Cowboys Break: Rush or Gilbert?

We are live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star got Nick in here with me David Amber at their remote locations. We appreciate you guys taking a little time from your election coverage to join us talk a little Cowboys football. Hopefully we can make this entertaining for you and give you a good forty five minutes of a respite from the anxiety that is the election. So we got a lot of things we want to get into today. We'll have Bucky Brooks joining us. In

the second segment. We're gonna start breaking down the Pittsburgh Steeler offense versus the Cowboys defense. That'll be an interesting conversation. But before we get to that. Yesterday we find out about Andy Dalton, who now has been placed on the reserved COVID nineteen list. Nick talk to me about how long he's presumably out and what does this mean for the team. At this point, it sounds like he could be out two weeks. I don't know unless McCarthy. I

didn't get a chance to hear McCarthy. Did he say something different? Did he say that? Because if he didn't say that, then no he didn't really Okay, Well then, I mean, let's just be honest about it. The Cowboys are not mentioning it. They're not really announcing, and they haven't really come forward and said a lot about this and what it could have been. Is it? You know? Obviously they don't have to say if whether he tested positive or not, he could have been around someone. It's

different than I mean. But but the protocol he should be in there for fourteen days. Um, you know, Dave, I've heard some loopholes on these, like if if you know, if he passes so many tests, if if he if he wasn't tested positive, he could pass so many tests. But again, with the bye week coming up, I'm really not sure what the status is. I wish I knew, but I we really don't. We kind of left in the dark on this one. I think it's gonna happen. Is is he's obviously not gonna play this week, that

bye week next week. I would imagine he would be cleared for you know, after that heading into the Minnesota game. Had the Cowboys have a game next week, I'm not I'm not sure if there's a way he could get it. But it doesn't really matter because there's a bye boy Yeah, which comes out a great time for the Cowboys. Yeah, doesn't it always? Well, why do you say that, Nick,

which doesn't matter at this point. You know, I'm saying maybe three weeks ago it would have been nice, or maybe I don't know, maybe we can have more guys start at quarterback this week today? What were you about to say? It's I mean, it's it's very fortunate just in talking about Andy, you know, first for first and foremost, you know, I hope he's okay. I hope his family

is okay. But it's fortunate for the Cowboys that they have that bye week because I guess you don't want to presume, but yeah, it seems it seems like a decent bet that he can be back for the game after the bye, so you know you don't have him on Sunday and then you can just kind of take it day by day from there. But it seems like a good bet that, you know, by the time the Minnesota game rolls around, you would like to think he

could maybe be available. So it's fortunate timing in that regard, which nothing else about this season is fortunate, but it is what it is. I guess are there any other ramifications for the team at this point as far as them being able to practice a day. We've heard of teams that been shut down they aren't able to practice, so they aren't able to do in person meetings. Is there anything like that that the Cowboys are mind answered all of those questions, I'm sure he answered that we

know they're practice today. Obviously, we know they're practicing today. So if they're practicing, then at least we know that they are able to come in and be in the building. And I think the good part here was that Andy Dalton didn't travel, you know, he wasn't He stayed at home, and then I guess that's whatever the situation is. It

happened maybe this weekend while he was at home. So the Cowboys will have an interesting decision this weekend amber they will have to choose between Garrett Gilbert and Cooper Rush. They've already made it clear that Denuccia is probably not going to be the choice as a starting quarterback. Who do you think smokes most likely to start versus Pittsburgh, Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush. Before answering that question, can I quickly ask Nick? I know you'd take the test.

How quickly do they give you, guys the results? I take the test every morning, every morning, every for the last how many months? Three months? Now in a while. I take the test at about ten o'clock in the morning. You usually, and I would say that my email comes in around one in the morning, two in the morning, something like that. Um, I'm not the quarterback of the team. You still returns every night? No? No, I mean sometimes when it comes in and you see it, it's hard

to just go to bed. I mean, you have a like But I have been told that a trainer would call A trainer would call me way before. Yeah, you would not wait until one o'clock. If you get the one o'clock, that means you're I mean, okay, and truth be told, since we're talking about it. I actually saw Andy Dalton in the car. I saw him in his car and then talking to him yesterday or two days

ago or whatever. I wasn't sure who it was at first, but it was him, and you know they were they were talking to him about you know, what's going to happen through all this another. But I don't know exactly what you're going with your questionnaire, but I would say it's about twelve hours maybe a little bit more for

for the test. That I know where I was going is because obviously we know he didn't travel with the team, but we also knew that he was taking part in the meetings and he was just still around the facility. So I was just wondering how quickly he was able to get that result from the test and how much he was around the teammates. But clearly none of them, or at least that we know of, no one else has tested positive so far, so it seems that at least the Cowboys are not having to shut down their

facility or anything like we've seen from other teams. But Derek, to answer your question, between these two quarterbacks, clearly not much experience there. But my assumption would be that maybe Cooper Rush, just because of the fact that he's been here before, he knows some of these guys, so he's probably more a lot more familiar than Garrett Gilbert is

at this point. Dave, what do you think? I made this comment as a joke yesterday, And the more that I'm forced to confront this reality, the more I'm just leaning into it, to be honest with you, Like, Yeah, Cooper Rush has been here for three years, Garrett Gilbert's been in the league for six years. They've combined to throw nine NFL passes in their regular season. So what I what I would do is wildcat this bad boy from the get and just let Tony Pollard and Zeke

Elliott handle it. Like, just let's go Nick, you remember the glory days, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Let's get this thing rolling. Man. I'm so I'm so serious, I really like, what business do you have trying to pass against this defense? Like with this offensive line, with those quarterbacks? Maybe you maybe you know, I don't know, one of those guys played quarterback at some point in his career. Maybe Tony Pollard played some quarterback in high school, or

through some passes. Maybe you can string together a few plays where they throw, or maybe you can let Cedric Wilson do it. But I would honestly go full like triple option, read option all day every day. I don't think they're gonna do that. I guess. I guess I would start Cooper Rush if I had to, But I'm serious, I would probably just play wildcat for the whole game. Yeah, I think I remember, and Nick you and I think

we talked about this last week. That was there was that game between the Dolphins and I think it was the Patriots years ago. It was Ronnie Ronnie Brown, Yeah, Ronnie Brown back, and they basically went into the game, We're just like, hey, we're just going wildcat this thing. And I remember, I don't remember they won, but I remember they played it close, and I think they did win. And and it was they basically, David said, they just basically went in and said, look, we got no shot. Otherwise,

let's just do this. Let's give ourselves because that's the thing about wildcat, you give yourself advantages with numbers in blocking, right, So maybe maybe that's the option that's the again with an offensive line that's banged up, with the quarterbacks that are inexperience. Maybe Dave's right, maybe that's the way you kind of look at this thing, you know, I think, um, I think that would do some elements of it. I don't know if I would just say not have the

quarterback on the field at all. I think I would. I would do kind of like they did in the game aim the other day, but maybe more of it where the quarterback is there, he lines up. You know, I've been thinking about that, like, it kind of sucks to have like a cornerback sitting over there. He's not doing anything with facing a unathletic, you know, quarterback. But what else would you do. You're not gonna put a linebacker over there because then that takes away what they

want to do in the middle. So, you know, I think I would do that. I agree with him. I'd start Cooper rush Um. Oh god, just you know, just listening to it, it sounds weird, but I would I'd start him. The thing about Gilbert, he's he's very tall. I mean, he's like six five. I mean, so I guess he could see down the field a little bit. If you wanted to, if you wanted to kind of extend the you know, stin things down the field. I just don't know she's got the arm strength to do it.

I don't, I don't know. I mean, I know he played. It was a great high school quarterback, and he was college he just you know, he went to Texas and then SMU or whatever. Yeah, it's definitely bounced around. I just think Cooper Rush is probably gonna know what Kelly Moore is trying to do a little bit better, right, because I don't know that there's an appreciable difference in their skill set. I don't I don't know. I mean, everything I've seen from Garrett Gilbert is you're right. He

was a great prospect coming out of high school. I haven't seen greatness from him since then. Like, I think he's okay, ati were in Yeah he was okay, Yeah, okay, he was fine. So so my point is, like I don't know that he and Cooper Rush, like there's this real difference between the two of them from a skill set standpoint, But Cooper Rush obviously knows more about the offense and what Kelly Moore is trying to do. So

to me, that makes him the more viable option. If you're just trying to say advantages disadvantages for each one, I think that's probably your biggest advantage. Do we agree with this though, I mean, does everybody agree that it

should not be Denucci? I do yes. I think that game last week, we saw that that game was too big for him, and if Philadelphia's defense is too much for him, I mean, Pittsburgh is probably the most complex defense to figure out and probably have some of the best talent on their def into front and in the back end in the league. So if he couldn't figure it out against Philly, I don't think it's smart to

turn around and throw him up against Pittsburgh. Do you, Dave, if you have something now so well, I was gonna say, not only not only that, Derek, but let's think about I think we would all agree the twenty seventeen game against Atlanta where Dak just got mauled by Adrian Clayborne. I think we would all agree like that game had some long lasting impact on him, Like it seemed like it messed up his confidence at least for the rest

of that season. I think you could break Ben Denucci playing him in this game And that's not to say maybe he'll never be a good quarterback, but he might not ever recover from having to play a defense like this and just getting battered the way that he might

get battered by that defensive front. I think it's in his best long term interests to not be out there get from a developmental standpoint, between these two guys, who would you say, because we love talking about quarterback mobility, and given the fact that the old line has so many issues just having a quarterback with the ability to react and be able to get away and try to buy himself a few extra spectives. Between these two quarterbacks, who would you guys say, has just a little bit

better mobility than the other? Cooper Rush, Yeah, maybe, I think I kind of agree with that. I've seen Garrett Gilbert. I just looked at him. I mean, he didn't get on the field the other day in Washington. Wouldn't let him on the field because he had to prove that he was a player and they didn't believe him. And he just I'm telling you he's not. He's Cooper Rush, I think is gonna be a more mobile quarterback than him.

He's not. I mean, because when you're tall like that, it's hard to think that you're gonna be really you know, quick in the pocket and all that. And I don't think Cooper Rush would be Denucci is going to be your more mobile quarterback. Obviously thought so, but I didn't really see much of that in this last game either. First of all, I don't I don't think he has

the greatest awareness in the pocket. Like the number of times where guys just came through and hit him and he didn't even It's almost like he didn't even know they were coming to me. That's where it's like you couldn't even get a chance to see whether he could be mobile because he just didn't have a good feet off of what was coming at him. Win. And that's why I say Pittsburgh is a bad matchup for somebody that didn't have a good awareness of what's coming at him. Win.

You know. Yeah, I thought there were times where he could have run where he was scrambling and could have run, but then decided to throw. And he's like he doesn't really have a great arm. Yeah, I thought he had a better arm. His arm sneaky to me at times. It's it looks like he can really you know, zip it. And then there's other times when he had Dalton Schultz way behind the defense and he threw it up and I thought it was a punt. Was that Was that the win because you were there? Yeah, I mean the

win obviously wasn't. What was was a bit of a problem. We saw that in the kids. Well was that a part of the problem there? Yeah, it might have been. The wind was tricky too. I mean early in the game it was really bad, and I mean before game for the game, and then first half it wasn't so bad. In the second half picked up again. So speaking of punts, yeah, you know, um, let's talk about that. Chris Jones t

happening with Chris Jones surgery. Chris Jones is having surgery on a core muscle injury and will be unavailable for multiple weeks. Huh. That's why you should buy your tongue sometimes, or me, when we're criticizing some of these players and talking crap, let me just call myself out. It's just one of those things that you just really never know what someone's dealing with. And maybe poor guy was struggling with this injury and was just trying to make the

best out of it. And try just really making an effort out there. Years has that been the last three years, but he's been at this injury like he had. Wow. Well, I mean, the Cowboys better be careful with what they say there because they have an injury report where he's supposed to be on it if he's injured. So if he, you know, to come back and save face and say say, hey, he's been hurt this whole time, they'd better be careful

by saying that. So they did put him on the injury report last week, didn't say he was going to be questionable for the game. I mean, they just said he was limited in a practice, but he was gonna play. But you're right, Derek, I mean, his his numbers have just gone down. I looked them up just now. I mean they've they've gone down every year. This is not his worst year in punting average. It's his second worst.

Last year was his worst. It's just he doesn't have that pop on the ball that he used to and he's had a back injury a couple of years ago. This year obviously, it's the abdomen growing. You know, it's that's tough, and that's not a good area. I would think to punt. You know, well, at this point, the way I look at it is you got Hunter Niswander. We're gonna see how well he does. And if he does a good job, didn't cowboys made a side. That's a better move for them going forward, even when Chris

Jones is back and healthy. You know, yesterday when we were when we were leaving the show, you know, we got a chance to see Hunter Niswander holding, which you had mentioned on the show, Like that's when you know something is washle holding. I was like, all right, well, and I didn't know about the surgery, but it was like, whatever they're doing there, they're gonna they're gonna, you know,

make a change here. And this guy, you know, he can he kicks off, he he puts, he could kick I guess if you need to, Iman airline's fine there. But so it sounds like he'll just be, you know, the punter and we'll see, you know, I mean about to play some cold weather games and it's gonna that that stuff's gonna be important, all right, So we're gonna take our first break when we come back. We got

Bucky Brooks joining us from NFL Network. He'll talk about the Pittsburgh offense versus this Cowboys defense will do that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Creeve soda. Let's take a listen, doctor ba cream soda. Is he a new combone that's music to my ears? Okay, doctor music to my ears? Then mount new Doctor Pepper and cream soda. What deliasis do ba hey want to use? What the

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We're in the second segment of The Break live from the SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star. We got Bucky Brooks, NFL Network joining us. Welcome to the show. Buck. How are you doing today? Man? I'm good. How you guys doing doing good? Doing good? I will start off the segment today and I have a little different question for you. I was looking at this Pittsburgh team and looking at some of their rankings. Their rush offense right now is ranked sixteenth in the league. Their pass offense is ranked

twenty fourth. There's a bit of a shock to me because it looks like if you watch them like they look like a well oiled machine on offense. But here's the kicker. Their ranked fifth in points scored. How much of the effectness of their offense is dictated by the fact that their defense gives them turnovers in a short field because they are right now ranked second in turnovers

that their defense forces. It is all about the defense, like the Pittsburgh steal is a back to their identity because when the Pittsburgh Stealers traditionally have been good, it's about their defense carrying the way and their stars are on defense. Their defense sets the table, they create turnovers, they create short fields, and what they've been able to

do offensively is they've been able to cash in. Ben Roethlisberger is playing well, but let's make no mistake about it, He's not the same Ben Roethlisberger that we saw when it was the Killer Bees with Levan Bell and Anthony Brown. It is a lot of dinkin dunk, quick rhythm, ball is out and then his playmakers are doing it. In fact, I found a stat he is getting the ball out quicker than anybody in the National Football League. From snap to throw is two point two nine seconds. No one

else is close to that. And what you're getting they have these athletes on the perimeter, Chase Claypool, Juju Smith, Schuster, Deontay Johnson, James washing Are Ibron. It's just catching run, catching run, They're breaking tackles, they're making plays and it's a very ball control offense and they've just been able to put the ball into pain when they get those opportunities. Blucky. We all know how bad the Cowboys defense has struggled all this season so far. Last week we saw a

little spark in this game. What would be I mean, it's gonna be really, really hard, but what would be an area that the Cowboys could maybe try to focus on more to try to not be not have such a disadvantage between these two guys this game. This game will come down to tackling for the Cowboys because the ball is I mean, it makes it very hard to

blitz and pressure him. He has actually been really good against the blitz Roethlisberger has And so what you have to do is, if you're gonna play the zone like Mike Nolan prefers to play, everybody has to tackle. It has to be a game where when they catch it, they got to be hit right immediately. The thing that you can do with the Pittsburgh still is is you can't let these five yard passes turn into ten and

fifteen yard games because that's what they're living on. And we have seen Treyvon Diggs and some of the corners have had problems with crossing routes trying to figure out do I go, do I stay? Are we in man? Are we in zone? The Pittsburgh Stillers are living on these crossing routes. So having a clear understanding of what coverage you're in, having a clear field for a we're gonna zone off all these crossing routes and we're gonna

rally and tackle. They have to make sure they have a clear plan and then they just have to tackle in space. That would be the biggest challenge for the Cowboys this week. Oh is that I thought Nick was in front of me. I'm sorry, Bucky, we don't We only see. You know, we only see the Steelers every like four years, so I feel like, you know, you kind of go off reputation, like you're talking about you know, this isn't the Killer Bees offense that it was a

few years ago. But Pittsburgh their reputation. I mean, they have the offensive line that most people associate with the Cowboys, at least it seems that way. I'm like, what is the status of their offensive line, because going into this matchup, I'm worried that they're just going to be able to road grade the Cowboys out of the way. Is that fair? No,

they're not the same offensive line. They can't necessarily mash like you would like to think, like, this isn't the same kind of offensive line that they head with Levan Bill where they were able to run the ball and Levan Bill would go crazy. James Corner is fine, Like he's okay running back. He has for undred in ninety eight yards. They've been able to kind of get it when they're up and kind of running out the clock. But it's a Hodge Poles. They're playing young guys on

the inside. David Decastroy set out some games and so they're fine. Their big deal has been an under This will paying you being an LSU fan. Matt Canada has come in as theirs, as their as their quarterback coach. But what he's done, he has given them the bills and whistles that he's always done at the college level. So you will see a lot of fly sweep action, a lot of shifts, a lot of motions to try and divert your eyes, and then they had run a

compliment of plays off of that. You will see Chase Claypool get a handful of jet sweeps and all those guys are doing it. So they stretch you horizontally with all the action and then they come downhill behind it. It would be very similar to the way that La Rams try to attack the opening game, where they rant all that horizontal motion and they try to run the ball behind it. So you just have to be disciplined. You have to understand where your gaps are and be sound,

and then you just have to run and chase. You got to make sure that you rally to the ball and you gain tackle this week. So the Dallas defense has to be disciplined if they're going to be successful. That's terrifying. Look, but you have to build on what happened last week. I think building upon what happened last week, you have to ignore all the other stuff. They took a step in a positive direction because I felt like

they played harder. I felt like they ran to the ball, and maybe by clearing out some of the veterans in the locker room, I think they got their attention. Because last week was the first time that we saw a little bit of the Dallas defense that we thought that we would see, forcing turnovers in those things. I think they have to build upon that. But this has to be their most physical effort, and we'll see if they're up to the challenge. You mentioned a little earlier that

Ben's getting the ball out really quickly. I saw also that he's only been hit twelve times this season. So if you can't hit him, how do you disrupt the guy like Ben Roethlisparker. You have to cover. He's not the athlete that he was before. The thing they used to worry about Ben Roethlisberger was the extended plays he would run around. You had Ab there. Ab is great at Sandlott Football. He would uncovered they were through a fifty yard touchdown. Ben Roethlisberger doesn't like to run around

like that. He also doesn't have what I would call the arm strength to push it down the field like he used to. And so the thing that you can do is sometimes you have to change the number of guys that you have dropping Sometimes you drop seven, sometimes you drop eight. Force them to fit it in the windows. And most importantly, you can't let those physical athletes that they have on the outside get loose in space. You

gotta knock those guys down. Because as much as I talked about their wide receivers, their wide receivers are really terrific, but they're not like the Cowboys wide receivers. They're kind of like Juju Smith. Schuster is not a number one, he's a number two. Deontay Thompson, James Washington, Chase Claypool, like they're fine. Chase Claypool has kind of been the revelation. They're the only team with three wide receivers with over twenty receptions, and so you have to take care of them.

But you have a couple of these guys averaging nine yards of catch, so they're not really hurting you. It's really just like water torture, just a little drop here, dropped there, dropped there, moving the chains. They're not getting these big plays, They're just moving the chains, so you have to make sure you tackle them and keep them under control. I'll go, I'll go, I'll I don't know. Well, I skipped my turn because basically I was about to ask if the Cowboys defense played better or was it

just Carson Wentz and you kind of made it. You answered that already said that the defense did play better. But I'll ask you this. Last week, I said, hey, Cheeto is supposed to come back because I thought he was. What do you do with Diggs? And you said, well, you know, you think Diggs need to break a little bit, and he gave up a couple of touchdowns, but he also had two picks. If Cheeto does come back this week from the hamstring from hell, do you think that

he will still play? Do you think Diggs? Would you bench him now? Well? I think then, and he has a couple of takeaways and he picked off fasts. I think that more fine to keep him out there. I think Cheeto Cheeto probably goes into the nickel. I think the thing with Diggs is Diggs's talent is impressive. It stands out on tape when you watch him right like he's long, he makes plays. He has good ball skills,

being a former wide receiver. In those things, it's the lapses where he falls asleep at the wheel and he's trying to figure it out. We didn't see those as much against Philadelphia. The plays that he gave up, he was just beat on the play. He's in position that got me to play. The throw was perfect and it happens. I think the big thing is continuing to simplify the game for him so he knows exactly what he's able

to do. He has played at a high level, so I think you certainly have to keep him out there. But you do need Cheeto back, You need all your guys back so you can play well. I think you have to be encouraged by the effort because last week was a winnable game. I would say that the offense didn't help them out in terms of winning the game, but from a defensive effort it was better. Now, can you build upon that and really take a big stride against the Pittsburgh Still this team that is much better

than the Philadelphia Eagles. You really kind of talked about the turnovers and how important that is and the fact that we were able to start seeing that last weekend. And yes, part of that is attributed to the quarterback. But in this game, I mean, is there any chance that the Cowboys are just able to at least create some kind of turn over. Yeah, I think they can create turnovers. The thing about it is last week the

turnovers came because the quarterback was hit. You saw three or four sacks, You saw a bunch of quarterback six pressure. Those things change the way to quarterback plays for Ben Roethlisberger because he gets the ball out so quick. This should be a game where, if I ask you what it looked like a practice, the D line has to work on getting their hands up at the line of scrimmage. If anything, the turnovers would come off bad at passes, deflections,

tip balls, and overthrows. It has to be a concerted effort to If Ben Roethlisberger is going to get it out, the D line has to time their jump at the line of scrimmage and see if they can deflect and distort some of these passes by clogging the passing lanes. If they do that, some of the interceptions in turnover certainly can happen. I know when we already we've been talking about how this is, you know, a lot more conservative. You know, the deep shots that Ben Roethlisberger is so

famous for maybe aren't happening as much this year. But I mean he can still do that though, right because I gotta assume they're gonna want to try to take some shots seeing as how it works for everybody else. He still can't do it, but he can't do it as consistently as he used to do it. If he's going to take a shot, I mean, your alert has to be on number eleven. Like if I'm in the dB room, we have to be mindful of where number eleven is. He is the one that is going to

get the shots, and that's Chase Claypool. So let's be aware of where he is at all times. Let's make sure that we are playing top down coverage, meaning we're making him catch things going back to the quarterback. But he is the guy when it comes to the deep shot. If the deep shot happens, it is when Ben Roethlisberger sees you walked up in snug coverage press man to man and he takes the fade right away. It is not what it used to be, where he would wait and wait and wait and then air it out. He

doesn't have that. He just had the club in his bag anymore. Since he had the elbow surgery, he hasn't shown that so crowd. You can crowd them, but you just better make sure that you understand who the deep targets are and make sure that you have a plan for taking those. As a way, as a follow up to that, you mentioned Chase Claypool. He's been really good for them this season. Does Dallas have the defensive backs the size of defensive backs to match up with Claypool size?

Because he looks like a really big receiver. He looks like a physical receiver, but he looks like a physical receiver that can run. Do they have the size to be able to match up with him? Well, I mean I think they can match up with him. I think the thing that you have to do with a big guy like that in a way, we've seen Dallas play a little more conservative, so they've been off coverage more, meaning they they'll give you all the short stuff with Claypool.

The thing that you want to do a big guy like that in a way, you kind of want to jam him and make him restart, or if you can get a sense of what routes he likes to run, you can squat on some of those things to to really make it tough. I think Diggs would be if they get into I think where they want to match up. I think this is your best option in terms of matching up with him, just because of the length. I just don't know if you feel the need to travel

with him at this point. He has made some plays. I don't know if he's made enough play needs to get the special attention yet. Okay, we appreciate that, Bucky, really good stuff. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll talk a little bit more about this Pittsburgh defense versus the Cowboys offense. We're gonna take our final break. We'll come back. I'm gonna ask these gays of questions about the Cowboys defense particularly, and we'll come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.

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Cowboys Salute to Service gear. Or visit your local Dallas Cowboys Pro shop or shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com to find the full assortment of Salute to Service gear. Welcome Back. It is the final segment of the Break Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star War talking Cowboys defense versus Philadelphia Offense. Pittsburgh. I wish I'm sorry, Yeah, yeah, sorry, Pittsburgh, Sorry State. I want to send some that I was like, did they did

they trade WENTZ to Pittsburgh? No? Would have been nice? All right? Um? I did have some questions for you guys, particular to the Cowboys defense, and I want to start with you know, obviously we talked about how well they played last week. I thought they played really well. I think there's kind of mixed reviews on that. Some think that it maybe was just Philadelphia decided they didn't want

to run the ball anymore for whatever strange reason. But all that being said, how much faith do you have that the defense can continue to show improvement at least because I do think we all agree that they were better against a much better opponent. Let's start first with you, Nick Well. I think that I don't know if Roethlisberger or any other quarterbacks is gonna make some of those

throws that were picked off by Diggs. I think most quarterbacks in the league, including Roethlisberger, probably fumble if they get hit by Layton like that, and Donovan Wilson like that. They made some nice plays on the ball, so they created some of those turnovers and that's something we really haven't seen a lot of. Again, I'm really impressed with Donovan Wilson. I mean, I like what he's what he's shown, and they're giving him a chance. And the fans that

were you know, yelling saying, let's see this guy. They were right, you know, I mean, he's he's going to continue to play better. I got to talk to him last week and he was just like he's like, the game's moving slower for me now and I'm moving faster. I thought that awesome. Yeah, I mean, and that's that's what it's about, you know, when a young player like that, So I you know, I think it's encouraging. Yes, yes,

when they probably could have run the ball more. They should have because they're getting blown off the ball there. But I think I think they can shore that up, which I don't know if they can. Maybe Ellie and Ellie and Coo. I don't know how to say his last name. The name is Ellie. It's not Eli, it's Ellie. Hey, oh wow, I know that. Yeah, I got that part, you guys and Coo Yeah yeah, I mean again, I usually big guys don't get moved around that like that.

So okay, hopefully you know what I'm saying, Like, that's the thing about Poe is that was what was surprising. Is a big guy like that, you don't expect him to get moved around, and hopefully this guy can can prove that right, Yeah, all right, but what do you think, Well, Twi's we're able to create some really nice plays last weekend. But one of the things that stood out to me

the most was the kind of energy. I mean, you could tell there was like a whole different vibe on that field and they were just more energized and in the way that they were playing. I do think that that's going to be able to carry over to this weekend, and in the fact that you're gonna see that kind of motivation, that kind of effort, that kind of energy

once again. But I don't think that they'll be able to be as successful as far as creating plays and turnovers and keep moments like that because of the kind of offense that they're playing this week and very very different than the Philadelphia Eagles. So I don't think they're gonna be as successful, but I think that at least the energy and the will is going to be there.

One thing to note about that, and I don't know Amber and Dave, I don't know if you guys have witnessed a Steeler game at at and T Stadium, but it's gonna feel it's gonna feel weird for Cowboys fans because it's not often that the Cowboys have a have a home game that feels maybe split, and I wonder with the reduced crowd, I wonder if that's that feels even more. I don't know. It's gonna be an interesting dynamic that I think we'll all be talking about as

we get into the game. I don't think. I don't think it's it's gonna be split at all. I really don't. I think it's gonna be seventy thirty the other way and it's no, I think it's gonna be seventy yes. Because this is there's no there's no um uh season ticket holders that just you know, have they're out the door. This is first come, first serving. Cowboy fans are like, who do we play this year? Steve. The fans have known since two thy twelve. When they go back, they

know it's been eight years. So when all this hit, they're like, I gotta get get my hands on some tickets.

They will be there. This is the year of the They're even more excited about it, and Cowboy fans are kind of like, well, whatever, Like for this year, I guarantee you it's going to be the most fans, you've ever ever seen as far as like a discrepancy, Dave, what do you think about I've never, I've never seen no good good Go ahead, you can I've never I've never seen I've never seen Pittsburgh play here, but I've been there for Denver games and forty nine Ers games.

You know, the forty nine Er game in twenty fourteen. I feel like we've talked about that for a year after it happened, and it was, you know, the Cowboys were coming off a disappointing season and the forty nine Ers were coming off a really good season. That's kind of the situation we're dealing with here. So yeah, I think I think Nick is probably dead on with that. Um, they're fine read as far as the defense, just just prove it. Just I don't like prove it? Why Why

should I? Why should I have to sell anybody on them keeping this up when I mean, you know, we've seen what we've seen. I think, uh what I mean? And Nick said it during one of the breaks like they had they had the Steelers had allowed Like I don't even know what I'm trying to say. The point is, yeah, thank you four hundred rushing yards, and they gave up two hundred against Baltimore the other day. That's like child's play for the Cowboys. They gave I mean three three

hundred rushing yards, the Browns two hundred to Washington. They played really great against Philadelphia. Ben Roethlisberger doesn't like to give the ball away as much as Carson Wentz does. I just I need to see it to believe it. I would guess that they're probably going to struggle in this game. So what do you guys think is the most critical thing that this Cowboys defense needs to do to be successful against the Pittsburgh offense ambules star Whew Well,

I would say pressure the quarterback. But that's just gonna be so tough. I mean, you heard this counting report that Bucky gave on their offensive line and how good they are at protecting their quarterbacks. So it's gonna be really, really tough. But I mean that's where it all starts. Just trying to create some pressure that's gonna be I

think very critical, including in the running game. I mean I wish there could be a specific area that I could point out and say, Okay, you know what, the Cowboys can dominate this part right here, and then they gotta win in this game. But I think that the Steeler are able to do so many other things that if they take something out, they're gonna be able to take advantage of the other side of something else, whether it's the running game or the passing game. So it's

it's just gonna be very difficult. But if the Cowboys can manage creating some pressure, I think that's gonna be really helpful for them. That's a great point, man. I'm just saying that that that is a great point because I was about to say, you have to stop the runs. Sell out to stop the run and make Roethlisberger beat you. Make it two times super Bowl winning quarterback who's going to the Hall of Fame beat you, and he will

probably they just it's a pick your poison thing. And the Cowboys defense don't do anything really that well, and the Steelers do everything well. So I actually, I mean, I yeah, obviously, if you can pressure the quarterback, you should, and that would help, But like, I don't think that they can. You know, you know, Bucky just talked about how quickly he gets rid of the ball, and obviously the Cowboys haven't been great to get to the quarterback anyway.

I think that's probably a wash. Just rally and tackle. I mean, you know if they if they take short throws, you can't let them turn into big gains. That the jet sweep stuff should be terrifying, like I mean, And for those of you that didn't catch Bucky's reference, Yeah, Matt Canada, he used to be LSU's offensive coordinator. His whole thing, his entire offense when he was an offensive coordinator is predicated on jet sweeps, fly motions. You know,

iye candy as people like to call it. That should be terrifying if you're a Cowboy fan, because you know how well they deal with that, which is not well at all. You just gotta you can't be deceived by stuff like that, and you've got a rally and tackle and you know, have it be six eight ten yard gains instead of twenty five thirty five yard games Like that's what scares me in this matchup. Nick, you mentioned

Cheeto Bay coming back possibly this week. Maybe you mentioned that to Bucky Brooks and kind of does what happened with with Diggs last week change your opinion on whether you would make or you'd sit Diggs in order for Cheeto to be the starter, or you kind of keep it the same and just bring Cheeto int your third What would you do in that situation. Diggs is playing. He's the first guy out of the tunnel when they

announced defensive starters. He's playing. He's playing the rest of the season for me because he's a baller now and now he messes up and there's no doubt about it. He makes mistakes. They're all making mistakes. He's gonna be here. He's gonna be here for the next few years. I don't know that about Cheeto. I don't know that about Jordan Lewis, Anthony Brown. He's got a contract, he'll be here. But I think I think you know. And I didn't ask Bucky about this. He wrote yesterday in his five

bucks column. One of them was Diggs has a potential to be an all Pro player, all Pro. You don't say that about a lot of the other defensive guys. So he needs to learn keep going. He's, like I said, he was having to chase to find digs around to the entire house his whole life. So he doesn't get discouraged easily. He'll be fine. I keep him out there, Dave, you said last week, even before he had the game,

that you would have kept him out there. Anyway you say keep him out there, has anything changed, I would ask at this point, no, Nick, Nick said it perfectly. He's him and Anthony Brown are the only guys in the secondary that have long term futures here. He needs to play, and I think, you know, we keep saying that, and I think he keeps proving us right like he seems like he's got the right mindset for it. I'm not worried about I'm not worried about his self confidence

or his belief. And he needs the reps because if he's going to develop into that player, they need it to happen now so that you know when they have another chance at this thing next year, he's ready to go and be a really, you know, meaningful piece of that team. What do your thought, Tamber, I'll have a question, and I guess it's gonna love. Margie has a question. This is hard for me to piece it together, but

I hope he makes sense. Would you say that position and looking at him, knowing that he's a rookie and all that, would you say that you would need to give a guy like that, the most amount of reps for him to be able to kind of get out there, get the field going, and create some place. I mean, I'm talking about one game specifically, versus maybe limiting his place so that when he does come in there is an extra pump of energy and he's able to maybe

perform better in those specific snaps in place. Does that make any sense? No, I think it makes a lot of sense, And I'll even take it a step further. It was the point I made last week that sometimes with a young guy, his ability after he's been out there and been in the fire, his ability to take a step back and be able to see things now from a different perspective from the sideline, can sometimes help him. The reps are important, obviously, but also being able to

see things in a different light. Now he's been in the fire, he knows what it's like, so when he's watching it, he probably has a different appreciation for what's happening on the field, and there may be some learning that can happen from that as well. So I take that that overall question at both me and ag asked, and I'll throw it to Nick and David. You tell us what you think of it. No, it makes a good sense. I just think you don't. It's not like the guy that would be coming in for him is

much better or better at all. I'm not even sure that he is. I would keep him out there, and I'm looking at the schedule. You know, he's gone up against Robert Woods, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, DK Metcalf Lockett, Tyler Lockett, Landry Beckham. Hopkins's faced the best, right, I mean, like you know, and they've got some really good players

this week. But I know the rookie from Minnesota, Jeff Jefferson, I mean, I mean, he's he's really good too, But I just think that he's faced some good ones and now hit in the second half of the year. I think this is the time that maybe he can take the corner. Maybe we saw it in that game. So, um, I wouldn't take him off the field because I really don't think the guy that would replace him as better. Dave.

Not only that, not only do I not think the guy's better, Cheeto is the only corner on this team who I definitively think is better than Digs right now. So I agree with that, And then I just I don't see it, like I understand the logic. Maybe you do that with a running back, you know, like get the most juice possible out of him, But cornerback and quarterback are like those are volume positions, like you just

you gotta have the reps. I mean, you could send him out there in the most favorable situation imaginable and he still might give up the play because that's the nature of the position. It's just it's it's such a hard job to play cornerback in the NFL, and I think the only way you really get better at it is reps on reps on reps, and and learning how to deal with the highs and lows of it. And that you know, if if we were worried about his mental makeup, like you know, we can even bring you know,

bring up Mo Claiborn. I think Mo claiborne struggles early in his career really had an effect on his develop And I'm not trying to like, you know, I'm not trying to trash the guy. I just that's what it looked like to me. Whereas I don't get that same sense with Digs that he is going to go into the tank if he struggles. I mean, he's bounced back in the face of every adversity that he's seen so far.

So if I was worried that he was going to go into the tank, would I might agree, But I haven't seen evidence of that, So I say, just get out there and take your lumps and it'll make you a better player in the long run. Yeah. Quite Frankly, he's shown just the opposite. He's shown his ability to deal with adversity well, whether it's within a play as he did with a play with DK Metcalf when he was beat and came back and made a play. He's done it within games where he's been beat and then

made plays later in the game. And he's done it week to week where he's been beat one week and he'll come back and he'll make a play the next week. So yeah, I think everything points to the fact that this is not a guy that gets mental. This is a guy that can handle the rigors of playing cornerback. Cornerback, which for me personally, I think that's probably about at least fifty percent of the job of playing cornerback is mentally, can you stay in it when when bad things happen?

And I think it looks like he certainly has that. Yeah. I was just gonna say, you know, there's only three players on the defense that have played over five hundred snaps, and he's one of them. He's playing nine of the snaps, you know, five hundred and thirty two. Xavier Woods and Jalen Smith have not missed a snap on defense. I don't care what they're doing. I mean, that's impressive, just just from a standpoint of, you know, staying in there and not getting banged up and having to come off

the field. I know there's been a lot of talk maybe they should, you know, maybe they should come off the field a little bit. But but for Diggs, I mean, he's playing a lot. All right, appreciate you join this. We'll be back tomorrow. We'll get into a little bit more conversation about the Cowboys offense versus the Pittsburgh defense. Till then for Nick Even, Dave Helman, Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on

Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.