Mick Shots: A Little Bit Better

the Cowboys fall in Philadelphia on Sunday night. Mickey Spagnola, it's a new month, It's the month of November, and there's a new opponent this week that is unbeaten in the National Football League. That would be the Pittsburgh Steelers coming too at and T Stadium. But Mickey, we have so much to talk about about last night in Philadelphia. Yeah, absolutely, Bill. You know, the Cowboys I thought going into that game had a script that I thought they needed to follow.

First and foremost, the defense needed to step up and prevent this offense. With a rookie quarterback starting his first game, a seventh round draft choice on the road Sunday night, three practices with the first team to not ask him to put thirty points on the board. The defense did that. They held the Philadelphia Eagles to basically fifteen points on their own. I thought the other thing that needed to happen is they needed to get a couple takeaways. Then

they needed to sack Carson Wentz. They did both of those things, provided four takeaways in the game, four sacks, six quarterback hits. So they did their job. The other things not to fall behind by more than one possession. They were able to do that. And then I thought offensively, they just needed to use those two tight ends a lot,

use some misdirection plays. They did all that. The unfortunate part is they just made a mistake or two on offense that ended up costing the game, along with two horrible calls on the same play, and then there they are losing twenty three to nine to the Eagles. But they at least given themselves a chance, a chance one or two plays differently to be able to win the game. So, as Mike McCarthy said, you know, it was frustrating, a

tough game to lose. He felt for his players, but he felt like it was a step in the right direction. And I think when you're sitting there at two and six, you know you just gotta celebrate small steps in the right direction, and I thought at least this game provided that, especially defensively. Yep, it was a step in the right direction.

And I think obviously, here we are at the halfway point of the season, and here for several weeks now, especially since the Dak Prescotte injury, things have as far as expectations go, things have had to be tempered for this season, and so you're building towards the future really, although, yeah, going into last night's game, you're a half game out in the NFC East, and coming out of last night's game, you're a game and a half out, and I think that makes for a good situation for the team as

far as being able to say, hey, there is something to play for. That's one of the good things about being in this NFC East where no one has taken control in the division. But I think as media and fans that I think that you look at things that they can build on for the future. Uh, the team can't give up on the season. Fans obviously have, but I think that it was a good step forward last night. And there's a reason that the Eagles were able to

emerge with a win in that game. They had a game they otherwise would have no business winning if the Cowboys had any experience whatsoever at the quarterback. And not to hang it on Ben to Nucci, he couldn't. He can't help the fact that he's only had three practices in the NFL. I mean literally, Uh, he's had three practices with the first team offense coming into this game. No offseason, no preseason games, no reps whatsoever. And uh, and that's why the Cowboys had to take the approach

that they did. Uh. As far as their game plan on offense too, Yeah, absolutely, well. Listen, ever, you're here, Everson is here. I've been here, I've heard I heard you, Spags. You sound so sad, you sound this small man. Come on, I'm gonna step off of my pessimist stool and get on my optimist you go, all right? Ever, can I say doomsday defense is bad? Baby? Can I say that and have you and have you believe it? Can I say it and have you believe it? As I watched

the game yesterday, I was with my family. We had a great time yesterday. Just really expecting so much worse. I mean I really was so as the game progressed. You know, I'm up out of my off the couch when we're getting the interceptions, we're getting the turnovers, the sacks, you know, the completions. I see the razzle dazzle we got going. And man, I just really felt good watching that game yesterday. Now that's you have to consider where

I've come from, where we've all come from. We were so low that anything would just perk up my spirits, and it did. And so I did have a good time watching the game, of course, until you can kind of see what was gonna what was the inevitable throughout as the as the fourth quarter started and we started to wind it down, I was just really happy to see, you know, Diggs, as much as he's still going to have his problems as any rookie dB is gonna have. Good to see him get that confidence of just being

able to catch the ball. That was a tough ball to catch. It could be considered, if you're Philadelphia eagle, could be considered a punt, you know, because he threw it so far down the field. He was just hoping for something to happen after being under the rest all day. I'm talking about Carston wins and for Digs to come up with that catch, that was a pretty good catch,

showed his ball skills. And you know, anytime you finally get an interception and you make a play like that, that that fuels you, right, It kind of gives him. I think he can stick his chest out a little bit more this week. Of course, the touchdown came or the big play came on him as well. But talking about not just one man having a good game, but the entire defense actually tried to play well as a unit. I love the way they attacked the run. I love the way they kept went on the on the on

the on the run as well. But I mean, as I kind of step over to my pessimistic stool once again, it's not let me play some hell of a team. You know, let's just be real about that. These guys were known to make all of these mistakes before this game, and they continued. Carston Wins continued to make some bone head mistakes. That really shows what a desperate quarterback he

is without a lot of weapons of his offensive line. Yeah, best part on the thing is as he brought up the name of Everson Walls at the discussion of multiple interceptions in one game. Uh, he became the fourth teenth Wow, he became the fourteenth Cowboys player in history, the fourteenth time in Cowboys history that they had a player with

more than one interception in a game. Now the most was three terrence rookie years and his rookie in his rookie year, Terrence Newman had had three, and then everybody else had two, including Everson Walls one, two, three, four times, and it looks like all four. You're wrong, what, Mickey, You're wrong, You're wrong. Everson Walls had two interceptions in a game five times in his rookie you counted the employ one of those games was one of those games

was more important than a regular season game. It was the NFC Championship game. He had two interceptions rembers that season. We're counting five. He got one for the thumb in the NFC Championship game as well. And you know what's crazy about that? Uh, it's funny that Digs got his on a prime time uh night because I think, I think because they weren't doing it of course in the until the modern era came, so to speak. I think I have more interceptions on you know, uh nationally night

televised games. Yeah, right, I got more of that than anybody else in history. But of course, you know, Mary Riffer wasn't playing on Monday Night because they didn't have Monday Night at the time, nineteen seventy. Yeah. Yeah, that's just a modern that's just a modern ara a stat that I'd like to hang my head on everyone. Well, what I want to know is why did you get all those those two interception games in your rookie and didn't have any more? What the heck he finally stopped

coming back. Okay, they were picking on the rookie. Good answer. I was waiting, I was there. They just wouldn't come at you. You know. And that way, Mickey, that's why Byron Jones never got any interceptions. Go at throwing in him. Yeah, absolutely, And that was and that was he had so many interceptions early. And you know though, I think the last time, um they had somebody Sean Lee had the last game

in twenty fifteen, he had those two interceptions. Uh. I believe it was at Indianapolis right when they beat the Colts. Well that was his rookie year, his ten, yeah, twenty ten,

his rookie year. Yeah. And that's the amazing thing is is the amount of time in between the multiple interception rookie season, so Sean would have had his in twenty ten, and then Terrence Newman had his three pick game as a rookie, I guess at oh three, and then I think he had to go back to I don't have the list in front of me, Mickey, maybe you do, but it goes back to nineteen ninety or or before

that the most recent since then. Out of the outside of those two for a rookie for a rookie, they had the Rod Jordan they had they had as a rookie, but I think Bruce Carter won one year, had two, Sean Lee Uh had a couple, and then Jeff Heath was the last one I think that had multiple UH

interceptions in a game. But you know what the weird thing is is, I went back and looked in six of the last seven seasons, the team leader in interceptions only had two, and this guy had two in one game the other The only exception was Heath that one year had led the team with three interceptions, but other than that, two has been the most and he got it in one Mickey. Yes, Mickey, we were halfway through the season and the team only has three interceptions, two

of them came last night. Well, they got the team leader right now. R You you could have gone this entire segment without bringing that up. We're talking optimism here, Come on, Bill. They had four takeaways. Try that's why, that's why we need to be optimistic about this team right now. It was the first time of what happened. It's the first time they won the turnover differential since the season opener. I believe it was one plus one. They had one takeaway against the Rams, so that was

a step in the right direction. Most they've had, but they that's the most they've had and well, I know, well two years ago probably, I mean, yeah, they had to be the last time they had four turnovers. It could be the two thousand Uh, we have to go on back. Do we have to go back to two thousand and sixteen for that? For that? Didn't I say, Mickey that they had four takeaways against the Eagles last year?

I thought they did have one that was more recent? Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, I think I saw that in the notes after the game. I have to look it up there. All right, Mickey, you alluded to it. So how about the one takeaway that was the killer play for the Eagles? That resulted in the touchdown. You alluded to the fact that there were two things that went to cow against the Cowboys that should not have gone against the Cowboys on that

particular play. Yeah, they they They drove down to the Eagles twenty one and Duke Riley there linebacker on the line of scrimmage, steps into the neutral zone and there's no call. And the Cowboys, as Mike McCarthy pointed out, we got an early snap because there was offsides and there's no call. I don't know how they missed that, and when they showed it on video replay, he clearly stepped on the line with the line where the line

of scrimmage was and there's no call. Okay, Now they come with this blitz and the t J. Edwards comes clean. No one touches him, he hits Denucci. The ball comes out, there's a scramble for it and Vinny Curry is laying on his back holding the ball on his stomach as Connor Williams is on top of him. Play should be dead, right, Then the ball gets ripped out, it gets kicked backwards and then McLeod picks it up and runs for a touchdown.

And I'm writing in my notes. As he's running down the field, you know, unabated, I'm going, okay, this is coming back. This play's over with or there's a flag out there for off sides and neither neither. How does that happen? And they had an opportunity to look at the play. Could they not see the ball resting in his grasp? What happened? What happened on the review because because Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth were talking about it, they were looking at it. I never heard watching it

on television them say that they were. They were reviewing it. Obviously, all scoring plays are reviewed. Maybe they don't have to make that announcement. But all of a sudden they're saying, okay, this is gonna be reviewed. They got their own analysts who comes on and says, yeah, it looks like he's got possession long enough, this is coming back. And then all of a sudden they're showing the two point conversion and there was no announce and then from a broadcast,

from a broadcast standpoint, they didn't even explain it. They didn't even question that. They went back to it to acknowledge exactly at all. Right, maybe they didn't wanted they thought they were wrong, they were right, and then analyst was right, can we can we challenge? So we can't challenge. No,

that's you can't challenge. It's a scoring play and so any scoring play is reviewed from upstairs and so so they don't have to make the announcement that it's being reviewed, uh, from upstairs, but they need to call down and say we need to review the gun with the ball. They should have They should have stopped it. They should have stopped it and reviewed it. But apparently they didn't. At least, I mean, there was no there was no delay like

the fastest review ever. Yeah, because there was no delay like they were holding up the two point conversion. Because see, when we're here watching it, we can see a live feed and then we see the TV feed, And so I'm watching the TV feed and they're talking about how, yeah, that looks like, you know, it should have been down by contact, a ball should come back. And then I'm looking at the live feed and they're lighting up for the two point conversion and I'm just going, whoa, whoa,

what happened? I don't think they ever reviewed it? Yeah, they never did, and so they made you know they were talking about it in the booth, but they never they made two mistakes on one play, two mistakes on Yeah, as they continued, no one in the booth or anyone ever made reference to those mistakes. Again. It's almost like they just wanted to move past it, right. It was like, oh, it doesn't matter this, you know, the Cowboys are about to be two and six, six point game. Who knows. Okay,

they recovered the ball. The ball probably was recovered around the thirty I don't know, thirty five, but they still had to It's still fifteen to nine, you know, it's still a ball game's right, plenty of time for a winch to throw another pick. Yes, absolutely, if he had to write, if he had to, might have been a pick six this time. Trey Wall may have taken it to the house. That would be great too. Yeah, he's perfectly capable of doing that. So all right, we're just

getting started on Go ahead, Mick, now, go ahead. This will take too long, okay, all right, Well that's a great tease right there. Mickey has something he wants to say coming up next here on mix shots. Hey, they're Cowboys fans with type cleaners at home. Pickup and delivery. Cleaning your clothes has never been more convenient. Simply sign up at your local store, set out your dirty clothes, and one of our ty Cleaners professionals will come directly

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of your Dallas Cowboys. Back back to Mick Shuts. Don't miss your chance to get tickets to see the Cowboys at AT and T Stadium this season, as they are coming home to take on the unbeaten seven and oh Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon at three twenty five. Then the Washington football team will be here on Thanksgiving Day. It's the forty nine Ers and the Eagles in December. A limited number of tickets are on sale now. Get

yours today at Dallas Cowboys dot com slash tickets. Yes, a chance to shock the world on Sunday afternoon at three twenty five against big night beaten Steelers, who are seven and oh for the first time since nineteen seventy eight. And you know my theory, we're coming back with the go ahead. You know my theory on that the more games you win in the row, the closer you're out of losing, more games you're losing a row, the closer you are to winning exactly the percentage of even This

could be our moment. We're going to bring back the memories of Dwayne Thomas. We're bringing back the memories of Hollywood Henderson. I want to see some real dogs get out there and play this week. Man. We could we could salvage our reputation with this game if we just not just play well, but win. And I don't know if you guys, if you guys watched that game or now, But you know, I understand Lamar Jackson's ability to run

to football. But as a team, Baltimore ran for two hundred in in uh sixty five yards, ran for two hundred and sixty five yards against that They were just running right through their defense. I don't I don't know how you're saying Baltimore could lose that game other than they turned the ball over. So you're saying that the Cowboys, if the Cowboys just give the ball to Zeke and Tony Pollard, they might be able to drive down the field. Oh but wait, there's a wide receiver pad a reverse

pass instead. That was my other play that I was going, all right, you want to go to that now? Sure? Go ahead. Early third early third quarter, Cowboys are running the football seven straight times, six yards to carry. They go forty two yards in seven plays. They're getting it

down into field goal position at least second. Let Cox hammering at Fletcher Cox behind the Cowboys multiple time Pro Bowl offensive guard Zach Martin, time and time again, and second and eight at the twenty eight And what's your call, Mickey, I'm probably handing the ball off. Not what's your call, I'm handing it off to get a shorter third down play. But no, the Cowboys had to reach into their bag of tricks and hand the ball off to Zeke going one way, and he hands it to Cedric Wilson going

the other way to his right. He looked like he was getting the ball in his throwing hand. I'm not sure who he was supposed to throw too, but he probably wasn't open. And Fletcher Cox, Terrence Steele, does a big whiff on the line of scrimmage and and Cox comes in and drops Wilson for a ten yard loss. Ten yard loss. So now you're trying to have to kick a field goal because you're probably not picking up

third and eighteen. They gained I think two yards, and they tried a fifty two yard field goal that took a right turn before it got to the uprights. I mean a right turn almost ninety degrees. Now I don't I know, the wind was blowing hard and it was gusting, but that was the weirdest looking kick I've ever seen. And so now no three right off the foot spass. It wondered just it didn't take a right turn. It immediately came off the foot and went right. That's a slice.

He was probably trying to kick it just like he did at the end of the first half, which was the mine drives, screwball, knuckleball, whatever it was that went through. Never got more than twelve yards off the ground. It looked like and he and because of the wind, he uh, he had to kick it like that in order to get it through to from fifty nine yards and maybe from fifty two. He decided to kick it the same way.

And that's what happens when you try that. Oh that back in my golfing days, when the winds blowing like that. In my golfing days, when the winds blowing like that, you have to hit a wind skimmer. He kind of hit that drive low right, so he didn't get up in the gusts. That's my grounder. My grounder comes in very good right then, and on days like that. All right, we're getting away from the point. But anyway, the point

is the play cost him a reasonable distanced field goal. Uh. So you the three you didn't get, and then you set them up at the fort twelve seven lead right right, and you set them up at the forty two yard line and only had to drive fifty eight yards for a touchdown. So you went from possibly going up as Bill said, twelve seven if zerline makes the field goal,

to now you're trailing fifteen to nine. And it was like, I understand what they were trying to do, and they probably thought they had set that play up, but again, you got to remember who you're relying on on the

offensive line. And the worst part was, and I don't know if you guys went back and looked at the play when Steele missed Cox, he kind of went forward and he was standing there in no man's land about five yards from the line of scrimmage, is kind of looking around like, well, what do I do now, and it's like, no, dude, it's too late, Mickey. The worst part of it is you're playing with a quarterback who's got three NFL practices under his belt. You're down there

inside the thirty yard line in field goal range. The only way you're winning this game, you're gonna win a field goal battle. You cannot count on being able. And there's nothing against Ben da Nucci. I think he's probably got a great future in this league. But he's got three practices under his belt. You cannot count on him to lead you on touchdown drives. You have to kick

field goals. When you have the opportunity to kick field goals, you're down there at the twenty eight yard line, keep himmering away, and if the drive bogs down, you're in field goal range, and it sets the tone for the whole rest of the game if you're able to kick that chip shot field goal and make it a twelve seven league. When the Eagles come back and get their touchdown and two point conversion, they're only ahead of you.

Buy three points instead of six points. So the next time down, when you're in scoring position again, you're not trying to score touchdowns. You're just trying to kick field goals and you have a chance to win the game. That's how you win a football game when you've got a quarterback with three practices under his belt. And it could even go better than that, Bill What if? What if it goes better than that. Let's say you go down then you score a touchdown, or you say you

kick a field goal. Who says that Philadelphia comes back down to scores? They might feel more pressure to call an entirely different game. Plan which might put them in a desperate situation. Keller Morris thinking, just like you, Bill, we didn't really want to put our quarterback in a situation to try and make a play down there so close to the red zone. So that's why he ran the play. But as far as I'm concerned, you don't need Cedric Wilson or anybody with a jersey number that's

not in the twenties. So you should have had either number twenty one a number twenty continuing to tote that rock, continuing to tote that rock the way we were doing it. My son and I was watching the matchup between Zach Martin and Fletcher Cox. Zach's killing this dude man. Fletcher Cox was taking plays off. He was gonna take a playoff on that play if it wasn't for the for the whiff that a spage was talking about and the reason still had nowhere to go, no one to block

because everyone else was food on that play. There was only one person to block, and that was the one that he just missed. Now, as I continue with that, you've got this athletic guy in Wilson. He comes around with the ball. If he could have just continued to out to not allow Clocks for Fletcher Cocks to outflank him. He could have chucked the ball, as far as I'm concerned, continued to go towards the sideline, give a little bit more and if nothing else, you could just throw in

their complete pass. He did not have to let Cox tackle him on that play. As far as I was concerned, He's much better athletically than what he showed on that play. He should have gotten away from Cocks on that one. But even said, even all that said, even all of that said, you continue to tote that. Why we're gonna get closer and closer, continue to pound them and do what we gotta do. You know what the problem is with offensive coordinators, freaking egos. They killed me. They don't

want to say, oh, we just ran the ball down. Well, that's not showing any ingenuity as far as they're concerned. They always want to show how smart they are. That's why I got fifty seven inceptions on these clowns, because they always feel like they have to do something spectacular.

Stick to the script, stop being cute. That's the offensive coordinators for you, right, And that was the second time they wasted a possession because the second possession of the game, after they recovered the fumble, if you remember, they were firsting goal at the four, first in goal at the four, they hand the ball to Zeke and cam Irving gets smoked and Zeke gets dropped for a three yard loss.

He missed his block, just totally missed the block. And then it's second in goal at the seven and Steel gets beat by Graham uh And and he another sack and a fumble. So you can't wait when when when you're offensively challenged? And Donucci said it after the game, he said, the way I look at it, when you crossed the fifty, that should turn into points. At some point, you got to get points. And they crossed the fifty eight times. Uh and and came away with no better

than field goals. And then and then they had the two fumbles. Uh that that seriously cost him in this game. Hey, Mickey, if if Bill Parcels was watching that game last night and ever said you know this as well as anyone he was pulling his hair out with, I mean because he's probably had flashbacks to Tony Romo his rookie year out of Eastern Illinois. And Okay, what if I could

just see Parcels looking at this game goal. Now, this is an example of what if Tony Romo had got thrown into a regular season game his rookie year without any experience, coming into camp as a fourth string quarterback. This is what would have happened with him. And I guarantee you Parcel's philosophy in that game would have been, we're kicking field goals. Every time we get a chance

to kick a field goal. We're not giving this guy an opportunity to get sacked, fumble, throw a pick on the even down there with second and goal at the seven yard line. The goal is we have to at least to get a field goal, and don't put don't put this quarterback in harm's way of getting either sacked and fumbling or throwing a pick on the ends on

the goal line. You know that whole That whole sequence and when he was getting sacked reminded me of the nineteen ninety one game when the Cowboys had to go to Philadelphia the end of the year and if they won the game, they were gonna clinch a wildcard playoff. Berth Troy Aikman was hurt the game before against Washington that Burline came in and saved the day and they won the game. So getting ready for the Eagles, Jimmy Johnson went to Burline and said, I don't care how

many incompletions you throw. I don't care what your quarterback rating is. Do not take a sack because that gets their defense wiled up. It'll get this crazy crowd riled up. You just throw the ball away. And I think Burline might have finished the first half like four for twelve or something four for thirteen, but he kept throwing the ball away. And then the second half the worm turns and they end up winning the game and clinching a wild card playoff berth. But do not take a sack.

And that's should have been right now. I'm looking up right now Burlin in that game. But go ahead, Everson. I was gonna say, just to speak to plus sales mentality, San Francisco Championship game and camp at Candlestick. At Candlestick, UH fifteen to thirteen, we won the NFC Championship game. Matt Barr five field goals to winning and there you go, the game winner, the game winning with no time left on the clock. So you're exactly right about plus sales.

And in that game, um that Mickey's talking about, Steve Burline was nine out of thirty one for one hundred and forty five yards in the game. And that was the Kelvin Martin punt returned game, Hugh, that was the to me, that was the biggest play in the Jimmy Johnson era, I mean in the history of his it. I mean you could go all kinds of other players, but that play right there, attorney the round for that team.

The final score was twenty five to thirteen, but that was a ten eight Philadelphia lead going into the fourth quarter. And then Kmart had his eighty five yard punt return to give the Cowboys the lead at fifteen to ten. Get this, Get this, Everson. Then Roger Rusak kicked a field goal for the Eagles to make it the score, but made the score fifteen to thirteen, just like the

game that you're talking about in San Francisco. And then the Cowboys in the closing couple of minutes had a touchdown past the Irvin and a Ken Willis field goal to make the final twenty five to thirteen. But that was the exactly what type of game that should have been. Last night where you have to value the football because Carson Wentz was not valuing the football on the other side, and that gave you every opportunity to win that game. It's plays like that that turned things around. I mean,

it makes you think and played differently. And that's what I keep looking for for this team. Just give me one play. One play can add to something else. Can they add to something else? And these guys won't have to feel as if they're losers right now. You can lose games, but you don't want to feel like one. You want some optimism. You want some momentum that came up did it for them? They need to have some some moments where you could do it for this team

as well. All right, we continue at more mix shots here in Just a Ball It. Hey, they're Cowboys fans with Ty Cleaners at home pickup and delivery. Cleaning your clothes has never been more convenient. Simply sign up at your local store, set out your dirty clothes, and one of our tight cleaners professionals will come directly to your home for a totally contactless experience. Your clean garments will be returned promptly the next scheduled delivery day, so skip

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call it Miller Time and Cowboys Nation. Here's to the only beer of the Cowboys, celebrating sixty years of greatness. Here's to the original light beer. It's Miller Time, celebrate responsibly twenty twenty Millier Brewing Company, Fort Worth, Texas. Hey cowboys fans, ready to spice up your next watch party? Bring Yokierro guacamole and be the game day hero. The Yokierro means I want, and we know you want. Great, fresh tasting, ready to serve guacamole for your home gating

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choosing one of the Star District restaurants. For information on delivery, takeout, curbside, pickup, and dine in availability, visit the Star District dot com. All right, we just got about seven minutes left on this Monday edition of Mix Shot Mickey Earlier, you are about to say something, and we ran out of time in that first segment, And I'm not sure where you were going with that, but I want to give you

the opportunity to say whatever is on your mind. You mean, I'm supposed to remember something from a half hour ago. I know, I know I was gonna say, I know what it was when they purposely took the safety on the snap to the punt. So we're sitting there watching the game upstairs, and Derek Eagleton and myself we're looking at each other. I'm going, oh, this is going to be a disaster. You know, Chris Jones, he's got that

abdomen injury and he's not punting the well ball. Well, they're gonna get this ball at about the thirty five yard line right And then the next thing we know, they snap it way over his head and I'm going, LP, did he just do that? And then it dawned on me what they were doing. They didn't want to give them the opportunity for a short field field goal. They said, hey, let's just take the safety, give up two points, and

then kick the ball away. While they weren't going to kick it away, they came up with that pooch kick to try to basically an on side kick, and you know what if those guys would have cut them. It was a great idea try at all. Yes, yes, I love the no quick attitude. Man. But you know, as you look at this game, the coaches they're doing all they can. I mean, they've had some time to prep

with this quarterback. They put in some razzle dazzles and that was really really thought provoking in regards to what they did with the pooch kick after the safety. But what I was impressed with was the play of both of our defensive ends. I thought Alton Smith and Randy Gregory. I thought they came in and played well. I loved Gregory's hustle. He never did give up on any play. He never was too far out of position. Of course, there was some mistakes made, but just the optimism that

came from from the way that this defense played. I know Philadelphia's having their problems offensively, but when you look at just the recognition of the players themselves, it's not just about who you're going against and how badly they're playing. It's about the recognition of your team. We saw our defense do some things that we hadn't seen all year long.

They were respectable against the run, they weren't too far out of position on pretty much any play that night, and those are the things that you That's how our board is set right now. But we're building on that, and I love the momentum that's possible coming from this game. You got interceptions, you got turnovers, you had pressure, you had pressure. I mean, Mike Nolan had to feel real good about how his blitzes was showing up and giving Wentz problems. So that's something that we can carry on.

I don't care who you're playing against, Big Ben Daniel, I don't care who it is. Pressure is pressure, and it makes it makes you react a certain way. I'm hopefully that's gonna be good for the Cowboys. You know, they started the game off having trouble against the run. The Eagles had fifty four yards rushing in the first quarter and I'm sitting there, gone, oh, here we go again,

another two hundred yards rushing. Right. Well, they finally shut it down, stayed in their gaps, and the rest of the way they only gave up in the next three quarters sixty five yards rushing. So they figured something out. And you could tell the more latent vander esh was playing, the better he was getting in rhythm of what was going on, and he started making plays and it's starting to look more like his old self. And then Sean Lee comes in. Um oh, I printed it out. I

don't remember how many plays he ended up getting. It wasn't that many. Four four four snaps, yeah, four snaps, but but he showed, he showed that, you know what, he knows what's going on out there, and so it really helped I think him on the side game, you know what, Mickey, Mickey, I think I think that they

made him. They knew that he wasn't going to play that many snaps in the game, and they basically just got him out there for one series, really, but I think that they they felt like it was valuable to have him on the sideline to help out those linebackers with his preparation and so forth. And because in this COVID, with the rules with COVID, he can't be on the sideline if he's if he's uninjured reserve. But as an active player, obviously he's on the sideline and he can

help out. Maybe I'm overstating it a little bit, but I think I think there's not a coincidence that they made some adjustments during that game and taking another way from the coaches either. It's just that preparation that Sean Lee has and he's able to coach up Layton and Jalen as they make adjustments as the game goes along. You saw it, Yes, yes, absolutely, I forget in order for linebackers to play well, you know, we have to continue with our reasons here. The linebackers were able to

play well because the defensive lineman kept them unoccupied. So as long as that relationship is there, your linebackers are going to be even more effective. And as long as though defensive ends are setting the edge correctly, then you that's less ground that your linebackers have to cover. Your inside linebackers have to cover as well. So it's all about coordination and working together. It seems like they've got that going once again. Not a very talented team, but

I don't care who you playing against. As long as you do your job right, you give yourself a better chance against no matter how good the offensive team is. And let's remember this. It's the other thing that I like. Okay, we'll go ahead making Oh I thought you were getting ready to end the show. Make your point and I'll end it with mine. All right. The other thing that I like going forward as we go into the second

half of the year the moves that they made last week. Now, Everson Griffin, he wants to play on a team that's contending for a playoff spot. We'll see if Detroit is that team for him. But with releasing Don Terry Poe and Daryl Worley, I want guys on my team the second half of the year that are competing not only for this year, but for next year two. And I

think that's what they're getting at. And I think that's where you're you're going to find this team playing with more passion on defense, especially because you're gonna have guys on this team that are playing for contracts next year two. And I think one and the one thing that I think we need to remember going forward. I know the Cowboys are two and six. Philadelphia's only got one more win than they do. M that's it. So you're telling me leave it or not, We're still in the hunt, baby,

And it ain't over until it's over, babe. It ain't oyain nicky and they're gonna make another trade by tomorrow afternoon. Listening to Stephen Jones, it sure didn't sound like that they were actively looking for anything or wanting to do anything. And he kept bringing up the impact those trades have on your salary cap. And they know they're gonna need money next year. So if anybody looks at the salary cap and go, oh, they've got all this money this year,

it's not about this year. It's about the next year going forward. So you have to be careful. And I think they've got a decision to make on the punter. Um. You know, they they had the guy on the practice squad, and I believe he was able to go to the game. He wasn't at the game, but made the trip. So you never know, a hundred the punter might end up being the punter if if, if they decide Chris Jones is just trying to kick through this injury. Hunter Hunter,

miss wonder. He may not have to wonder much longer because a part they don't know it. But it's all right, it's a rhyme every time. All right. That does it for mix Shots for this Monday, we'll tell you all about the trades at the Cowboys make tomorrow at one thirty here on mix Shots, Go Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club