Cowboys Break: What’s A Die-Hard Fan?

The Break. We're live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Dave Hellman's here in studio with me. We're gonna have a lot of fun goodness. We Scott, Amber and Nick at their own respective places, but we'll let them join in. We will have our finger on the button of Nick's microphone if it gets to how it got yesterday. We will mute him at some point

if he starts causing problems like he did yesterday. But we're actually gonna pick that conversation up here in the first segment, a little later in the first segment, because I do think it's only fair to give Amber and Dave an opportunity to chime into that conversation For those of you who weren't listening yesterday, We'll wait and tee that up when we get there. Let's start first though, a couple of news items. Mike McCarthy and his press

conference today talked about Andy Dalton and Tyrone Crawford. Dave, what is the status on those two guys at this point? They're back. We kinda Andy, we kind of felt like that was happening on Monday, but further confirmation he's off the COVID list. He's kind of practice. Tyrone is off the COVID list, I believe as well, kind of practice. So they're good to go. Yeah, it's interesting to me because we don't we don't talk a lot of we

haven't talked a lot this year about Tyrone Crawford. What do you guys how he just sets his place so far this year? I mean, obviously, nobody on the defense has been great. Thank's been pretty good, but nobody's been great. But there are a lot of guys that have been poor. And it's hard to sometimes single out a lot of guys because everybody's not doing so well. But how would

you assess Tyron Crawford's play this year? Right? That's like you set me up for like a Nick Tech comment right off the bat right there, and you're like, we haven't talked a whole lot about Tyron Crawford. Is like, well, the reason why why would we? Um, He's he's been Honestly, I can't do sound like Nick Yeah, I mean, I don't know, I don't have Tyron Crawford has been outstanding. Tyron Crawford is amazing. He's outstanding. There you go, there's

something behind that? What is no? What is behind that? Because you're not just a TM video? Okay, got it? Fear fear now. I I love him as a guy. Um, but I mean, and I can't say that he's been awful, but he certainly hasn't made like this crazy impact. And especially you know that was kind of a selling point throughout the offseason, was like, and he is. He has been a better player than he's gotten credit for a

lot during his career. And the leadership aspect that you know, we set all offseason that he brings the defense didn't really look like it showed up in the first half of the season, to be blunt about it, and for that matter, didn't really see him being a difference maker for a defensive line that really needed it. They've been better the last two weeks. I'll be interested to see

how that progresses. But you know, a lot of a lot of people wanted to come for Tyrone's money, and I you know, they probably feel vindicated right now because he hasn't been playing up to it. Definitely not Nick. You expect him to be be here as part of this team next year. M I don't know about that. I got to look closer to this contract, but I believe this is the year where they could probably Yeah, I actually, you know, he's a last year. This is

the last year. You know, you we've we've been burned before about that, thinking no way, no way, he's coming back. But you know, it just depends on what his market value is and and you know, guys that have position flex that can play a lot of things. I think the position flex has hurt him over his career. I just don't think it's it's he's been able to just lock in on one spot and so but I you know,

coaches like to have it. It's unfortunate this last game, um Jalen Smith doesn't get that penalty on the legal contact or whatever. I mean, he had the sack forced fumble that returned, you know, returned by Aldon Smith that would have been a difference making play in and maybe an upset over Pittsburgh. And maybe we're talking about Crawford differently. All it takes is one or two plays for us

to completely change our scripts sometimes on guys. So you know, it's unfortunate, But I don't know about him coming back next year. It's it's just gonna see what what the market is for him. What do you think, Amber, I think the injuries, I mean that has hurt him. And yes, you always love a guy that has that kind of flexibility that you can kind of move around depending on

your needs. But at the same time, and you talk about his performance this year, yes, at times you're like, oh, yeah, Tyrone Crawford, what is that guy up to and you wonder what he has done. But at the same time, sometimes that isn't necessarily a bad thing. You know, It's not like we're over here talking about Tyrone Crawford being horrible and letting plays happen and allowing sacks to happen, or not creating enough pressures on quarterbacks and allowing guys

to get through him. So it's kind of it makes both And when you look at the the amount of plays that the defense hasn't been able to create, I think that he would be one guy that hasn't necessarily been my highest worry at least this year. I just I was just thinking, and I don't want to put words in his mouth. Obviously, only he knows what the future holds for him. But like I wonder if Tyrone

Crawford will play football next year. I just, you know what, he was drafted in twenty twelve, so he's I mean, he's been in the league for a decade. He's not bested veteran, he is not a spring chicken. He's coming off double hip surgery. I bet you know, if I had to guess, he would probably tell you, you know, not that he wants to make excuses, but he probably ain't feeling great. He kind of he alluded to that

last time he talked to the media. Just, you know, I feel like I'm in year ten of the NFL. I feel like I had double hip surgery. Like this. It's ain't always fun, you know, And I've always gotten the impression that, you know, he's a guy that's gonna be in DFW when he's done playing, Like he's he's got a family, he's you know, he's settled down, he's

putting roots down here. And so you know, if it, you know, if he gets through this season and he doesn't have a robust market somewhere, you know, like, is he gonna uproot his life to name a city Tampa for one year or one year deal? I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if if the Cowboys, if they can't come to some agreements on a deal, maybe he's just like, yeah, I've had a pretty good career and that's good enough. Typic. Just the thought though, like I mean,

like I said, I don't want to. I can't. Only he knows the answer to that, But it's just something that I've had in my brain. Typically, if you see players doing that, sometimes they're chasing a ring, but outside of that, you're right, you get to a certain point where it's not fun anymore, Like the pain is not worth what you're what you're actually going and doing on Sunday. And so there are guys that make that decision. A lot of guys make that decision at some point. All right, Um,

Nick tell us a little bit about this bubble. We heard Jerry talk about it yesterday where Mike McCarthy talk about it today. You are one of the few people in our part of the world that are tiered, and obviously you're not in the bubble, but I'm talking about what's happening with this this bubble. Well, they're just trying

to be as safe as possible here. They're the Tier two employees, the staff members that are really in close contact with the players all the time, UH that they're opening up the Omni UH for for them to be a part of it as well, to be in the bubble so that they're not going home. And you know, I think and you know, being around I guess you know kids, family that that that could have the virus, and so you know, you just want to, you know,

try to make things as safe as possible for these guys. Um. There are there are some members that that we know, some some Tier two staffers that have been moved over there to UH to the Omni and so you know, you're right, I'm not in that group, and I'm fortunate for that, but but you know, I just think that the Cowboys are trying to take every step possible to be as safe as possible here for this final seven games of the season. Yeah, it's not more. That's a

really really, really big uh um challenge. I think for a lot of people, if you're in that that mix, having to be away from your family for presumably seven weeks, it feels it kind of feels like we're getting close to the finish line because like Thanksgivings right around the corner, but we're not. No. I mean, three of these games are going to happen really quickly, three games in eleven days, but even I mean there's two months left in the season. That is a long time as a live in a hotel.

I mean, we all know because we go out to California for training camp, where we're gone for you know that three and a half to four and a half weeks, and that seems like a ton of time. And you're out in California. Imagine being this close in Dallas, but you can't get there, right. That's a that's a challenge. It's an investment I think that they're making here to to try to get through this season and hopefully it all works out to where they can't get through the season.

Without any major hiccups. All right, let's let's go ahead and move on to I want to hit this this topic that yesterday came up right as we were ending the show. Nick was making a point, and I don't want to put words in your mountain, Nick, So I'm gonna turn over to you and let you remake that point because I know that during the show I could see.

I went back and watched it. Dave, the look on your face was kind of priceless because I could tell you had something burning that you really wanted to say. But this show is pretty much over. Not only that, but I just, I honestly was just laughing imagining. I was like, Twitter is gonna have a field day with this an idea. They had fun with it last night. But Nick, make the point again and then let's let's

have a little discussion on it. Yeah, And I just shouldn't have done that at the very end of the show and not giving anybody a chance to address it. But you know, really, what I'm saying is is that you know, hear a lot of talk about the Cowboys should tank or whatever. All I was saying is is that the true die hard fans diehard fans that just that every single game that they're so invested with the team. I don't think a true die hard fan wants the

team to lose. They can see the big picture. They can see a silver lining at the end of the game or whatever, like, well, you know, at least we maybe we're gonna get a better draft pick. But as the game's going on, if you've been doing this for thirty eight, fifty one years, sixty years, whatever, there's no way that you want your team to lose the game. If you've been invested for so long, you can see at the end. Okay, I guess I'm not gonna be that mad about it. That's fine, not gonna throw my

remote control today or punch a wall today. But you know, I want us to win. And that's what I think. I think true diehards never really want their team to lose in the moment. They might see the big picture at the end of it, though, Dave, I mean it makes me smile too, because I kind of I can see,

I can see the whole spectrum. My big thing is really like I don't I don't like to tell anybody how to be a fan, because my whole thing is like there's no there's no like entry requirement to this, Like you know, I mean Cowboy fans from all over the world. There's people that are going to listen to this who live in Europe. There's like here in DFW, somebody in Newport News is listening to this, and like, all you have to do is just decide you like

the team, and it's land. Really like my only requirement after that is that you just stick with it. That's really don't jump around, don't up, don't jump around, but like you can all walks of life. It doesn't matter how you got here, it doesn't matter if it was five years ago, it doesn't matter if it was like in the womb. Just as long as you stick with That's really my only requirements. I mean, like that's any

any fanhood really and I legitimate. I mean I think there are die no I know there are because I know them personally. There are die hard, die hard Cowboy fans. And to Nix's point, maybe you are not just sitting there on Sunday actively rooting for them to lose, but you're you know, you turn on their moment. You're like all right, boys, like let's let's put forth a better effort, but like, don't play too well, don't play too well, And I I think there are legitimately die hard Cowboy

fans who believe that. And you know, maybe it feels weird to say you're rooting for them to lose, but you know that same person will tell you that a win and a loss is the difference between getting the stud I mean, let's you know, we don't have to use real players, but the stud edge rusher. You know, it could be the difference between Chase Young at number two for Washington last year or if you win that

one extra game. Now you're trying to tuck yourself into a cornerback that you don't really love because that's what's available for you. You know, the Cowboys they got lucky that they loved Cede, like they got lucky that Ceedee Lamb was there. Otherwise, Now you're talking about, like do we take treyvon digs here like Calavan Chase on the pass rest of at LSU, Like do we really love him? I guess we do. Like that's the that's the position that you're in when you win too many games. So

I see both sides of it. And if you don't want the Cowboys to win another game. I don't think that means you're less of a fan because you're listening to this show, or you know, God knows how much money you've spent on hoodies and T shirts and coming down here trying to or you know there's people that

live all over the country that you know. I go to one road game a year wherever the closest one is, like all that stuff, and they're doing all that and if if, if you don't want them to win another game, it doesn't make you less of a fan. If you're doing all the rest of that stuff, you're watching, you are watching the game in a lost season and you want them to lose it, but you're watching like you

are putting in that effort. Like I said, you're not like, if you're not paying attention because the team is bad, then you're not you're a bad fan. You're a bad fan if you're not paying attention because the team is bad. But if you're invested, even if you want them to lose, I still think you're you're a pretty good fan. Amber you have some thoughts on this, not really because I'm not a die hard fan of anything. I mean, any team whatsoever. So I don't really all I can say.

All I can say is I am very much invested with the Cowboys because of the job obviously, and we get to watch it and we get to know a lot of the players and all that. So game day comes and I do care. And like I said yesterday, it depends on what day of the week you're asking me this question, because I can care less during the week and be like, you know what, screwed whatever, they stuck, let them lose. But then game they come, so I'm like, oh, my freaking guy, like, what are you guys doing? They

upset me so much. So I do want them to win. But for example, taking last season. Last season, I was to the point where I towards the end of the year, I didn't want them to win because in me, I knew they didn't have it in them to make it through the playoffs. Like if they did make the playoffs, I knew they couldn't get much further than that. So I'm like, Okay, what's the point of keep this going?

Of keeping this going? So's it sucks. It sucks being a fan of anything because you there are so many emotions involved in it and at one moment, you may be thinking one thing and looking into the draft, but then at another moment, you care, you really care about the game, and you do want your team to be able to be competitive and to be able to have some kind of success. Yeah, I think she nailed it when she said it sucks being a fan, because it

really it really does it. And Nick, you told me this when we're talking about this earlier, like being a fan, especially being a die hard fan, it's probably not healthy all the time. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna probably destroy some things, including some relationships. Like, it's probably not gonna be good for you all the time. And I know for Nick and Dave and myself to some degree, like we're all really really big fans of our college team,

and it's some Saturdays just aren't good. Like you, it ruins your entire week what happens on Saturday. And I'm sure there's some fans out there right now that are thinking the same way about the Scoutboys team on Sundays. But I guess the point of what I was trying to make yesterday is for those folks, there's still some of them that look at it like, hey, I'm going through a tough season anyway, I'm gonna have to feel

all of this anyway. If I come out of it with a top three pick, that actually makes me feel a little bit better about it. And so you can be a die hard fan and still be like, this season is a lost cause, so let's get all the

week can get out of this lost cause. I meant to add that too, is I think this whole tanking thing, it's also it's a coping mechant, right, It's a way to make yourself feel better about the overwhelming likelihood that you're not gonna see that many more wins, and you say, well, this sucks, but this is sort of my security blanket that's gonna make me sleep better at night. Yeah, it's

your silver lining, right. My favorite thing about this show, you know, Nick Nick is a I mean Nick is like one of the most die hard sports fans I've ever met. The fact that anybody could be a lifelong Arkansas fanatic speaks to that. I don't mean that as a shot. I mean, but it's no, he sticks with this team and he lives it's truth. But no, sorry, no, go ahead, go ahead, No, I mean you're right. I mean, I don't have a lot of wins. I mean I had a I mean I was holding onto the nineteen

ninety four Basketball Championship forever. I mean, like that's just we don't have a lot of a lot of big victories. But you know, when you're an Arkansas fan, it's a it's like a cult. And you know I've said this a thousand times. I'll say it again. When you're a big, a diehard fan of somebody, you don't choose to be a fan. I mean, it chooses you. Somebody chose you to be a Dallas Cowboy fan or LSU fan or whatever. I mean, unless you just choose to go to the school.

For the most part, your fandom chooses you, and so you have to accept it. And I'll just say this. You guys are making all these points and I agree with it. All I'm saying is is the point I'm making is in the game. And Dave, I challenge you. I don't think that your fans that you're talking about are grabbing a terrible towel as Gilbert is driving down

the field and be like, God, I hope he doesn't score. No. Because you're a Cowboy fan, you want to win, You'll deal with the You'll deal with the other part later. Let's win the game. Let's knock off the undefeated Steelers. I mean, I just don't think the diehards in the game really want their team to lose. They just learn how to accept the silver lining of it if they

do lose. I think there's some I think there's some truth to that, Like in the you know, if in the moment, if if I can't even think of Greg's airline, I was about to say, Dan Bailey, that's if Greg's air line is lining up to kick a walk off off and Dallas is down by one. I don't know how many people have it within them to be like, miss this kid, Yeah, yeah, yeah, what if So you're saying you want they want Dan Bailey to actually make the kids, Well, they want Dan Bailey to miss because

he plays for the Vikings. I guess No, I was they want him to make it my favorite thing about this show. So my point was going to be Nick's been a fanatic forever. You know, he can tell you about the seventies Cowboys in great detail. You're you know you and me, well but no, but you're a Texas freak. And I'm an LSU fanatic. I just love like so. But we've had this problem since birth, as have most

people that are listening to this show. And Amber is like on year five, like she's still sort of just getting her feet wet in this whole terrible arrangement that is being a fan. Oh it sucks, and we get the word and we get to see her walk through this cycle of it, like she's just a baby in this thing. We're like, just have no idea what me for the next twenty years. It's I mean, it's brutal, man, but you know what, at somebody whose team reached the

mountaintop last year, it is worth it. Oh and when the Cowboys finally pull it off, whether it's next year or thirty years from now, it's so worthy. It will be so worth It is so worth it. You're right. When Texas won that championship, my wife, my wife jumped up and ran around the block. It's late at night, and she ran around the block just screaming because of the excitement we had about Texas winning national champion. It is everything when you finally reached the top. So yeah,

it's it's all worth it. At some point hopefully soon, hopefully hopefully well see hopefully while we're alive. Amber, You're right, Yes, we are going to take our first break when we come back. We got Bucky Brooks lined up from NFL Network. He's gonna talk to us about this Vikings team, particularly the Vikings offense. Was that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why SLOR pioneers ways

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See att dot com slash five G for you for details. Back to the Break. Welcome back to segment two of the Break Clave from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star. We appreciate you guys joining us. We're gonna jump right in. We got Bucky Brooks MINIFL Network joining us. We haven't had you on in two weeks, but welcome back to the show. We get to talk about the Minnesota Vikings. How are you today, man? I'm great. I enjoyed listen to you guys. Segment on fandom as a developed North

Carolina Tario fan. I am. I am in the boat with you, and so I am always about winning and I'm never satisfied despite the championships or whatever. So I understand it. Hey, well, right now, y'all got our old coach and he's doing things up there. He's gonna get that program turn around as he did it before he got to us. Mac Brown doing some big, big things up there in North Carolina right now. Yeah, absolutely, he's a great coach. Yeah all right, So let's jump in.

Let's talk a little bit about this Minnesota offense. I know usually I'll start the conversation by asking you what they do well. I think we all know what they do well. Minnesota right now is second in rushing yards per temp at five point two yards per temp. Chicago helth cook to only three point two yard average. What did they do along with Indianapolis in Week two? What did they do that other teams have not been able to do when it comes to stopping the run of Minnesota?

Where those teams are really good against a run. Those teams are really sound defenses. They do a pretty good job of winning the line of scrimmage. For the Cowboys, this would be the biggest test that they've had. This would go back to what the Cleveland Browns did because they're similar systems and so this will be a test of the physicality, the effort to discipline, all those things that have kind of been murmured about throughout the course of the season. Where this is the exam to see

how far they've made, how much progress they made. The problem that you have when you're defending the Minnesota Vikings is you have a system that is very sound. It is a system where the offensive line they move like elephants on parade. So they're all in unison. They're working together and they are trying to get a push horizontally. And then you have a running back in Davin Cook, who is one of the best in the business at

being able to be a one cut runner. When he sees the crease, he attacks it and he has juice and vision and balance and body control and he's just a special player. And so it's the perfect marriage between player and system. And if you're not on your p's and ques that game, he will run for two hundred yards because they will give it to him, they will feed him. He is. They are doing everything that Cowboys

fans talk about doing. Give it to him twenty times. Well, if you don't stop him, he's gonna get it twenty five times. Bucky. We lost Trevor Dicks. We all know that, and we know that Cheeto is coming back, but we still don't know what he's going to look like on the field. I'm curious about your assessment between the secondary and their passing game and what they can do over

there with their receivers. Well, the secondary is played better of late and the reason they played better is because they've made the number one priority is not allow the ball to fly over their head, keep the ball in front, limit the big plays, rally and ackle and live to

fight another down. And as simple as that sounds, it is the most effective way to keep people from scoring points because as the field gets condensed and tighter, now you are able to use the siline and the end zone as extra defenders and it works in your advantage. The problem when you face the Minnesota Vikings is this, everyone knows that Dalvin Cook is the guy, and you have to put eight in the box, maybe nine in

the box to slow him down. Well, they want to throw play action passes, they want to go max protect, and they're going to let their two wide receivers, Adam Feeling and Justin Jefferson go to work. And what the Minnesota Vikings have done is they've invested in wide receivers who are craftsmen, who are outstanding route runners, and if you give them time, they will put cornerbacks in the blender. And that is what we're seeing. Adam Feeling is tied

for first with nine touchdowns. Justin Jefferson leaves all rookies and receiving yards. He has four one hundred yard days and if you are unable to cover them one on one from a skill standpoint, they will go bonkers. And so the dilemma is how much do I sell out to stop Delvin Cook? And can I sell out while being good enough to deal with these two artists that are on the perimeter creating separation and getting wide open.

It's a challenge and it's a conundrum that Mike Nolan has to come in with a plan on how do I want to defend these two different options that they can go with a bucky three days ago, Kirk Cousins did not have a winning record in the NFL as a starter, but he did win Monday Night. So now he's forty eight forty seven and two. He's two and six against the Cowboys, so he's never really been that great against Dallas. Is he a good quarterback in your mind?

Is he average quarterback? I know he you know he gets paid well, but how do you assess him? Yeah? I think with kirk Cousins, I think the biggest thing that clouds him is the compensation doesn't match the production in the performance. He got paid what he got paid because he was able to parlay the franchise tag and to a halfty pay that. But if you ask me what kirk Cousins is, quarterbacks come into categories. They're either trucks or their trailers. Their trucks would they carry the

team or their trailers where the team carries him. He's a trailer. The team in the system carries him and he has success. He doesn't have the ability on his own to put it on his shoulders and make it happen. We've seen him falter time after time after time in Washington and in Minnesota. When he's had to do it by himself. He can't get it done. That's it. This system, in an environment that they've created right now is perfect

for him to have success. The last few games, he's completed over seventy percent of his passes, six touchdowns, one inception. Passer rating is at one twenty three. So if they're able to dictate the turns by establishing the running game and throw play action passes, kirk Cousins can look like a star. But if they're able to control the running game and you make him have to throw a drop, bad game. Kirk Cousins has shown time and time again,

he can't do it, Bucky. I hope I'm not putting you on the spot too much by asking you to go back a month. But a lot of people are connecting dots in this game to the Browns game because Kevin Stefanski came from Minnesota runs a similar scheme, and it's hard not to remember that the Browns ran for three hundred and seven yards against this defense. So I mean, if we are I mean we know what the vikings do,

we know what Dalvin Cook is capable of what. And if you remember, the Browns game was the game where you know everybody was dogging the effort level, So I get that, but is there something else that showed up in that game that led to them being so horrendous against the run? And if they're gonna fix one thing to play better this week, what would it need to be?

Physicality and discipline. Part of the reason why the Cowboys played the last time we played Will the last time we saw him out because they were absolutely fearful of being embarrassed by the physicality of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and so we saw them play at a different level when it came to the effort energy, The challenge will be Everyone has seen the tape of the Cleveland Browns. The

Minnesota Vikings have seen it. The Minnesota Vikings are going to run those same schemes at them, and they're going to test the Cowboys to see if they have made the necessary corrections to slow them down. What has to happen, Jalen Smith, Laden vander Eshe they have to be in the gaps upfront, Neville Gallimore and Antoine Woods and Alden Smith and the markets. They have to be able to control the line of scrimmage and stay in their gaps.

If they freelance, if they lose any of their discipline, Dalvin Cook is going to gut him and he's going to run for a seventy yard touchdown. It is as simple as that. This will be the longest and toughest test of discipline that we will see from the Cowboys in this game, over a sixty minute game. Can they do what they're asked to do over and over and

over again without freelancing? And they've done it of late, but they haven't been tested by a team that is going to run it and run the same place over and over again. Are they up to the challenge? That's really what we see. Because if they're able to do it this week, I'm very optimistic that they'll be fine the rest of the season against these run heavy teams.

But if they can't do it against Minnesota, they're gonna have a tough time doing it against Baltimore, San Francisco, Philadelphia and some of these other run heavy teams that are on the schedule. Yeah, you mentioned that being the longest and toughest tests that they're gonna have. As you saw it last night and that or that night before last, in that game, they were getting nothing, nothing out of the running game, but they kept with it. I don't know if I've seen a team be that discipline where

they were like, we're going to run the ball. You may stop us, but we're gonna keep running the ball. And as you notice there at the end of the game, when a team Hicks goes out of the game, they started getting a few more creases there and opportunities to be able to get some yards out of it. But it's gonna be interesting to see how the Cowboys can do over a full sixty minute game. But I want

to take you back earlier. You mentioned you were talking to I think it was a question that Amber asked and talking about the receivers matching up with the Cowboys secondary. My question for you, it's a two part question. One, do you think Keeto a Woozier and Anthony Brown can cover these receivers one on one if the Cowboys out to bring that safety down into the box. But in addition to that, if you were Mike Nolan, what would

be your strategy. Would you bring that extra guy down in the box and risk on the outside letting those guys get free, or would you say, hey, we gotta stay true to what we do, which is you know, rally and tackle, and that may mean that we can't bring that extra guy down. We absolutely have to make stopping to run the priority. It has to be number one. Dalvin Cook is the guy. It has to be all

hands on deck to slow down Dalvin Cook. Because the one thing that we know if they run the ball, they were running for three hundred yards and they will absolutely dominate the game. You have to take your chances in. You almost have to go to Anthony Brown and Wuzia and say, hey, you gotta put your big board pads on this week. We cannot help you. We can't put people over the top. You have to hold up in your matchup and you just have to see if they

can do it. Now, there will be some down, some advantageous downs where if you get third and long year, but to dictate terms, where maybe you can double up a roll coverage. But for the most part, those guys in a quarter system, you're going to have to hold up and win your individual battle against Justin Jefferson and Adam Feeland. That is the only way that they're going to be able to defend the running game. And so

it's a challenge. But I think of the lesser evils, the passing game is the lesser evil because the one thing about that I can talk about Justin Jefferson and Adam Feeling getting open, but it is Kirk Cousin going to be on his game, and so you just don't know if he's gonna be on his game. So I'm gonna roll the dice and say, Kirk Cousins, if you have a three hundred yard day, we'll tip our head and we'll go on. But we cannot allow Dalvin Cook to have one hundred and fifty yards on the ground

because that is an absolute recipe for disaster Bucky. My next question isn't about the Vikings, but about the Cowboys

and this bye week. I know that the bite week was very necessary because of injuries and all that, But from your own experience, I mean, do you when you talk about momentum and seeing the fact that the Cowboys against the Steelers were able to start creating some good things that we haven't seen all throughout the season, do you do you feel that maybe having a week off effects that kind of momentum or do you just don't think that has anything to do with what they can

do this upcoming week? Well, I mean, I think you go into the bye week feeling positive and optimistic. You lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but defensively if you started to stack together two positive games so now, but the bye week has afforded you as an opportunity to clean

up all the other stuff and to continue to get better. Now, the lockdown in the COVID situation prevented them from fully getting on the field and doing what they want to do in terms of continuing to progress, But I think you continue to rep what you repped, you continue to build upon what you've displayed the last couple of weeks, you try and make sure that Randy Gregory and Neville Gallimore and some of the other young players that are

planing have a complete and clear understanding of what they're being asked to do. And you just continue to hone into the scheme and make sure everyone understands exactly what's expected. And then I think for Mike Nolan and also for Mike McCarthy and Kellen Moore, it's the self scout because as much as we talk about the defense, we got to talk about complimentary football and make sure that everyone

is on the same page. So the bye week should be an opportunity for everyone to have a clear picture of this is who we are, this is how we have to play going forward. Now, let's make sure we put our players in the best position to make plays playing the style that we have to play. Bucky in your five Bucks column today, he said that Andy Dalton doesn't have to be a superhero, but the guys around him certainly certainly do. And you mentioned a lot of

guys on defense there. Can you talk about how what you've seen out of DeMarcus Lawrence here lately. I mean, I know you mentioned him a minute ago, but it seems like he is a different player than what we saw earlier in the season. Yeah. Now, without being privy too like the injuries and stuff like that, he certainly looks like the Marcus Lawrence of old. And in the column, what I said is stars have to be stars because right now, as we were saying as players, this is

the dash for the cash. They have seen that. The Cowboys look up and they're one game away from being right back in the mix in the division. They saw Philadelphia lose, they're sitting there and so and so the way that it has to happen is your stars have to take their game up a notch. You cannot depend on the role players to elevate this team in the playoff contention. So on defense, that's to Marcus Lawrence, that's

Alden Smith, that's Jayless Smith, that's Lvee. Those guys have to play like the blue chip players that we thought they were coming into the year. And so, if you're Mike Nolan, if you're Mike mccarthur, you have to have very open and honest and frank discussions about a The time is now we got to pick up our play and we will be led by the stars. The stars will ultimately determine whether the Cowboys go to the playoffs

or not. I don't want to act like Justin Jefferson in some crazy sleeper rookie because he was the twenty second overall pick in the draft. It's obviously a good player, but he was the fifth receive her taken. I guess I'm mainly asking this to take a shot at Philadelphia basically because they drafted Jalen Rager over him. Is it too soon to say that you know that this was a drastic draft mistake by several teams, that this guy I mean to be the fifth receiver taken even in

such a top heavy class. Or is Justin Jefferson's success more about the talent around him than him being as transcendent as he has looked. I guess, well, I tell you this because of your LSU touch. Obviously I might be a phone calls, No I got. I got texting phone calls from Jerry Sullivan, who had spent time at LSU two seasons ago working with Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase.

And he texts me because he saw me put Justin Jefferson not at the top of the board, and he said, I'm telling you right now, this guy will be the best player in the class. He is outstanding, he's a dog. He's a better player than Jamar Chase will be when he enters the league. And he said that he has everything. And so I kind of text back and was like, I hear you, Like he's nice. I like the route running, but I don't know, like these other guys are really good.

And then Lauren behold you look at the tape and you're like, darn it, Like I underestimated how good he is. And I think the common theme when it comes to these receivers that have immediate success in the league, all of the guys are artists when it comes to route running. So much of what we get caught up in the free draft run is hey, how fast are they can they do these things? And really it's the skill. And when I look at Justin Jefferson, Justin Jefferson is an artist.

He's Picasso. He is painting masterpieces out there, creating separation and getting open. And because of that, he can get open against guys who are high end corners. And so his success is not a product of the system. It's a product of him being a very talented and skilled route runner, and the Minnesota Vikings put him in a position where he's able to use his tools. All right, Bucky Man, we appreciate you joining us. I know we ran a little bit long today. We'll appreciate you giving

us some good insight into this Minnesota Vikings offense. Tomorrow we'll have you back. We'll talk about the Vikings defense. We're gonna go and take our final break and we come back. We'll have a couple of questions before we wrap up the show. 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 Pepper and Cream Soda. Is he

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It's AT and T Pose with the Pros on the Go now available with the Dallas Cowboys Apple under the Stadium tab Pose with the Pros on the Go, presented by AT and T five G Man, Welcome back to the final segment of The Break Life from s WBC Mortgage Studios. It's fun having Dave in studio. I wish we could do this more often. It honestly feels way nicer to be able to like interact with somebody, see each other and have a conversation then freezing, see if

somebody's about to talk. Yeah, and when you freeze, like we just get these weird looks on your face and it's just stuck there and I have to look out my face anyway. For the most part, Oh, I wish people could go back and watch the show from yesterday and just see the faces Dave was making as Nick was talking towards the end of the show. Is pretty funny.

I liked I try to communicate with the audience wordlessly sometimes like if something crazy happening, I just kind of like Jim from the Office, I just like to stare at my webcam like it's the reason why if you don't watch this show, you probably should rather than just listen in. And before we end the show today, let's

go and get one fan question, what do we have? Well, I got a lot of people really interested in Bradley and I and Reggie Robinson, so I got a lot of questions of them, wanting to know if do you guys expect to see more of them in this second

half of the season. HM. That has been That's been a thing all season, and it's one of those it's a situation where you know, week one, Week two, week three, people are like where a Reggie and a nine and it's like, well, they're rookies and there's much better players in front of them, Like chill out. But now you know the record's bad. Season's not over, but it's slipping away. And so now I'm with you where I'm like, Okay, what do you have to lose by getting these guys

more snaps? Like Bradley and I hasn't had He's I don't he definitely hasn't had more than five defensive snaps all year, and Reggie hasn't been active yet. And you know, I don't know if we'll see that this week, but if the playoffs get further and further out of reach, then I would absolutely hope that those guys get thrown into the action because at that point, what do you have to lose? So, while the division is still technically up for grabs, I don't know, but hopefully, at least

in December, hopefully we'll see some more of them. Yeah, you know, the interesting thing is actually shaking his head with a big no no. Well, they practice, I mean, and so the Cowboys the see of them in practice, they know Reggie Robinson what he can do and probably what he can't do. And so, like I said yesterday, if they're pulling out Stephen Parker and guys like that to play, I think Reggie Robinson has been an option. It just hasn't been a good one. But I agree

with what Dave said. I mean, Jerry said that on the radio the other day. I want to play young guys. I mean, he didn't say it like this, but I'm just gonna paraphrase. He said, you want to play young guys if they don't suck, I mean, if they're gonna suck, and that's the whole thing up, you don't want to play him. I mean, it's pretty much what he said. I mean, it was like it's very valuable for them to play, but they better not bring the you know,

bring the whole thing down. So right now, while it's you know, they're fighting for it, I think I think it's you know, I don't see why Ridge Robinson couldn't play some special teams. But I guess I don't really know who you would take off the field right now,

So you know, I bet Pep'll see them at some point. Though. Yeah, my thought was, and again I may have not really understood the full scope of it, but when he came in, when the Cowboys drafted him, my thought was, he's going to be a guy that they're gonna have to to develop a little bit and and so he wasn't gonna be a guy that was gonna be immediately a guy they would just throw out there. So this doesn't surprise me,

I will say. My counter to that is the other thing was everybody raved about his special teams a bit right now, Like he blocked three or four kicks in college. He can do this, that and the other. So it's definitely not surprised to me that he's not getting snaps on the secondary. The fact that he hasn't been in uniform yet this season as a fourth round pick, it's a little surprising. And he had a rough training camp, there's no way around that. But again I'm not asking

him to start at safety. I just at this point I would have guessed that you'd see him on special teams or at least getting a jersey. Yeah, And to be honest with I don't think like like like Nick said, I don't know that there are guys right now on special teams. You're like, you gotta get that guy out there and make room for Reggie Robinson, especially if he's not giving you anything as as a cornerback. So again, this doesn't shock me just yet. Now, if you get

into next season, he's still not active. Now, we got some problems. But for me, a guy like that that didn't have an off season, didn't have training camp, or didn't have a normal training camp, I'm not as shocked by that, and it seems like it's it's kind of par for the course. It does. I know, we gotta go, But it reminds me of Donovan Wilson a little bit, and it's it's different because Reggie didn't have a preseason, but Donovan Wilson looked amazing in the preseason, didn't really

get a ton of time. The fans were pissed off about it, and we were saying the same thing, like, well, the coaches seem more than we do and they don't think he's ready. And to be fair, he had another offseason to progress and do this, that and the other. But he's looked pretty good once he's gotten the opportunity. So maybe you should give guys a chance a little bit more often. We'll see, we'll see. I'm sure I would guess at down the stretch here he might get

some opportunities. But by no means am I writing him off. I think right now it's just one of those things where he's developing and they're developing, and we'll see what he turns out to be next year and years after that. All right, appreciate you, guys, Jonas. We'll be back tomorrow. We're gonna get into this Vikings defense against the Cowboys. Often still then for Nick even Dave Helm and 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.