Cowboys Break: Who to Blame?

We've got so much to talk about today. Cowboys lose. Yesterday, Cowboys loose twenty eight fourteen to the Tennessee Titans, a team that, as of last Friday, I think on this show collectively we may have known four names. Now we probably know about eight names and a team that buy and large. You would think the Cowboys should have been able to beat at home, but surprisingly they were not. Maybe surprisingly maybe not. How's abad doing some more? I'm awesome, awesome, great,

Let's let's jump right into this. And I want to start as we do a lot of days for following a game, going around the table, and I'd like you guys to give me again, especially in a game like this had so many moments, give me what You're what the biggest takeaway or the biggest storyline that you think comes out of a game like this, Nicko, Let's start with I mean, I just thought it was all there for them to to have a big week. I mean,

have it. I mean, this is this is a schedule that's gonna get really tough, and this is probably the easiest team on the schedule. You had two weeks to prepare for it. They looked they didn't look different at all, and I just thought, you know, they had opportunities that they squandered. But I mean those opportunities started Sunday in Washington when the when the Falcons won that game, it was just sitting there for you to take advantage of it.

They did not. H Yeah, there were parts in the game that but I mean, of course we've talked about this. I don't buy into the whole should have been up seventeen nothing stuff. But um, well it was pretty funny. Your tweet was pretty good. I mean, I mean it's just because that's what this team is, and so I mean, they just don't take advantage of opportunities. That are there for them and you know they are what they are.

Three and five Amber, I mean, there's so much to say, but just to keep it kind of simple, and it's frustrating and very very annoying when you see the way that the defense started off, So I mean there was fire everywhere. They were so pumped and doing things, making

things Jalen Smith all over the field, making plays. And when you see those kinds of things and you give the ball back to your offense and then the offense isn't able to cash in and make something out of it, it's very frustrating and disappointing, especially again when we talk about certain players that you don't want to waste them and when I look back and we'll get into Dick and all that stuff, but it's frustrating when you see life expectancy of a player, it's a great way, that's perfect.

I like that being wasted, yeah, and thrown away just because your coaching is unable to utilize them the way you should be. All right, Dave Um easily like a top five loss of my time covering this team. Maybe five's worst loss, yes, sorry, worst maybe maybe top three, uh ten to six and Tampa comes to mind, but you didn't have to didn't have Tony Romo for that game. Uh, the Falcons game last year comes to mind, but you

famously didn't have Zeke or Tyrn Smith. The Chargers game on Thanksgiving comes to mind, but you didn't have Sean Lee or Zeke. The Broncos, well, it was bad, pretty bad. That was bad, But I don't know that one does Baltimore when they close out take the stadium. From an all time trip standpoint, I mean from just from plane

to plane, I mean Buffalo was looked there. Oh yeah, that never That one didn't bother me as much as it bothered the rest of you all I could get like again, And that's my point is like you're starting Kellen Moore in Buffalo on Christmas, Like, what are you expecting to appen? Just the fans don't care that we had to circle Houston a couple of times. That wasn't even all of it was. We got locked down at the hotel. Regardless, it doesn't anyway off the rails. Sorry,

bad loss, Dave. What my point is, what's the excuse here? Because I just listed out all the excuses for why those other losses happened but what didn't you have here? You added the first round, you know, you added your first round pick, You had your you had your starting quarterback. Sean Lee was healthy at least at the beginning of this game. Tyrann Smith was out there. Last I checked, Zeke had forty yards after two possessions. Sure Travis Frederick

wasn't there. I don't want to hear that they've won three games without him this year. I'll bet anybody that wants to bet ten dollars right now that this Titans team is not making the playoffs. This is as winnable a game as they have left on the schedule, and

they looked terrible. So that's really my my main impression is just that this was in a actually ugly, crappy loss, you know, And to go back to you know, we were talking about the reason why I don't think this whole like well they should have been up so much is because, I mean, defensively, they made one play. DeMarcus Lawrence made one play and if it wouldn't have been

kicked around, you know, twenty five yards. Used to say they even score a touchdown there because that ball was like on the thirty five got all the way down to the twelve when they but like, you know, they didn't make up another play on that that fumble. They just Tennessee just decide to fumble. Well they made to play to make the recovery, but yeah, they recovered it. And I mean, I just they They're just not an

opportunistic type team like that. And so you know, Tennessee just stopped turning the ball over and you know they made a play as well. I don't know, maybe the Cowboys ran out of gas when you keep running to the end zone to take pictures. I mean, maybe what happened with that? And then and Jerry Jones, Jerry Jones said that a couple of times after the game, it's like they had so much energy. This team was so like did they hide themselves out of the game? Can

I throw out something? And I do not take this. I'm making this declaration at the beginning. Do not take this as an excuse, because it should never be an excuse. But do you think at all that the temperature in the building affected their their energy level? What? What do you mean? What it was seventy eight degrees at kickoff? This was not a cool environment for the roof to be open. Oh, Derek, No, No, no, I didn't. I didn't notice it. I can't go there with him there.

It was chilly when we went out there in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, yes, oh my quarter. Yes, I can't believe you're saying this to me right now. It was first of all, don't see. This is why I didn't want to say it, because you're gonna make this seem as though I'm making excuse. It's not excuse.

I'm saying. If you're gonna talk about if you're gonna talk about no, if you're gonna talk about what could have been a difference in their energy level as the game we're on, think so, no one could this have been part of I don't. I don't think so. I think they they just did not tackle well. Now, a better excuse to that would be, you know there two of their two of their best defensive linemen are not

playing in the game. I mean that that. You know, anytime that you have injuries like that, then Sean Lean goes out. I think that hurt him. I don't know. Well, I do know this that I'll say you say this for Jalen. You talk about two different football games yesterday at the beginning of the game, he was flying around. By the end of the game, we saw a couple

different plays. One play that you and I noticed, Nick where he basically the runners coming and he did he basically took himself out of the play by trying to run around a blacker. And then there was another play on the touchdown run where he basically just kind of played pattycake with with with Mariota rather than actually trying to tackle him or rather than actually putting a hit

on him. And so he certainly was not the same player by the end of the game as what he was earlier in the game when he was flying around. That's a that's a thing. I mean, I've noticed it going all the way back to the Eli Manning hit in week two, the Deshaun Watson hit as good as it was like and ninety nine percent of the time he's right. Jalen Smith is a guy who clearly thinks that like running full speed and lowering the boom on somebody's gonna put him on the ground, and Marcus Mariota

proved him very wrong on that run. You know, wrapping up is still a thing that you should probably do, and he really a boom on him on top. No, yeah, no, for sure. Well, I don't know. Maybe he thought he's a quarterback and that should be enough, but it was not. It's a bad look for a guy that's as physical as he is, because when Jayalen Smith tackles the way he can tackle, I mean, you know, he'll stop at tight end dead in his tracks. And so that really

was surprising to see that. I mean it looked like he thought it was two hand touch basically. Yeah. So yeah, all right, let's talk about the quarterback yesterday. To me, I think he was a highly inconsistent player for them yesterday. You look at his numbers, though, and his numbers say he had a pretty decent day talking about rain. Yes, Okay, he was twenty one to thirty one, sixty eight percent completion percent is two hundred and forty three yards, two touchdowns,

one interception, a ninety nine point three quarterback rating. So statistically, that's a pretty good day for Dakota. Right, That's that's not a bad day. But I think the two things that stand out to me most are the fact that in yesterday's game, in a game like that where turnovers are important, there were two turnovers at the Cowboys hat and both the turnovers were his doing. The interception where he threw the ball into double coverage and then the

the fumble that he had there as well. What did you guys think of of Dak yesterday and how he performed for this team. I think the way you led this off is proof that. And people say this all the time, stats lie because I mean, I don't care what I don't care what that says. He did not play a good game. He played a really bad game. Actually is as uncharacteristic and interception as I've ever seen from him, especially in the red zone. Just app I mean,

there's absolutely nothing there. Even if he puts more air under that ball, Amari Cooper is probably gonna run out of real estate. He did look confident in what he was seeing. I think, you know, he took five sacks. I would guess that on at least three of them. You're talking about him holding the ball four or five or longer seconds just either which you know I haven't gone back and watched the all twenty two. Maybe the receivers aren't open. Well, that's problematic if they just traded

away a first round pick for a receiver. But you still got to get rid of the ball. No, I mean you got to you gotta get rid of the ball, just little things. You know, people were killing him for it on Twitter and rightfully so you you scramble out of bounds and lose two yards when you can simply just kind of flick it over the line of scrimmage and lived to see another day. Just situational awareness, pocket awareness was not there. The decision making was not there.

And yeah, like I said, I don't ninety nine passer rating, no way. I mean maybe that's what it came to, but that's not what it looked like. And once again Cowboys were not able to get him involved in the running game. He had two rushes for eleven yards, So they really didn't find a way to make him or at least make the Titans defense have to contend with the fact that he and run by creating opportunities for

him to round with the ball. I mean exactly. I mean Marioda gets ten ten rushes for thirty two yards, you know, and that gets two. I mean that's I just don't understand when you have two weeks off like that, I mean, what are they doing honestly, what what are they doing to fix some of these things? I mean, where's the where's the end of rounds, where's the jet sweeps? Where the deep balls? I thought a Marie Cooper was supposed to come in here and stretch the defensive around

a little bit. I mean, how can you not get Beasley? Beasley got four targets, most of them were at the very end of the game. I mean, I just don't understand what they're doing. Um, you know, I I don't know. They They've they've got to absolutely the only thing they've got left to do is to change the play caller. I mean, i'd seem like that's gonna happen. Well, I know. I mean also, I don't know what what's going on. I mean, the fans are frustrated, you know, frustrated with

the quarterback. Jerry comes out today and says he's gonna get an extension. I mean that last night, that he's not playing on making any more coaching changes during the season, which would include the head coach, that would include the offense. He made sure to specify nothing is personal here with us. I mean, nothing's personal. We see these guys all the time. We see him on the plane. That's what makes it kind of tough for us. We see him walking in

the halls. I mean, I think everyone typically likes all of these people, but I mean, Dave gott to remove the offensive coordinator right now, they have to, They have to remove the play caller is absolutely atrocious. To go out in two weeks and do that, That's that's ridiculous. Dak Prescott, I mean Mary Ooder was picked what second overall? Okay, he can run ten times. I mean he's okay, you can. You gotta run, Dak. That's his strength, That's what he's

that's what he's good at. That will open up things for everybody else, not just a mooticum of creativity. I mean, how many, thank you, how many first down runs just right into the line, you know, how many? How many jet actions did we see, not even like not even talking about trying to get people involved on that, just the illusion and which how many times have I said that over the last six months, like give the defense reason to believe that it's going to be anything but

a dive right up the gut. I know this sounds like that we're just kind of nitpicking because this isn't a one of those premier positions. But the fact that they do not have a tight end, that's that's good at all. They don't really have it. I mean, if these tight ends were available, I don't know how many would be on a team. I really don't know. Maybe Schultz would because if you know, he was drafted and all that, but I don't know if the other two

would be that that's a problem for them. They don't have a good balance there because these guys can't block and they're not willing to block. We all saw them. I'm sure everybody saw the play on Twitter. I mean it wasn't just him, though there were there was a lot that was wrong that play. He's there. Everything was wrong with Sultz is there right? And it's like, okay, linebacker, Nah, I don't want him. He could take him. There's a guy in the ground over here. I'm gonna go and

see if I can touch him. Yeah, I'm gonna see it. Tire and needs help with this guy, and I'm just leave their middle linebacker to I don't know. You know, before the press conference, I went in there and sat down. I'm like, I swear to God, if you come out here and say we did some good things. We're gonna go back and watch the tape. Oh my god, Like again, I didn't do anything about it, obviously didn't comment out.

I'm like, no, that's a lie. That's a lie, because clearly, either you're watching the tape and not catching up on what is actually going on on the field, or you just don't care, or do you just not good enough. I don't know, but I'm tired of hearing those things because and I get that you have to say that, because it's like okay to comment on certain things, you kind of have to go back and watch exactly what happened. But stop saying that because you're not making changes things.

Oh there you go. You're not really making changes. You come back next week and do similar things again. Yeah, and you don't repeat the things that are working for you. So quit saying you're gonna watch the freaking tape and come back and do change things up. No, just say something else. But yeah, I mean, you're you're exactly right on that one. Because I was there in the press conference and it started off. I mean the guy just

asked him. I mean, the most Homer reporter there is, and he's just happy to be there, and he's really always bright side type of guy. He said, coach, what happened? And he said, well, I thought we did some good things. I thought they did some good things. Yeah, yeah, And he paused a little bit, and then he said, in really all three phases of our team false. What would broad us say to this man? You didn't do any good thing. You didn't do any good things. There's nothing

good about it. Scoring points in the NFL is not a good thing. A touchdown, fourteen points is not a good thing. I honestly believe that he needed to come up there. Hold on, you need to come up there and say, you know what, this was unacceptable. This was the one of the worst games ever. It starts with me. We had two weeks prepare, and it looks like we

had two hours to prepare. We played like crap. A lot of difference that we make changing what you say, I mean, that would make a whirl of different Don't we wear blue every day we come here and we just keep doing the same thing. And you know what, these fans are pissed off, and they should be. They should be pissed off because they've given this team a lot of support. And then they they're there every single time, and they keep rolling out this stuff. I don't be

pissed off. I honestly think that Jason feels like he's providing calm in the storm, like he's he's this steadying influence for fans out there to make him realize look and everything. It's kind of like you're on the Titanic and it's the captain saying, don't worry, guys, you hear the music. We're all okay here, We're good, right. The problem is that what it really tells fans, especially in

moments like this, is that he's oblivious. That's what fans take from it is he doesn't realize that the ship's actually going down, and he's not providing calm because they see what they see. They see a team that had enough tools to be able to win a game like that yesterday and didn't. So I think he's actually not accomplishing what he's trying to accomplish. He's actually doing the opposite. Have you seen and have y'all seen Animal House? This

is a bad room to ask, remain come all as well? Yeah, Um, I don't think Jason Garrett cares about what the fans think and that I think he I think I think he does. I think he thinks he's a steadying influence for the team. He's you know, like, I'm the same guy every day, no matter if it's good or bad. I don't think he gives a crap what the fans thing now. I honestly think that Jason, I think that that's the right. That's why Jason when he first remember when he first took over as a head coach, he

had the lectern. Yeah, he didn't sit at the table like he understands the image that he's trying to portray to the general public. He gets that as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, it is part being a not a CEO, because Jerry's the CEO ultimately, but it's part of being a figurehead in this organization. And he's trying to represent a certain image. And I think that when he says that he's trying to stay positive, he's trying to make everybody understand that, hey, it's what you

talked about last week. We're gonna keep pounding you. We're gonna keep one of the things. We're gonna be steady. And in being steady, he thinks that Eventually it's all gonna work out. The problem is fans aren't seeing that. Fans are like that only works for so long, and then it's like, Okay, we've been steady for a long time and the results are still the same. Now it's

turning into insanity. Nope, nobody's seeing it. I mean, shoot, I said as recently as yesterday morning, I was like, Okay, cool, Amari Cooper's here, and that's great. But what I'm really curious about is what that is going to mean for the opportunities that creates for Cole Beasley, Zeke Elliott, Michael Gallup.

Michael Gallup had a pretty nice day. Cole Beasley caught three passes for sixteen yards and most of those are on the last series a thing, and they forgot Zeke was on the team after the second possession, which again, I mean, I just again, I gotta watch the tape. I guess. I know that's important. I know that's important, but man, it's hard to believe that there was just nothing there for any of those guys. All right, let's take our first break. When we come back, I do

want to ask you guys the question. Jerry did make the comment this morning that Dak will be getting an extension. Ask you, guys, if you think that's the right move. Do you think you've seen enough to be able to say that you agree or disagree with that? Will do that? Woman? Come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio. If you're like me and you love, I mean, if you have a thing, then cutting the chord is scary. But then I found out I could switch to DirecTV

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tractor experience one for yourself. If this is my John deardealer dot com slash football Back to the Break, Welcome back. It is a second second of the Break live from the s WBC Mortgage studios. At the start, we're talking about the Cowboys loss yesterday. They lose to the Tennessee Titans twenty eight to fourteen. They now are three and five halfway through the season. Hmmm. Who guessed that that

was gonna happen? Yeah you did. Yeah, that was at your prediction before the year six and ten, Liar, I said, like, gonna I don't quite remember that, but hey, if you say it, I'll go with you for now. And so I'm proving wrong. I told Rob last night and I was like, well, I said, I said they weren't going to make the playoffs, so I feel pretty smart about that. But I also said they were gonna go nine and seven, which means that they would have to go six and

two the rest of the way for me to be right. Yeah, it's hard to imagine that happening right now. Sof Cowboys are. They're definitely gonna be battling uphill the rest of the season, you would think, And right now, I certainly don't think that wildcard is even an option, Like there are too many teams that are kind of sitting in that area, and especially teams that have beaten them in the NFC, So the only chance they would even really have would

be the division. They say they're only two games out, but just the way they're playing, it's hard to believe that they're going to really be a push and Stone. No, it's crazy. They're three and five. They will not be three and seven, and they have to really. I agree they're going to one of these two games at Philly at Atlanta. I don't know which one, and I know on papers something to look at them. But these teams aren't really you know, they're not setting the world on

fire either, you know. So I agree in principle with what you're saying. And that's what we've seen from Jason Garrett's teams so much in the past. But literally that's I said yesterday. I was like Jason Garretts twelve and two when his teams below five hundred. His team has been so good at home and then in all that's literally everything that is supposed to line up for a Jason Garrett team was there for him last night and

they played like that. So I can't sit here and I, like I said, I agree in principle with what you're saying, but I can't sit here and feel comf that they're going to win either. And you know when those in the years that they struggled to the years that they don't have their starting quarterback, yeah, that mean this is one of those years, even though they think they well

that that's a nice lead in before you. So I hate to but next four games are all inn FC and all against playoff contending teams, so we'll know real quick, like well, we don't have to wait. And one that might be the best team in the NFC might part is well, I don't know about it. I don't think you can say right now somebody is. They are certainly in the conversation as best. Yeah, they're definitely in the conversation with the best in the NFC. They beat the

best team in the NA on Sunday. I get that, but I don't know if that necessarily means they're the best. But they're right. They're one of the top two or three teams in the NFC, no doubt about it, no doubt about it. Yeah, and the Cowboys will have to play them, and it will probably be be a game that feels like a neutral crowd. Anyway, let's talk let's talk about that. But anyway, let's talk about dak Nick. You made the comment that, you know, maybe maybe they

don't have their quarterback. However, Jerry made it clear this morning that he plans to give him an extension. What do you think, Well, you know, depends on how long the extension is. I mean, what we're going to give him to him a day? Well what one year? I mean is it? It doesn't sound like he would say it like that. It sounds like he was talking about a major extension. And no, I don't think it's a good idea. I think the quarterback Again, I say this

because it's you know, you have to qualify this. I feel like we do. But UM really like him. I like what he's done, love his story, thinking everything he does everything the right way down to sound like Jason Garrett,

but that you know that's true. But he's bringing this team down, he's setting him back because he's limited in what he can do, and if they're not going to use them the way that they need to be using him because he is he is limited in the as a passer in my opinion, but he can do some other thing things athletically. They don't do that to me. They treat him like a passer and he can only

give you so much. But couldn't that be what Jerry's kind of alluding to there without saying it is After this season, I'm going to have an offensive coordinator that maybe can get that out of him. Maybe that's what he's thinking. I'm again, I'm putting words in his mouth because he never said that. But there are things about

Dak that we've seen that that can be successful. The question is is it a question of right now he's not playing well and if if that's the case, he's not playing well because of his own abilities or lack thereof, or because the offensive coordinator doesn't do enough to put him in the right situations to use him the right way.

And we've seen quarterbacks like that in the NFL, where depending on what system you're we're in and how they're developing you, that dictates how successful you're going to be right, I agree. I've seen you how to go to the root of the problem and that stars up there was what up there? Coaching clouds down there. Anyways, you have to get to the route as far as coaching you have.

That's the change I would want to see happening because right now, for me, when you started talking about Dak Prescott, yes, he's been inconsistent yet we've seen some good things out of him, but it's still hard to fully evaluate him when you know what the coaching is. When you know that the coaching hasn't been able to position not even just him, but even Zeke, the receivers, other players, they haven't been able to fully utilize them well and to

their advantage and position them in the right position. So to me, right now, I don't mind Jerry saying that, I think that I would like to see Dak Prescott under a different kind of management. I think that when it comes to a teacher, it's very important and it really makes a difference when you have a good teacher versus a bad teacher. And look at for example, Chris Rishard,

the type of thing he was able to do. He was able to convert Barron Jones into something completely different because he's all the talent, he has the experience and the knowledge to change that and make him flourished. So I think when you get someone in here like that that is able to take your strength and utilize them in a way and kind of cover up the weaknesses a little bit. You've made all the kind of changes

you could possibly make on the field. You've seen it in the past when Jason Winn was here, when Romo was here, yet the end result was nothing different. So I think stop making changes as far as players. Let's make the change of a coaching change there, because that's the only difference that I think would you would able to see something completely different than what we've seen right now. I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the experience, and we've talked about it

on this show quite a bit. When you have Kellen Moore as your quarterback coach, nothing that says that this guy can't develop into a really, really great coach, Because I don't like saying what people's ceilings are. The problem is the lack of experience and take out tell anyone of you guys, And that's for the listeners out there as well, take your own personal career, whatever career field you have. Where you are now is probably a lot more You're probably a lot more knowledgeable than you were

five years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago. There is something to be said for experience. And the fact of the matter is, when you're young, you don't know what you don't know. Right. You may think you have it all under control, but you'll look back five years from that and you'll be like, man, I missed that. I didn't really understand that. Experience didn't give me the benefit of being able to see this potential problem or how to solve this in a better way. Right, So

experience matters. And you look across this coaching staff. It's not just at quarterback. You look at the quarterback coach, You look at the linebacker coach, you look special teams coach, you look at the offensive line coach. Now, all of them inexperience. And that's not to say that an inexperienced

coach can't do a good job. It is to say when you have a coaching staff where you have four different positions, and by the way, a lot of those positions they're dealing with young players and they're all in experience, like they have never had that position before in their

entire career. You could be facing some problems from just from the standpoint of experience, right And so if I think for Dak, the biggest thing I see is right now, the person that's in his ear the most is a guy that doesn't know what he doesn't know, and again doesn't mean anything about the future of what he can become before right now, he doesn't have the experience to be able to know all the different things that hey, I might be able to tell him this, or I

may be able to do this. And I've coached a quarterback like this before, and I know I have to do it like this in order to get the best out of him. He doesn't have the benefit of that experience, and I think that matters right now. I don't disagree with you, but I just don't think I buy that as like the reason the things are the way they are. I think, I mean, I agree with Amber for the most part, just that more than anything, I think you

can win games with Dak Prescott. I don't think he's a I don't think he's in a scheme that really plays to his strength. Right now, I mean, you look at Marcus Mariota. Nick mentioned the ten carries for thirty two yards. How about the fact that damn near every pass he threw was based off of some kind of play action. I mean again, actions deception like getting people moving, trying to exploit mismatches in the defense. I don't see that stuff with what they try to do with Dak.

It looks very boilerplate and simple. And I feel dumb saying that because I certainly can't coach as well as Scott Linehancam, but it just doesn't seem like he's being put in positions to succeed. So yeah, like it really doesn't bother me to hear that Jerry Jones wants to extend Dak because there's more nuance to it there, you know, like Dak Prescott is not going to get an Aaron Rodgers deal, Like he's just not. And not to mention

Jerry Jones. Honestly, I listened to that interview. It honestly, Jerry Jones sounded defiant and he just kind of sounded like he wanted to say something to shut people up and just kind of like, hey, he's our quarterbacks, so shut up. He did. He didn't give any specifics. He didn't say when he's gonna do it, he didn't say how much money it's gonna be for. So I'm not really flying off the handle at that. But even if the Cowboys give Dak before your extension this offseason, I

don't think that's the end of the world. I think you can win games with him just not not playing and calling things the way that it is right now, and I think that is what needs it needs to change, more so than the actual guy throwing the ball. Well, you know that they brought in Amari Cooper, and one of the things that they've said about that is is that they've got their first round pick right now. You know, they don't have one next year. Obviously, their first round

pick is right now. So they're almost like building for the future right now. So if that's the case, and Dak is the future, then why not get to the I mean, why prolong this anymore? I mean, I'm not saying that you're going to find your coach right now, but but why continue to do this this way? I just think they've got to figure something now. They've got

to change the play caller. Something, they have to to to mix this up in a way because you know you're three and five, you do have eight games left. But well, and this is the perfect time to experiment with dust that kind of stuff. I mean, you wouldn't want to do it into like going into next year. I mean, if you're gonna have, like, for example, the play caller, let's say, okay, let's try out Jason Garrett

why he can do play call in this game? This is the right time to do it, I would say, because where you're standing right now of the season, you really don't have much to lose. You know, Garrett has always The reason why Garrett's been here for this is what his eighth year as the coach. The reason why that it's lasted that long is because every single time that it's he's at his back has been against the wall.

Every single time he's come through with flying colors like Coach of the Year or in twenty fourteen and then fifteen was bad. Now sixteen boom did it again? Last year. You could make the case, well, you know, nine and seven, you know you can, you could cut. But I think because of what happened with Zeke, I think they like you know, Sean Lee time together, I think they gave him people. People don't want to hear it, but nine and seven doesn't get you fired from very many jobs.

It just doesn't. It's why this stuff, which is why last night is significant to me. And I sound like a broken record. I don't care. That is a typical of what Garrett teams do. They typically your backs against the wall, you have a chance to climb back to five hundred, keep yourself relevant. They almost always win those games, and they didn't just lose. They looked bad doing so.

I think that's noteworthy. And that's why you know, I can't I can't go there with you and say, well, they'll find a way to win one of these games, because the history says they find a way to win this game, and they didn't. What they're showing us right now is already a typical, so it's hard to say anything is typical at this point. I'll take the words right out of Jerry Jones's mouth because I agree with him. He's you know, three and five sucks, But what's worse

than the record is what they looked like. You know, He's like, I'm not worried about being three and five. I'm worried about the fact that we played that way while losing, because you know, if they lose a shootout and lose, you know, if they if they lose thirty one to twenty eight and it's a heartbreaker, but they you know, Dak played grade and just couldn't rack them over the finish line. You talk yourself into beating two mediocre teams on the road. Yeah, but that's not what

they look like. So it's hard to really try to sell anything other than what you saw. You know, real quick, you get down there, you know, you need to get two scores, and you know, we've been talking about this team being so vanilla, and you get down there and then it's like, oh, now we're gonna throw Beasley a reverse where Beasley is gonna throw it to Dak in the end zone. And that damn near helpless, hopeless situation. Well that tells you how desperate they may have been

at that point that they're just pulling. Imagine how awesome would that be, I mean, just to play itself, if they would have made I mean, I don't know, but whatever, Yeah, I don't I don't know if that's that's that plays ever really gonna work. And there's a reason why quarterbacks aren't that tall or short. I mean, I don't know, you're not gonna you don't have room down in the twenty to fool a lot of people that that quickly.

But it was I mean, in fairness, yeah, I understand that, but it was it was definitely done in a different way. And you know, I just I don't know, gold Busy. It's a tough one because every single time you think, oh, a big game for him, and then you come back and then, like I really believe, if somebody wants to take him out of a game, they can. They can. He's not just the type of receiver that could just

kind of just fight through it. If that's their goal, take you out of the game, and that's what they should do. All right, let's take our final break. When we come back. I do want to talk about the offensive line. They gave up five sacks yesterday. But my question is was it the offensive line or was it dak We'll talk about that when we come back. This

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to be on the field with America's team. Find Steps and Hats in the pro Shop or a stetson dot com. Today. Back to the Break Welcome Back. It's the final segment of The Break Lie from the s WBC Mortgage studios. At the start, Nick tels a bit about times comfortable with the three and five record. At least you're gonna have good underwear. So Tommy John will make you as comfortable as you could possibly be. So go ahead and get you some Timmy John. They have it for men,

they have it for women. They can get it for yourself, Get it for your friends, maybe give them a gift card so you don't have to be awkward and like actually pick them out and pick the sides and stuff like that. Weird, but it would be a little bit, especially if you got it way too big and like if I gave you underwear, that'd be weird. Yeah, you don't want to get anything for like your wife or girlfriend and they're like hey, You're like, oh, I'm sorry,

I didn't know. Yeah, don't do all that, but just go to the webs. I have given Dave undowever because it was very awkward. No, it was very awkward and I'll never do it again. So yes, that fitcher. I didn't think it was awkward at all. I thought it was very awkward. Why because it was? They because I was going out store and I'm buying underwear that's not for me or my children. Like, that's weird. No, it's

not like it's literally like buying anything else. No, Like, it's not really not because you didn't get Tommy John and it's not like anything else. If you want Tommy John, you go Commy John dot com. Forward Slash Cowboys. All right, let's jump back in. Cowboys lose to the Tennessee Titans twenty eight fourteen. We've talked about a lot of different things. We did not talk as much about the offensive line yesterday.

They have. There's been transition there, probably as much transition there as any place on this team, because they change the offensive line coach now, Mark Colombo has taken over for Paul Alexander. Cowboys start off the game looking really good. It seemed like I know Nick you and I mentioned a couple times early in the game, like, man, Dak has all day back there. Zeke starts off the first two drives, like you said, Dave, he had what forty

yards in the first two possessions. So it looked like the offensive line initially was really like clicking on all cylinders. Then the wheels kind of fell off. At least they gave up five sacks. Kind of Uh, well, yeah, the running game just wasn't the same. Um, where do you put the blame for that? Though? Do you put it all on the offensive line? Do you put it mostly on the offensive line? Do you think Dak had up something or a lot to do with that? Where do

you How do you evaluate this offensive line yesterday? I think it's it goes the same as has it been for the last few weeks. I think that there's probably a conversation on the sideline like wait, wait, guys, what are we doing? Like just just let's get up there, Let's let's stop, Zeke. Let's make sure that that you know, we can we can get closer to the line. You're talking about the Tennessee sideline. Yes, I mean, like, let's let's not let these guys beat us on the outside.

I mean, they're not gonna throw a deep quarterback won't throw it that far. So let's just let's get up there close, let's shut down Beasley, and we'll live with whatever Cooper does to us. So I think it's everybody. I think. I still think it's the passing game, whether it be the quarterback throwing into them, the receivers that don't get open that well, it's that whole thing. Yeah, it's never gonna just be one person. I mean, Connor

Williams struggled again. We thought he might. Drell Casey pretty good player. You had a holding penalty. They had a hard time containing those guys in the middle. Lyle Collins struggled again, but Dak held the ball for an unbelievable amount of time on several of those. Some of them were busts, some of them are bad plays by the quarterback. I haven't seen the tape, but sure, maybe the receivers

couldn't get open again. Although that's super disheartening considering the firepower you added to your receiver corps during the bye week. But all that stuff goes hand in hand. I thought I thought Dak's pocket presence was really discouraging. But the I mean the offensive line certainly did not play, you know,

up to the caliber you would you would hope. I know that as the season began, we all assumed that when you had a rookie guy like Connor Williams that you're thrown into this line, that there'd be some growing pains. Have you, guys, gotten to the point now where you still believe, Hey, these are just growing pains. By next year, he will be a much better player, or you start him sour on the idea that he will be a

good player for the Cowboys. Not souring on that. I do think that he um, you know, it's one thing to play two different positions. I still think it would be it would be nice to see a full offseason with him playing guard. I mean, with with a guard's body. I think that he needs. He's young, he needs to kind of grow into that ull. He'll get there, I believe, But I'm not soured on him yet. I don't know if he's playing the right position for him. Maybe maybe

maybe he'd be better at right tackle. But if they're gonna make him a guard, just commit to it. And he needs that full off season. Yeah, I mean you want to see rookies arrows trend up as the season goes, and he Connor Williams has just he's been a straight line the whole time. I mean, he is what he is, and honestly that that shouldn't be surprising to us, because you can't improve what he needs to prove in the

six day grind of a season. You just can't. He needs to add strength, he needs to add size in order to be able to hold up against those type of players. And you mean, these guys lift during the season, but it's like a thirty minute session just to kind of you know, you're not gonna pump. Yeah, you're not doing real work in the weight room during the season. You're adding bulk, right, That is what we do the season, That's what the off seasons for um. So I still

think all things considered, he's he's been fine. He's certainly had his share of struggles. I mean, I get it, you know, move him to tackle, move by All to guard. Maybe it would work, Maybe it wouldn't. I hate the idea of throwing a new planet both of these guys after they've committed to this. I'm not convinced it would look a lot different, specially in the middle of season. Yeah, and so I just I think you just kind of got to stick with it and you are what you are.

I'm maybe you know, I've heard the idea thrown around Xavier Suaphilo has been on the sideline for eight weeks and you know, maybe you know, he's a veteran guy, maybe he could give you a better look, But I kind of doubt it. And I think I think Connor needs to play if he's going to get better. So I just think you're kind of you are what you are for eight more games, and I don't I don't think that's what's sinking the season though, you know, I don't.

I mean, I think Connor Williams has played well enough for them to have a better record than they do right now. Ye, all right. As far as Dak, I start thinking, okay, well, anticipation and reflexes only comes with experience. And then I started thinking of like ways to justified him in that aspect. You know, he's still young, he's still learning. But then at the same time you go

back and it's like, okay, you're in your third year. Now, those things shoes start coming in natural at this point and when you start seeing him hesitate, and then I start thinking, Okay, well maybe it comes back from the coaching where now you're just not feeling one hundred percent. Although he's a very confident guy, maybe you're just not

feeling one hundred percent confident and comfortable. If you don't fully trust the play caller and whoever's talking in your ear, then that's going to create some kind of hesitation in you and doubt yourself. So there's so many little things that play into this whole mess, but it's kind of hard to figure out at this point. That was exactly the point I was making when it came to the end experience of the guy that's talking and that's talking to him regularly is I think Dak this year has

been far more tentative than we've seen him be. I think he's been not as you know. There have been so many times this year where we've seen him kind of standing back there and you're like, pull the trigger, and he's just not willing to do it. And I don't know that we saw that as much a year before last, and last year up before the Atlanta game, you didn't really see a whole out of that either. And so it just makes me wonder if again, the experience of the quarterback coach is not a part of

the problem. I'm gonna throw something out there and also give a shout out to my dad. My dad is probably listening. He listens to us every every day. He loves watching us. Uh. He's a really good pool player. Okay, he know, he's really good. He's been in tournaments and stuff like that, and he knows how one shot leads to this shot leads to this shot. Lead. You gotta be three or four shots ahead if you want to

be good. If it's if your kicker just missed a field goal, it's up seven to nothing, are you gonna go four fourth fourth down on the four yard line? Are you gonna go for it? Probably not, you're gonna take a tip. But if it's fourth and goal from the one, you're gonna go for it. Yeah, I think so too. Go up fourteen nothing. That's the kind of crap that that that I think this team doesn't do well at all. It's first and goal from the four yard line, and you run a counter with all of

your linemen coming here. It takes four days to get there. They finally do and the defenses are fast. They get there that. Now you're on the sixth. Now you're gonna throw, and if you throw, now Dak goes a pick and they know you're gonna throw. By the way, at this point, you run north, you get the ball, and you get north, and you know, can we get That's the comptop this time I'm talking about about putting an antoine woods in there. Give me some beef because tight ends are not big

enough to do anything. Give me some beef. Your fullbacks versatile, I mean, I mean your fullback is a is a you know he's he's not a physical like fullback. It's more of an h back. He needs some beef to go north. Now it's second and goal from the two. I got okay, do it again, eat some beef. Now it's third and goal from the one. Now it's fourth. I mean whatever, Now Dad can go, let somebody push him from the back and you can score. But like it's first, that play lost the game for him, two

yard lost to Zeke, completely lost the game. You get a fourteen nothing on them. The way that things going, I like things a little bit different, But you gotta play two to three shots ahead, not just let's just run this counter play here. I mean, why it takes forever down there? Yeah? No, I mean they never, very rarely does it seem like they make a play call with the next play in mind. You know, it's very reactionary, and that's been the case. I mean only tangentially related.

But you see another misque with the challenges. You know, you just you challenge them, miss the challenge and lose the time out earlier in the weird that was a weird play. I didn't have a problem with that challenge though for some reason, because I I it was hard to see in real time and in those kind of instances,

it was a huge play. Gave him a first down, and so it's just to me, that's where I look at him, like, yeah, you could probably nitpick that one, but in my opinion, taking a shot at that challenge, it wasn't a huge deal. Tavon aust that had a catch a couple of games go, I don't remember the game. Right in front of Jason Houston down got hit out of bounds and the ball rolls out and he's looking at it like, well, I think the cat, So he challenges it. The balls rolling out and that's the reason

why he didn't get the call. Same thing on that play, Cheeto had the ball so it rolled into and so I think that's kind of what he thinks take a shot, right, Yeah, yeah, I tell you the play before that, though, and I agreed with the call. I don't think he really made the catch. How big? How big is that? I mean, because you just threw a pick and now all of a sudden you have a chance to get the ball back.

Jalen Smith had it back, you chanced to go you know, ten fourteen nothing again, Yep, I think that was a huge play in the game, those two right there. We didn't spend as much time as they're talking about the defense, but I think we have to spend at least a little time. Yesterday they gave up most points they've given up all season. They give up twenty eight. They started the game with two turnovers, which you're the worst offense that they've played this year. Maybe the Giants are worse.

But yes, I get your point. In the definitely in the running, definitely in the running. But that means But the other parts of that, though, you gotta remember, is that was not by far the worst quarterback that they've played, and you start looking at the quarterbacks that have beaten in the season, you can start seeing where when they play a quarterback that's pretty good, it's gonna be a tough day. And they play a quarterback that's not so good,

then they usually have a decent shot, right. And I think yesterday that quarterback and I said it to you, Nick, I think Mariota's a lot better than we gave him credit for. He played a really, really good game. In my opinion, yesterday, I don't remember saying that he's bad. He's I didn't say that either. It is wildly inconsistent, and today was Yesterday was a good day. The other trend is, uh, they have not done well against quarterbacks

that can get outside the pocket and extend plays. And that's not just I mean, thirty two yards is not going to break your back. Deshaun Watson didn't run all over him. But if the if a guy can extend plays, get outside the pocket, do things with his feet, or you know, make plays on the run, it's it's a true. It's a problem for them. Cam killed him, Russell Wilson played you and kill him, but he played well. DeShawn

now Mariota. Yeah, yeah, before we really get talking about that defense, which problem was on third down of course, but um, we might be overlooking like the real issue of the game because like one of the first tweets that I got from a fan was like, how do they expect to win with those bad luck blues? That might be something we needed dress. That was a little

bit Their uniforms look awesome. I like him, but that was weird to me because I don't know, I'm not used to the Cowboys choosing I was surprised unless it's maybe Thanksgiving. Usually, if they're gonna get the choice of what uniform they're gonna wear, it's gonna be the whites. So it's a little bit odd to me that they chose blue. But hey, you know, I'm one of the coaches said, Hey, the players love it. They love that. Get excited. They fired up at last for what about

a half a quarter? Yeah, they looked really good for that half a quarter though, They did real good. Yeah, well you did get to the point of the defense. You talk about third downs. That's probably the worst third down performance from a defense from this defense that we've seen. They were eleven and fourteen or the Titans were eleven and fourteen on third downs. There was one point in the I think early fourth quarter, maybe late third thing

was about early fourth though. At that point Tennessee was eight of eleven on third downs. And get this, six out of those eight that they converted were third and seven or more. You get to third and seven, you feel like you've done your job. You've held them on two downs to three yards or less, and the Cowboys couldn't get off the field on six of those eight. That is excuse there, But you've got that's where you need your best pass rushers. That's where that's where that's

where they're they're they're missing. Now. Daniel Ross played in an outstanding game. Yeah, look at his stats. It's unbelievable. And there's a there's a sack in there that you know. That was another huge play in the game, Tennessee calling that time out. Yeah, that's a forty six yard difference. That was ridiculous. DeMarcus Lawrence played really good too. He did a great game, which, yeah, I have a hard time faulting the pass rush they got to They got

to mariot to four times. Titans only average three point five yards per carry like they were active. They got a takeaway. I mean, as much credit as we've given them and as good as they've been, Like back seven was not awesome yesterday. What I mean, I I'm done. I'm I apologize to everybody. I'm not superstitious, but like I'm done, I'm not going to be dismissive if any more opponents. Because I sat here to the other I

was like, wide receivers are terrible. Like their wide receivers worked this second they did, they were they and I mean what their leading receiver only had sixty yards. It's not like somebody just blew up, but like they just made all of the important catches when they needed to. And I'd never even I mean Taywan Taylor Batson, Like who are these guys? I was really surprised by that. Can I play the host for just the second ask a question? Absolutely? Um, Well, Sean Lee play another game

for the Cowboys. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't, But that depends on I know Jason Garrett said it's

gonna be a little while for him. I mean that just depends like if he if he can goes to I R. I would guess not is he at that point where where Romo was when they finally say that enough's enough, where no matter how good a player is, Because I still believe Shan Lee is a really good player, but it's one of those situations where you just can't trust him to stay healthy and he's now getting hurt on very routine plays. He's just running and the hamstring pulls.

So is it just at that point where the Cowboys have to just say it's we just can't trust you to be hop's I mean, as long as we're being brutally honest, that's They didn't used to have that option, because the drop off and play was so severe, right, Layton Vanderesh and Jalen Smith weren't amazing all throughout that game. I mean we talked about Jalen everybody else, by the way, but the drop off is not as severe as it

used to be. You've got guys who can do that, and that's why you drafted Vanderesh in the first place. You know. But but before the injury, the touchdown you know Lewis Dion Lewis eighteen yards um that was you know, if you saw Sean Lee on that play, he couldn't get there. I mean, no, I get Lewis is a quick, fast back, but the angle he took, you know, it really wasn't that close. That was one of the few plays you really see where like wow, he just he

just couldn't make that play. Um again, we all love Sean Lee, but I just wonder it's gonna be a few weeks. Like you said, if this is a situation where it's three or four weeks and you can still bring him back, He's certainly he's a talented enough player that it's worth it. He can still help this team. Like, don't, don't come at me like Shaun Lee's just all of

a sudden, just this terrible football player. But he's not if I mean, if he needs to go to I R and what it's week it's week ten now, like he can't come back rights if he needs to go, I mean, I would not be surprised that you can save seven million dollars on the cap if he's not on this team. It would not surprise me. But I just I don't I need to know the severity of the injury. If it's only if it's only a three or four week deal, then how the season is going? Ok?

At that point, it's not even four weeks. Let's say they're one in three in that four week span, so they're four and eight, and the more games he's out, if these young linebackers are playing well as they've played most of this year, I know yesterday was not a good representation, but most of this year they've played really

good football. If they get back to playing really good football and they play good football while he's out, then it does start to beg the question, Hey, with another year of experience, are they even that much better next year? And do you really need to to take on having Sean Lee and not knowing whether you know at this moment the next moment, if he's gonna be hurt again, you just as soon glad to get a younger guy. Third fourth, fifth round, and you've got a lineback and

court you feel pretty good about it. I would not surprise me. So, all right, guys, we'll be back tomorrow. Something to watch tomorrow. We will. We'll get into some some talk of the Philadelphia Eagles. We'll have to jump right on that because we'll be back to Dave given us a scouttering report. We'll talk about the Eagles offense tomorrow to then for Nicki, even Dave Helm and Amber Garcia. I'm Derek Higelts and this has been The Break live

on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.