Cowboys Break: The Blame Game

The Break. We are live from the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, we're talking about the Cowboys lost yesterday. They lose to the Eagle seventeen to nine, and man, do we have so many opinions, so many thoughts on

this game. We got a lot to discuss. Let's jump right in, and because there were so many storylines, literally, there were a ton of storylines coming out of this game, I'd like to go around the table and initially start the conversation by giving each of you an opportunity to have somewhat of an opening statement just about what your general thoughts are of this team coming off of that

loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia. We'll start with you, Nick, thank you, and before you say anything, take a deep breath and then go. Man. So many places as a start, they they're just they're just not They're obviously not a good team. I mean, we've seen that for a while, and they showed us last week that they can, you know, have a good moment, but you know when when it was really time, Like I've said all along, I'm just

gonna stick with the same theme, they don't. They're not clutch, and they're not clutching the plays, and they're not clutch in the in the moment to go and just take it. They've got the hats in the shirts in a box under the tables down there. Just go open the box, just go do what you gotta do. But they don't. They don't because they're really they're not a good team, and they're I don't think they're well coached. And their toughness was questioned and they lost. They're not they weren't

tough yesterday. I don't think in both aspects of being tough. All right, eber Well, I don't really know where to start. I think one of the things that really bothers me is when we come in here in this show and talk about things throughout the season. Clearly, if we were talking about it, they should know about it, like they

should be watching the same game and seeing the same things. So, for example, when it comes to Amari Cooper, and I know we'll get into depth about him and all that, but you know, we talked about him not being good on the road, and they should know that. Not that they should be preparing for a guy that's supposed to be your best white receiver, but you should be aware

of things like that dacked shoulder. Okay, how do you create different plays to help in scenarios like this where Amari Cooper just doesn't show up in a game, so little things like that. It's amazing to see how they were able to run the ball last week and then this week it was just absolutely on present. And to me, it's all about preparation and how do you come up with different game plan and different things to do in different situations. I just don't get it. But it's all

about coaching. Yes, the players have a lot to do with what happened yesterday, but at the same time, you as a coach, you know what you're dealing with, and she'd be prepared to attack it, Dave. This is only my seventh season covering the team, so my perspective is limited. But I've learned a lot about the Cowboys, you know, from before my time just working here. I feel like I have a good grasp on franchise history in general. And this is just the most disappointing Cowboys team in

recent memory, and certainly among the most disappointing of all time. Um, this is this is what I keep going back to. It's like twenty seventeen, injuries and legal drama and suspensions got in the way. Twenty fifteen you lost your two best players. Basically for the year two thousand and eight, guys were in and out of trouble and headlines and you know all you know, gun charges and legal drama. What was the drama with this team? Like what got

in the way they couldn't play? Yeah, exactly, there's there's nothing. There was nothing hindering this team all year long, Like nobody was there. Like as far as the NFL teams go, like one little drama and they got rid of him Tacoma, then they Taco's your biggest drama. You're doing all right? And that was the one. Yeah, if Layton vander esh

is your biggest injury. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles. I promise you they got lucky in terms of who was available for them this year, and none of it mattered. Like Tip I always say, like this team's success gets in its own way. There's nothing in their way this year other than they could not string together good football games. And I mean they have to take a hard look in the mirror because like there's no outside factor that

got in their way. They just are a very talented football team that is bad and that's frustrating and disappointing. This I can't disagree more about that. They're not very talented. They're not very talented because they have four Pro bowlers that didn't and they're not Pro bowlers. I mean, Travis Frederick is not a Pro Bowler. He's going, but he's not a Pro Bowler. I mean, they're just not a

talented team. They're not talented, and they're not tough. The one thing I will maybe they're not tough, and I can kind of agree with you on that. Where I would go different on the talented part is by and large, most of these guys were here last year when they had a pretty successful season by all accounts, right, So there was some talent involved in being able to do that.

They're one year farther into it with more experience. So the expectation was what you saw last year from the talent level should have been a little bit better this year. And so you're absolutely all talent means is do you have the ability or how good is your ability to be able to do your job? And I think that

they are. There are a number of guys on this team that if you go player by player, position by position, and you're talking about them in context of players around the league that do their job, I think you could say a vast number of them are considered to be talented enough to be up there with the top ten guys at their position, top five guys at their position. Right, So from that standpoint, I'll give you a good example, and I think this will crystallize what you're saying. And

we're gonna get to this guy, but Amari Cooper. I don't think any of us disagrees that MARII Cooper has talent. Then I start getting to the part where you talk about where does he have toughness? Does he have that mental thing that makes him just go for it like that. That's just he's all in. You know. That's the part where you have either you got a great point, like they just don't seem to have enough of those guys. And that's and I'm completely agree for the most part.

And I think that's been the season long conversation, like they're not good, but I don't know how you can argue that they're not talented, Like Amari Cooper is a talented player, DeMarcus Lawrence is a talented players. Even if they haven't played up to their standard. There are so many teams that would want this offensive line. They did not play well, and you can chalk that up to

toughness of the physical and mental variety. You can chalk that up to chemistry, because it sure doesn't seem like this team has any, which is weird because that's always been like a calling card of the Jason Garrett era. This doesn't feel like a cohesive team at all, and I feel like that's why they're seven and eight right now.

But four thousand yard passer, a thousand yard rusher, two thousand yard receivers, first time the Cowboys have had two wide receivers hit a thousand yards in a season since two thousand and six. That screams talent to me. It's just not translating to good football. Yep, that's just my opinion. Then talent is an overrated word. Then it's like stats, I mean all this time. That's why it's the ultimate

team game, right. You can have the most talented team in the world and it's not going to always bail you out, especially in the NFL. And it's the same thing as the Cowboys right now being the number one offense in the league. We know if you've watched the games, they're not the number one, but but according to that statistic, yeah they are. And so that's where I think it's You're right, Talent doesn't really mean a lot at the end of the day if you can't assemble it in

a way to where it actually works together. But game, that's what makes this so baffling and frustrating. I just I think they have the pieces to be a good football team. And it's not even that they're not good. They're actively bad. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Actively. I mean, I think there's a difference between not good and bad. They're bad. Let's let's go ahead. When talking, I mean these these pieces, these pieces to win and

stuff like that. We need to talk about that and see how many of those pieces are really going to be back. Yeah, well, let's let's do this. That's not today's show. But let's go ahead and take our first break. That's probably not today's show. But I do think from the context of how they played yesterday, I do want to talk about some of these pieces. I want to talk about the running back. I want to talk about the wide receiver or a few of the wide receivers.

I want to talk about the quarterbatting. And then we got to get to what happened on the offensive line and what happened on the defense, because I think there were some interesting things that happened throughout this game that does make you question, you know, what's going to happen with the future of this team and with the future of some of these individual players. We'll do that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.

I'm Jay Novachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day, I was the guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Dear dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your

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me an app So are we gonna win? Just? Okaying is not okay, whether it's cheerleaders or your wireless network. At and T is America's best wireless network. Best network based on GWS one score, September twenty nineteen. Back to the Break Welcome back. We're in the second segment of The Break Life in the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. By the way, it's Christmas time, so Merry Christmas to all of you listening to us and those

of us in this studio. We really do appreciate all you guys that take your time every day to come and join us for this talk. Even in a season like this where it's been highly disappointing, we still appreciate the fact you guys take time to listen. So we want to wish your merry Christmas and happy New Year and uh and all of the above. All right, so let's get back to this talk. Um. I want to dive into some of the individual parts of this game,

particularly from the player standpoint. Let's start first with the running back. Yesterday, Zeke gets thirteen carriages forty seven yards or three point six average. Coming off a game last week where you got two one hundred yard rushers and by the way, Polot this week got two carriages for zero yards, and let's throw in a fumble for good measure. But coming off a game like what they had last week, what was the difference this week? Because arguably they played

a tougher defensive front. Last week, you could argue that they were at least as good as this defensive front, what was the difference? I think the Rams do what they do, and they that's the scheme that they play, and if you can get you a hat on a hat and run the ball and have some success, then it opens up everything else. I think the Eagles went into the game saying, you know what, that's not practicing all week. He hasn't, so let's make him beat us,

and we're gonna load it up. And you know, and I still think you could run more than what you did, But I think that they made it more of an effort to try to stop the run and force the Cowboys because they know the Cowboys are going to do that, gonna just kind of take what they what they get, and then you know, whoever's on the field or regardless, it's like, oh, I like this matchup. I see Schultz out there. He's called two passes this year, but I like it and I'm gonna throw it to him, you

know what I mean. They just do what they do. Yeah, I think. I mean, the Eagles clearly made an effort and it's funny, like sounds dumb to say, but like, I'm not sure. I'm not sure the Cowboys played it the wrong way. Like there were plays to be made in the passing game. That was We talked about that last week. Like they're not a good secondary, they're banged up. They give up a lot of yards and points outside.

And the plays were there, weren't they. I Mean, Gallop drops a long ball, Dak overshoots Tavon on a long ball, Cooper drops, Cooper drops one, Gallop drops in a crossing route, that Wit drops a wide open pass. How about Um, I know I'm forgetting a big one. Oh the it was like a comeback. Dak clearly overshot Cooper, but Cooper like the most half assed effort you've ever seen to go up and get it one. Yeah, the player, the

plays were there to be made. Dak was bad, and so were literally all of the receivers and tight ends for that matter. Throw them in there too. So I like you can sit here and say, like, well, Zeke is the ninety million dollars back, like feed him, feed him, which I appreciate that they're not just going to bash their head into a brick wall if they don't have to, but make a play, make a play in the passing game.

And like, I know Dak's shoulder probably hurt, and I know Amari's got nineteen different ailments at this point in the season, but neither one of them. Cooper wasn't even on the injury report on Friday, and Dak was designated as like there was no doubt. He's a full go. He's fine, and so I have to take him at his word, and I expect you to play better than that if you are worth the payday that you're heading for. Yeah,

he actually is. He in my opinion, played like he practiced, which he didn't practice, and you could tell in the game that he wasn't sharp. He went twenty five or forty f or fifty seven percent completion, two hundred and sixty five yards, zero touchdown, zero interceptions, is seventy four point five rating. At this point, are you looking at Dak differently from the standpoint of the contract than you did is say, even four or five weeks ago. Yes, in what way? He's not worth the money he's so

what do you do? I'd pay him in the money of fift top fifteen, top fifteen to twenty quarterback because that's what he's been. You know, you can you can say all you want to about the yards. Yards don't mean anything. I mean he's about he could break Tony Romo's franchise record of forty nine hundred yards and they went eight and eighth that year. In twenty twelve, Winston's got yards quarterback rating, I think he's like twelve thirteen touchdowns.

He's right in there, and then the record is seven and eight. So he hasn't done anything to make me think that he is in the elite status of quarterbacks. And so, but quarterbacks get paid. I mean, they still get paid. So I think whatever Stafford Derek Carr's money, that kind of stuff, I think that's where needs to be you pay a member. I just I don't know

the whole thing. It's so difficult for me to make a full evaluation of him, just because I have a lot of questions about the coaching and it makes me wonder, really with the better could he be better with a better coach, if he is trained better and put in better situations in the game. I just don't quite know, And it's frustrating because this is his fourth year here and I feel like I still don't really know where Dad could get to because he's been under the same coaching.

We saw some improvement with John Kinnett coming in here, and to me, he has improved tremendously this year, but it hasn't been enough so that it's a difficult one for me. Am I willing to offer him a long term deal. I think as of right now, I would want to put him under the franchise tag for a year and see how that goes with a different coach. You agree, Dave, It's tough because honestly, I feel like the whole body of work is worth him being the quarterback of this team in the long term. Like I

don't buy like he's not bad. He's not bad. Quarterback. He's good, but it's totally fair, like he hasn't lifted this team, like he has not played like a quarterback who can overcome all of all of the problems surrounding him, much like Carson Wentz did yesterday. And like Wins, he's not the diaper. Yes, Wins wasn't even amazing yesterday. He just made the plays that were available to right. But sometimes that's what it takes. And you know you mentioned Romo.

It's it's kind of fitting in a way. It's like, guys, let dack down yesterday, like a lot of guys did, but does anybody care. Nobody cares make the plays like pick your team up, win the game, and they're probably not going to make the playoffs now because he wasn't good enough and it's not just his fault, but again, nobody cares. He's the quarterback, and so I think the

full body of work is worth a payday. But fast forward to a month and we're back at the negotiating table and it's like, well, Dak wants to be paid here and the Cowboys are here. It's hard for me to say, well, the Cowboys should just meet his demands, Like where is his proof that he's worth playing hardball where he's like I want thirty seven or I'm sorry, that's what I want. Like why should the Cowboys have to capitulate to that? Like where's the proof that that's

worth it? But I also hate the idea of like a franchise tags. I hate that. Everything you said I agreed with about his development and all that, and maybe a new coach and all that, but I don't know about the franchise tag because I think I gotta I think I gotta give that to MARII. The only reason I have to give that to him is because he

is my first round pick from last year. So if you if you start losing first round picks, they already lost one in the Taco, they're gonna feel They're gonna start to feel it here, you know, So you're gonna lose that. And I think I would try with maybe with the coaches, to have one more year and all that, but like, because as of right now, I mean, maybe it's just because of last night. I mean I think the Cowboys need to seriously think about not having Cooper.

Let me, let's table that for just a second, because I want to finish the conversation Dak and I, because that's it is, it is playing. And I will say this, I actually agree with Amber from the standpoint in the franchise tag because the amount of money that you have to commit to a quarterback, I actually would want to see one more year and I'd like to see one more year with a different voice in his head, right, with a different game plan, with a different with different schemes,

see if maybe you can get him. Because because I do agree, there have been some things we've seen this year that suggests he is a better quarterback than he was last year, and then he was a better quarterback than he was the year before. Like every year, I think he's gotten a bit better than he was before. I would love to see one more year before I have to commit big money to him, commit big money

to him. Right, So I do want to have that conversation on the wide receiver, and you're right, the two do kind of they kind of intermingle. But I kind of like the idea of getting another year to be able to see a little bit more about Dak before I make a big book. What kind of year are you getting? And I say this because how many second half comebacks has he had this year? Zero? He has not brought his team back, and lord knows he's had chances to bring them back. So Klutch put it on

da like everybody else. But he's been that before. Though, he's been that before. So that's why I say year that before. But what But how many press conferences did he have this year where he talked about contract especially early on in the year. Almost every one you want to do this again? Do we want to do this again? Where now he's making twenty eight million a year on the tag or whatever it is, and he's playing every

throw is playing for this payday. If you if we think that all this stuff is like, yeah, he's got it, let's give him a new coach and all that, then pay pay him. He didn't deserve top five money, but he's he can be up there and and get it out of the way. But you're saying that like like he doesn't have a choice. I don't know that he's signing a deal. This got him, you know, paid like a thirteen fourteen ter back. Maybe he should go somewhere else. He can't do that. No, you can't, app can't lose

him right now. He can't do that. Right, but he's gonna show stalemate, right, Yeah, but he's gonna show up at some place and be like, where's the Pro Bowl alightement Oh you got one? Oh you've made a Pro Bowl? But now you're thirty eight? Okay, who's my back? But the point but that's a great point. But the point is, though he still does, he still has to at some point, they gotta if they're gonna low ball, and there I

shouldn't even say lowball. If they're gonna keep him around that thirteen fifteen range, they still got to give that offered him, and he's got to decide if he says I don't want it, they're not gonna just let him walk. So they gotta franchise him at that point. And that's why I think that ends up being an option. I don't say this to sound and passive aggressive. I legitimately

mean that. Somebody said this to me last night on Twitter, and I was like, I actually I want to know this guy was like, don't resign Dak and let Cooper walk. And I was like, in all sincerity, what's your long term vision for this team if you're doing both of those things? Because even if you're franchising Dak. You need to be thinking about drafting his replacement. Maybe not in the first round, but like you got to be building.

I despise the idea of tagging Dak doing nothing at quarterback, and I'd be like, well, maybe this year will be different, and then next year is very similar, and you're like, well, we wasted a year of his career. We still have to pay him this contract or let him walk, and we haven't done anything about the future. So I think I'm with Nick, And that's kind of my point is I'm not convincing. I'm not trying to convince you. You You have to be in love with what Dak has done,

but you might as well sign him. And again, like nothing has changed in the sense of like Mahomes is still coming, some of these other young quarterbacks are still coming. Like he'll be a bargain quickly, and maybe you just pull the trigger on it and get it out of the way, rather than keep spinning your wheels saying like, well, we're not going to commit to him, but we're not going to do anything about the future of the quarterback position. But the part that gives me pause on that though,

is I've seen some improvement. But I've also seen this. To me, it seems like a trend this year where they've been more than a few games where he's just,

for whatever reason, just off. And so it becomes a question of do I think that he can ever get to a point where his accuracy is good enough to where it's worth paying him, where he can be my guy, where he can be my Russell Wilson, where I say, and I can let all these other guys kind of walk and I can fill in the pieces because my quarter quarterback is good enough to be that diaper that

Nick talks about. I don't know that right, So to me, give me another year to maybe see that, because if you don't see it by next year, the likelihood of him becoming that at some point is probably relatively small. But what are you, like, what are you gonna learn? Because I assume you can't predict anything to a certainty, But like the cast of characters is going to be similar, like I would maybe maybe not, I would assume Amaria will be here, Seeks not going anywhere, or like the

offensive line will still be here. So it's still gonna question about whether Cobb will be here and gall will still be here. But Gallup's a good piece. Right, So maybe Cobb isn't here, Maybe you replace that with a young guy that you draft who is a more dynamic player in the slot that can catch more frequently. But right is a good piece for being the number two receiver. Right. But you know, but Ma's gonna be your next year. You just said he was your first round pick. Lass.

I mean you gotta bring him back. You got it only as a franchise thing. I'm not paying him because here's the thing. You can change out your receiver, change out your quarterback, change everything out. It doesn't matter, none of the new coach, nothing matters if you don't have it inside you on fourth and eight to say, hell no, I'm on the field, not like okay, I'm out. Somebody else, come in. I just ran a go route. Now I'm tired. It's fourth and eight. The game, slash season is on

the line. You can't tell me Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin and Chris Carter in those guys ever did that. Okay, that's crap. That is absolute crap. And him and Cob both and Jason Garrett should have called a time out, should have called it time out and put it. Let's bring it back to the micro because we really haven't gotten into what a cluster that fourth quarter was. And that's exactly I'm gonna We're gonna take a break when

we come back. I want to talk about that, but I want to talk about that in the context of this whole team, because they're not the only two to do that. No. Last week we saw the exact same thing happened to the defensive line. This has been something that's been going on with this team for a while. We're gonna take a break, We're gonna come back, We're gonna talk about that. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Ready, Okay? Yes? Oh? Are we gonna win? Just okaying is not okay whether

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Welcome back. It is the final segment of The Break Laugh in s WBC Mortar Studios at the Star, we were talking about the Cowboys loss seventeen to nine Philadelphia Eagles. At this point, they are no longer in control of their own destiny. The Eagles win this weekend. The Eagles represent the nfcast in the playoffs. If they lose and the Cowboys should win, then the Cowboys came back into

the playoffs. We'll see how that goes. But all all that being said, like everything was righting from them, is Nick said in the first segment of the show, and they just basically didn't go get it. Find me a Cowboys fan who isn't related to a coacher player who wants them to make it. At this point, that's the overwhelming reaction that I'm getting from fans is they're just like, let it be over. Well, fast forward to Sunday and then find me one that isn't I think. I think

that's done. Honestly, I really do. I don't think so. If I mean obviously don't think, then then they're not a real real die hard fan, because I think the die hard fans would want your team to make it to the playoffs. They sure not after this year? Where were you going with it? They sure as heck don't want the Eagles to do it? Right, you know, differ nothing else, just not the Eagles. That doesn't think that. That doesn't mean that they think that the Cowboys would

go far in the playoffs. It's just and if you were there last night and saw what I saw, like, you just don't like the Eagles, Like, it's just you

just don't. You just don't like the Eagle. So if for nothing other, for no other reason, then the Eagles go sit at home and then you just kind of go in and what happens in the player world, Bratt little kid that's sitting there that doesn't like his toys and all that until the other little kid comes over and you know, and then he starts playing with him. It's like wh whoa, whoa, whoa, those are my toys? No link, yeah that's mine. So yeah, I don't want to.

I don't want this at all. Then the Eagle, the Eagles are going in the playoffs. They're like, nah, if that like, we're in. So let's go back to that conversation we were having just before the break. We were talking about Amari Cooper, Um, you get to fourth down Cowboys season on the brink, fourth and eighth, fourth and eighth, both Cooper and cob both on the sideline. Um. I mentioned before the break last week it was late and

I think it is last week. They were late in the game, and uh, the defense was on the field and Michael Bennett they called a time out, right, and uh and Schogar game and Michael Bennett is on the field. But you got Tank off the field, you got Quinn off the field, and Bennett is literally saying, no, y'all need to get onto the field because this is a critical down. And just all of that just makes me thinking.

And they asked Jason Garrett about it last night and the postgame presser, and he was like, well, you know, that was just the rotation. You know, we we rotate those guys because you know, we got so much going on a lot of plays we're running so rotting those guys, and he just happened that they were off the field. My problem with that is just that I feel like the player does have some saying that. I also think

the coaches are being a little too. I don't know if naive is the right word, but to think that we could just send Ventral Bryant, Ventrel Brian, whatever his name is, onto the field instead of Amari Cooper when it's fourth and eight to keep the season going, like to me, just something about that, because if not, then go ahead and pay Briant the money, right, why do you need to pay Cooper? You know, right? I mean, it just doesn't. The whole thing doesn't make sense. Next

man up. You know, Jason's got a lot of saying. Some of them are, okay, next man up is dumb. It's dumb. It's dumb, and it's a lie. It's a lie. It's not next man up. You can't do that. It's not. It's not. If you did that, then rotate your quarterback, which might have been a good idea the way he was throwing some passes. I'm just saying, you don't do that. So it's not it's not the next man up. It's not and it needs you need to call a time out.

And Dave and I talked about this before. If you're not calling your timeout and you're saving him, you're telling everyone that you're gonna fail because we need these because

we're not gonna get this, so we're gonna fail. Why don't you just call time out and tell your offensive coordinator, who was called a very bad game to that point, to figure out what the best play is and the best guys on the field, Get them all some gatorade and let them go and run a route where we can do and if they don't, if it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen this season. Right here. Make a play, Make a play, Make a freaking play. Yeah, that's just

I put that on the coach. But I hate that you have to put it on the coach too. I put it on the coach. You know. It's like it's more blamed. Look, it's more the coaches that made the decision that they were going to rotate that and not say, oh, this is a critical situation. I need you back in, or the player that's willing to come off the field when the rotation says they should come off the field, even though it's a big moment. Maybe the players are

checked out by this point. I mean, yeah, But at the same time, it's like, you know, I have mixed opinion, because yes, I do agree that Cooper should have been on the field at that specific time, but at the same time, it makes me wonder. I'm like, Okay, he only caught four passes out of twelve. Clearly he wasn't

having a good day. They're needing to get someone out there who can catch a ball, and you know, I'm just again, I'm not saying I agree, but at the same time, I can kind of understand why you maybe want to switch it up somehow. And I'm not saying Bryant is a better player than Cooper, obviously, but since he wasn't having a good game at all, I mean,

why not try something else. That's what you try, though, in my opinion, in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter, do or die, I'm giving the guy that I'm considering paying a ton of money every opportunity to save me from myself, Like, this game has not been good for you, this game has not been good for our team. I want to give my best players the opportunity to make

a play to win this ball game. It's hard. It's hard to get it's hard to get to the bottom of these things, like in season when everybody's still kind of rowing in the same direction. But it just feels like there's an accountability issue on this team, and like that's a perfect encapsulation of it. Is like we just talked about it. They're on the twenty three yard line, Amari runs a go. He comes out. He walked right past us. We're down there to shoot our postgame videos.

I'm sure he was tired, like he wasn't rushing to get oxygen on the sideline. He just kind of goes to the sideline. And I can imagine the conversation where Jason Garrett's like, where's nineteen. They're like, oh, he came out, And then Garrett's probably like rolling his eyes, like Okay, we'll put get Tavon out there. Fine, whatever, We'll do what we gotta do. And it's like player checks himself out, which is bad, but coaches don't call him on it. But which is all He checked himself out? Or was

that what he was told? This is our rotation after next number of plays. If come, yeah, we put our other guys. I don't care how bad of a game he played, Like, shouldn't your best players be on the field in do or die time? That's and that's the point. But it sounded like from what Garrett was saying after the game, that was just their normal operation when they get into that part of game, they're rotating their guys, and it was his time to be off. The feel

I don't buy that crap. I don't something that you just say, Yeah, that's just something that he just said it in a nice way to put it out. Oh maybe that's he didn't like calling out and Mary Cooper and he just said, Oh, that's just how we rotate our guys. That's kind of That's kind of My point is like right now, it's hard to get to the bottom of that because you're gonna get company line. You can still make the playoffs. But but but Maria didn't give

the company line. Mari said, I'm coaches pulled me out of the game, and he's asked, were you tired? No, I'm talking I'm talking about coaches and front office and all that type of stuff. I think it's not gonna be like next week, but it could be at the owner's meetings or the combine. But like we're gonna hear stuff in the coming months about, you know, not everybody was bought in. There was conflicting messages like the you know, some guys they know who they are, weren't really given

it there all, and like that. I'm always not trying to finger point at anybody in particular, but can't you just kind of feel that that's the case. He said in the locker room Amari Cooper, I forgot what he said exactly, but he was talking about, Oh, I feel like maybe we should have run this type of play. What was he said? He said, based off the go

ball was the route to run tonight. They didn't take advantage, he says, they didn't take advantage of how they could have taken advantage of that secondary the routes that they were running with, routes that those those defensive backs can cover pretty well. He said, the deep ball was the ball. Say something, you know, I mean, say something. Stop playing chess all day in the locker room and get up and talk to sound j Law and figure out the right play. Like I think when she said something about

checked out, I think he's checked out. Any of those guys that were checked out need to be out. They need to be out. I mean, I mean, yeah, you're head coach. You're taking a lot of the starters out because a lot of them to dynamite this thing, take out the whole team out. Wow, So we're gonna go from all the way from starting seas where we thought to just like blow the whole thing up. I don't I don't think. I don't think we're there. I know everybody's probably I want my wide receiver to I don't

care what. There's not a coach out there that's like, you're out. You're out. You ran seventeen yards a year out, this is the play of the season, but you're out. I think I think Jarwin can do what you're supposed to do or Witten can do No. No. In fact that they went to twelfth personnel, I mean that that in itself was like, why why would you do that in this situation? Jason said, it was the look they wanted all they that's all they have though, is sure,

twelve personnel, But who else? Vintel Bryant, that's I have any other receivers? Right? So, but but you saying both Cobb and Cooper just pull themselves out. They walked to the sideline like you would do in the second quarter because they're a little wind But it's different. But I get that. I'm saying though, I think that, and it sounds maybe I'm getting this wrong, but it sounds like you guys are putting less of this on the fact that the coaches. This is kind of the way that

they do things. This is their operation. Yes, it should have been different, And I'm the first one to say, if you're ja Jason Witten, there's no way we saw him for fifteen years that we saw How many times did we see Martellis runner on the field and he ran right back off the field because Jason was like happening. Yeah. So so my point is, so my point is that those guys definitely if they if they understood the gravity of the situation, they could have stayed in the game.

And they especially Mark, he could have stayed in the game. My point, though, is I still have to give some culpability to the coaches because it sounds like this was their normal operation. I honestly, I don't think much of this coaching staff. I think I've made that abundantly clear over time. But I've seen the Cowboys drive to tie and win like a lot of games, and I could be wrong, but I can't remember a time where they were driving in a situation like that fourth quarter down eight.

Ventel Bryant and Tavon Austin were their wide receivers. It wasn't even just Coop, it was both of those guys. And I some Eagles fans were yelling at me because I tweeted it. I was like, that's who's in the game when you're driving to save your season, and they were like, big whoop the Eagles. You know, we've got all these injuries, like you just got to deal with. I'm like, that's not the point, because there aren't any injuries, right. That is who they are willingly putting on the field

with the season on the line. And to me, it almost makes me want to exonerate the coaches because, like, I don't think they're that dumb to do that because we've never seen him do that before. But your starters are always in the game when that game was on the position. Well, that's not actually true because I know for many years, Nick, you and I have talked about this for many years, there would be those kinds of situations and DeMarcus where it would be standing on the

sideline like rotating their normal rotation. It's like, why is DeMarcus not on the field. I know, like this has been happening throughout Garrett's career. It's two minute it's two minute drill, and you want your guys to be fresh. I guess I get that. But Fintel Bryant has one catch this year. I agree, No, I don't. I don't buy it. And it is a touchdown. I mean there's plenty,

it's precedence, it's saying it's fifty fifty. But I just there is there is a disconnect within this team between like the messaging and the what you know what I'm trying to say, like, there is a disconnect. It's mainly I think it's been on defense this year, but it bled over into the offense last night, at least from my outsider's perspective. And I just think in the coming weeks and months, you're going to hear people kind of

be willing to get our detail about it. I think last night, if you listen closely to Tank after the game, Amar after the game, Zeke after the game, I think they all said little things that make your thoughts start to question how they're viewing. Is because DeMarcus. One thing DeMarcus said that stuck out to me, he was like, well, you know they were. He was asking about why there wasn't enough pass rush. He was like, you just gotta go watch the film. You'll see there's a lot of

balls coming out real quick. And my first thought was, if you're if the issue is that the balls coming out real quick, then is there not something that's happening on the back end where the ball is able to come out real quick? And Nick, you and I talked about this, the cushion that they give these receivers, both from the linebacker sandboy, from the safety standpoint, even from the corners. At times it is third and five and

they are off the ball seven yards, right. It's like, I do believe that maybe maybe you're starting to hear some of that from the players, like hey, there's some schematic things that we're doing that are not helping our pass rush. Right, That's when I heard when he said that. But I think those those kinds of statements that were helping happening throughout the locker room last night. That point too a little more than that's than than just what you see on the same I mean, and if you

go back and watch it. I mean, the only reason the Cowboys had a chance to stay in the game was because of Doug Peterson. Yeah, he's got a Super Bowl Trophy. Congratulations. He coached a terrible game yesterday. He was terrible. That is true. He's almost really bad. I mean, Cowboys still couldn't take it, take advantage of it. But I mean he did some really bonehead type decisions about the fifty five yard field that was one of it.

Third and one and fourth and one, and they're they're down there, they're driving and then then they'll all of a sudden they just started throwing the ball. I mean, but they I don't know. Nobody wanted to run on third and one yesterday. I mean, well, Cowboys wanted to run on third and one. They just wanted to pitch

it to Tony Pollo. Have I guess the play for Zeke we're on set on the Actually this is when when Zeke called out of the out of the game after he had a play and then the fallow I think it was a following play when came in on third and one, yeah, I'm sorry. Pollard came in on second and two and got one yard and third and one he got the pitch. Okay, I thought we had it. But anyway, we were all talking about Zeke because we're talking about whether Zeke pulled himself out at a time

when you need him in the game. It's third, you know, second and two, whatever it was you're driving, you need him to be in the game. Um, and you said that there was it looked like he kind of got banged up a little bit and that's why he called out. But either way, it just seems like to me, there's not enough. I think the word you guys use early

was accountability. You know, it just seems like everybody's not on the same page, and everybody certainly doesn't have the same level of urgency that you should have had in a game like that where the division is on the line, you have every opportunity to just take control of it, win the division, and take yourselves in the playoffs. Cowboys just were not able to do it. You're gonna well

it's equivalent at this point. But like you know, people dogging Tony Pollard for the fumble, which, like I mean, don't fumble in that situation. But that play called hasn't worked all year. And it was also like the first significant moment of Tony Pollard's game two hours into it. Yeah, and it's it's beyond frustrating that as well as he played last week and as well as he's played at times this year, that it took Zeke getting hurt. I mean he said he took a blow to the helmet.

It took him getting hurt in a crucial situation. And they were like, okay, let's run this bizarre play as our first look at Tony Pollard tonight. There's the play there. It was, it went there, It wasn't. It's it just all around f like coaching playing Christmas is gonna go come up? Kai for Bath played really well, that's what I was shown. Really well Kai for Bath had and he went three or three which goals? I get Dak checked to this play at the line is this thought,

Oh no, that wasn't the option my bed un. That's one Zeke goes, somebody lands on and that's fine. So he didn't take himself out because he didn't want to want the ball on third and one. Yeah, and that's got hurt yeah, don't. That's how people saw it they I mean, how many how many third and fourth and shorts have they run that option play? I know they did it against the Jets and it failed. I know

they've done it two or three other times. Why are you still trying to make that happen in this moment with a guy who hadn't touched the ball yet all night. But you open up a whole head cannon worms when you start talking about the play call, because you go back doing the Rams game and there was a ton more creativity and what they were doing, the stuff they were doing with Tavon and moving him into the backfield, like there was just a whole different level of creativity

in that game than this game. You talk about this game, there was none of that, no Jets sweep, nothing that was out of the ordinary. It was all the same stuff that you'd normally do. Which to go back to Cooper's comment about not running the go ball like they coached conservatively on the road, it's been a trend all year. Yeah, it might be the reason when they played conservative. I mean, think about it. I think Dak is afraid to throw the ball sometimes down down the field and those you know,

tight tight coverage. I mean I think when it when it really comes down to it, I think he likes to throw it deep and out of bounds. And you know those plays they're not high percentage, but they're also low percentage interceptions, so you know, you throw it out there like that. I don't think he There was too many times last night where I think he was throwing it deep and just to try to you know, like, hey, it's either my guy or nothing. But I don't know.

All right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We'll be back actually on Thursday. There will be no shows tomorrow or Wednesday, UM, and then Thursday's gonna get you ready for Cowboys. We're gonna say we're doing a scouting report and we don't do offense and defense the same day. Like poor at all. I'm telling you, by the time we get to the weekend, I've already got it. I've already got some some fan just texted me listening to

the shows like we want to win. No, absolutely, like this is they're just mad right now, and I get it. But come Sunday they're gonna be hoping, they're gonna be you know what say Quan. That kid's gonna have the right jersey on the market is gonna be like, that's the right jersey son like because the market they're gonna hope that the Giants win the game and hope that the Cowboys the Redskins and get into the playoffs and getting the playoffs, whatever happened. Then you move on. All right,

We appreciate you, guys, Jones, We'll be back. I'm a merry Christmas you guys for Nick Keatman, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I'm Derek and 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.