gonna, if you're gonna, if if all of a sudden you clear the decks after next season, say it doesn't work out, then you do have a clean
way of doing it. You move on from your coach, You move on from your quarterback, you know, but make both of those guys have to go and earn that contract.
And what I'll say to that point, as far as salary cap management, we all expect that Dak Prescott will be in the Cowboys uniform in twenty twenty four, so we're talking about beyond. It's possible that he gets an extension. But what a lot of fans need to understand is that as far as maneuvering or massaging the salary cap, an extension isn't necessary to maneuver or massage the salary cap.
So if it remains as is, no.
Changes whatsoever, no extensions, then yeah, you're going to get blasted with almost sixty million dollars in the cap hit. But if they restructure it, which does not require negotiation whatsoever, that's just a switch that they flipped in the contract that turns it to a savings of twenty one million dollars roughly toward the cap. Now, of course that parks money into devoided years, and that's something you deal with down the road, but it's something you deal with down
the road. So just kind of a housekeeping note for those that are wondering if they don't extend DAK, because I see a lot of it on Twitter. They're saying, well, if you don't extend DK, you got to eat the sixty million.
Well not necessarily, you got some options.
Let's put a pin in that one, because I actually have next week.
I want us to spend the entire show talking about DAK and what he means is franchise and what should happen this year and what we think can happen in the future and Trey Lance and there's there's so many different offshoots of that decision.
I want to take a whole show on that. So we'll put a pin in that one.
Okay, let's go back to the coach though and McCarthy and let's sell to the flip side of that. We talked about the good side of making this decision. What's the part that troubles you? If there is a part that troubles you about that decision, what is that.
He identified that they don't run the ball well enough. And in the beginning of the year, that was something that was a big talking point by the staff, by him as we went into the season, is you know, one of the reasons they moved on from Kellen Moore. That we kind of got was that we need to run the ball better, and they did not run the ball better. Matter of fact, I think they got worse. And so to me, this is where now I'm gonna look at Mike McCarthy and I'm gonna I'm gonna try
and take you at your word. You know, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt here. You know, you came out, you said that you needed to run the ball better. You did not get better running the football. So you need to figure that out right now. Whether it's personnel, whether it's your play calling, you know, whatever it is, you need to figure it out. You cannot be a one dimensional team. And we saw what happened there with that. You know you just did not do
it good enough job doing that. So to me, that's a big problem right there. You identify something, you identified that turnovers were a problem. You fix that. That's a great job. A lot of it had to do with Dak. The receivers did a much better job with that area. But if you're telling me that you identify you need to run the ball better and be better at it and you don't, I'm gonna put you on notice.
I think the part that troubles me is trying to wrap my head around the intangibles of why the season failed. I mean, we could talk about the science as far as the tangibles are concerned, but at least seeing the tangibles gives.
You bullseyes to hit.
You can say, Okay, fix this, fix this, fix this. But the intangibles go to the mentality. So for example, you being the most penalized team in the league. That's a mental thing because that goes to self discipline on an individual level. And then when it's a massive amount like that. Now you're talking coaching. When you talk about the meltdown that happened against the Green Bay Packers, that
was a mental meltdown. It just felt like the Cowboys were ill prepared when they walked onto the field against the Packers. And that's disturbing for me. So as much as I can see and justify the decision to keep McCarthy around, when I start looking at the mindset of going into a big game and floundering in the fashion in which they did, that's concerning for me because that's not as easy to attack as it would be saying, hey, you keep getting fall start penalties.
Let's work on that.
When you talk about the mental aspect of it from a team from a player standpoint, that becomes much more challenging. So I'm interested to see how McCarthy directly attacks that going into year five, the final year of his contract, because if this team doesn't get that mental fortitude for playoff games like they have for regular season games, we'll be back here having the same conversation a year from now.
Yeah, I think to me, the bad is.
One showing up having not shown I would say not showing up in games where you're playing really, really talented opponents. I think there were so many great games throughout the season, especially at home, but when you faced certain types of opponents, they just they they weren't up to the standards, let's say the competitiveness, And I think that kind of attributes to the running game. Had you be able to run the ball, I think you played a lot better with
a balanced offense. But also the way the defense was starting to trend downwards. You know, they started the season in a very high no and it started kind of just doing what they could because of the injuries. They were just trying to hold up and the whole away games. That's hard to figure out. Really, we don't have an answer. Did it just we don't know. But so the one thing that's left that I would point out the penalties.
I mean, we've talked about this forever.
It's been since the time he got here, Like this is not just the one last year thing. It wasn't the year before. It's been since he got here. We've been talking about penalties, and I feel like nobody gets the spanking. And I don't condone. I don't condone violence. I don't I don't promote violence. I don't promote spanking. But I'm just using the term because we just see it happen over and over and over and there are
no consequences. There's nothing that shows you that they're improving or trying to because it just constantly continues to happen. So and I put that all well, sure, player execution and all that, but when so many different guys are doing it, I put it.
I put it on the head coach.
Let's when you think about the situation that now McCarthy is faced with. I've heard how it can help and i've heard how it can hurt. Going into a final year of a coach's contract without an extension.
You got the one.
Side where it's like, okay, prove it, So you want to see him actually prove it to get his next deal.
And I like that.
I like that there's there's that carrot out there. The part that that I've heard people talk about that's a big of a bigger challenge is how do you maintain the authority or the respect for your authority in the locker room when players know you're only there potentially for one year and if things don't go well, you won't
be there going into the next year. Which do you, guys, fall do you think it's more of a help or hindrance that your coach goes into a final year with no clear decision necessarily on what his future is.
I think it goes to the culture of the locker room and the relationship between the players and the coach. So if it's a situation where you have a fractured locker room and the players are not completely bought into that particular coach, but that coach is getting one more chance, then you can kind of lean toward that being like a lame duck type of season where what you're talking about players are like, I don't have to listen to you. You're not going to be here next next week, next year,
I should say. But when it comes to the relationships that we know for a fact Mike has with dak CD, everybody on the offensive side, guys on the defensive side of the ball who've come out and celebrated his retention as well. That gives the culture that lends to the belief that these guys don't want to see McCarthy out of the building after twenty twenty four. So that lends me to believe that they're going to give as much as possible to try to make sure that the head coach that they love so.
Much actually gets the extension. So that's one part of it.
The other part of it is from a player aspect, you might not be here next year, right, So you don't have the luxury of looking at this coach and saying, oh, I don't have to listen to you because you might not be here next year, Nor would you if you don't put everything you need to put on film, you might be in another uniform, or worse, you might be out of the league entirely, which is sadly the case for some of these guys, not just these guys, but
guys around the league, because it's not for long league. So from those two capacities, but especially the cultural standpoint, I think that this locker room is so bought into with McCarthy that they would not disrespec him by look at him in the face and saying, we don't care about what you're talking about.
I think it's the opposite. I think they look at him and say.
We drop the ball against the Packers, We dropped the ball against the forty nine ers. We need to go out here and do this.
Ye play better? How about play better? If you care so much about your coach, play better well, to play better on the road, play better when you have you know, play better. Stop the penalties, you know, stop you know, if you want Mike McCarthy to still be here and get an extension, you need to figure out how to play better as well. You don't need to go let each other down. You don't need to bust coverages, you don't need to miss tackles, you don't need to miss blocks.
You know, you don't need to drop the ball. Preach play better? You know if that if that means that much to you. These are all these coaches all I mean, these players. Oh I love the coach. I'm glad the coach is here. You know. You know again, it's about feeling comfortable sometimes, you know, players get a little comfortable
with the situation. You know, Mike does a good job of managing the team, the health of the team, all that, but you know what, you're now, you're you're, you're coach is in a situation where it ain't about the regular season anymore. You go out there and fold in the playoffs. Again. It's like Patrick said, so you all are going to be looking for Jahannas Day.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree with that. And I don't think Mike has lost the locker room. I mean, we've seen players come out on Twitter or x and just kind of show their happiness of him staying on the team and all of that. But also as a whole, the reason why I would think like no one just kind of dismisses him as a head coach would be because right now, you you're the joke around the NFL. Like I don't think I don't. I'm not calling them the joke, but you just everywhere you turn, when you turn on a
sports programming or whatever. Every show, everything online, everyone just makes fun of you. Everyone laughs, Everyone's constantly messaging me laughing at me too. So it's just I think you have become a joke. And as a player, as a comp I think there is that pride. You know, you want to show that you can actually get to where you need to get and that you can actually compete and shut everybody up.
So I think that the drive is still.
Going to be there, and I do really quickly.
I will say, in contrast to what we're talking about, we talk about culture. For example, let's talk about the Philadelphia Eagles in this same aspect. You saw how fracture that locker room was, especially on the back end of the season when they were going.
Through that slide. And it appears.
That they're going to keep Sirianni because they're swapping out coordinators now and the head coach is still there.
You've not seen.
Reports, quotes, tweets, or anything of that nature from Eagles players that are celebrating the fact that Sirianni would return, and I think at this point it's safe to say that this might be a proven season for Sirianni as well. So those are two different contrasts, is what I mean. You see this visibly with Cowboys players supporting and being thankful McCarthy's back, versus a fractured locker room like in Philadelphia.
Well, I will say this, I saw several of the Eagles players after that game talking to media, and media were asking about and they look like cos of Mainland and they were like, this is stupid, like this is our guy, Like this is our coach. He's our coach, he's he should be here. So I think there's I think he has support in that locker room as well. Well again that's also but you also and I think we'll talk about this a little later, like not every Cowboys player had something to say about this.
And that's I think we can assume that everybody.
In the family.
I'm saying.
I don't think you can just assume because they didn't say something that they have a different or the same opinion. I just think it is what it is. And I think both by and large, I think both those locker rooms support their coach. And by the way, I think most NFL teams, the locker room supports their coach until they don't. I saw this team loving on Wade Phillips until they didn't and and by the way, they probably still loved him, they just weren't producing.
And at some point they're no longer producing.
What he's giving them is not enough fuel to get them to perform at the level they need to. And they can still love him, but at some point he's got to go. So I don't know if that even really matters as much in my opinion, when it comes down to how the players perceive the coach relative to necessarily how they're going to perform.
All right, let's take our first break.
When we come back, I'm gonna ask you, guys, like the million dollar question about this. How convinced are you that Mike McCarthy is moving this team in the right direction. When it's all said and done, they're moving in the right direction. We'll talk about that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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Welcome back to second segment of The Break Live miss WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. We're talking about Mike McCarthy and the big question I'd like to hear you guys answer is how much faith do you have that.
Mike is actually moving this thing in the right direction?
Because as much as you can talk about postseason and what games they've lost, the fact is they are twelve and five three straight years, and have been in the playoffs three straight years and have won the division two out of those three years.
How convinced are you that he's moving them in the right direction.
That's a tough one. You asked me this question before the Packers game. I'm like, Yep, he's moving them in the right direction. Absolutely, And then you run two hundred miles power into a brick wall and you're like, this is rough. I feel like, based upon everything that's occurred prior to the Green Bay Packers game. Mike McCarthy is moving the franchise in the right direction. Thirty six wins over the past three seasons. You didn't see that with
Garrett or his predecessors. Okay, that's an absolute fact. But there's this massive hump that needs to be gotten over in the postseason, and based on what happened in this postseason, I don't know that that's trending in the right pace because literally it's not. You went from wildcard to divisional and then you lose in the wildcard. You literally took a step back and then you know, spectacularly poor fashion as well. So regular season, yes, Cowboys are definitely on
the right track. Postseason, they took a massive step back. And that's why I think the Cowboys did the right made the right move to split the difference and say, okay, well we'll give you one more shot at this, but we're not going to extend it.
You got to prove it in twenty four.
You know, showed versus the seventh seed in the NFL in the NFC playoffs, you know showed that's rough. And uh, you know, twelve wins every year, beautiful win a division beautiful appreciate that you're measured on playoff wins, You're measured on championships, and he has failed in both categories to this point. I'm not saying he can't. He can get
you to the playoffs. But the concern I have of going in the right direction is not related to it's the playoffs that bothers me because we've seen them lose a variety of ways, and sometimes you didn't have the good enough personnel other times, and Patrick, you said this, you don't show up. You just didn't show up, You didn't play. You were a better team than the Green
Bay Packers. Green Bay Packers had to fight their way to get into this thing, and you had everything in your path in front of you going the right direction with the home games potentially two home playoff games, who know, San Francisco could have gotten beat and then you would have you know, maybe had three. But you had the path and you did not take advantage of that. That bothers me a lot.
Yeah, I mean don't.
I don't have an answer because I was for sure convinced that it was gonna happen this last year and at least a wild card game. I thought that we're gonna win for sure. There was no doubt in my mind at all, and it didn't happen. So I don't have the answer for you. I mean, I think he can still take the team to the playoffs. But what really sucks is that we're going to go through a season where even good games, it won't matter because the question will still be, yeah, can they win in the playoffs?
Brought that up.
Yeah, by the way, I think that was the way it was this year too.
To some degree, I think there are a lot of people that no matter what was happening this year, they were still like.
But now they get about because of what happened against the Packers.
It's like, like you said, Troy Aikman made a great point.
He said, when you have to play a season like that, which is the one coming up quote unquote, it makes for a long year. And it does because it doesn't matter how high your highs are over the course of the next regular season. Doesn't Let's say you you go in and you beat a top contender and you blow them, blow the doors off of them on their field. Yeah, you can enjoy the highd the moment, but there's that thing that's hovering. It's like, okay, but January, but January,
but January. So yeah, it's going to make for a long season, an unpleasant one. You enjoyed the ride while it's happening, but that boogeyman in January is still waiting for you.
You know, as I've thought about this over the last week or so, I've come to a conclusion. I want to get y'all's opinion on whether you think this is stupid or not, but I'm starting to wonder if the
weight of the Cowboys star is too much. And what I mean by that is I've heard McCarthy talk about how this is the first time he's ever seen this in his years in the NFL, where there is so much chatter about the team, especially when things go wrong, when you talk about fans, when you talk about media, the level of talk and the level of just negativity is so great. I'm starting to wonder if and again I know players will say they don't listen to the
noise all that stuff. I don't believe that because I think even if they try to avoid it, just like all of us, you still got family members, you got friends that are still in your ear talking about where they hurt this over here, or they heard this over here, or what's going on over here? That all being said, do you think it's gotten to a point where really it is Getting of the hump is no longer about x's and o's.
Getting over the hunt hump is mental because.
It's going to require them to not freeze up when they get into a situation. I really believe you getting that packers game. Packers take the ball, go down, score and then things don't go well and they score again. I personally believe there are probably a lot of guys on that sideline that in the back of their minds start thinking, I don't want to have to go through this, like this is this is not gonna be good, and you start getting tight and you start wondering how this
is gonna work. And I just think that the weight of all of that, the weight of everything involved with it, may be too much.
But see if that if that is in fact the case for several of these guys, that goes back to my initial concern and fear, which is the mental fortitude, Because if that's the case, then what is the answer other than to make sure that you have the players in the building that have the mental fortitude to be able to carry the weight of the star.
Okay, I understand that, But is there a point where the weight is so heavy that there there aren't a lot of people out there that are capable of doing that.
I wouldn't say so, because there's always going to be somebody capable of carrying what this particular person is incapable of carrying. It's about finding that person those persons and or looking at the person that's in front of you trying to figure out why are you unable to carry it?
Is there anything we can do to try to help you carry it.
Let's be clear and that the weight of the Star is heavier than any other logo in the NFL, arguably any of the logo in sports, especially when you're talking about you know, you have a very visible owner and general manager, and you have the pressure to perform when you're constantly being weighed up against the greatness that preceded you and the length of time in which it preceded you. We're talking about the nineties. You haven't had, you know,
that type of dominance in almost thirty years. So yes, it's a ton of pressure. But the organization is putting belief in you and money in your pocket to go out there and have the mental fortitude to get the
job done. They're putting the pieces around you that bring it in the Super Bowl winning coach from another legacy organization like the Green Bay Packers, and then he's putting guys around you, coaches around you, talented guys like El Harris for example, position guys who can help make you better. So then when it comes to the biggest moments the postseason, if you're not mentally strong enough for that, then the issue becomes much deeper, and there's no quick.
Fix for it, because the only fix is turnover. Right.
But the more you turn over and try to find the guys who are prepared to do it, twenty eight years becomes thirty five years becomes forty.
That's exact point that I'm making here.
Go ahead, right.
I feel like there were guys on the market and coaching this year that could that still are on the market, that know what pressure is and know how to handle the pressure. When you're starting to talk about the Bill Belichicks and the Jim Harbaughs and people like that, those are guys to me that know how to handle pressure. They know how to handle the winning side of things. They deal with the losses. They know how they don't lose very much. I know Belichick has struggled a little bit.
I think it's taken Mike McCarthy four years to realize how tough this job really really is. You know, he didn't have a lot of media coverage in Green Bay. He didn't have Sean Payton told me this one time. He says, Brian, you coach this football team. They know your name in China. You know, that's where the That's where we are right now. And I think that it
takes a special person to coach this football team. We put one in the Ring of Honor the other day, special people, and they have yet to find that special person, Bill Parcells. I wish Bill Parcells was a lot younger version of Bill Parcells when we got him here, because I think he could have done some really good things, you know, with the way his attitude and and the way the team building and things like that. I think
that could have been a big difference. This is a huge job and if you don't understand that, you're going to get crushed. And you know, Mike McCarthy is probably looking at himself going I've won thirty six games in three years and I'm fighting for a contract extension. That's not the attitude you need to take. You need to figure out why you are not having success in the playoffs and why you're not having championship success. That's what you need to be measured by, not not wondering why
this is a this job? Is why am I not getting this? Or why am I not getting that? That's your mental fortitude question right there, don't you know? You're the one that told us that you were going to run the football. You didn't run the football, and now you're wondering why we're questioning that. Come on, sir, really that's not That's not that this is a big job. There's a lot of people around this world that put everything into this football team. They're just asking for you
to deliver. That's what they're asking.
Well, all right, bear with me in this explanation of mine. But I think it doesn't affect on game day, like when you go out there, you block everything out. You know, I've never played football or anything like that, But what I can compare it to is, for example, when I was doing modeling and being on a runway minute, like right before stepping on stage, I'm a wreck. But as soon as you stepped your foot on that stage, you just black blank out. You block out all the noise.
You're just okay.
Can I stop you for a second. I want to ask you a question. Have you ever fallen when.
You were on the runway. I know that's what he's going with it.
No, okay, it stumbled. No, let me, let me let me because here's why I'm going with this. Let's assume.
Let's assume that you got out there one time and you'd blocked out all the noise, and you're going down that runway and you're having a great walk down this runway, and all of a sudden, you tumble, and you tumble bad.
You've tumbled off the stage.
The next time you go on that stage, you think you're gonna be able to block everything out at that point.
I mean, obviously that's not easy, and I'm trying to think of it. That hasn't happened to me. But I'll say this, I think it matters a lot the people surrounding you. Yes, you're gonna have a bunch of people like in the audience, but the people you're around with other models. I say, players around you, how's that support system? If they make me feel comfortable and like, hey you got this whatever, I'm good and you kind of okay whatever.
You'll probably think about it at night, but in the moment, you just keep going.
You just go in this game mode.
But aside from that, I think game day it's totally different.
Animal.
I think you're more just in it and this is your element and this is what you gotta do to me. It lies more on the preparation leading up to the game. We know how many people deal with anxiety. We know how many people just mentally that's stuff, and I think that's where it plays an element. I wonder, and I don't know how they manage all of this. And remember heading into the game. Right before the game started, I talked to you, Derek, and I'm like, hey, how do
these players do it? Heading into their like I'm nervous, and I'm just here as an expectator watching and I'm nervous. So I think, what does that preparation throughout the week looks like? Because that's very hard to handle. And again I don't promote drugs. I don't promote anything like that, but you know, essential oils, relaxation, music, meditation, there are
different ways natural. Yeah, what kind of natural though, here's what I said, But I just think that's in me in that game, what I saw the Cowboys do, it just felt like there was no preparation throughout the week leading up to the game. Because if there was, and this is just me as speculating or trying to find the reason.
Because if they was.
If there was, you just kind of go into game like you just go get into that switch just clicks and you just do what you're supposed to do.
But I understand that.
But I guess where I'm going is, I do think that if you've continuously stumbled, and not only that you can have whoever you want around you from the player standpoint, but you also are getting heckled when you go out.
Your kids might be getting heckled.
Like over time, there are the wounds that happen from the stumbles that now I think you can get into a game, and again, unless you are just one of those people who is just extremely focused and knows how to knows how to overcome that kind of stuff. In a way, I look at Lamar Jackson's on the screen right there. He's a guy that's been through a lot of people talking, and it seems like he's kind of just resolute in his mind at this point.
I don't care. I'm about to make this like.
You got to have that kind of focus, mentality, and skill in order to overcome it. And I do wonder if because of all the stumbles that have happened over all these years, I do wonder if at some point and.
Again, but the carry is that same weight.
You have so many new coaches and position, but.
They are also a part of the same thing you were talking about earlier. Even though they're not responsible for what happened five years ago, ten years ago, whatever, they still get those messages from people that are like, man, y'all are laughing, y'all are the laughing stock, Like y'all all the joke. So it's still now weighs on them. Even though they didn't have anything to do with what happened in two thousand and seven, they didn't have anything
to do with what happened in twenty fourteen. The fact is they're still having to deal with that because people are still looking at them and saying things to them and basically deriding them for what happened back then, and now they've become a part of the narrative because of what happened to them against the package. All My point is is I do wonder, and I'm not saying it
is or isn't. It makes me wonder if the pressure and the weight of all of this has gotten so large and so great that it will be very difficult for it to find a group of men who are capable of overcoming that.
I think the pressure is real, the weight of the star is real, and it goes to the level of success, and that the organization has reached versus the level of struggle that they've had since that success, because you have this drought and these spectacular losses and things like that. But using Ambar's analogy, for example, let's say you got a roadway model, all right, So let's say Heidi Klumb, right, Heidi Klum is one who set.
The bar right modeling. Let's say.
You have three or four up and coming models after Heidi Klum. They want to get the Heidi Klum status, but they're always going to be measured by what Heidi Kluhn was able to do. Let's say three of those four up and coming models post Heidi Klum all fell on stage. You haven't yet because you haven't gone out there yet, right, But now it's your turn to go out there. I guarantee you the first thing you're thinking about is don't stumble like the previous ones stumbled.
Also whilst keeping in mind that you have to meet the bar that Heidi Klum set.
So to Derek's point, this is what he's saying mentally, this is everything you're up against. It's not your fault that the previous models stumbled out there. But now that you're about to go out there, the audience is probably waiting for you to stumble because the moment you stumble, now they get to jump on top of that as well and say, see, this is why they'll never be Heidi Klumb. But also you have to look at what HEII was able to achieve and wonder to yourself, am
I good enough to do that? And see now you have you know your self with the negative self to and things like that. So I understand one hundred percent with Derek is saying, I feel like the solution is simply making sure you have the right people in the building. And it's also easier said than done. When you're talking about the Cowboys, the Cleveland Browns don't have the same issue. The Jaguars don't, the Titans don't, the Falcons certainly don't.
Falcons go out and they can have four more losing seasons and yeah, we'll be you know, NFL fans will be talking about them. But if the Cowboys have one losing season, it's talked about infinitely more than a team that hasn't really won much having ten consecutive losing seasons. The standard becomes the standard, and the next person has to be the the you know, the burden bearer for the standard that was laid for them.
If you're on that runway, you ain't worried about stumbling. That's my opinion. You're there for a reason.
You shouldn't be worried about it.
You ain't worried about stumbling. I hear it. If you're in that If you're not, you shouldn't be worried about stumbling.
You're right.
You should. You were you were, you were. You were putting that position for a reason, you know, whether it's your talent, your looks, whatever it is. But you're not worried about that. You're just worrying about walking down there, turning around and coming back and changing your outfit and doing it again and again and again and again. That's
where this team lacks. Sometimes they can't do that. They can't get on that stage and walk straight and not stumble, you know, even though they should be there, right, And that's that's the problem.
And that's the point, Like, you're absolutely right, you shouldn't like that's the point of brainwashing.
Yeah, I'm just saying I've watched a lot of crime documentaries.
Washing is a real thing.
It's a real thing that narcissist or whatever due to other people to manipulate.
I'm just saying I'm not I don't don't you is there anything you.
Could don't We're against everything. I'm not sure what we actually do can don't. All right, let's take our final break.
Come back.
Brian's got a question for the table. We'll jump into that when we come back. Dallas Cowboys Radio.
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Welcome back.
Final segment of The Break Life from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. Chris, We're probably gonna run a little long because we were already at about three and a half minutes left in the show, and we got so much more we got to talk about.
So, Brian, it's your show.
What you got? Okay? I got a question last night. Bobby and I were doing the Love of the Star podcast that we do every week, and we had a question last night from a gentleman named Matt Hollerin. I want to give him credit for this question. And Matt asked this question. He said, of the following hypothetical duos, which do you pick to bring back in free agency?
So I'm going to give you a pair of players and you have to determine which one of the pair of players you would like to bring back in free agency. Jack one pair, that's it, let's get it. First pair is Tyron Smith and Georg's Armstrong. Second pair is Jordan Lewis and Tyler Biottish, Third pair is Gilmore and Fowler. Fourth pair is Pollard and Hankins.
What was the last one?
Pollard and Hankins. So there's you have to it's a hypothetical duo in which one would you bring back in free agency Smith, Armstrong, Lewis Beatdish, Gilmore Fowler, Pollard Hankins. You can only you can only bring one back.
That's easy for me. Gilmore Fowler. I think you get your best combo there. I am of the belief that I agree with you. Brian on Foul I think he was vastly underused. He's a great third pass rusher, so I want him back.
And Gilmore.
I think with cornerback you never have too many, as we saw this year, so give me that back. I don't think. I think Gilmore was a good player for them all season. I don't want to have to to necessarily go into this season with if you don't have Lewis too, you know only two cornerbacks that are proven on the squad, So I'll go with Gilmore Fowler.
It's easy for me.
Yeah, Well, you were breaking yours down. I was circling through them in my head and I could see the tyrant duo and endurance because Dorrance has way more value than Cowboys fans give give him credit for.
At what point are you gonna be willing to tear that band aid off Dorrans no tyro.
If they told me that they were going to move the left guard the left tackle, I would be a lot. I would think about it, matter of fact, But they're not.
So what they what do they go first round and take a left tackle?
Uh, that's a great possibility of doing that. The potential of that would be I think that would be the best way to probably go right now. But there's there's several linebackers that you could probably grab there too that would probably help it. Mean, but if you keep your open mind about it.
Uh.
To me, I I kind of feel like I'll let it bell sque ahead. I'm sorry.
I mean, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with Gilmore Fouler as well. You didn't get to see the Gilmore Diggs duo, and now that Doron Bland has truly truly broken out, I want to see Bland, Gilmore and Digs, and obviously I would love to retain join Lewis as well as that rotational guy who can be an impact guy as well Fouler. What I was thinking of, I was trying to figure out if I was ready or not to fully,
not incrementally, but fully unleash Sam Williams. I need to see his penalties decrease first before I can fully give him the keys to that particular role. So for that give me Dante Fowler. Continue to impress so yet no spinking. So yeah, I don't condone penalties. I do not condone penalties. So yeah, I'm gonna take Gilmore, Gilmore Fouler combo.
For some reason, I'm leaning towards Jordan and Tyler be Oddish.
And Gilmore.
I think he's still very, very talented, so is Fouler.
But I don't know.
I don't know why, but something about me just feels like, you know, they're getting up there in a like age. Sorry, nothing against older people, I'm old, but but for some reason, I'm leaning I'm just more drawn to Tyler Padish and Jordan. I think that Tyler has he's He's been criticized quite a lot, but I think he was affected by the injury Earlier this season. I thought he was going to
have a really, really, really great season. The way he was playing at training camp and his aggressiveness, his toughness was he just he took a huge Yeah, but I do think he's still a very valuable player for the offense. And then Jordan, he's one of those guys that is easily forgotten. He tends he's gotten quite a few injuries throughout his career, but he is healthy and on the field, I think he's one of those guys that is still pretty solid for your defense. That a position that you do need.
So the Pollard, the Pollard Hankins one does nothing for anybody.
I like Hankins. I'd like to Handkack does. I'm good with moving on.
The running game was too it was too par for me.
And that's not to say I wouldn't like to have Pollard back, But the Pollard I would like to have back is the twenty twenty two version, and I don't know that you get that if you don't have a bruiser like Zeke tied to it.
I honestly wonder like I would love the idea of bringing in a younger back that is more my starter and having Pollard as my second back. Sure now, if I did that, though it's Pollard willing to take second back money.
That's the part that's a little bit hard.
When you've been the guy, it's hard sometimes to get you to go back to being the second guy. But that would be the scenario where I'd want to have Pollard backcause if he was in a rotation and I had another guy that I was kind of grooming to be the man.
I one hundred percent want Hanks back. That's what makes that challenging one.
And that's also kind of I feel about Lewis, And be honest, I want Louis. I think you could probably upgrade your center position. I actually want to see if Bass can play it personally.
But sure, the one I picked was I picked Smith and Armstrong as the one I picked just because I think you've figured out what to do with Tyron Smith. I still think he's playing at a high level. Sure you're probably going to miss him for a couple of games, but I know when he wasn't in there, that offense was a little bit different too, you know. And the fact that they're not I don't believe they're going to
move Tyler Smith. So if they're going to keep Tyler Smith, that I'm gonna you know, I think you can address the left tackle position in the draft. There's clearly some first round tackles that are really, really good. Some guys like they're going to fall into the second round. But I think you've kind of figured things out for Tyron Smith. Just don't practice him playing and he plays at a really,
really high level. And the fact that Armstrong I'd love to have if I'd love to flip Fowler and Armstrong there. But I think you're right about Armstrong. I don't think people give him nearly enough, give enough credit.
Let me ask you, are you are you at all concerned that?
Because I know what you're saying about tyrannt uh and I agree he's played. He played really well this year when he was out there.
Are you at all.
Concerned though, that the injury crops up at a time when you can at least afford it. Let's say you're heading into a playoff game and now you get to a Friday, his back starts acting.
Oh no, that's that's that's the danger. That's the tightrope that you walk between, you know, between the uh there and so I to me, I, yeah, I understand that, But I don't know, man, I'm thinking about what do I need or what I'm just gonna have to look at my draft board and determine are my tackles better than say, other defensive positions that you might look.
At there line back.
I think I think the main offensive position that you would look at would be offensive. I think the main position you would look at at center. To be honest with you, yeah, you know, and that's why that kind of the Lewis. I love what Jordan Lewis has done, but I think I could put Bland back there at back at Nickel and kind of work around, you know, another corner to put in, you know, for my for my nickel packages to kind of take care of that. I do feel like you have to upgrade the center.
I do.
There's times where he played well, the communication was good, but I just think you need one of the reasons why you did not run the ball very well. Three of them in my mind. The center, the right tackle coming back from injury, and you're then you're tight end who you drafted in the second round did not give you the point of attack blocking that you thought you.
Were from him, ironic, because that was the part you thought coming in. He was immediately got it was going to be because of what he did, what he did at.
Michigan and UH and really didn't see the benefit of that initially as as we would have expected.
Me.
It's like it's hard. It's hard enough finding Lineman, but also to me, I just see tackle as a higher position of need right now personally, and Tyron Smith love him, but I can't. I can't handle the stress.
I I can't.
I think I think you can get stress. I can get one more year out of him. But like Brian said, you go to miss him for a couple of games. The question is what games will those be? Are we talking about, you know, week two?
If you can guarantee me it's going to be a regular season game and not a postseason game, then I'm all in eighteen ye determined?
That's exactly right?
All right, real quick, before we end the show, let's go ahead and get some predictions on the NFL Championship weekend. You got Kansas City at Baltimore, Detroit at San Francisco. Let start first with the AFC. Who's gonna win Kansas City or Baltimore.
Oh man, this is going to be so much fun to watch. I hate to go against my homes. He's just in Dutch, but Lamar is on one he is and they're home. So if this game was in Kansas City. I go with the Chiefs, but it's Lamar and they are on one and they're in Baltimore. Going with the Ravens.
Give me Baltimore, and give me Baltimore and give me Detroit my two.
I don't want to be this person, but I am. The more we move ahead, the more I'm starting to believe this conspiracy theory of the logo and the colors in the Super Bowl logo.
So give me the Ravens, all right, And I think it's gonna be casey until somebody shows me they can beat that quarterback.
Then I'm gonna go with their receiver. It's gonna drop something, I hear you.
But until they show me this somebody can beat that quarterback, I'm gonna say I'm going that quarterback now, Brian.
You already said Detroit Detroit.
I also agree with that.
I think Detroit gets the upset this week, especially if Deebo doesn't play, which right now we don't know whether Devo is gonna be able to play. If he's out, I think Detroit goes up there and get.
To History will tell you one road team will win this thing. It might be Kansas City, but the guy's talking about.
It might be.
I'm taking Lions. I think the Packers could have defeated the forty nine ers at Levy Stadium, and it took that one terrible decision by Jordan Love to guarantee the forty nine ers or even playing this weekend. And the Lions are there on one as well. They're playing well on defense, they're playing well on offense. I think the Lions get it done.
Tough team to beat a tough team.
Yep, I do like the Lions better. But sticking to the theory red and purple, so forty nine ers.
You're all in forty nine. We're not letting the Baltimore forty nine ers can't get their sixth first. Like, no, no, let's just put that out there.
Hey, I don't, I don't.
I didn't.
I didn't make the rules.
I did keep it that way, all right, We appreciate you guys. Jonas were back next week and we're talking quarterback next week. I think unless there's some news obviously that it comes up. But unless that happens, we're definitely gonna talk quarterback next week and talk about Dak Prescott, talk about the entire quarterback situation and what it looks like for the Cowboys and what we think will happen going into this offseason and into next season.
Checheck it. Yeah, check out the Draft show tomorrow.
Yep, absolutely Draft show tomorrow. In case you haven't looked at the site, go check out. We got all the shows every We got two to three shows every day, so you saw plenty of content. Be able to check out till then for Patrick Walker, Brian brought us at Ambergarcia. I'm Derek Eagles and this has been the Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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