Cowboys Break: What Went Wrong vs. ATL?

of The Break. I am Derek Eagleton, and then we are alive from the s WBC Mortgage Studios and we're talking about the Cowboys lost yesterday. Cowboys have a it's their second really really bad loss of the season where they just got dominated. I can't I don't think it was a domination from start to finish, but certainly by the time you got into the second half, it certainly felt like it became a dominating performance by the Atlanta Falcons.

We'll get into all the different things that went right and wrong for them, but Cowboys lose twenty seven seven, and I think we have to at least start the conversation with Adrian Claiborne, who had what I guess if he makes the Pro Bowl, this will be the day that he actually made the Pro Bowl. He now has eight sacks on the season, wins his game with two, and yesterday get six sacks, which is one from the record in a game, which is seven held by Derrek Thomas.

Only been four men in the history of the NFL since they've tracked sack numbers that would go back to nineteen eighty two that have had six or more sacks in a game. I guess let's start there. Tell me what are your opinions went wrong? How did how did you end up in a situation where it was allowed to get to the point where one guy was able to get and we're not talking about a premier pass rusher.

One guy was able to get six sacks in one game. Well, I mean it starts with Tyrn Smith being out and your backup is I mean, it's a huge drop off, obviously, I mean clearly, and Chaz Green wasn't ready for the challenge and the Cowboys weren't ready to help him, you know, I mean, the guy, like you said, Derek, he's not a great pass rusher. He didn't even show great pass rushing moves. It was very elementary to just kind of

get around him like that. So I thought it was one of the worst performances you've ever seen at a one player before. And he had a lot of chances. He had all week. He knew this was happening, and they didn't help him either, and they didn't adjust. And you know, I mean, as I wrote in my column before, we hear people asking about who's got the NFL record, that they should have made some kind of change there, and why take Byron Bell in there in the middle

of the fourth quarter. I mean, it was bad in the second quarter. He could have if Dak wasn't strong and athletic, he could have been sacked twelve times and probably heard at some point, yeah you might, yeah, yeah. I keep going back to something Jerry Jones said after the game, which he brought it up four times within the first five minutes that he talked to the media when the game was over. You kept bringing up the wide nine nine and he stopped himself. But you know,

Frodian slips and all those types of things. He said something to the effect of it really surprised us, and then he was like, well, I don't want to say surprised, but we had a hard time dealing with the wide nine, which, okay, so I'm not football X is no guru. But if you don't know, you know there's techniques on the line. You know, you hear about the one tech and the three technique all the time. That's close end by the center. Nine is about as far out on the line as

you can play. It's basically you put your guy way outside the outside shoulder of the tackle and try to give him as much free space as possible to get it to get a rush. WHI you're essentially trying to do is you're trying to play a four to three with three four principles, right, You're trying to have those three guys kind of in the middle and then one guy that's outflexed out really wide that can just go

around the edge. Well, if we want to make the Cowboys sound really bad, it's a technique that you use for guys that are limited in their repertoire to try to get him ahead of steam and get them an angle around the tackle, like if you only have one pass rush move. Actually, you know, watching watching the tape of the Falcons last week. I noticed that Tack McKinley played wide a lot because he's a rookie and they probably want to do everything they can do to help

get him. Maybe they should, Derek Well based on this game, So really, my whole thing is okay. Jerry Jones caught himself and said it didn't surprise us, but it sure as hell looked like it surprised him. What's that That should have been a mumble time sorry, look like so far as from Derek Um because they, I mean, they

just didn't have an answer for it. And far be it for me to suggest a bunch of highly paid coaches weren't ready for that or couldn't come up with a way to limit that as the game went on. But I didn't see any evidence that they did. And you know, I don't know, it ain't it ain't like it was rocket science what was happening. And honestly, you know, they did ship them a little bit, like they did some things, and it just it just didn't do anything.

And it's it's it's perplexing. I mean, like, you know, I wouldn't have been surprised if Chad's Green gave up a sack or two like I said, I thought he'd be decent. I thought he'd be duct tape, which would say he's clearly not gonna be Tyrn Smith. But he can get through a game. I mean, I mean, anybody could have played that badly. It's it's baffling how ill prepared they look to handle what Atlanta threw at him. Yeah.

I went back and watched the game, and I was specifically looking at Chads Green the entire game, just to see how much the Cowboys were helping him and how how Clayborne was really getting there. And really what I found out was that they helped him. They helped him a little bit. They were probably I think Brian. Brian went back and charged the whole thing. So I'm sure

they'll talk about that on Talking Cowboys. I want to say he told me it was like about eight times in the in the game between the really in the second half, mostly they gave him a chip or something to help him out. The problem was the sacks didn't come on those plays. The sacks came on the plays when they did not help him. And so it got

to a point. And my question to Brian was, does it ever get to a point in a game where you just say, hey, I don't I know it might affect our offense, but you gotta chip him every play, Like literally, you're gonna have to give this guy help every single play, especially on plays where you're talking about long down and distance. You're on second and long, third and long. You know you're gonna have to give this guy help because otherwise you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.

You know that he is beating this guy regularly, and the Cowboys didn't seem willing to commit to that that level of help throughout the game. And that's the part that's a little bit baffling to me, especially once you get to the third quarter and it seems like it's just it's rolling and you really need these plays you have to throw the ball. You're gonna point in the game where you have to throw the ball and you

just can't stop him. Yeah, I mean, and that I guess that's the debate, is you know you want to just change everything up and give him help on every single play. You can call it stubbornness, I mean, and the Cowboys coaches have a tendency toward being stubborn in my opinion, But I mean, I just I haven't seen anything like that in the NFL. You know, I went back and looked like that's the stuff you see in college.

I mean, in his senior year a Mississippi State, Dak was getting sacked six, seven, nine, ten times per game. Alabama SACTI nine times the last time he played them. In the NFL, though, where everybody's supposedly good, you know, I don't think anybody expected Chaz Green to play like Tyrn Smith. But there's a significant difference between playing like

a backup and allowing six sacks in a game. And you know, you can play a lot of blame on Chaz Green, but when it gets to that point, you should be blaming coaching too, in my opinion, when you get to a point where an NFL team has eight sacks in a game, So amber, do you have any confidence at this point if Tyren Smith has to miss more games, multiple games, one more game even, do you have any confidence that Roland Chaz Green out there there

will be a different result than what we saw yesterday. No, I mean I didn't have much confidence going into this first game without Tyren Smith. And again, I, like Dave said, I don't think anyone really expected Chas to be that bad. I didn't expect him to be as bad as he was. But now I think that everyone should really be concerned, and even the coaching staff. They need to figure something out because even putting Byron Bell in there that didn't help.

He wasn't any better. So they're gonna have to help him out somehow, because who else are they going to bring in? There's nobody else really well. And that's you know, and I get it. It's a frustrating loss, and that's the type of things people say after a frustrating loss. But you know, there's no shortage of people that want to cut Chaz Green. And I'm just like, I mean, and that's he shouldn't play again. I mean, you wouldn't. I wouldn't ever start What are the other options? I

would never start him again. I would never start him again. Adrian Clayborne. You don't think it gets worse than that? Who's Adrian Clayborne? I mean there's Drop Lan, Yeah, exactly. I mean he was a first round pick, cut by the Inn't that the guy cut by the Bucks? And he was cut. He just didn't had multiple seasons with zero sacks though, no, no, he's not. I mean, he

is a journeyman, there's no doubt about. Remember that playoff game against the Vikings where they let the guy named Ray Edwards get four sacks in the game, and you're like, man, this is what this was. But Ray Edwards was a light years ahead of this guy, right, I don't know. I don't know. I think Ray Evers is a decent pass run runny. This guy's had six sacks in a season once. Yeah, so he had, So he's got that now. But like Jeremy Mincy having a six sack game, that's

what it is. Which okay, but don't I don't want to get too off I don't want to get too off topic. Really you talk about I mean, you know, Emmit Cleary and Dan Skipper are playing games and John Wetzel's playing games for NFL teams right now. I mean, okay, you don't want to start Jazz Green again. You want to cut him? Like is there a better option or is that just mad knee jerk reaction, because that's what

it strikes me as. It strikes me as like I'm pissed off because that sucked, and I just want to do something, even though odds are, it's probably not gonna work in favor of the Cowboys, and so you can cut him if you want to. I don't think it makes a whole ton of sense. Well, I would never play him at tackle again. I mean, if he wants to play a guard, I think maybe that might be a better spot for him, even though he said he

was more comfortable at tackle. I mean, fact is, once you're into this part of the season, the ability to be able to go out and find somebody who's going to be better than he is right now, it's probably pretty small. I a guess, just based upon the fact that the people that are on the street at this point are not good players, or they wouldn't be on

the street right. Not to quote my own column, but I said this, if you're gonna buy a brand new sports car and then you're just gonna drop the insurance just because you don't care what happens to it, I mean that's what you're doing. This is you have a brand new sports car playing quarterback. He is your franchise, and this is the left side, the blind side that's supposed to protect him. He doesn't know where it's coming.

And if you're not gonna you should never put that guy out there again because you're you're risking injury to him and you know, anybody else that that's it back there. Do you think that maybe this was a function of again as Jerry talked about this, this wide nine concept, and maybe this is what would caused him a lot of problems because maybe he wasn't prepared for that. Maybe he hasn't seen that enough in order to be prepared for that, and then you go into next week and

maybe it changes. The problem with that is a wide nine sounds really good. You should run the ball all day long on that because all he's doing is creating this huge lane and they didn't have the back I mean, that wouldn't they wouldn't be doing a lot of wide nine if Zeke was back there or somebody that could hit the whole quick and with some power. And that that's kind of your either or like this is this was a problem or was it? You know, was this

the problem was the cause of the effect? Not only that, but going back to what I was trying to say, like it sounds all high tech and x's and knows, but like why nine is It's not like oh my god, like it's this crazy thing that nobody ever does, like

if they were that woefully unprepared for it. That's true. No, no, no, And here's here's what I'm saying, Like, if you if you listen to what Chad said after the game, he said that the problem was his technique and when you're playing against a guy in a wide nine, you have to be able to get back quick and his technique was horrible and so he looked like he was in quicksand right. So that's my point is it's not that this concept is so brand new and just you know,

outside the box. It's that against that, and maybe it's because he hasn't practiced against that enough against that his technique, I mean, the flaws in his technique were really shown and that's the problem. So my question is do you not think that because there have been games, let's be honest, there have been games where Chad's green is played and

we will left the game saying not bad. Yesterday was not one of those days, right, So do you think that maybe again, it was that his technique was really bad and it was shown yesterday because of what he was facing, and you give him a chance to adapt to that and it's better than what you're gonna try to go out and find on the street at this point, I guess is what I'm saying. I feel like a freaking idiot saying this because I watched everything that you

watched yesterday. But I've seen Chad's Green play well in games, real games and preseason games and practices. Again, not great. I'm not trying to call the guy a pro bowler, but better than that, I've seen him doing enough times to where like I said that, I mean that is, that's just such a failure on a level that I can't even comprehend based on what I know him to be. That. I mean, I straight up, I don't believe anybody's that bad of a player, you know, like Emmet Cleary wouldn't

have given up that many sacks in that game. It's it's baffling to me. But I don't know that. I don't know that cutting him is the right answer. I certainly there's things you gotta do if he's got to play again, whether that's you know, I saw a funny suggestion from our friend Jeff Kavanaugh this morning. He's like, if Tiring can't play this week, I'm I'm throwing Zach Martin on the left side and figure it out. See how he does. I was like, you know, that's not

the dumbest thing you've ever said, got it? Like? Never? Yeah, to protect your your investment. I mean maybe that's your answer. Well, I mean, you know, as Romo used to always say, but to the right tackle, don't hold because I can see him. I could see it coming somehow. He could see the left tackle too, but he was like, I could see it coming. Maybe. And I'm not saying he's he's great, but he's a lot better than Chads Green.

But I mean, why not switch lyle over there? That that might be a I mean that's something you would think about as well. But I think if you look at this week, the week that's coming up, that'll be the reason why the guy you gotta play is probably the reason why Zack Martin would never be moved from where he is. You gotta face, oh, welieve him where he is. I think I think I think you'll be all right. I think the problem I have more than

anything is compete. That's what Jason Garrett always says. Boy. And you could throw out every T shirt this week and there was something you know that it was mainly hot, but there was a lot of T shirts out there. But compete, it's what he always says. And Chas Green didn't compete. I mean, you're getting here butt kicked all day long. At some point point, get mad and like not the guy on his ass because he's still Adrian Clayborne. Like it's still and less Lawrence Taylor got in that uniform.

That's still who it was. So when a couple of battles and just's that was the issue I had. It was just never like when are you gonna get mad about this? Because, like you said, they didn't blow them out from the start. It was just a slow death. But as it went it was like they can't do anything. And truth be told, I mean they really got shut out other than a defensive interception, you know, and then the short field and a score. They didn't move the

ball and score one point. Well, let's let's extend this conversation a little bit because we've talked about the problem they had at left tackle. But if you look at the running game, the Russian game had some issues yesterday and I don't know if you guys put it on the offensive line you put it on the running back, a combination of both, but you end up with Alfred Morris who had eleven carriages for fifty three yards or

four point eight average. Really, most of that came in the second half when they finally got a drive there. I think it was about midway through the third quarter where they actually started picking up some yards. But before that, especially on first downs, they were getting literally nothing. Um, what do you think of the running game? And really that being kind of the culprit behind the offense again, as you said, Nick, not being able to move really

at all. Um, I mean, I'll start, but yeah, the Alfred Morris uh rod Smith mcfadd I mean, and I mean they didn't they couldn't do anything. Like you said, that was a little bit surprising because you still got the same guys up front. Um, you know, in the in the interior, you would you would like to think you could kind of push the pole, especially when they're playing such a wide front there on defense, there should

have been some some running lanes there. Um. You know, obviously there's a huge drop from the left tackle to the backup. There's a big drop between the running back and we see that all the time. You know that Morris, and I thought he would do a little bit better than that. I certainly thought rod Smith would do better than that. And and you know, we can talk about my thoughts on McFadden later when we get everyone kind of shares their opinions. But yeah, I was I was

surprised that they couldn't do more with that. I hear what you're saying, and you I mean, You're right. It didn't look great, especially what I'm trying to pull up. You know. Yeah, at halftime, Alfred Morris had six carries for eight yards and Rod Smith had one carry for zero yards. So I think there's something to be said for that. They certainly didn't have the success that they've

been used to, especially on early downs. But I'm reluctant to even judge the running game honestly because of the tackle. Yeah well, I mean they were so behind the chain. Your offense was completely one dimension because of your inability to protect the pass. And yeah, okay, yeah, I get it. They weren't. The running backs were not successful. Dak had thirty five yards at half and forty two for the game. They ran for one hundred yards as a team. It's probably not the way they wanted to do it. A

lot of that was scrambles. They still picked up the rushing yards they needed to move the chains and score given that their only touchdown was a rushing one by Dak, so in a weird I feel like the running game could have been there if the pass game had any semblance of anything. And it's from the very word go. Even on the short possession that led to the touchdown, Dak had no time whatsoever. I think he was sacked on second down on their first possession that really maybe

their longest drive of the day. He was sacked on second down and then hit by Clayborne forcing an incompletion on third down, and they punted. Did they not to in that first possession of the game. Yea, yeah, yeah, first possession, yes, and again so even even before things got out of control, I just never felt like the passing game was where they needed it to be in the sense that Dak had time to find his receivers hit the open man. He and Jason Garrett both said

he needed to get the ball out quicker. I don't really buy that because he had Adrian Clayborne on his back every third time he got the ball, so like I said, I'm I'm reluctant to judge the rest of the offense because the pass protection was that bad that I just I think the Falcons just teed off on it and and took advantage of it, and they were behind the chains or Dak was running for his life most of the day, but I think they were behind

the chains, especially early when the game was still in hand. They were behind the chains because they weren't getting anything running the ball. I remember I tweeted in the first after the first possession, they ran the ball four times on first downs and they were averaging point five yards. I mean, that's abysmal. You're gonna You're gonna be in

bad situations. So this whole thing played out. Not only were they not able to run well on first downs, but then on top of that, you got a situation whereas the game continues to go, not only you can't pass because you got this problem happening with the left tackle, but then on defense, you're giving up so many points to where it's getting to a point in the game where you have to throw the ball and you can't

do it. So I think it all kind of worked together, and I think the running game was a part of that. Of course, it was a part of it, Derek, But I'm just and they did not run the ball the way that you're accustomed to seeing it. It It reminds me of the first month of this season. But even go back to Arizona, they ran for like one hundred yards as a team. I think Zeke had eighty three. I don't know that he even averaged for yards per carry.

It was not pretty, it was nasty, but they did enough and they protected Dak well enough that he was able to hit balls down the field to Bryce Butler. And I didn't see that yesterday. I mean one hundred and seven yards and four yards per carry, four point eight yards from your running back. I mean for most NFL teams, that's a really good day. It's crap for

this team based on what we've seen from them. But I would contend that on the road, that's a good enough running performance to help you win the game if you can have some semblance of a passing Okay, so you're right about all this about moving the ball, because I just looked this up. They got to the Atlanta thirty seven. This is this is six different drives. Okay, they got all the way to the Atlanta thirty seven, another one to the Atlanta thirty seven, Atlanta thirty nine,

Atlanta twenty, Atlanta twenty, and then midfield. That's six drives right there. They didn't score a single point out all of those. And if you look at every single one of them, there's either a sack or a penalty on the off from the offensive line that they just stralled that drive. If those six drives, if you can get four just say four field goals, there's twenty seven seven.

I mean, I mean, I know that's nice. That's a one score game, just and that's just four field goals at a six when you would like to think you'd get six. One of them is the field goal kicker that missed it. Yeah, and that's what I said. Somebody was somebody said, what do you think happens if Tyrant plays in this game? And I mean, you can't say that the outcome is different because they lost by twenty points.

I mean, I don't know that one player's worth twenty points, but I certainly think the offense would have resembled something involving competent, which it was not on any level yesterday. Yeah, because Clayborne doesn't take over the game if Tyrann's in there. So that's the difference, right, Yeah, and Okay again, maybe they get two or three sacks. That's a normal number in the NFL. That's manageable. Eight eight, that's a problem. You don't give up eight sacks in the NFL. Yeah,

let's take our first break. When we come back. I think we got to talk about the other part of this game that really got away from the Cowboys and it's really more about the defense and the player that will left the game there. And I think it was their third series on the defense being on the field. Sean like, what does that? When we come right back, this is Dallas Cowboys dot com radio. It can be hard to find the right resource for learning about important

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equipment of the Dallas Cowboys. Find Texas sized deals in my John Deer dealer dot com. Slash football terms, Conditions, exclusions, and warranty limitations apply, so can you love for details? Back to the Break Welcome back. It is the second segment of The Break live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. We're talking about the Cowboys loss. They lose twenty seven to seven in Atlanta, a game that going into it, I think most of us agreed was a very important game just because of the way

you look at the standings. We'll get into more of that tomorrow. But do you have something to say, Day, Well, I meant to do this at the top of the show, but you didn't really you just kind of jumped right into it. But I wanted if you want me to. I wanted to offer my resignation as a break analyst because these two weeks have really been rough for me.

If you listen to the show, Yeah, and I don't think I could have been more wrong about how they'd play against Kansas City, and then they turn right background and just shove that right in my face against Atlanta. So like, if you want me off the show is clearly my opinions and analysis aren't worth very much. The

crazy part is on the sideline. You and I were talking after the game, and I was like, as pessimistic as you typically are this game, you gave them a lot of benefit of doubt going in, and I was like, they will never get that from you ever getting picked again. No, it's like, if there's even a shred of reason to go the opposite way, you're going like, oh no, they're they're losing this game. I'll pick them. I'll pick them again in this season, I have no doubt. But not

this season, not a game. If seventy seven and fifty aren't in the game, forget about it, especially this week. Are you kidding me? Butcher Cox, Timmy Jernigan, Nnie Curry, whoever the hell else they got out there. Nah, nah, man looking pretty scary if especially if Tyren's not playing. If Tyren's playing, then feel a little bit better. But man, if Tyron's playing, I feel a lot better. That's what I learned yesterday. That's like which, Okay, the running game

wasn't great, obviously. I know that this team misses Zeke, but Tyren Smith's the best player on this team. I can I said that back in training camp. Nick hold that thought. Okay, because we're gonna actually get to that into a little bit, I do want to ask that question when we get a little bit farther the Nick, did you ask something you are about to say? No, well, I was gonna are you are you on the plane? You said something about that question. Good question. We are

going to get to that question. Before we do that, though, I want to talk about the defense and the absence of Sean Lee because I think you know, as you talk about what happened on the offense, I think you had a similar thing on the defense. Sean Lee started the game, and I think in those first few series, and really in the first half, the defense played a really good game. When I went back to watch it, I hadn't realized how how long they really held this

game together. For pretty much most of the first half, they held that Atlanta offense, and then in the second half the Wills fell off. And I think it was a lot. It had a lot to do, if not all to do with the loss of Sean Lee, because I think, you know, it's just it's just too much for them to overcome. Let's not forget that Atlanta lost their running back on the second play the game. Anthony Hitchens really get a really nice hit on on Freeman

and knocked him out of the game. And and then you know Atlanta as they have a good, you know, one two punch there. But Tevin Coleman really isn't like a elite premier back by himself, and but you know, he did a nice job in the game having to having to take over. But you thought that that was going to be something that would maybe benefit the Cowboys, but it didn't really didn't materialize like that because they could run the ball enough just to set up manageable

third downs. They had some third and six, third and nine, and Matt Ryan did did a good job there. I thought the pass rush wasn't that great. You know, they really didn't get after Matt Ryan that well. I mean from what we've seen. I mean, they did an okay job, but got a sack there from Lawrence who's the second in the league now behind Claiborn, or is he first. He's first in the league, but Claiborne's probably seventh. Yeah, like he's in the top ten in the league now.

I will say this, Nick, I didn't think. I did think they harassed him pretty good again in the first half. I think in the second half it kind of got away from him, But in the first half it seemed like they were they were going out, they were getting after him pretty good, and he was taking a lot of hits in the first half. I actually asked. I talked to Anthony Hitchins about this after the game and on I mean, Okay, the stats aren't great. They lost

by twenty points. I was like, they didn't gash y'all the way that like the Rams and the Packers did. Like it didn't it didn't just look awful, you know, um you know, I mean they averaged three point nine yards per carry as a team for the game, and like it wasn't horrific, It wasn't good, and you know, he brought up third down, which I think that's really fair.

What was Atlanta's. Atlanta was seven of thirteen on third down, and it seemed the one that really stands out to me was the touchdown to Hardy, which I think put him up seventeen seven. It was like it was that classic Marinelli drive where like they had two third downs down there where it was like, all right, hold him to a field goal. Here, it's still one possession game.

This is fine. And not only did Anthony Brown get shook, but it just felt like Ryan had all day where I mean, you know, the pass rush has been so good, it wasn't there in those situations. It was not there when it had to be on these third downs. And like Nick said, it was a slow death. But you go down seventeen seven the way, the way that there they were getting after Dak, you just that felt like I remember telling you that it was about ten ten fifty to go in the third. I was like, this

is a game right here. You go down thirteen seven, the hey, that's a good win for the defense. But if you go down seventeen seven the way that they can't move it, and it didn't look good. Thirteen carries for forty one yards in the first half, twenty one carries for ninety one yards after half, which it like, that's it's not awful, but you I mean, it's a yard worth of difference basically per play ye one time. Can we just defer? I mean, I know it didn't

they didn't win the toss. They didn't win. It wouldn't it wouldn't have mattered. But the Cowboys get the ball first every time because they take it. They take the ball, and then other teams, everyone else in the league, everyone else in the league defers. Why do you not defer, especially on the road. We've talked about this a thousand times.

You go there and everybody goes to get something to eat because they still think halftimes thirty minutes like it is in high school, and it's only thirteen and no one's back in their seat, and you can take the ball and it's the really no crowd and you can just move the ball instead they and it's always nice to know who's getting the ball. You always kind of feel like if you got the lead, you can pad it.

If you're down, you can get back in the game and hopefully get a back to back like it happened the last two weeks. For the teams you're playing, you understand that. I really don't understand why they don't do that. I don't argue. I didn't argue with it last year when it seemed like they were getting points. But it's okay to change your philosophy based on what you're doing. And they haven't had they haven't had success doing it. I mean, when was the last time they went down

and got points right away? It's it's certainly maybe once this year, maybe one of those games. It has not been as automatic as it was last year. Whether you want to land the offensive line or whatever. This offense has been good, but it isn't on the level that it was last year. And it's okay to change your philosophy based on what you have. Okay, blue pants every day? Yeah? No, I mean, and you know, I kind of I think of it as the saint, like why isn't why aren't

you doing anything to help chats. It's like, well, this is this is what we prepared for this. We want him to work his way out of it. Yeah, and it's not always a great idea. Ye, all right, So here's the million dollar question, and I'll start with Amber on this. Here's the question I ask you guys on the plane last night, so you've had some time to think about it. Which player did the Cowboys miss most yesterday in the game. Yeah, Zeke Elliott, Tyren Smith, Sean Lee.

And I'll throw in Dan Bailey because his replacement didn't necessarily inspire a lot of confidence either. And so I'll throw that out to you guys. Amber, Let's start with you. I think that it's pretty evident that it was Tyren Smith who was missed the most. Here's something I don't really understand. And I love Shun Lee. He's one of my favorite players, and I just don't understand how one guy can really change the whole defense, such the whole group.

You know, I understand for the tackle position, I feel like that's completely different. I feel like now I comprehend why one man on the offensive line can really mess things up. But I still can get through the whole idea of just Shanlee being now how it affects everyone else that much. It's pretty remarkable, isn't it. And yeah, you wouldn't think from that, and he's not even the

middle linebacker. And I would. I mean, I've said this on the show before, like in the way the way the NFL structured right now, linebacker I think is the least important position group on defense. Just you know, it's a past happy league, blah blah blah blah blah. But my answer to your question would be, he's the one guy on this defense. His instincts are off the charts. He nine out of ten times knows where the ball

is going to be before it gets there. And he's got the talent to act on those instincts, you know. I mean, Jalen Smith might have the instincts, but he can't make the play and the amount of times the instincts a little bit too well this game. But go ahead, Yeah, Anthony Hitchins might have. Anthony Hitchins is a smart dude. He played great yesterday. I feel bad for him that he put that game out there on a day when Sean couldn't play, and it's for nothing because he was great.

But he doesn't have Shaun Lee's level of talent to where he's in the backfield breaking that up and all of a sudden, a play, a play that could have been or a play that went for five yards could have gone for two or maybe even a loss because Sean Lee saw that, and like we're talking about with the Cowboys, it changes a whole drive all of a sudden. It's second and eleven instead of second and four. And honestly, they'll never admit this, but I think it's a confidence

thing too. When he's not out there. I think it affects a lot of guys on that is that also because of the guy that's out there in his place, because I think that's the part you have to think about it. With all these positions, you got to think about the delta, the delta from the guy that's out to the guy that's backing him up. And I think

there's a significant between those two players. I think you know, one thing you're forgetting too, or we all tend to forget because we don't really see it all the time, is you know, he's the quarterback. He's the quarterback of the defense. So it is third and six, and it's a play that that he's seen on film, because I guarantee watch the film more than anybody out there. So it's third and six. He makes the call, We're gonna do whatever the call is. Hey, you know Anthony Brown,

you know, watching yet inside leverage here. Don't forget they love to do the you know, the draw here, you know, watch the swing and irving. You know, make sure and get on the outside on this contained. I mean, just really quick quick things because he's seen it on film and you're just missing that one more thing to just say, hey, watch the slant here, watch the slant because I've seen, you know, and it's here's the slant and all of it takes. It's just one inch inside and then the

slant's out there and then the sacks there. Just because Sean Lee was watching film, I don't know why the other guys don't stay behind with him. I remember being a Valley ranch. I would see Shan Lee staying super late just working out. I know here he stays past everyone else, just watching film with some of the coaching staff. And it's unbelievable. I mean, if you're such, I mean, being a leader of a group, I would imagine with other guys. Example, let's say Jalen Smith, who is wanting

to keep improving and get better at things. Why wouldn't you want to just kind of join in and tag you lawng and keep, you know, studying. I personally wouldn't want to say that. He doesn't like, we don't know, we don't no, no no, no, no, how much so I don't want to I certainly don't. Yeah, I certainly don't want to say that. But I'm saying as a group because I know what I've seen before, and I know the things I've heard from people that work over on

that side. I'm saying working or studying as a group together, you know. Again, Yeah, they could be spending hours an hour studying, I don't know, But as a group, that's a different thing. I think there's merit to everything y'all are saying. But at the end of the day, on I mean, all that's true, Sean Lee's a freak and then film room, everybody knows that, but like he's got all pro, first team, all pro talent to make those plays and more often than not he does. Like how

many tackles did Hitch have yesterday? Hitch had ten? That's like route, that's a routine day for Shawn Lee. That's like ho hum, you know, Like a great day for Shaun Lee is when you're getting close to twenty or setting the franchise record ten is just like, oh yeah, Shawn Lee had a day, Like he's really really good. So combine all of that, but really I think it boils down to he helps him make those plays when

they got to have him. I mean going back a year, but the I mean the play he made against Philadelphia in that first game here, and I mean one then the game, like he does stuff like that on a weekly basis. He turns a potential seventy yard game by Kareem Hunt into a three yard loss, and you don't have that when he's not out there. Yep, did you give it your your answer? I mean I said this on the on the plane. I don't even think it's I mean, I think the obvious answer is Tyren Smith.

I just don't understand how anywhere close. But you're right. They were all missed. I mean Zeke was missed, Sean Lee was missed, Dan Bailey was missed. They were all missed. And that's why, you know, that's why they got their ass kicks. I mean, you can lose a player or two and get beat and I'm okay with that because I you know, this is a tough league to win, and the reigning NFC champs and the reigning NFL m VP,

and they're trying to figure themselves out. I expected them to lose the game, but they got their ass kicked because they didn't respond. And and you know, Jason Garrett says, if you said it once, he said it a billion times, be your best, regardless of circumstance. Circumstance, and they were their worst. They were their worst, and so you got to put that on the coaches. If the coaches are gonna say that you're supposed to be your best regardless of this, and they came out and played like that,

then you know that's on them. That's on them. So they got things that happened during the week affected them losing, but things that happened in the middle of the game Sunday affected them getting their ass kicked. I'll make the case, and I know it sounds like most of you guys are the on the same page, with Tyren Smith being the person that was missed the most. But I think

the case can be made for Shaan Lee. And the reason why I think the case can be made is because I don't think they were They would have even been in a situation yesterday where Clayborne gets six sacks if the defense could have been what I think they would have been with Sean Lee. The beginning of that game, that defense was playing really stellar football and like I said,

for the first half, played really great football. In the second half, the Wills fell off, and I think a lot of that had to do with Sean Lee not being on the field. And when you look at when you go back and watch it, Jalen Smith had as bad a day yesterday as anybody you can point to. There were a number of times where he just couldn't get to the ball. That was one time he actually he diagnosed to play properly, He got off the block as he should, he just didn't have that burst to

be able to close and finish. And that's the thing about Jalen at this point is Jalen just doesn't have He doesn't have It's not all the way there yet, It's not all the way there, and that's what they're seeing. And so when you when you combine and you compare that to what you were saying before, not just that ability, but the ability to understand, diagnose and tell everybody else here's what we should be paying attention to. And then the talent as Dave said, to be able to actually

finish the play. That's a big, big difference. I don't think this game it would have gotten away from the Cowboys yesterday if Sean Lee were on the field, maybe they don't win, but I think it would have been a competitive game all the way to the end. I think they would have been in position to make a play or two there on offense, and maybe they win the game that way. I just don't think that it would have gotten to that point without if Sean Lee

were there, There's no doubt. I mean, there's no doubt the defense would have been better with Sean Lee. But I'd say it all the time, and I'll say it again, like, you're only as good as this offense is going to be. So he just scored points. You need anything. Just the offense is the strength of this team, and I honestly know the defense didn't play great. I think I think they could have won. I think they could have scored more than twenty seven. But if Tyrn was in there,

I know the Falcons hadn't given up. They haven't given up twenty seven points all year. Yeah, that's totally fair, But give me a guy who can keep dak on his feet for more than half a second. I'll take my chances. I mean, you're exactly right about Sean Lee. But if seven Coleman would have gone for two hundred and fifty yards or you know, flirted with Adrian Peter, I think it's Ladrian Peterson's record. Um, then it's like, well, god,

you know how much was he missed? But I mean Adrian Claiborne had six sacks, five against Chaz Green or no, just six against that position who regardless of what it was. I mean, and I asked you this, does Adrian Claiborne get one sack against Tyron one? I don't think he does. If Ron was jacked up Tyron or like Tyron Frank and Tyrone just trying to get through this, and maybe he gets one or two. If if Tyron just they somehow they got tying to get out there. He wasn't

one hundred percent. He was just trying to get out there and give him what he had. He probably gets one or two. He doesn't have a day like that. Okay, Well against the Eagles, somebody comes up to you and says, hey, one of those guys is gonna be out. One of them is gonna play in your heart? Which between tyn one of them's in, one of them's out. Tell me three two one? Which one would you rather have for the Eagles? Tyrant, I'd rather have If they don't have,

both ll lose. How about that? Okay? But which one for the Eagles? Tyrant? Okay? But not for the Yeah, I think for the Eagles because the Eagles offense is so much better and their defense is really good too. So for me, the way I look at it is you're gonna need to score a ton of points in order to beat them. I don't think you needed to

score a ton of points to Atlanta. I think the defense is good enough they could because I've seen teams this year hold at Atlanta offense to scoring not as many points, So I'm not I feel a little better about the defense being able to win that game for you yesterday if they were at full strength without Tyron Smith, I don't feel great about that. Against Philadelphia, you gotta score points against them. I think Philadelphia's offense has been awesome all year, and they have one of the best

front sevens. You know. I mean, I'm telling you right now, they will not win this game. If both of those guys aren't on the field, that would be stunning based on what we've seen this season. And I mean I'm not just talking about yesterday. You saw what happens without tiring yesterday, but we've seen what happens without Lee too, right for a whole game. I mean Saint Louis, I always call them Saint Louis, the brands the Los Angeles

for the Packers. I'm sorry, Carson Wentz is playing m VB caliber, MVP caliber football and their pass rush is nasty. That's just that's very disheartening to think, all right, we're gonna take our final break. We come back. I want to hear from you guys. You guys, give us a call. The numbers two one, four, eight seven two twenty one oh two. Who do you think was most missed by the Cowboys. Let's hear from you guys. We'll do that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot

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at the Star. Appreciate you guys taken some time with us to get some questions from you guys and numbers two one, four, eight seven two twenty one oh two. Before we do that, Nick, give us your message. Dave answered some questions for me real quick. Sure thing, Nick, did they missed Dan Bailey a little bit yesterday? They did? What was it in groin? Did they miss Tyren Smith A lottle bit, a lot of bits injury? He had a groin? You know what? We found out that a

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Look it up. I think Jason Jason Garrett already ruled Dan out for the Eagles this morning on the fan. So not that I don't think anybody really thought he was gonna be ready, but just in case you did. Sorry, that's kind of just a just a just a happy Monday. He did. He did he travel to Washington. Uh no, but yeah, he was on the plane. He was at

this game, which I thought was weird too. I was like, why are you here if we know you're not gonna play, right, which you know, I think a little bit of that is player discretion, like if you feel like you're if you feel fine to make the trip and you want to do it, you can part of the team. Yeah. Yeah, So but I would walk, I would stay home and

be like, I'm chilling, I can't play. So more players that do that, the Kellen Moore's that are there on the practice squad, the more you guys are just sitting there typing like this true. Yeah, I'm like, Dan, stay home, give me a next give me some space. Got to try to write three stories on this plane right here. Perspective. I'm sure it's gotta I'm sure I'm just weird sitting

at watching it. Yeah. Yeah, you know, like all those everybody that's associated with the team looks for a reason to be on the sideline, like that's where you want, you want to be in the crap, you know, like you know you're not trying to watch it from afar. You want to be up in there. Yeah, all right, let's get a phone call. We got a call from Rob in Vegas. Rob. What up? Hey? Everybody? Hey, what's you know? As a fan, I'm just tired of being held hostage year in and year out by Jason Garrett

and Sean Lee. When I when I look at Jason Garrett, I said to myself, all right, what does he What does he bring as a head coach? I mean, he's not a play caller anymore. He's definitely not a disciplinarian, bad clock management manager, and he's never had back to back winning seasons. So I say, okay, he really doesn't give me an extra edge in the game. And then I look at Sean Lee, and you know, Shan Lee's that hot girl that you just hope would stop cheating

on you. I mean, he's you know, he's great when he's on the field, but you know he's not gonna play sixteen games, so it's like year in and year out. When he gets hurt, it's over. That's why I thought they should have picked up Bowman from the forty nine. Is not because Bowman is great, but he's better than Jalen Smith, especially against the run. Where where week at, especially when Shanlee leaves the field, because you know he's gonna get So it's just like year in and year out.

As fans, we watched this and we've seen this story before, all right, the Z thing. We've never had that. And unfortunately Tyrod Smith is starting to get a little bit like Sean Lee. You're starting to see the injuries pile up and now hopefully he doesn't hold this hostage because you see what's behind him. But that's just the frustrating pot. I just I look at this team and we have no edge in coaching. You saw no adjustments. Yesterday it

was like we all seen it. Chad Green was getting killed and it was like, you know, let him think a swim? Did you pay? And hey, Rob, did you not get in last week? I know you were probably calling did you not get in? And say, oh this last week, No, I didn't get in lest okay, because you would have said the exact same thing. I'm just just making sure you would have said that. I'm not

I've never been a Jason Garrett fan. I don't think for a for a team that's talented, I think you need to have a coach that gives you an edge. I can look at Belichick and I know what he does, and I can I can look at Andy Reid and know what he's good at. Why are they talented? Then? How are they so talented? Belichick's are great. He knows how to evaluate talents. He's a great defensive coach. You see him, He's always who else? Who else? Other than Reid?

Andy Reid is a great giant value, he said. Ok he's outstanding. He got his ass kick last week by Jason Garrett. Okay, but overall, who's a better coach? Andy Reads a much better coach. Yep, shiny left hand, you know. I mean, look at the guy in the rams. I mean, this kid, all of a sudden comes in for thirty four years. He's a great play called his name? Thank you. I mean, what if you could tell me what Jason Garrett's good at, maybe he could change my mind. I'm

just what what what I'm just saying. I'm just saying you want to call in on Monday morning and be upset by this stuff because of what happened in the game. But yeah, well then call you call last week, call last week, call Monday. I think the first time I talked about Jason grit it's definitely alights time. Thanks for the call. And I will say this, there was there are there are fans who have made those kind of claims against Jason Garrett for years, and so I think

it's a fair question anytime a team loses. And you even said, you even said Nick that you thought that yesterday this coach didn't do it. These coaches didn't do enough in order to in order to get this team in better position to be able to make run that game. But I'm not letting go of the coaching staff right the continuity that you have there. Yeah, there's not a team in the league that can that can probably withstand those four players, those four guys, and and lose and

how much they are they're important to their team. There's I mean, there's no way I say it. I don't think Jason Garrett is a great, great game day coach. I don't know that he's a good game day coach most of the time in my opinion, in terms of adjustments, in terms of creativeness, play calling, all that type of stuff. I certain, I mean, does he get no credit for what this team is built, Like right now, does he get no credit for the fact that they win thirteen

and three and right now they have a winning record? Again, criticize him all you want, but I don't know what's the end game. It's the same thing as Chad Green, Like you want to fire him after he lost a game that dropped him to five and four right in the middle of the playoff hunt, Like what is it's just venting to me? Like it's just it's just noise, Like you're pissed off and rightfully so, honestly, And one thing I will say, I say this all the time.

One thing I give Jason Garrett all the credit in the world for is that his guys play hard and buy into his message and they typically don't get their asses kicked like the way they did yesterday. Like that doesn't happen to them very often. The fact that it's happened twice in this season is pretty surprising, because even even in the twenty fifteen season when everything was miserable, they were playing to the whistle far more often than

they weren't. So there's plenty to criticize for having said that. I Like, I'm what's your record? Yeah, what's your recourse. What do you want to do? Jason Garrett's an old school guy. I think he's a little stubborn. I think he's a little conservative. I think that describes seventy five percent of the coaches in the NFL, the two guys that Rob just mentioned. Belichick is arguably the greatest coach ever. So I mean, what do you what do you want me to do with that? Yeah, Sean McVay is having

a great year. Again, I don't know what you want me to do with that. He's in a perfect situation where he's in his first year in the league. They brought him in for all of the reasons that he just said. He's a young guy, it's a fresh approach. Honestly, I hope more NFL teams try that. I would much rather hire a fun, innovative, thirty one year old than a retread guy who's you know, Jeff Fisher, who's failed elsewhere. I hope that as a trend that continues in the NFL.

I don't know how it helps the Cowboys right now. You know, made if you ever get to a point where you're hiring a new head coach, event I mean eventually, they will hopefully you think outside the box when you do it. But nothing that's happened up to November thirteenth, seventeen dictates that Jason Garrett needs to get a new job. Seven years ago, Sean McVeigh was Jason Garrett. That's exactly

what I mean. He came in, it was the same situation, came into a bad, bad deal, and they turned him around instantly, you know, And so that that that's what happens, and then we'll see, we'll see how McVeigh and that team, you know, continues. But I just think, I just think when you when you come in on Monday and you're upset about it, and now you're just gonna say, well, i'd never liked Jason Garrett. I mean, it's always it's

always just like huge picture every time. Okay, they played a game, they got beat they shouldn't have been beaten that bad, but they weren't supposed to win that game. Yeah, but it's it's it's I don't think it's fair to characterize him as is just this week that he now is feeling like that, because there are a lot of fans and you've probably gottenas from them as well. There are a lot of fans who have been saying for a while that they don't like Jason Garrett as a

head coach. And it has a lot to do it what Dave said, And so I'm not I'm not trying to. I don't I don't want to take that from him and and kind of paint him with the stroke of all the people that are kind of just reacting. Maybe he is one of those people that didn't like him. And I think I think it is fair. I think it is fair to criticize what happened from a coaching standpoint yesterday. There's no way you need to talk about as well. There's no way you let a guy get

to six sacks without doing more. I get it. To stop it, I get it. But it's a weak argument to come up here and say it's not Belichick, Yeah, and who is? I get you. And then and then then to come back and say Andy Reid, what has Andy Reid ever done well? That one? Andy Reid's a good coach ian Yeah, he's a good coach. What has he done well? I was getting there. I was going to agree with you. You You didn't need to. I'm just saying. I'm saying it's fired up. If you haven't noticed, well

we you know Andy Reid in the sas. He's done great things. He turned Kansas City into a contender, he made for a NFC title games in the Super Bowl Philly. He gets killed all the time for dumb stuff that he he does, Like he's game management is an internet meme that he doesn't know how to manage the clock

in a football game. So I mean this idealistics most coaches are pretty bad at something, And honestly, I think most NFL coaches are kind of dumb or at least a decade or so behind when it comes to how

to think about and manage a football game. Like that's just a fact, and I think coaches take a while to catch up to that type of stuff because ultimately it's their ass on the line, and ultimately, I think a lot of coaches do things worried more about justifying it than whether or not it's actually a good idea, Like you don't want to have to you know, like people talk about Bill Belichick going for it on fourth and two from his own thirty five against Indie all

the time. He's just about the only coach in the world that has that kind of clout to where he's going to do that and not worry about what's going to happen if he doesn't get it. That's just a reality. So, I mean, there's a lot of stuff you can criticize Jason Garrett for. For the million time again, Yeah, Like, I don't think he's that great of a game day coach.

But to come in here and act like he needs to be fired or like he's the root of all the Cowboys problems after loss, I don't think that's necessarily fair. All right, let's grab a call from Al and Philadelphia. Al? What up? Hey, how are you doing? First off, congratulations on all of your award just past Saturday. Thank you, Thank you, David, you do a great job. Don't leave the show. And Nick, thank you for what you just did. I really appreciate it. Sean Lee is my favorite player.

I think he's the MVP of this team, and I'm a huge Jason Garrett fan. My question is us, do you think Jaalen is And I like Jalen a lot.

I'm not criticizing the kid, appreciate what he's doing out there, but do you think he might be overcompensating for his nerve and he's just trying to get a jump on a plane, just trying to be really aggressive, because he looks like he's always trying to be too aggressive and maybe do like a kill shot like Roy Williams and not actually read to play and see what's going on. Thank you for everything all of you do. All right, Thanks. It seemed like Jayalen just finds a way to end

up on the ground like a lot. He's just like, if I dive at this guy, or if I lunge over the pot, like at the end of the play, he's gonna be on the ground. He's diving into something at the end of every place. Sometimes it just looks like he's like if I, if I, if I do this, it's at least gonna look like I had made And I'm not saying he's not making an effort, but you know what I mean, like it's gonna look better if I make this a little theatrical. That's how it comes across.

Sometimes I think the world of him. He's a great dude. I'm not ready to close the book on him being a talented linebacker, but I just, I mean, every don't think he's ready. Every time he is asked to play a significant role. It hasn't worked out. And that's I wrote about it in my column last week, that that new role for him when Sean and hitch were both healthy, where he's playing fifteen to twenty snaps a game, he was pressure in the quarterback, he almost had a pick,

he had a sack. He I mean, he was active when he only needed to play a handful of plays. And I just I don't think he's ready to be you know, what's to take starters caliber snaps. It'd be really interesting when they have to figure out what they do with Anthony Hitchins tract or some linebacker there because oh I and I mean, first, I hate I hated that. I get the point, but I hated the term that robbed us when he said Shaun Lee's holding him hostage.

I don't like, Like that's I get it, it's frustrating to see such a talented player's sideline, but like Sean Lee's not doing this to spite you, Like nobody's angrier about his inability to stay on the field. And Shaun Lee, I promise you that, Like he's the most intense person I've ever been around. I bet he broke something in his house last night. Just knowing what I know about him, I was just hope nobody nobody's in the worst, so I doesn't do any good, just go on hitting things.

But all of that said, Shaun Lee's north of thirty and the injury problems are way too well documented to ignore. Jalen Smith, the book is not closed, but you certainly just can't take it at face value that he's gonna become an All Pro. Anthony Hitchins is in a contract year. Damian Wilson will be in a contract year next year. We talked about that on the sideline last night. I mean, linebacker looks like one of your two or maybe your biggest need on this team going into next year, honestly

biggest one. If not the biggest, then one of the two or three. I mean what else? What else left? Tackle? Offensive lines looks like a need. Yeah, safety is there, and then and then linebacker. I mean it's I think those three. And you could say something about wide receiver if you want to, But wide receiver is frustrating but not awful. In my opinion. Likede receiver is workable. Like if everything else is working, Wide receivers will work. Right, They're not gonna win like a whole bunch of games

where you where it's just them, but they're workable. I don't. That's not a position. I like, you need help there, you need help there. I think that that des Brian is a really really good receiver. I think Cole Beasley can be a good receiver in different offenses. Terrence Williams is you know, workable, serviceable, can be pretty good. But together those three I don't like them together. I don't like those three together because of the reasons I've said

a thousand times. So I think that they could be all good individually in different offenses, but in this one I don't. They don't use that speed down Phil yesterday. They need like a big plotting possession receiver, right, like just a guy who's not super fast but can just get possession reception. That's what we need. Yeah, more ladies will keep them coming, keep those guys coming. Thank you

guys for joining us. We're back tomorrow morning. We'll be at our normal time tomorrow nine thirty am, and we'll let you guys know what's happening around the NFC, around the NFC East and where the Cowboys stack up when it comes to playoffs. Playoffs, all right, we'll talk about that tomorrow. Appreciate you guys joining us. We'll see you. It's been the Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Playoffs,

don't talk about playoff. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas cow Boys Football Club.