The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
Cowboys, Let's go.
Are you ready for a break?
Yes?
Are you ready for a break?
Absolutely?
Ready for a break?
Yeah, And so much for that.
It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com right with Ambar Garcia, Brian brought Us, Patrick Walker, and Derek Eagleton.
It is Thursday, September seventh, twenty twenty three, Season nineteen, episode number twenty six. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break.
We are live from.
The SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star and today we're going to get into more talk Cowboys versus Giants. That's coming up Sunday night, Sunday Night Football. We'll talk about the Giants defense today. I'm sorry, we talking about the Giants offense today first Cowboys defense. Before we do that, though, got to get some updates on some injuries. We've got three that we're keeping an eye on. One that actually has some good news, not necessarily about the injury per se, but just some personal news.
It's for mister Donovan Wilson.
Donovan Wilson, he's missing practice today for what Mike McCarthy called a great personal reason. And as it turns out, Donald is the latest Dallas cowboy to welcome a newborn into his family.
So that makes three since July.
So it was Tony Pollard early in training camp, Cavante Turpin, and now Donovan Wilson. And McCarthy said, he told the guys, if there's something something in the water, let me go right.
So yeah, that water away from me in my household.
So congratulations, you might have just changed yourself.
So Cannowledge bro done with that.
God's plan.
So Donovan Wilson, So no change in his status as far as availability or potentially lack thereof against the giants. We still don't know any thing more than we did yesterday other than he's doing work on the cords. But he'll have a chance to do some more work tomorrow, not a practice tomorrow, but do some work and then the walkthrough on Saturday, which is I think really when they'll make a determination on him. Some more positive news on Tyler Smith, although he is not still not participating
in today's practice today being Thursday. Mike McCarthy basically affirmed what I said on yesterday's show, what my plan would be would be to sit out Tyler Smith all this week, give him the walkthrough on Saturday, and then say hey see Sunday night. Mike McCarthy this morning said that all Tyler Smith needs to have a good shot at playing on Sunday is to participate in the walkthrough on Saturday. So it looks like that bar is really low for Tyler Smith, which is good.
He said.
Tyler told him that he feels great. He's feeling good with that hamstring strings, So really good chance that Tyler Smith takes to fill. Sam Williams with the turf toe still with the rehab group today on Thursday, but he did more work today than he did on yesterday, so I'm still I'm right there with broad Us on I'm pessimistic on if Sam takes the field on Sunday, but it does look like he's at least making some progress.
So that's what's going on on the injury front. I will say key to note Jordan Lewis was a full participant in yesterday's practice, so as he returns from his list frank injury which was actually worse than that, he is practicing fully in his second week back from the pup list. He says he feels good. I talked to him in the locker room yesterday. I asked him straight up, I said, hey, are they ramping you up in practice?
And he said, quote unquote hell no, he said. Mike told him, I want to throw you into the fire. So he said he was being lined up against Lamb Cook's gallup yesterday, so expect more of that today. So good look for Jordan Lewis going into Sunday's matchup against the Giants.
Yeah, it's going to come down to the wire. I think on Tyler Smith, I think it's gonna I anticipaid him being with Britt Brown all week until Saturday, and then they're going to figure it out from there. I don't and a doga. You know, we talked about veteran options.
He seems like the guy that they would probably put in there at left guard uh to to be, But I would I would anticipate the next couple of days, they're really trying to figure out Tyler Smith's injury, and so you know, Britt does a good job of, you know,
getting those guys ready. You know, he could talk about feeling great and feeling healthy and all that, but the termination is going to come from that trainer and that you know, if how that if he's ready to go, much like it is with Sam Williams as well, you know, if he goes out there and works out and just doesn't feel right or it doesn't look right or he can't push off, they're not going to put a hurt player out there. They just don't do that. So I do think it's going to be close on uh on
Tyler Smith. And you know, again that's just talking some folks in the organization. Yeah, just a.
Little bit scary because sometimes when situations like that happen where you're literally waiting down to the wire and let's say this in this instance, what happens Saturday with him and the walk through him, pregame warm ups and all that, it makes you wonder, too, is it better to just given that it's the first week of the season, is it better to just be super extra precautionary and take precaution and just letting him rest for a whole week
in case he re injures himself or whatever. Because we're starting, we haven't played a single game yet, and you do want him healthy all throughout the season.
I think that's a good point. I mean, not that I think it's a good point. It is a good point. What I would also add to that, though, is to your point, as far as they'll work him out with the Saturday walk through, you got the pregame, and then they'll ask him how he feels after the pregame, and then if he's a game time decision, that's how they'll make that decision. But you know that precaution could also
be lending itself to them allowing him to start. If Saturday's walk through looks good, pre game looks good, let him start, and then after a couple of reps, you pull them to the side and say, hey, how are
you feeling, and then you have that contingency plan. B Ity Dogo or Bass whomever else brought Kaufman maybe some awesome richards, But I think that's a measure as well, because I do think you have to at least give, if he feels good enough, give him the chance to line up against this New York Giants defensive front because you're going to need it. Knowing that while every game is important, statistically speaking, this game is more important than Week two against the New York Jets. So if you're
going to have to be without him. You'd rather be against the Jets than against New York just by way of the division race. Right, So if you're going to be a little less than one hundred percent, yeah, you want to defeat Aaron Rodgers, obviously, but you know, potentially losing to the Jets is not as bad as losing to the Giants, especially in week one when you have all this hype coming into the season.
You know what, I disagree with you on that one because I feel like, though there's always seventeen of these games, you know, and so you know they always ask you to like, is this a must win? Hell, they're all must win. You only play seventeen of them. You know this isn't Major League Baseball we play one hundred and sixty two or NBA play eighty two. You know this is you have to think about if if if if there's questions about him potentially hurting himself. You know, I
get it. You've started adoga, he's practiced all week. Fine, if something happens, I wouldn't play him on the on the hey, how do you feel? Bit? I would say, either you're gonna play this game or you're not gonna play this game, you know. But yeah, I kind of feel like though you know, I'm not playing with that.
You know we're gonna rotate guys here that way. I'm either I'm either going to go with the guy that practiced all week or the guy like if if we determine that Tyler Smith is healthy enough to go full full game and not have any problems, then that's what I'm gonna roll with. I'm more like with Ambar though. I know, to me, if if if my guy is somewhat questionable or limited, it happens late in the year where guys are really banged up and you get to
that point. But right now, if he's not healthy enough to go and give me confidency and go the whole game. I live that in a game at the Metlands before with Amari Cooper going five plays against the Jets and then not playing the rest of the game. So I'm not going to do that again for sure.
I think my point is is you're going to if he feels good and Saturday walk through and he passes the pregame physical and everything, then.
He's good enough to go.
He's good enough to go.
Yeah, But with that being said, you're still playing a guy that didn't practice all week anyway.
So yeah, that's that's the thing that they you know, that's that's their rule. I mean, there used to be a previous administration used to be here where if you didn't practice, you really didn't play. You know. If that's if that's Mike McCarthy's way of doing it, and that's you know, okay, but determine that if he is good enough that he is not going to get injured and we're going to lose him for the Jets and two or three other games down the road. I'm determined.
If we're talking two or three games, then no, you sit him for a week one.
But well, that's what I'm saying. If you could get into a game and all of a sudden strain turns into a poll or something worse, then you know, I think that to me, that's prevent I'm more with Ambar this. You've got a doga ready all week play and if he's ready, I mean playing because he's practiced. But if Tyler Smith is, if they determine on Saturday that it's not that he's moving around and he can't and he's gonna.
Be shut him down. Shut I'm there with that. Yeah, I'm there with that.
It's interesting you say that said they it's only seventeen games. Reminds me of what Parcels used to say, it's football season.
In football season. Football players play football. There's not there's not, honestly.
And then I think the players look at it like that, like there's only seventeen.
Chances you get opportunities.
Yeah, uh, And they want to be out which is why Tyler wants to be out there.
They want to be like, you don't want to bubble wrap anybody, because that's the whole point of what you work for the whole year. But at the same time, you got to be precautionary.
And you play the balance game.
If he wants to go, if he's good to go, at least good enough to go because football players play football, then he looks good. Pregame, you put him in and then after you know the first offensive drivet, you do pull him to the side and say, how are you feeling any soreness, any tightness, And if he says no, okay, then you playing the rest of this game. If he says it's tightened up a little bit, okay, well now it's the conversation that that's what I'm saying.
Yeah, all right, let's let's move on real quick.
I wanted to get to one bigger question around the defense before we get into the actual assessment of the defense versus the Giants offense. Looking back at last season, they were I able to say probably among the top you could say, probably realistic top seven to eight defenses in the league. You might even say a little higher. But that being said, if there was one thing going into this year that you'd say this, this defense needs to be much better at this and it'll take them to that next level.
Cowboys the defense about to say the Giants don't turn they don't get any turnover. No, yeah, I'm talking Yeah. If you're a Giants fan, you want them to turn the ball, of which they're absolutely horrible.
They're looking at the Cowboys defense as a whole, going back to last season, what's that one thing you'd want them to be better at.
It's got to be run defense, and I think it, but they were. It improved.
It improved markedly. When you get the trade for Jonathan Hankins, it absolutely did. You also saw what happened when Jonathan Hankins was out for a couple games with injury, it kind of took a step down again, But I think that can be boasted with the addition of Mazzie Smith. And I'm right there with Brian on you need to
unleash Mozzie as much as possible, let him get them rest. Agree, But I think that while it has improved with Jonathan Hankins and theoretically should improve that much more so with the Massie Smith. Until you see that run defense for the Cowboys consistently week in week out for the majority, if not the entirety of a season, quell any concerns that you've had over the past several years. That's going to continue to be kind of like the crutch of
the defense. They can take the ball away in the air, they can take the ball away on the ground, they can force fumbles, just that they can get interceptions. Their pass rush is arguably one of, if not the best, in the league when you put it up against the
Eagles and the forty nine ers. So the weak spot, if you're not talking about depth like linebacker, the weak spot for me, albeit not a weak spot anymore, just needs to consistency to prove to me that they can stop the run on top of everything else, and once they do away with that question mark, it's impenetrable defense at that point.
Stupid third down penalties, Stupid third down penalties. How many times have we seen a third and twelve, third and eight, and all of a sudden, they get a great stop, they get pressure, they get a sack, whatever. Then there's a legal contact, there's a legal there's a hold, a defensive hole, hands to the face, low unsportsmanlike penalty, low into the quarterback's legs. You know you're getting off the
field on third down. Don't put your defense back in harms way by an illegal contact penalty on the complete opposite side of the field. If you're a safety, don't hold the tight end when he's not a factor in the play. Limit the stupid third down penalties that keep you from getting off the field.
Kevin Joseph is no longer here.
So that's that's Sam Williams.
Progress, you know, and it will Digs Diggs hold.
Ye, I don't know that language that you're talking about, but no, there are a number of there are a number of players I think you could probably point to for some of those silly mistakes like they'll they'll throw some of those at you in and and most that's.
That is the one thing like this defense will do a great job of getting you in a bad position, and then they will they will choke you off to get off the field. But then all of a sudden, it's a it's a holding penalty, hands to the face, uh, illegal contest. Yeah, And all of a sudden, now you
get back on the field and it's you. Then they the team finds a way to get a little rhythm and they're kicking a field gold or it's a touchdown, and you know they're running another putting another twelve thirteen plays on your defense because you had an opportunity to get off the field and you didn't get off.
And now you've gone from possibly winning the tunnel position to that point and now you're suddenly losing town possessions.
So these offenses will wear you down in the NFL, they will, and it takes a toll on you playing these games, especially early in the year.
Yeah, especially, I'm trying to come up with something other than what you guys said, and I'm having a hard time. But the only other thing that comes to mind, and this is not an area that needs to be improved. It's just an area that I see. They still have a lot more potential to be better at our takeaways.
Even though last year they got a little bit over thirty plus takeaways, there's still so many instances when they get so close to the ball and their hands even I saw that happening at training camp so much, and they're just right there and they could just take it to another level. I think that it's just a potential is there and they could be even better.
I think I think you make a really good point because to me, look what happened in the San Francisco playoff game. The ball that maybe Digs didn't see it got knocked through traffic, and you know he's got his hands on it, and you're thinking, man, Bro, you've got you know, you intercept eleven twelve balls and your ball skills are some of the best in the league. You know, you get that interception that that's drive over.
Right, I'm sure that haunted him.
Yeah, and you know that that's just drive over or ball on the ground. It's the you know they tomahawk the ball in the in the pocket, it's on the ground and some lineman falls on it being opportunistic. I think man luck I said that word because I was not too sure about it. But but that's that's where
I think that you. I think that's where you know, you talk about the improvement in turnovers if you have a chance to get four or five extra being in the right place, right time, or just awareness or finish. You know, those are things.
It's not that they've been bad, but they're just so.
But but the number can be even higher. Yeah, the number two at the league, haven't they the last two years?
Yeah, I mean they've been good. They could have really opportunities.
I'll add one to to that point, in addition to the takeaways, Let's see if we can get you know, one or two, maybe even three more defensive touchdowns help help your offense out that way, while your offense is trying to, you know, find its groove with McCarthy is to play caller and Shantenhaimer is the whole.
See, you're taking it a whole where Also whether that's where I wanted to go. I wanted to be a whole nother not.
Because we talked about yesterday, difference between being a great defense and special defense. I want them to be a special defense, and you know, that's what I'm demanding.
That reminds me of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the year that they won the Super Bowl. The year before that, they had a really good defense, and I think it was Gruden that came in there as the head coach and what he told the defensive leaders was, I want this is what the reports say or some of the players have talked about it. He is like, you guys got to go from just being a great defense to being special, and to be special what you gotta do
to score. And that defense that year, if you remember back, was special because Ronnie Barber, those guys whenever they got a chance, they were taking not only when they getting the ball, they're getting the ball and taking it back and they're scoring.
And that's what made them such a special defense.
Well that's how they won the NFC Championship. It was Rondee Harber scoring on a you know, put the game away for him at the end. So yeah, that's one way to do it.
Yeah, I will say real quick too.
Also, I think one of the things that sticks out to me for this defense is I think they got to win on some of the early downs. They have to have the mentality we're going to earn the right to rush the passer because I think offense is opposing.
Offense is going to come into every game saying we're going to try everything in us to not put ourselves in a situation where they can pass rush because their pass rush is Cowboys pass rush is special and and so I think they're gonna have to be very focused.
It's it's about stopping the run, but it really is more, in my opinion, about not just stopping the run, but winning first and second downs and forcing teams those third and long situations that will give them the opportunity of the internal loose their their superpower, which is getting after the passer, and that's going to get the turnovers because you get to the quarterback, you got you know, fumble sacks, You've got situations where they're trying to get the all
out quick and you got a dB that that jumps a route and gets a pick. I think that's where you really can become special. So if they can win on first and second downs, I think that'll be huge.
I think that comes to what you're talking about as well with with tackling. You know, when you when you're an elite defense, you have elite tackling. Like like we've seen teams are really good defenses that all of a sudden, ball is out. It's a completion, but it's a three yard game because it's tackled right there, or it's a four yard game because it's tackled right there. There's not you know, maybe early in the season you the tackling is not as good because you haven't you're not as
used to it. I mean, you know the preseason games and all that fine, But to keep an eye on when you're watching these games, how many mistackles there are in these games. It may be lead to big plays. That's the thing that kills uh, these defenses is these chunk big plays. You know that they give up.
We're gonna that the Cowboys are hoping to take advantage of against opposition with Dull and Tony Poller, you know, Brandon Cooks, these guys in space out.
We're going to take our first break, will come back. We'll get into our scouts notebook. Brian is gonna break down the Dallas defense versus the New York Giant offense.
We'll be back.
Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the cheatah Savannah. Todd believed the big cat repellent he bought online was reliable. And now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per hour. But the good news is Todd has AT and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew At and T five G. Fast, reliable, secure, It's not complicated.
Five G requires compatable planning device. Five G may not be available in your area. See att dot com Slash five G for you for details.
Cowboys fans, after that move, we've just coined the term rowdy replay.
Let's roll back the table.
Okay, there's our mascot rowdy cheering on the boys, And now he's on his phone on his Bank of America Mobile banking app.
Staying on top of his finances with his virtual financial assistant Erica.
Bank of America's digital tools are so impressive. Cowboys fans just can't stop banking. Learn more at Bank of America dot com slash can't stop Banking.
Everka it is only available in English language. Must download the latest version of the mobile banking app.
Only available on select mobile devices. Message in data races apply a number FDIC.
Welcome back into Dear Doctor, the show where I answer life's questions with an ice cold can of doctor Pepper. Sheila, let's hear from our next caller.
Would you, Dear doctor?
My friend supported me during a tough time.
But what's the right gift that says thanks for beinging a souldier to cry out?
Okay, this one's easy, I say, give her a delicious doctor Pepper. Nothing says thanks good better than one of a kind soda. Yes, any Doctor Pepper flavor will do. Now, just a reminder that I don't need to be a real doctor to know that Doctor Pepper is the one you deserve.
They say champions are remembered, but legends are never forgotten. United Agon Turf offers a winning lineup of John Deere equipment built to tackle any challenge on and off the field. Legendary John Deere Tractors combines residential mowers, commercial mowers, compact construction equipment, cater utility vehicles, and a full line of golf and Sports Turf Equipment United Agon Turf the official
Lagon Turf equipment supplier of the that was Cowboys. Visit United Aggonturf dot com to find a location near you.
Back to the Break. Rally Days presented by seat Geek, give all NFL fans and experience of a lifetime the day prior to the Dallas Cowboys home games on September sixteenth. Enjoy activities at Miller Lighthouse, get it behind the scenes tour of at and T Stadium and more. Visit at and T Stadium dot com Slash Rally Days for more information and to get your tickets to day.
Welcome back second segment of The Break Live from the SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star.
I just looked up.
And saw there's Darren Waller on Good Morning Football. Cal was going to get a good look at him this weekend. Yeah, that's going to be an interesting one in Brian, as we get ready to jump into this conversation now. By by the way, real quick, I do need to say this segment's brought to you by Blockchain dot Com.
All right, cool, So Brian, here we go.
Let's talk about the Dallas defense versus the new York Giant offense.
Yeah, it's an offense that has really remade itself with additions, and you know they were able to get in the playoffs. A lot of it had to do with I felt like the coach came in from week one. If you Brian Diebol the coach there. Week one, they go for the victory in Tennessee. It kind of set the tone for the whole season for them, and especially with what they're able to do offensively. Came in he limited the
number of turnovers that Daniel Jones has. That's really where this team is going to focus on, trying to do things to keep him on schedule, keep him ahead of the chains. He's an outstanding athlete. He's going to run. He is going to in the pocket. If you things break down, he's going to take off running on you, So you have to be careful about that. He's very confident in the ways playing. They like to move the
pocket with him. They liked him to throw on the on the move more than they do actually throw within the pocket. But the additions that they've made though Isaiah Hodges, when you look at Paris Campbell as well, and then the addition of Jalen Hyatt, the rookie from Tennessee. What they're gonna do is that their starters are likely going to be Hodges Slayton Campbell, and then with Shepherd and Hyatt also getting opportunities. Wandel Robinson's a little nicked up
right now. The slot player for them is going to be Paris Campbell is who that's gonna be. Hyatt's their vertical player. He's the downfield threat you have to worry about. But the other guys will all be involved. Hyatt was a guy thought initially would be a starter, and but no he's not not the first time around, It's gonna be Hodges Slayton Campbell again working Paris Campbell out of
the slot. Also work in Paris Campbell. Much like what they do, you know with with Turpin, You're gonna see, you know, maybe him in the backfield, Uh, maybe him getting those reverses. They're gonna you know, they're gonna try a lot of misdirection stuff on you, so you have to be very mindful of that. Uh you mentioned Darren Waller. The Giants have have had a history of outstanding tight ends. You know. It's it's a shame, not a shame. But Evan Ingram, it's funny how he goes from the Giants
to Jacksonville and he's a totally different player. Well, here they add Darren Waller to the mix. And Darren Waller is a big body guy. You look at him on the field, he's physical, he's tough down the field, he can extend, he's an athlete. How you take care of him will be a big part of this game, will you. You know, if you put a smaller guy on him, if you think you could put a corner on him,
it's not going to work. He's just too big. I think that maybe the matchup here will be curse uh and and that and the fact because you got to go with you got to go with length on length here and you've got to go with a physical player against a physical player. So Darren Waller, you know, there's gonna be a lot of boots, the waggles outside the pocket throws. Waller is there is his is. Daniel Jones is like, you know, throw him the ball like much
like Dak and Dalton Schultz that kind of that. Okay, it's second third down, I'm gonna throw the ball to him. He's gonna get seven yards and then he's gonna get out of balance or he's gonna get down. He's gonna get me a first down. But Waller's that that kind of player for them. Barkley running the football. We all know about Sakuon Barkley. He's you know, he's his career against the Cowboys has not been great. He's you know, he's struggled through injuries a lot of times. He's got
hurt during games. But yeah, they're going to try and get him the ball. He could run it inside, he could run it outside. They like to throw the ball to him, So you got to get ready for the screens. Anything, you know, anything can try and control pass rush that they're gonna do. They could use Sakuon Barkley just to flip him the ball, let him you try to tackle him in space, which could be a big, big problem for you. On the offensive line, they're playing kind of
roulette right now. At left guard. They don't know who they're left. Their starter is left guard. Brettison and Glewinsky are the two guards primarily, but they they rotate a lot of different guys. They have a rookie center that's a very good athlete, and he's good at handling some one on one blocks, but he does have trouble with power a little bit. And he's people have got have been able to there was when you watched him at
Minnesota inversity of Minnesota. Uh, he was able to kind of like reach when they say reach is like go to uh uh you know if a player is wide on him to get his body in position where he could turn back. He hasn't had as much sustain as he has in college, and maybe these NFL tackles are giving him a little bit of a problem. So keeping keep in mind what's going on inside Roulette at guard and then a little bit of a rookie center that's problem with his sustain. So maybe the Cowboys can win
some of those battles. Inside. You clearly want to attack Evan Neil the right tackle, and this is where I think that this is where uh, DeMarcus Lawrence has had some good when he's able to break down guys. Evan Neil is a guy that he could break down. He's a little bit of a slower guy. And Andrew Thomas on the other side, it's one of the best right
one of the best left tackles. In the league. When you start talking about that guy out there in San Francisco and others, Andrew Thomas's name will get thrown into this mix right here. So they've added some players throughout just because they've added some skill with guys like I say, uh Hodges and then and then Campbell and Hyatt, and
then they've also added Waller. With the main stays that they've had, they've tried to upgrade the offensive line a little bit, but there's some areas that you could definitely attack there.
What I love about that scout and report is all of it, but two things, primarily when you talk about Jalen Hyatt and his speed and ability to go deep, him not being pegged as a starter just yet right it's that's going to be huge because I already believe that the Cowboys have the personnel to, you know, likely delete Jalen Hyatt, particularly as a rookie. He has that going on as well. But I love a matchup with Hodgens,
Slayton Campbell. If that's going to be your top three out there, including your slot you're talking about Gilmore, Digs, Bland and Jordan Lewis in rotation. Give me the Cowboys in that matchup all day long. You gotta love that if you're the Cowboys. And then going to Brian's scunner report on the defensive or the offensive line, the fact that Glewinsky has strength issues and he's going to be going up against guys like Jonathan Hankins, Mozzi Smith, Chauncey Ghost,
and Neville Gallamore. You gotta love that matchup for the Cowboys. And then as Brian can a test and anyone who watches football can of test, your offensive line is really going to be only as good as the interior. Once that interior gets blown up, doesn't matter how good your tackles are. So Evan Neil, yes, he typically gets handled, no other way to put it. By DeMarcus Lawrence. I believe that's going to happen. But you got young guys who are struggling to kind of hold their anchor inside,
hold their hands. Jonathan Hankins con feast, Mozzi Smith can feast, and you can get pressure on Daniel Jones, which is going to help disrupt whatever plays you have for sakuon Barkley, which then puts the game on Daniel Jones, who, as we said yesterday in lab coat. He just doesn't do well under durest. Yes, he can escape, but I also went to dig up a little bit, how does Daniel Jones perform against dan Quinn when he has to escape
and he starts to use his legs. Well, fifteen attempts in his three games versus dan quinn defense, he's averaging only thirty four yards per game on the ground. None of those are wins, and he has no rushing touchdowns. So blow up the interior of that defense. And then you got to love the matchup on the outside receiver versus cornerbacks for the Cowboys, and the game just looks more and more like it's leaning leaning towards Dallas.
Yeah, when you look at this offensive line, it's interesting because Brian, as you're mentioning, you know, basically it's the right side that's from the center to the right, like that's where the vulnerability is.
It's not just one.
It's kind of like you mentioned all three of those names. You mentioned the center, you mentioned, the right guard, you mentioned, the right tackle. And when you're playing a defensive front like the Cowboys, that certainly I think should present some opportunities for them if you've got an entire side of your offensive line where there are some questions. Now again
all these are question marks. You never know how much of guy has developed and gotten better since the last time you saw him on an NFL filled on a regular season game.
But all that being said, right now.
It does look like it's it would be something that could be exploited by the Gay.
Yeah. They The thing the Giants are trying to do is and a thing you need to like I mentioned with Daniel Jones, is they're trying to get the ball out faster because they realize that they have the problems with you know. So there's there's a lot of there's gonna be a lot of movement to this. This this they're going to try and confuse you a little bit too. The motions, the slot motions, the deep overs, the post things. They're going to try and run you down the field.
And like I say, Paris Campbell is one of those guys that he's really big run after catch guy. So they're going to try and get him the ball. And that's like I said, I'm thinking that maybe they're going to try and use him like they use like they use Turpid, where they put him in the backfield and
maybe you'll see him with in the backfield. With they send Barkley one way and then here comes Campbell back the other you know, get you to kind of commit and then run the ball, you know, back the other way. So they're going to do everything in their in their power not to expose their offensive line.
Who's the most dangerous of those wide receivers. You got Hodgens and Campbell and Slayton.
I think it's Campbell. Well, okay, you know with Hyatt, it's the vertical game, right, so if you know, all of a sudden, it's a we're gonna max protect this thing and then take a shot, you know. I mean there's either catch, interference or incomplete you know, that's kind of where things were, and especially if you're in a situation I do worry about with with with Hyatt just because of his speed. But if you watch them as players,
Campbell is the one that they they they like. I said, they want to use him in various roles where it's get him the ball and let him run, you know, let him play in space.
Does match up there?
That's the thing with Bland. You know. The thing with Bland is he's so physical inside, you know, and Bland is not afraid when they run him through things. He's able to navigate. So Bland's a good tackler too. So if Campbell gets the ball, that's what's going to be. It's like ball to him. They're going to try and run him, ball to him, tackle him right there. Don't let a four yard game be a twenty six yard game. Yeah, let it, you know, so I would say that Bland,
you know, but he planned. I don't know about you guys. I felt like Blam had a really quiet camp this year. And I don't know if it was because they were trying to have Joseph play somewhat slot that they were trying to get a look there and they put they put Bland on the outside to kind of so maybe he wasn't always totally involved in everything.
Let me just clarify.
When you say a quiet camp, are you meaning he wasn't really making plays or you mean he was getting beat No?
No, no quiet, just he wasn't the plays. You know, usually with him, it's like knockdown pass, right down pass. You know, there were guys out there that you were seeing in practice that were knocking you know that. But the thing about. Like I said, I love Bland. I think there's a lot of guys out on the West coast. He goes to Fresno, and there's a lot of those Pac twelve coaches that are going, why did we what do we? How do we miss this guy? Yeah, you know, I mean the way he plays and all that.
I think he had a he still had a solid camp with It wasn't like flashy, yeah you know, it wasn't. He wasn't making headlines or anything, but he was pretty solid.
I think, Yeah, I do. Like I said, I do believe it's because of where they played him. I think on the outside where he plays. When he plays inside, usually that's where the ball. You know, the offense is focused on getting the ball to their slot a lot because it's just you have the whole field to cover, and he can clearly cover the whole field.
I think it was a combination of what both of you guys were saying. Number One, he it wasn't as flashy, but you could say that contextually because it was Trevon Diggs's camp as far as the cornerback is concerned, and Stefan Gilmore's camp as far as the cornerback is concerning that's where all eyes typically were Stefan or was Treyvon?
Where's Tree? Where's Steffan?
But and and to you know Brian's point, because they were trying to get the Cowboys were trying to get Kelvin Joseph so many reps in the slot. You did see Deron Bland doing a lot of outside work, so there was a little bit of a curve there for him to adjust playing on the outside. But he made his fair share of plays as well, pass break up as couple of interceptions. So definitely, you know, looking to
take that next step. I've seen that he's ready to take the next step and he's going to fall back into the nickel road now you know now that we're into the regular season and that's where he thrives, and that's what he thrived last year and led the team in interceptions. So he can definitely, and like Bryan satt in one agree, he is arguably the most physical cornerback
that you have on the team right now. I mean he loves he doesn't it's just not he It's just not Deron not shine away from contact at the line of scrimmage. He wants to put his hands on that receiver disrupt the route at the line of scrimmage. So if you can disrupt, you know, a guy like Campbell's route right, mess up his timing, that's goal number one, goal number two. If you fail on goal number one,
like he said, delete the yak. If you delete the yak, you more or less started to neutralize one of their bigger playmakers after the kid' you see how.
Lewis fits in the game plan this way too, you know, because if things if you know things, sir, you know that's the great thing. If something goes where you have to where it's an injury or somebody's not playing well, a couple of snaps, you you can put Lewis in the game and kind of work around that in the slot.
And Giants made unfortunate too that if they're gonna bring all four of those receivers on the field and get into a dime type.
Of situation, maybe it creates that opportunity.
And I'll tell you what I talked to Jordan yesterday in the locker room, and like I said, he not only said they're throwing him into the fire, which were his words I asked him, I said, is there any soreness. How do you feel physically and he was like, no soreness. I feel great. I said, okay, so how do you feel mentally? Because he said a couple of weeks ago, it's about feeling football again. I said, now you're lining up against guys and these are the best guys in
the league. Cooks lamb and he said, the muscle memory is starting to come back, the confidence is quickly regaining itself. And hear that dog is starting to return. And I said, so the trash talking and he was like, oh, it's it's back. Okay, Joey Lewis is talking trash again, ladies and gentlemen. So yeah, that's good sign.
All right, we're gonna take our final break. We will come back. I got a question for these guys. We'll have a couple of questions actually on this matchup. We'll do that when we come back to Dallas Cowboys dot Comrae.
Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the cheetah Savannah. Todd believed the big Cat repellent he bought online was reliable, and now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per HOA. But the good news is Todd has at and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew at and T five G. Fast, reliable, secure, It's not complicated.
Five G requires compatible plan and device. Five G may not be available in your area. See att dot com slash five G for you for details.
Don't put off getting your oil change.
Dallas.
Take five Oil Change, a proud partner of the Cowboys, is faster than you think. There's no appointment needed and no waiting room.
Yep, you hurt that correctly.
Take five is so fast you don't even have to get out of your car. You can take advantage of Take five's fast, friendly and simple service at any of their locations across the Dallas area. And remember, at Take five you stay in your car because they're faster than you think. Take five the official oil change of Dallas Cowboys.
It's the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black and right now, Cowboys fans can get fifteen percent off their seventy five dollars order plus because every deal needs a playmaker. Your order will include a free five piece skincare set and free shipping. The Jack Black Playmaker is four of Jack's favorites and a full sized intense therapy lipball. Make a play for the playmaker at Getjack Black dot com slash Cowboys with the code Cowboys VIP.
That's get Jack Black dot com slash.
Cowboys with the code Cowboys VIP.
They say champions are remembered, but legends are never forgotten. United Agon Turf offers a winning lineup of John Deere equipment built to tackle any challenge on and off the field.
Legendary John Deere.
Tractors combines residential mowers, commercial mowers, compact construction equipment, cater utility vehicles, and a full line of golf and sports turf equipment. United Agon Turf the official agonturf equipment supplier of the Dallas Cowboys. Visit United dagonturf dot com to find a location near you.
Back to the break, Okay, do you eat sleep breed Dallas Cowboys Football? Tell us how you spiced up the game for a chance to be named twenty twenty three Cowboys Fan of the Year, presented by Captain Morgan and when exclusive prizes plus a trip to Super Bowl fifty eight. Nominate yourself or another today at Dallas Cowboys dot Com. Slash Fan of the Year.
Final segment of the break We Are Alive from the s WBC Morgan Studios.
At the start, I am not hungover. Okay, I barely. I don't even drink alcohol. Okay, I don't know. I just you know, we hear okay, okay, so good alcohol is not good for you.
It's not.
It's not until it is especially shaggy. It wasn't mean it all right.
I did have something to say though. When you were talking about the pass rushers for the Cowboys going up against them, something came to mind. And the early mention of penalties and getting flags and all that, I started thinking, like, man, I think I do think this is a game where the pass rushers can be pretty successful going up against the Giants. But it came to mind, can this be a game where now they start getting penalties because they're going going back to training? Cam Let me just pick
in the picture. You know you can't freaking tackle Dac. You can't hit the quarterback or anything, so you're restraining yourself. You get into the first week of the season. These are very talented guys that we have on defense rushing the pass right now, They're going full out, going out, going at it with all their power. And now with the NFL rules, every time like, oh, gotta don't even look at the quarterback too much because that's a flag
right there. So you just, I don't know, maybe it's just me that I'm painting this whole picture of like our guys just freaking attacking them and then a ref just throwing a flag every time because you hurt touched the quarterback a little bit.
Well, you just gotta know how to maintain yourself discipline, know how to you know, play through the play without giving that extra that puts you in position where you can be targeted by the by the officials and getting those flags thrown. So yeah, I mean, these guys are ready to go out here and really hit and really knock some guys around.
But it's been a while.
It's been a while, but I will say, I mean when you talk about guys like Michael Parsons, de Marcus Lawrence, I mean these are not guys that are typically penalized heavily. So when you look at it from that aspect, I know Sam Williams is trying to, you know, kind of rein that in. But outside of Sam Williams working to ring that in, the Cowboys pass rush isn't notorious for getting those roughing the passer penalties and those unsportsmen like that.
But even like mike'll last I think it might have been last year maybe, I mean, but I remember knowing there's always like some are there have been those situations where he's like, are you freaking kidding me? And he still gets a fun but it's these are veteran guys. I get it, and you know they know what to do and how to do it and all that, but still those are some things that sometimes are out of your country.
The official this week in the game is Adrian Hill, and I need to go and look at Adrian Hill's background as far as what we saw last year with well he does he protect quarterbacks? Does he let the game go? Does his team? Does his crew call a lot of roughing penalties? Do they call holding penalties and stuff like that? I need to figure that out. But uh, like I said, it's it's it's a different official from what you think for a nationally televised game, usually you'll
catch a Sean Hockley or somebody like that. But Adrian Hill is going to get an opportunity to and so we need to study him and maybe Friday tomorrow I'll have a better idea where that penalty group will go with that this crew.
Real quick before we end the show. This is one question I want to throw to you. Guys.
We asked a similar question yesterday. Why had you rank offensive players from least to most important for this week's win. I want to do the same thing for the defense, and I have four players I'm gonna throw to you. I did not purposefully include Michael Parsons, yeah, because I think that would easily be the top player for all
of us. But going from least to most integral to the Cowboys defense being successful this weekend, rank these four DeMarcus Lawrence, Jonathan Hankins, Leyton Vander ash Stefan Gilmore.
I'm going to go with. Let me make sure I got it right.
So Lawrence Hankins and LV Gilmore Gilmore, that's a good one. Let me get lv E as as my top I'm gonna go l V E. Hankins, God you're good at this, l V. E. Hankins, and let's say tanking then Gilmore reasoning being LV, when you talk about trying to stop Sakuon Barkley, you better have linebackers that can cover.
Sideline, the sideline, that bottom line period.
You don't really need much more explanation than that, because if LVE and DeMont Clark, if they can cover sideline the sideline and keep Saquon Barkley at or behind the line of scrimmage to let the other dogs eat, then that's that's a huge win because again that puts the game on Daniel Jones, and then that allows Gilmore digs the secondary to do what they do, but keeping with Saquon Barkley, because again, for me, that's the number one
threat Hankins, that interior run defense. Right if if Brian Dabo determines that he's not having success in the flats and sideline the sideline beating the Cowboys off the age, because LVE has stepped up and he's really playing that game and he's going to try to run Saquan up the A and the B gap. Okay, Will Hankins, if you have a phenomenal game that deletes that as well, goes to Mazzie Smith as well, and anyone else that lines up at that one tech role. Then it goes
to Tank. Now we're talking about the pass rush. Now that we've eliminated hopefully Sakwon Barkley with your linebackers in your interior run defense. Now you get the tee off on the edges, DeMarcus Lawrence because we can't talk about Michael Parsons. Derek said, we can't. So the edge, you got Tank teeing off against Evan Neil. He's already shown he can dismantle that guy. He gets in the backfield,
makes a long day for Daniel Jones. And then when Daniel Jones, if he's not taken to the ground, if he does escape and he's keeping his eyes downfield, he wants to make a play downfield. Now he has to go up against Diggs Gilmour at that combo, Deron Bland, Jordan Lewis.
So that's how my rankings shakes out. And damn, you're really good at this.
So I like that it's smooth dand rush Gilmore Hankins Lawrence for me, why that, because I feel like, though you're I think Patrick's right about Lbe. He has to find a way to play sideline the sidelines in this in this game, you know, and I think Gilmore on the outside. We'll see if they want to attack. If they don't go at Diggs, who will they go at these receivers. They feel like that they can make some place down the field. I feel like you've got to
be able to cover that way. Hankins is a guy, like I say, that could clog up things going inside, you know, and help also LV with the running game. To me, it's as much as I love Lawrence on the edge rush and I think there's other options to rush as well. So I'm going to put the rush. I think the rush is going to fall on some other guys the run stopping and to fall on Hankins and Lve and but most importantly they're going to need
to cover. I think the Giants are going to try and throw the football in this game, and even though the Cowboys pass rush is good, so I think that's on Gilmour to make some coverage.
I think a lot of these they're very interchangeable. But if I had to look at of one specific guy, and I agree with you guys as far as everything you've said about Layton just because you look at everybodybody else and you feel like, imagine if one single player was out I think the one area because of the lack of death behind it, it would have to be Leyton,
vander Esh and everybody else. You still have talent, and I mean Gilmore you need him, but I think if you're taking up care of business up front, that should help for what's happening with the defensive backs. So but yeah, everything you guys said retweet repost.
I'm sure kind of interested that you guys didn't put Hankins first. And the reason why I would have put Hankins first is similar what you guys are saying with regards to the run defense. Yes, I need Leyden Vandersh to cover the field sideline the sideline. I think that's infinitely easier when you got a defensive tackle that keeps that those offensive linemen off of you to allow you
to run sideline the sideline. So I think Leydon vander Esh's ability to play this game really well will depend on how much can Steve defensive front keep those guys from getting to the second level.
The Marcus Lawrence's game as a run defender might be more important than that's because if you get Hankins, if you get Hankins going holding blocks and especially against the inside guys that are having problems blocking him, I think that's a that's a good matchup for the Cowboys vander esh on the run if and then you've got Lords playing on the run too, you know, And and I think that the Giants are going to try and run
the ball on the edges. I think the end point you know, they're going to make, They're going to see who is going to play right defensive end. There's gonna be a lot of left handed runs for the Giants. They're going to test whoever your right end is. And they're going to see where, in fact, where Diggs is as far as how physical he wants to play in this game. People have had some success running the ball to the Cowboys right and the offenses left, so we'll see how that'll holds up.
Also, my thought process, and that's why I had Hankins as my number two behind LV and it's because I'm confident in feeling that the bow is going to try to run Barkley off the edges and put him in space out in the flats first. That's he's going to test the linebackers early to see if they can cover in space.
Their ability to.
Do that is going to be also about can those defensive tackles keep them off the second level. What we know about Leyden vander Esh is Laydon vander Esh will play really great football if he's not always having one of those offensive linemen on him.
Dallas Dallas should win inside, Yeah, Dallas should win inside him.
Become much better linebackers. By the way, you can probably go across the entire league. Linebackers are better linebackers when they don't have offensive linemen in their face. So if you got a better defensive tackle in front of you, you're going to be better as a linebacker.
Absolutely.
I think it's just the thought process of opportunities, right, Who's going to be attacked early and more often? And I think that based on their scheme, the New York Giants scheme, they're going to attack the linebackers early and more often. Then they would give Hankins an opportunity to be dominant in the game early. So that's why I have lve over Hankins because obviously both are important for
those reasons. But my scale slides more towards the linebacker simply because I feel like before they test Hankins, they're going to test the linebackers and lv E and they're gonna do that more frequently before they If lv E can you know, continue to play well, then they'll say, Okay, well we're not really winning on these edges. Let's at least try the inside. And that's when they run up again.
If you listed Curse, I would have put him second because of what Waller is gonna do.
I agree with you on that.
After as I was reading the question, I thought to myself, I should have thrown because Curse would have been even better.
Because I agree with you.
I may.
If I would have had him in there, but that was my miss. All Right, we apprecid. You guys join us.
We'll be back tomorrow. We'll wrap this whole thing up. Let you guys know what wething's gonna happen this weekend.
Until then.
For Brian brought us, Patrick Walker, Ambergarcia. I am Derek Helton. This has been the Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
This has been a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club