Cowboys Break: Too Weird To Win?

I got Nick Eatman here live with me in the s WBC Mortgage Studios. Got Amber and Dave on the show. Dave looking a little perplexed. I don't know why we'll get into that. I'm sure at some point during the show, and uh, we're gonna start first though, talking a little bit about Mike McCarthy had a press conference. He talked about two players. Will get some updates on on those guys. Then we'll get you guys ready for Cowboys Versus Cardinals

that happens this Monday night. I have a series of questions I'm going to pose to these guys and it'll get you ready for the show. And then we're gonna take some time to hear from you guys. If you have questions, make sure you get on Twitter. You hit Amber up. She can make sure that your question gets

answered as many as we can get to. So hopefully we can spend the majority of the final segment just answering fan questions because we very rarely get to do questions on this show because Nick and Dave talked too much. All right, so let's jump right in. Let's talk about Mike McCarthy and somebody with the eight hundred word rundown maybe needs to take some responsibility for what we do and don't do on the show. Hey man, I'm just calling it like I see it. You know, I'm just

saying yea. Also, that's okay. I was just I was trying to look curious and engaged, and I came off looking confused. Okay, good, good good. I'm glad you weren't confused. So I'm actually gonna go to you first. You tell me what a coach McCarthy you have to say about Layton Vanderesh I guess, and what his prospects look like going into this game Monday night. He said he looked like he hadn't missed a beat, which is super encouraging. I think, you know, we talked about this last week.

You just have to readjust your expectations for the practice week today. This practice that's happening as we speak is the only padded one of the week. It's the longest one, so this is really where they're going to find out where he is. And Mike said that how he feels in the morning when they come in for Saturday will

probably dictate what they do with him. Unrelated to any of that, I just I'm you know, I think Nick has brought it up a few times, like it's just kind of amazing that a guy who broke his collar bone on September thirteenth is maybe preparing to play in a game on October what nineteenth. I mean, that's that's insane. So we'll see what happens, but very fast progress for

Layton Vanderesh. Nick talk to me about Randy Gregg. He's a guy that seemed to get some rave reviews, not just from McCarthy, but there are a lot of people from Jerry to Stephen to players, and we're talking about him yesterday and how he performed in his first I guess first practice back even without pads. What'd you what'd you hear? Well? I mean, let's see, I forgot exactly what what Zeke said. Dave Dave wrote an article about it. He said, he looked, he looked lights out and as

good as he can remember him looking. Stephen said, nothing's changed. He's still special. So um, yeah, I think And what I thought what Zach Wharton said was was interesting too, about him gaining muscle and and gaining weight, but also still having that that quick first step. However, let's let's also remember that DeMarcus Ware I'm sorry, Marcus Lawrence who looked like DeMarcus say, are we talking a couple lot

every time? No? No, no no, no, d law who looked like Dware and Alden Smith who looked like two thousand and eleven. And we're just having a party at the quarterback in training camp. So andy, I mean, so Gregory going up against this offensive line. Let's see, let's wait till it gets to the game, and let's see what happens when they're actually trying to block them to the ground and there they've actually played more than five games

in the league. Yeah, ironically, that was my first thought, and right or wrong, my first thought was, Man, that's something about the tackles to me more than anything else. And again it goes back to training camp and how great we thought these past rushers were during training camp. And by the way, I think we've had moments from particularly from Tank and from Aldon Smith. We've seen moments this year when they've looked really good in games. But it did speak more to me about the tackles than

it did about Randy Gregory. Nothing against it Randy Gregory, but I'll hold judgment until I can see him in an actual game. All right, let's jump in. I want to talk about Cowboys versus Cardinals, and I'm gonna throw this first question to you. Start with you on this one. What part of the Arizona offense is it that Alice will have to most focus on stopping If they're going to get a win, Kyler Murray running or DeAndre Hopkins

catching passes. I think to me it would have to be DeAndre Hopkins, just because I feel like with the running game, even though it has been a problem for the Cowboys defense, with a running game, you at least have more guys that can jump in and work towards trying to stop that rather than having DeAndre Hopkins over there by himself with another man or two guys on him. It's just when you look at man versus I guess, group versus one player, I tend to go towards the

running game. You have more guys trying to stop, so I need to they need to focus on trying to take out Hopkins because that guy is just amazing, Dave. Obviously there's things kind to tie together, don't they. I mean what I mean by that is, if I'm trying to stop Kyler Murray from killing me on the ground,

I probably want to play a ton of zone. At least I would, because that's how you wind up given up eighty yards to a quarterback, as if everybody has their backturn worrying about an assignment, and you know he just leaks out for easy five to fifteen twenty yard games. So I want to play a lot of zone in this game to try to neutralize that. But like, can these guys successfully coordinate that. They've had problems with it

many times this year. They've They've lost guys on at least four, if not five, six, seven occasions, So you know, they just have to be more cohesive. They have to be able to communicate more clearly. Hopefully you know, this whole thing with Mike Nolan being on the sideline can help with that because I mean, and for my money, I would rather stop Kyler. I would rather not give up that easy yardage. But at the same time, you

can I afford to lose the guy. I mean, Hopkins is gonna make his fair share of plays, but you can't lose him the way that we've seen. So, I mean, it's Kyler, but but I have a feeling trying to stop that it's going to hurt them in the passing game as well. Nick. Yeah, I mean it's it's like getting kicked in the face or punched in the face. I mean what I mean, They're both gonna hurt. So,

I mean, I don't know. I think that's probably the focus would be on Hopkins because you know, as Dave said, Hopkins can can get free and that's a quick touchdown. I don't know if if if Kyler's gonna bust off, you know, run for a touchdown, he probably could, but I just think that, yeah, you know, you'll die a slow death if he keeps getting first downs. But I think it'll be a quick touchdown to the house if if you know, if Hopkins goes off. So, I mean

the answer is both. But I think I think you've got to make sure you don't have those those big plays in the secondary. Yeah, you can kind of account I think for for DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins doing what he does against most teams, as long as he doesn't go crazy. You know, if he has a day where he has five catches, one hundred and fifteen yards, maybe a touchdown,

I think the Cowboys can win that game. You combine that with a game where Hopkins, I mean, I'm sorry, where Kyler Murray is running all over you and moving the chains regularly throughout the game. I just don't think you can sustain that. So I think, more than anything else, they gotta make him stay in the pocket. They gotta make him beat him, beat them from the pocket. And

if he does, you tip your cap to him. But I think that's the best shot the Cowboys have at winning this game, at least from the standpoint of what they'll have to do defensively. All right, let's move on to the next question of the offenses that Dallas has faced. Where does Arizona rank? You got Seattle, you got the Rams, you got Cleveland, you got Atlanta. We'll just leave the Giants out for now because I don't know that they

necessary rank up there with those top ones. But where would you rank that Arizona offense relative to the other offenses the Cowboys have played. Let's start first with you, Dave. Okay, if this is the sixth team they've played, I'd probably put them fourth, maybe, I think, I mean in Seattle, I think I would definitely take over them. LA is

just more of a well oiled machine. Although I like Kyler more than I like Jared Goff, I like Hopkins more than any of those receivers, But the Rams offense is just cleaner, better, and then I'd probably take the Browns. You can even make an argument for the Falcons based off talent alone, but I won't do that because the Cardinals at least have a winning record. Um, it's funny, like the Cardinals, they're they're very impressive looking, and I

mean they are talented. I think you know, they're eleventh and offense, but they're mediocre at scoring. They're very inconsistent, and you know, it goes to the point Nick made yesterday that like you know this ain't the twenty eleven Packers, like they are a flawed team. They can crew a ton of u crew, they ucrew a ton of penalties. They don't finish drives. You know, they're only averaging twenty

five points a game to fight all this firepower. So I mean they're good, but yeah, probably probably fourth, Nick, where do you rank? I like that. I like fourth. I mean I think and I think he makes a really good point without the rams because you know they're not as flashy, don't They don't know who the running back is. The receiver is probably one of the most underrated receiver. Both of them are both of them are very underrated. Cup and would uh golf. You know he's

he's golf. He's the number one overall pick. But he's but you know, he has his issues. He's played in a super Bowl. There's not a lot of guys that haven't said that. Um, So I just think that I think that's that's good. I would probably go Seattle because I think their quarterback is playing the best in the game. I mean last week when he was going against the vicause we were about to leave to go um to leave, you know, the stadium and everybody knew he was gonna

score tight down. Everybody everybody knew yeah he you know, I say to him number one, and then but I like fourth for the Cardinals, all right, Amber, Um, I would put them right in the middle. I think that the Cardinals is a team that if this is something that we haven't seen the Cowboys go up against, it's not a winning record team. It's not a losing completely losing record team either, So it's like it falls right

in the middle. So I'm really really curious to see how the Cowboys are able to handle at least those kinds of teams and get a better idea of what the Cowboys can actually do this year. Because when we talk about analyzing the Cowboys first, you know, month and a half or so of the season, it's like, Okay, well, if you look at the team that they've lost too, they're doing better, so maybe they're they're not as bad as we think. It's just the kind of talent that

they've gone up against. So now we get a team that kind of falls right there in the middle. So hopefully the Cowboys are able to succeed in this game and give us at least a better idea of what they can do for the rest of the season. Well, you know, you know, I'm an Arkansas raised a back fan. Of course, are you. In two thousand and seven, they

were to play number one LSU. Yeah, and someone asked me, while you don't have a chance to win the game, they're beautiful, you don't have a chance to win the game. I said, well, we do have the best player on the field, Darren McFadden. He's the best player on the field. And elishe was number one. But we have the best player, and if you have the best player, you can win. And we did win that game, and elishe still won the National championship, So Dave, Dave's fine with that, but

that year. But what my point is is the Cardinals maybe fourth on offense is the way you ask the question. But Hopkins is the best receiver, and as the quarterbacks, Murray's probably two behind Russell Wilson. So they're not all putting it together. But on any given night, on a Monday night with the you know, bright bright lights, I don't you know, that's what's scary. They may be number four,

but they have two guys that can take over. Yeah, you know, the interesting part is when I asked the question, Nick, I actually was thinking to myself, this is a kind of a tricky question, because you're right. I think Dave hit it on the head when he talked about the Rams. They are a well old machine. However, when you think about the kinds of matchup problems that this particular offense can give the Cowboys, I'm talking about the Cardinals, I

think that I'd put them right up. There is maybe second, yeah, because because the unique challenges that they present from the standpoint of this dynamic quarterback and this wide receiver that I think is the best in the game. And I think he's one of those receivers. It doesn't matter if you try to take him out of a game. You could put two guys on him. Good luck. He's still gonna get open, he's still gonna make his catches. He's

still gonna do what he does. Right. So I look at this offense and I would probably put him up. There's maybe number two probably between them and Cleveland. I would put the Rams probably below them, because I do think they present some challenges that the other offenses just don't present. Get them. Yeah, But doesn't that I mean, you can apply that to the Cowboys like in a vacuum. The Cowboys are one of the two or three best offenses in football, but they can't get out of their

own way. They're minus aid and turnover differential. They start in a hole every week. It's why they have a losing record. And I think, you know, the Cardinals aren't as bad as the Cowboys, but they have a lot of the same problems, like I said, like they can't finish drives. They their minus four and turnover differential, I believe, So I do agree with you that they have, you know, scary difference makers that we haven't seen the quality of

every week. But if you can't get if you can't get out of your own way, if you're taking bad sacks, penalties, turning the ball over, it doesn't always matter, as the Cowboys have demonstrated very often this season. But what we also have seen this season is that this defense, the Cowboys defense against much lesser quality opponents or much lesser quality offenses or offensive players in my position, in my opinion,

have played really, really poorly. And so now you match them up against guys of this caliber, maybe that's their antidote to a lot of the issues they've been dealing with. Right, very fair, very fair. All right, we're gonna do this. We're gonna take our first break. When we come back, I'll have some more questions. And real quick, did you have something you were about to say there too? I think if you were jumping in on something, I was

just gonna I mean, Dave just basically said it. I was just gonna say the same thing that the same story can be applied to the Cowboys offense and at any given moment, I mean, the story might be a little different because we haven't fully seen what Andy Dalton can do inside the offense, but it could have been applied the same way. It's like, oh, at any given moment, the Cowboys stopped turning over the ball, and then we start seeing the kind of offense that they've been playing

in the second half of the game. We start seeing it from the start of the game. So it's it's a very tricky situation, very interesting season because you you can see what they can possibly become, but at the same time, you can see how terrible they can be. And frankly, that's that's a great point. But I think right now this is the part of season where you start seeing the differentiation like what you've seen to this point. Is the potential now is when the guys, the teams

that are really good, they'll start to separate themselves. The teams that are really bad, they'll continue to do the things that they've done that you've said that could be the reason why they're not very good, and they will be just bad. Right, So, I think this is a party we're about to see. Will the Cowboys continue to be that team? Will Cardinals continue to be that? You

can also have another option. You can be like really good one week and then bad at the next, and then good and then then bad and bad, and that finishes you around the eight and eight mark, and maybe both these teams are that. All Right, We're gonna take our break. When we come back, I am going to ask you guys the question around the guys that may be coming back. We had Anthony Brown comeback last week,

possibly late, and Vandersch this week. My question is how much do those guys change what this defense has been through the first five games, and it is it enough against these playmakers on offense? When we come right back, this is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor pepper and cream soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor bad cream soda. Is he a new combone that's

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Mortgage Studios. At the Star. We're talking about Cowboys were Cardinals. That game happens Monday night on Monday Night Football. But we're getting you guys ready today and telling what we think is going to happen. We will have our predictions in the final segment of the show. But let's jump back in. We've been talking about this Cardinals offense and some of the playmakers they have on that offense. Last week, the Cowboys got Anthony Brown, their cornerback, back from injury.

This week, it looks like there's a possibility Laton vander esh will be back as well, which is probably as big of a guy that they're wanting to get back from his defensive all the guys that they've lost on defense this year, he's probably the guy that you point to that you think can have the biggest impact. My question is, is the impact of having him back and having Anthony brownback enough that this defense changes from what it's been in the first five weeks substantially enough to

where we see a difference on the field. Let's start first with you, Nick Well. I mean the standards up there, I mean, you better score a touchdown. I mean, Anthony Brown comes back, Lake comes into the score. I think it's just, you know, it's a couple of stops. I mean, when you think about having just a better player at corner that helps, a better linebacker that helps, And a couple stops here and there on third down gets you off the field. That's just another possession, and that could

lead to seven ten points the other way. So yeah, I think I think that that stuff helps. And you know, you can roll people, can roll their eyes and go all these as you're gonna make a difference. They wouldn't be starting if they were if they weren't better. So yeah, you want your better players in there, and yeah, I think they should help. If they're not, then you know, why did you give them all that money? Why'd you draft them? Yeah? Amber, Well, when you're at the bottom,

off the bottom at that point, anything helps. So yes, I'm expecting that to be helpful, not just because of mainly because of their experience. I mean, they're athletic guys and hopefully they're they're fully healthy once they hit the fill again. And you know, Anthony Brown had a good,

great comeback, let's say, because of that one play. But I expect they're they're veteran experience to be able to help kind of glue back the whole defense as far as all these communication problems, because they're they're more experience. I would I would think that they will handle better all the changes that have happened in the defense. Again, I don't know how complicated it has been under Mike Nolan and everything that he's teaching them and all that,

but clearly it's been an issue. So so having them back and adding the variant experience back on the field, I think it's always a plus. Dave, I'm gonna steal this point from Rob Phillips because it was a good one and it kind of blew my mind when he said it. It's basically, I mean, it's been a calendar year since Layton Vanderesh played a full game for the Cowboys, because you know it was around late October when he started having problems with his neck. Last year, they shut

him down in early November. Obviously, he didn't make it through the season opener. It can't hurt. It can't hurt that he's out there. I don't think he gets hurt again. But I assume they wouldn't put him out there if he wasn't ready, So it can't hurt. But I can't bring myself to believe that it will definitely make a tangible difference because it's been I mean other than like

two possessions against the Rams. It's been a year since the guys played football, and we've already seen basically all of these guys have struggled to adapt to a new scheme. I don't know that Layton vander esh won't have those same problems. You know, he's gonna need time to get his feet underneath him, get comfortable, get back to playing fast and playing with his instincts as he tries to learn a new scheme for the first time in his

pro career. So it'll be nice to have him out there, but I can't bring myself to say, like, yes, they will definitely be a lot better right away because of that. Yeah, it's a really great point. I didn't think about how long he has been since he's played a full NFL game. NFL games, that's a long time. So I guess we do need to temper our expectations just a bit, even if he even if he plays this week. All right,

let's move on. The next question I have for you guys is, let's assume for a second that the defense can continues to be what it has been through the first five games. How likely are the Cowboys to win a shootout without Dak Prescott. Amber, Let's start with you. I think it's possible. I think that that Andy Dalton has the experience and all that, and I mean, look at the moment of the game that he came in

last week against the Giants. I mean that was towards the end of the game, and my question would be, Okay, can a player kind of kick in full gear towards that that last quarter of the game. And based on that little, tiny, small amount that we got to see from him, I think I think it's possible. He has

the arm. I've seen him be very accurate and precise with his throw, So I don't think that if the Cowboys lose, it wouldn't necessarily be because of the quarterback not being able to keep up with what is being asked and required to do. Dave, let's be very fair to Andy Dalton. And I mean, like I'm the president of the Dak Prescott fan club, but they weren't winning more of these games than they were losing when he was doing this. I mean, that's a testament to how

sloppy they've been. So if they wind up in the type of shootouts that they've been in these first five weeks. It's probably not just because the defense is bad, but the offense is continuing to not do anybody any favors. And they couldn't overcome that when Dak was here. So I have a hard time believing anybody else is going to be able to do it either. I mean, they absolutely have to play cleaner on offense to win games, period, no matter how high scoring it gets. Agree, I mean,

I agree with with both. I mean, I think he can get the job done. But again, it doesn't matter if it's Dak or him. It's not a recipe for success to go winning games to do to keep playing that way, and so you know they need I think with him, they need to get a lead and they need to play that way and it'll help with Zeke, and I think it'll be it would be better for Dak, just like it would be better for Andy Dalton. So I think, honestly, I don't I think Dave. They both

said it. They weren't winning games with shootouts. They really weren't. They were one in three winning these shootouts. I guess you could say now they're two and three in shootout games. So that's not the way I don't think this team needs to play suppressed with that defense. Yeah. The one thing I will say is I think if they get into situations where they're having to just throw the ball fifty seven times, I think Dak kept them in games like that, and they had opportunities and all those games

to win. They had opportunities to be in the game at the end of the game, and if they could have made a player two here or there, maybe they win those games. I don't think it necessarily plays out like that with Andy Dalton, and that's not because of Andy Dalton. That's because of what they got on the offensive line. I think if teams are lining up with the knowing Dallas is throwing the ball, I don't think

this offensive line can hold up for him. And I think they're they are less concerned about the fact that he's going to break the pocket and hit him for a big play. And I think they were with Dak. I don't think they would be with Andy Dalton. And we've talked about it. Yeah, Andy can move around and probably can pick up some yards here and there. I don't think teams will necessarily be worried about that, and I think that makes them not be as slow incoming to get him, and I think that could be a

problem for the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys need to keep that that that amount of passes down under forty in my opinion, to give themselves the best chance to win. And if they getting to shootout where they're doing what they were doing earlier in the year, I don't think they have much of a shot with what they've done on the offensive line. With what they're doing on the offensive line, I have to go back and watching that game.

We didn't really talk about that much. What do you guys think about the offensive line play in the game against the Giants. Let's start first with you, Nick. I thought, you know, I thought they did okay. I mean it wasn't it wasn't great, but you know, they ran the ball at times when they needed to. Um. You know, I think Brandon and I just continues to get better. It looks like Steele had you know, still finished the game.

I mean that's good for him. You know, that's what the first time in a couple of weeks that he's done that, and so that was good. I mean, it wasn't it wasn't overly impressed, but it was it was definitely good enough to win, and you know that those guys are going to continue to try to get better here. What do you think, Dave, I think we I mean, we mentioned this a little bit earlier in the week.

I was I was very impressed with the interior three, particularly you know, Tyler Bodest making his first official start. I know he got snaps the weeks before, but his first real start, I thought he was really encouraging. And then, you know, it's always a good thing when you say you don't notice the tackle play like. That's not to say they were perfect, but they certainly you know, they weren't jumping off the screen because your quarterback wasn't getting

annihilated every two or three snaps. So encouraging, But just like everything we say about that game, it doesn't I mean, it just doesn't say a whole lot to me. The Giants don't exactly have a ton of horses there. And

this week it's going to be really interesting. But you know, Chandler Jones is out, so it's not the traditional oh they gotta they gotta watch that guy, because this is going to be a strain on the entire offensive line, because there's gonna be pressure coming from every different angle. You know, Bucky talked about how the Cardinals like to blitz. They've got through four or five guys with two sacks on this defense, and so you know it might not

be all on the tackles this week. And I gotta be honest, I'm pretty concerned at the communication aspect of it, because you got a lot of new guys, a lot of guys who haven't played a lot of games, and they're gonna need to be picking stuff up. This is a week where Zeke Elliott can really show his value in that regard because they're gonna need him to pick up some pressure. I would guess amber I agree with

everything they just said. I don't remember a moment in the game of watching that game where I was like, man, these guys suck. They need to figure something out. So when you don't notice something sometimes it's not a bad thing. And I know that the Diack injury was the high life and the main headline of the week, but win't start the week either talking about Man, the Cowboys need to shuffle this old line and kind of rethink where they want to place some of these guys and move around.

So I guess as of if we're specifically judging about from the Giants game, that were just okay, And hopefully that's something that we don't notice this week either. One thing I will point out, I went back this morning actually, and I went and watched all the offensive plays just

starting just looking directly at the offensive line. One thing I was a little bit shocked at is Brandon Knight actually, in my opinion, had more bad plays in that game than I'd seen him have in some of the previous games. There were some moments in that game where where Dak basically billed him out. Dak got rid of the ball quickly on situations where there would have been sacks otherwise. And when I look at it, really even in the running game, they really were getting a lot of success.

They were getting in the running game, especially early on the right side, not on the left side. You know, Connor Williams still has some issues with power and there was one play particularly where he basically got washed all the way from his side over to the right side to blow up to play. The right side actually blocked the play really well, but Connor gets washed into the running back and and it ends up only being a few yards for Zeke. But overall, I agree with you guys.

It wasn't like killer offensive line play. It wasn't the kind offensive line play that completely stops your offense from being able to operate. And obviously they were able to get results in the run game, so I was pretty excited about what I saw watching it. Overall, I do think there's still some issues there, particularly on the left

side and particularly at the tackle spots. They did help still quite a bit, but I'm still a little bit concerned about that, and I'm definitely concerned against a team like this that's going to bring pressure from a lot of places. Dave, you have something I just I mean, I don't know that we give Dak enough credit for how Night and Day better he is at navigating an

unclean pocket. I mean, he's, you know, go turn on some tape from twenty seventeen and see how he's, you know, bringing his eyes down to basically panicking trying to get away from pressure. He's so much better at that than he used to be. Yeah, and to be very honest, I don't know. I don't know how good Andy Dalton is at it. I'll I confess I haven't watched a ton of like tape of the Bengals over the last

four or five years. So I mean that's gonna be big if an unclean pocket, because let's be honest, you're not going to have it very often with what you're working with on the offensive line. All Right, We're gonna take our final break when we come back. I'm gonna ask a very simple question, two very simple questions to you guys. If there's one player you have to identify on the offensive side of the ball, and then one player on the defensive side of the ball that needs

a great game in order for Dallas to win. Who will it be? Do that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio since eighteen sixty five. Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and team too? You can by purchasing your own stepson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all

self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at shop Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. 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 Dear three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yardwork I need to do, even the tough

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Is he a new Combonut's music to my ears? Okay, Doctor Ba times music to my ears and mouths new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda, delash, Just do bay. Back to the break, all right, Chris, come into a Coup Boys game this season. Make sure you know before you go, you wear a mask, you distance, and you be prepared for casualist transactions. Please be aware of all safe Stadium puble seats prior to arriving at at and T Stadium. Who does that work? The same? The same? Can you?

Can you repeat that again? I didn't get all the information. Sorry, Safe Stadium dot com slash Safe Stadium doesn't feel the same way to stop uster jam. He's gottagular. You know it didn't work. Never mind, all right. It's gonna say it hurts my throat, but you can't say your throat hurt. Yeah, No, I was gonna say you need to get out, all right. It is the final segment, final segment of the break. Laugh that's WBC Morgan Studios at the Star. We're talking

Cowboys versus Cardinals. Got a simple question for each of you guys, will start first on the offensive side of the ball. Give me one player that if he needs to have If if there's one player has to have a great game in order for them to win, who will it be offensive? Let's start with you Amber. I'm gonna cheat a little bit, but that's okay. I'm gonna choose Zekiel Elliott. I think that the Cowboys, if they're successful at running the game one, it would mean that

the offensive line was doing their job as well. So Zeke once he gets you know, we've seen it, We've seen it happened that the Cowboys tend to win games when Zeke has a good day of running the ball. So I think that's gonna help the defense as well. And it's just overall, if Zike has a good game, it just kind of, in my mind, starts aligning everything else. So that's my offensive player that needs to have a great game. Nick can't argue. I mean it is. I mean,

that is the answer. I'll see if I can come up with somebody else. But but I mean, she's right, it is if he could play a great game, then great games mean that they're running the ball well, or he's picking up blitz is like Dave mentioned earlier, or you know, like he's maybe catching some screens out of the backfield. We might see a little bit more of the screens. It's what Bucky was saying. So yeah, I mean, I definitely think Zeke's the guy that needs to have

a really good game. But but I'll also say that, you know, Dalton Schultz because blitz is are going to come from all areas here and he's you know, you're gonna have to be able to pick that up, and if not, you need to be hot and be ready to go turn around, boom five yards, get up to field. So I could see the tight end really being a safety valve here for Andy Dalton, and I think Dalton

schultzon needs to have a big game. Dave, I got one for you, all right, guy by the name of Tyler Beatish, because again we just we just talked about this. It's you know, the Saint Miles Garrett. This is gonna be six or seven different guys coming from a variety of different places. A lot of that's on the center to identify the protections, get him into the right ones, make sure everybody's on the same page. And then obviously in the run game, he needs to be a viable

blocker there as well. So if he's not playing well, they will probably struggle to run the ball and they're gonna get sacked four or five times and ruin some drives. So he needs to be on his fees and cues. I mean, Zeke is a good answer too, obviously, but if you want something a little more outside the box,

that would be my answer. You know, actually that's a great point, Dave, And I'll tell each you guys get a chance to go back and watch some of that Giant's game at the beginning, at the early part the first two or three series. Notice how there were a lot of the problems that they had on the offensive line seemed to be issues of coordination. You'd have a guy that was kind of passing a guy off, but he didn't completely pass him off, and so the guy

didn't gets through and can get to the quarterback. You'd have situations where guys were kind of they'd kind of get into a hole and you'd have an offensive I saw in one place still was literally just standing in space while there was a defender running towards the quarterback like it's just it seems like and it wasn't just

a situation of one guy getting beat. It was situations where they haven't played enough as a as a unit of five to really understand, Okay, how long do I need to hold this guy before I passed him off to you? And who's gonna take who on each of these plays? And so that's a great point, Dave, when you talk about Tyler beatis, he's gonna be the ones gonna have to make those calls, and it's gonna be up to the five to play as one unit rather than those individuals. All right, let's go to the defensive

side of the ball. Let's start first with you, Dave. Defensively, who is the one player that has to have a great day for the Cowboys to win. I'm just gonna keep saying Jalen Smith probably every week because even and to his credit, he well, I mean, you can say the linebackers, but I mean Jalen Smith is still I mean, Offensives are going to try to take advantage of him in space until he consistently proves that they can't do it,

and he played great. He played great last week. I'm not trying to but it's a whole new challenge and maybe the most elusive quarterback in the NFL, certainly one of them, and that's just that's what scares me. I mean,

Daniel Jones had some success doing that last week. It didn't kill him too much, but extending plays getting away from pressure, he didn't hurt him running, but Kyler Murray will if he's able to get outside of the pocket or if the pass rush can't get him on the ground, um so in and then in addition to coverage, yeah, I mean Jalen Smith is It's it's going to be a challenge and for Layton too if he plays. The linebackers are just going to have to be able to limit the impact that he can do as a as

a runner. Nick Xavier Woods, and I say that safety because I don't know who the other safety is going to be. But whoever the safety is going to be that also has his eyes on DeAndre Hopkins because they can't just let one corner go out. Whoever that is, and I'm gonna say it's Xavier Woods, it might be Diamond Wilson or Stephen Parker or whoever whoever else. Darian Thompson. Thompson played more than I thought he would for a

guy that got benched. He's stills out there on Nickel whoever it is that's going to be cheating over there to watch DeAndre Hopkins and be with him on some of those jump balls. That safety has to have a really good game because you cannot let DeAndre hopk to just go crazy on them. So that's that's gonna be my pick. As Zeger woods Emper, I'm with Nick on

this one. The defense, it's having so much problems, so many problems that it's hard to say, okay this, I need this one specific guy to to have a great game in order for them to win. It goes far beyond than that. So if I had to pick someone, I would go with whatever whoever the dB is that's trying to cover h Deannder Hopkins, mainly because not only is it Hopkins, but two in previous game we've seen how there's so much freaking separation between a receiver and

a dB. It's ridiculous. So I need that person to be able to keep up and not allow that must separation and allow them to get in the end, Zoe. I mean, it's been killing them this whole season, so uh, that would be my answer. Whoever's on Hopkins watch, all right, here's we're gonna do. We're gonna take the final five minutes of the show to see if we can get a question or two in from the fans. Amber, what

do we have? We'll go, We'll get it. We'll get what when When you're talking about the comparison between Andy Dalton and Dak Prescott, do you guys believe that Dalton actually does need less time to get red red red of the ball as opposed to what Dak Prescott was having to deal with. So basically, can Andy Dalton get rid of the ball faster? Yeah? I think he can get rid of the ball. I mean, anybody get rid

of the ball fast. But I think the question is is that when that linebacker or defensive vents on his back like it's a sack with Dak like he might just shake him off or whatever and stiff arm the guy and keep going. I mean, I think that's the elusiveness is probably the big difference there and avoiding sacks and in the pocket there. But yeah, I think he can. He can get rid of the ball quickly. I think

he'll recognize things fairly quickly. Um. But but I think the biggest difference is going to be just avoiding the sacks. It's an interesting point that, you know, maybe, and I'll take Dak's playmaking ability every day of the week, but Andy Dalton is probably more likely to concede defeat, you know, Yeah, which can be a good thing because Dak not conceding defeat sometimes leads to turnovers. So, you know, I don't I don't think Dak had a problem getting rid of

the ball on time for the most part. But maybe Dalton will be a little more willing to to, you know, call it a loss and live to fight another day, and maybe that can help him play a little bit cleaner. It's something to consider. Yeah, I would say this too. I think there's kind of this narrative out there that Dak holds the ball too long at times because he's

and decisive. I don't think that's the case. In instances where he holds the ball longer, I think what he's doing he's actually trying to give his receivers time to get open to make a big play, And that's the balance that any quarterback has to play, and he's gonna have the same balance to play, is okay? I see that if I can give Gallop two more beats, he's gonna be open down the sideline. So let me see if I can hold, and then you try to hold.

Sometimes good things happen, sometimes bad things happen. You have to figure out what moments in games. I remember Romo talking about this a lot. You got to figure out the moment in the game that you feel like you can take those kinds of chances where there are other moments where you can't. But so so when you talk about holding on the ball, I don't think it's necessarily a matter of canny get rid of the ball, quicker. I think it's a matter of will he be prone

to doing that? And if he's prone to doing that, will he be willing to take the chances at times when he should take the chance to hold it a little bit longer so he gives us receiver that opportunity to make the big playdown feel Yep, I don't think we have time for another question there. Yeah, we're picking games. Oh yeah, we are picking Yeah, Like I'm just gonna say screw that show that comes after us. But either way, all right, so let's go to that. Let's go to predictions.

Let's go to predictions. I know, right, let's go to the predictions. Let's start first with you Amber, who's gonna win this game? What's gonna happen? Oh? Okay? Then think I will go um. I think you know, I think that the Dallas Cowboys star attracts, loves attracting drama and loves keeping you on your toes and guessing and all that.

So I think that mainly because of that, this is gonna be a game where, although I don't trust the Cowboys defense whatsoever, I still think that that there the offense is gonna manage to just be the one who walks out of the game scoring the most points. It's gonna be a game where we're gonna start hearing about, oh well, maybe the Cowboys don't need to give Dak a big contract. Maybe Andy Dalton can be the guy that they can stay with. So all of that drama

it's coming our way. I feel it, or I think so, and the Cowboys for you out a way to win this game. And also because of Dock's injury. I think that the energy around the team and the building it's a little different to where I feel like maybe they're playing to get this win for Dick again. So Cowboys win, I would say something like thirty five, thirty two. It's gonna be a close game, all right, Nick, You know what's been the Cowboys record here in the last decade

or so. It seems like every year they finish eight and eight, Well and eight, okay, so if they win, they'll be what three and three. That seems on track to me. And I like both points the Amber made. I do because it's crazy weird NFL and that just when you think this happens, it goes the other way. I do think the energy Monday night football, I think

it'll be going there now. Again, you have to you have to fight that off from the Cardinals because this is it's just like what you know the Yankees have and Notre Dame has and all that. You may not make good enough to handle it, but like teams come in and they see that, they're like, oh, we're getting to give them an you know, the everything they've got. I still think the Cowboys find a way. I think they play a cleaner game. I think Andy Dalton will be He'll play a good game, and I think Zeke's

gonna just ball out. I really believe so. And I think the Cowboys win. I like it close. I like thirty seven thirty six close, all right, Dave, no fighter? Uh yeah. I don't think anybody is crazy to pick the Cowboys in this game. It's you know, I think the line is a dead heat, you know. And as we keep saying, like the Cardinals aren't this amazing team, I'm not trying to say they're world beaters, but guess what, the Cowboys are pretty mediocre too, and they're beat to hell.

They don't have any of their good players, and even if they get some of them back, I just I don't think I believe that they are gonna make that instant impact that some people expect. I can't help but think about the fact that, you know, we keep expecting them to play this clean game and it keeps not happening. I think the Dak angle is really interesting. Maybe maybe

they come out and play fired up for him. But I can't help but think about the fact that Andy Dalton fumbled a snap on one of his first possessions in the game, So like, maybe he's got ball security issues too. Maybe this is just who they are. But with everything going against this team and from what we've seen from this defense, I can't bring myself to pick Dallas to do this. Not, you know, I just I have nightmares about you know, Kyler Murray feels like he's

gonna run for one twenty in this game. I mean, it's gonna be a crazy competitive game. But I'll take the team with the better quarterback and the less issues, and I think Arizona wins thirty one twenty seven. All right. I think this is going to be an offensive game. I think both offenses are going to score a ton of points. I don't think it's gonna feel like a shootout, though. I kind of think they're gonna be ebbs and flows to this game. They're gonna be moments when there's not

a lot of scoring. There're gonna be other moments there's gonna be bop you get quick scores. But I think both offenses when you finish the game, they're gonna have a lot of yards. They're gonna have a lot of points. I do think, though, that the Cowboys end up getting to win just because you know, I think it's kind of a pick them game and some I'm gonna default to the Cowboys, but I think this is a toss up. I think these teams they as you were saying earlier, Nicky,

these are two teams that, yeah, they're good. I mean they're good. They have good offensive weapons, but they can't get out of their own way, and so both will make mistakes. Both will also have some really big days. I think Kyler Murray go to your point, Dave, I think Kyler Murray has see he's gonna approach that. I

think he's gonna gonna approach one hundred yards rushing. I think he's gonna have a field day on this defense because they have not shown me yet that I can rely on the fact that they're gonna stop the run. All that being said, I think Dallas ends up pulling it out in a close when thirty seven thirty four is my final score, and we'll see where it goes from there. All right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We'll be back on Tuesday. Remember there will be no

podcast on Monday because it is game day. We'll be back on Tuesday. We'll tell you what went writing, what went wrong for the Cowboys till then for Nick give mean, Nick Eatman, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club