Talkin' Cowboys: 40-39. What?!

a behind the scenes Talking Cowboys secret. And we all have a ton of fun here and we have a little tradition pre show where we talk about we all ask Isaiah to get us fired up what he does in the morning, and we can't say what his answer is. Normally on air, we can't say that. But Isaiah, I want you to turn things around and I want you to ask me what I did this morning? Can you can you do that for me? M I think I think I mustered that up. Okay, Kyle, what did you

do this morning? Well? I woke up with a smile on my face. You know why, because the Cowboys gotta win yesterday. And not only did they get a win, but it gave me an opportunity to go drive down the street to my local water Burger and I picked up me a fresh bag of forty burger. Because the Dallas Cowboys half burger whatever of the Micha McCarthy era and the Dallas Cowboy got a forty burger and a win forty to thirty nine. They needed every single point,

but they got it. Wow, what a game yesterday. We're talking cowboys and that's exactly what we're gonna do. We're gonna talk some cowboys. I'm Kyle Yeoman's heck my Harrison, Rob Phillips, Isaiah stand back and guys, it's been a while now, it's been a couple hours to say the least, since yesterday's win over the Atlanta Falcons. However, the words still, it really seems like there's really not a ton of words to describe exactly what happened, because it was that

wild of a game. Rob, Oh, Yeah, it's wut whatt are you? Thirty nine? Are you kidding me? I mean, I was trying to go through last night and think of the games that I've covered or seen with the Cowboys that make you go, what the hell did I just see? And I only came up with two. In

like the last twenty years. You got the Robo game in OH seven where he threw five picks at Buffalo and they still found a way to win, and you got the fifty one forty eight game with Romo and Peyton Manning just trading, trading bombs down the field and the Broncos pulled out. Other than that, I don't think I've seen a Cowboy game quite like that. And man, did they need that because we talked about it during the week, and I think by the end of the week we were all in agreement and that was a

must win football game for your Dallas Cowboys. And now they're one and one going to Seattle. We'll get to that later in the week. Em I know you're ready to come on, rob let us enjoy this one. Go ahead, Kyle. I'm not gonna interrupt. I was letting you go. I was saying, Heck, I know you're ready to explode. Where are you at? I want you that energy from heckm Harrison Man, you know already, know already, you know already, you know already. Dog, this is crazy, all you Cowboy haters,

And I know you tuned in. I hate us tune into. I know. Second quarter, y'all's ready. Y'all knew the first quarter. Oh my god, Monday morning glory. I'm gonna be able to hate on the Cowboys. Oh, this is a dumpster five, and what do we do the most improbable victory at Cowboy history. I know, I know Rob, he has all the numbers, and I know Isaiah's gonna puntificate about this victory. It's gonna be eloquent ladies and gentlemen. But let me tell you something. Man, Mike Gallop boy just so dressed

the football ceedee lamb, thank you so much. Look, guys, I don't know. I don't know y'all trying to play it too cool. I don't want to play it cool. I'm telling you, and Dak Prescott, boy, what about my quarterback? I know all of y'all fun. Therefore, just a little second, y'all was gonna pile on the Dak Prescott hate. Oh but no, what do you do? What do you do? Four? Husband, fifty y'ards? Three touch? Come on dog everybody today. If y'all not feeling like this, I'm sorry, I'm no, I'm

not sorry. I said it's your turn. Thought, is you finish or is you done? Get me another set. I don't write I'm done. He's not done. It's we need to get him soundproofing. That's what we need to get. I am gonna give a congratulations to all of Cowboy Nation. Um, they took care of business. But the question I want to pose today, and I know this isn't gonna be received, well, no, it's not did the Cowboys win or did the Falcons lose? And that's the question I want to ask. The Cowboys

did everything in their power. They overcame insurmountable uh things that they had to overcome. Right, they had four fumbles in the first it was at ten minutes I believe it was uh, you know, Dak was he gave the ball away. You know, Zeke gave it away a couple of times, Paula gave it away. I mean, guys, they were just giving gifts away. It was dug on Christmas right out here in September. And then they you know, then they had you know, they had the tackles that

they had to overcome. Right, that wasn't even a problem aside from that first quarter, right McKinley got hurt. That was a very key portion of this game. Because had McKinley never got hurt, I think that we would have had some troubles on that edge because he was bringing the fire early on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, remember, and he said that that, Hey, I'm just throwing it out there. But all in off, regardless of all the things that happened, the Cowboys had to show up, and they showed up,

they took care of business. They overcame all the adversity that they faced early on, and they got the w and that's all that matters at the end of the day. There's a whole lot we're gonna feel it in terms of the gaps, Kyle, I'm throwing it back to you. Yeah, let's go ahead and throw the gaps. And that was a very anchora ish type of report there, Isaiah. Thank you for your contributions to the show. But I think when it comes to the Cowboys in the win yesterday,

Isaiah's exactly right. It wasn't one a Cowboys win. It was just as much a cow in Atlanta loss because there were opportunities left on the table for both sides. And the reason it's a memorable win is because of the hole that the Cowboys dug themselves in the first quarter just not taking care of the football. I mean, we saw uncharacteristic type of stuff. Whenever you Ezekiel Elliott fumbles twice in a row in a quarter, you know it's gonna be a rough day holding onto the football.

And you saw it later when Dalton Sholtz fumbled. You saw it when Tony Pollard fumbled. You had that feeling in the first quarter of it being a blow and it was at first twenty to nothing at the end of the first quarter. Then the Cowboys locked down after that, and that's really what we're happy about. It is the fact that you saw what this Dallas Cowboys team can be.

You saw the ceiling that second half. If the Cowboys play like that in the second half consistently for the rest of the year, you're talking about one of the best teams in the NFL, if not the best team in the NFL, because of how much they were able to stifle Atlanta and then get that offense rolling, which is what we've been waiting on. However, there's a lot

to be desired and there's not that consistency yet. There's a long way to go for the Dallas Cowboys to hit that mark, and that's why we're filling in these holes. But when you look back at yesterday's game, heckmon, you kind of look at some of the mistakes that were made early on on the offensive side of the football. What stood out to you the most, because there were plenty to look at early. All right, So I'll calm down now, Chris being all right, So it was so many,

I mean, where do you go? I mean, that was so the fumbles the first quarter, like you said, was it fumbled twice? It was like, man, am I in the parallel universe? What's happening? This doesn't happen? And it just look man, there was so much blame to go around on both sides of the football. But offensively, we just could not get into any rhythm the first quarter. Miraculously though, the second third four, I mean, it seemed to be that our offense started to get that rhythm,

the creativity that we've been looking for. Dak was on point with a lot of it. Man. There was some sporadic throws, but a lot of his throws. Man, he was on point. But you're right, Kyle, what an awful first quarter of football. Hadn't seen any that bad in a very long time. I'm not gonna say they had just three turnovers in the first quardet four because anytime you go for a fake punt at your own twenty

nine yard line in the first quarter. That's quite a risk right there, and they and they just they teed up another field goal for him. They spotted them twenty points. And to Heckma's point, like offensively, you know you're missing, you're starting two tackles, And it seemed like early on they were running their offense how they normally would at full strength. Absolutely they didn't. They didn't come out with adjustments.

And I'll say, guys, I'll be honest with you, I'm ready for the K ball Buffalo Bills like nineties offense right now with the Dallas count I'm ready. I'm ready to get just jack the tempo up and keep it that way, and keep it that way, because it was, like Heckma said, it wasn't until after they got down twenty nothing. They kind of were forced to go up tempo. And I swear every time they do it, it seems

like it works for them. And I don't know if it's because it's in desperation and maybe sometimes defenses are kind of playing back, maybe a little prevent but they like they, like Heckma said, they got a rhythm after that and I think that's that was a huge difference. You look at the halftime stats, they were pretty similar in total in terms of total yards, first downs. They just almost gave the game away in the first first quarter.

So yeah, to your point, Rob, I mean, just to answer this for all the Cowboys and Nason, whenever you go, know a huddle, it allows for your team to get into rhythm. Right, You're you're in the rhythm. So you practice two minute drills all the time during the week leading up to the game, and it just puts you in this rhythm. Up. Hey, I don't have to think that much, right, I could just play ball. So you get up, you line up, you run to play, and you go you get it right back on there. You

do the same thing. What happens is when you break the huddle and you go line up. Now you're doing all these presnap freeds. You're doing all these presnap adjustments, and you're having that you're playing this chess game prior to the ball being snapped, right, and it really takes away from your ability to just to go out there and just play ball. So that's why you see this temple really kind of pick up and some teams could do what the whole game. Some teams doing just in

two minutes. Some teams throw it in there just as a changeup, and obviously the Cowboys it works for them overall. As the offense, these guys obviously got out to a bass start, and we talked, I know, specifically talked about the defensive coordinator being one of the biggest threats of

the game. And I think that whatever it is they saw on film in terms of the Cowboys ball security, that defensive coordinator made it a point to practice punching the ball out during practice leading up to this game, because that's all they were doing. They were not concerned about securing tackles. If you go back and watch the film, these dudes were literally freaking Mike Tyson and this thing

out of out of Zeke's hands. So those guys were just throwing their bows in there like ludicrous, and they were getting the ball out and and you know, and and there to the defenses. You know, um, well, I know, it's like it's not getting on the defense yet. But on the off side of the ball, you had somebody who showed up in the form of Shultz. Shot showed up. He took care of business beyond proud of him. Uh,

there is. I know there's a lot of speculation in terms of whether he and Bill were gonna be able to get thee get the job done. He's definitely did so kudos off to him. He said, he said, hey, I had two drops in the opener and I had to do something about it. And we talked about maybe man coverage in this game, and he had it. I mean, he had some one on one opportunities and he took advantage of it. And they went to some quick stuff, you know, they and maybe they had to, but when

you got you're missing, you're starting to tackles. They got the ball out quicker and it did. It helped him get in a little bit of a rhythm going forward. Nine receptions a team high for Dalton Schultz, and he also had eighty eight yards in his first career touchdown reception. It was also the first touchdown that Dak Prescott has ever thrown against the Atlanta Falcons, even though he had rushed for by the time he threw his first one,

he had rushed for four touchdowns against the Falcons. He finally got one through the air and then added another rushing one later on. But I think that's probably one of the biggest things that stood out to me was not only the play calling shift. And we're gonna talk about the coaching staff and whether or not that it was a good coaching job or a bad coaching job here in the second segment when we come back, But really, when it comes to the tight ends, you don't have

Blake Jarwin. You're worried about that. You're worried about having a receiving threat like Blake Jarwin in the middle, and you didn't have that, or at least seemingly heading into the week, we thought it was gonna be the Blake Bell and Dalton Schultz show blocking. It wasn't gonna be a ton of involvement in the passing game. That was not right. Dalton Schultz stood up. He was in multiple big time key plays down the stretch, including the touchdown.

But whenever it comes to Dalton Shoultz, is that's something that he can be consistent in Isaiah moving forward. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I mean, he definitely he showed up. He showed up yesterday, right um, And and that's that's one game that we can credit it to. He showed up and he showed out. Uh, you know, every team presents his own challenges, right, every team presents his own challenges. I don't foresee him having

any issues this coming week against Seattle. I know we're not talking about Seattle yet, but you know, Seattle has some injuries yesterday that's gonna play into his favor. But I think that he'll be okay over these next few weeks. But if you face the team that has a really good defensive end, that's when that's when things get a little bit tricky. Oh man, you're gonna give us our twenty four hour rule, Isaiah, You're gonna let us celebrate this,

all right. So it's a care of business, all right, all right, the question Dalton shouts, can definitely do it. I was show impressed and so proud of the game that he had yesterday, especially with all the dirt that was thrown on him after the Rams loss. And also Bill Doozer. We had a Billdozer showing on third down. Man, he came up big. Both of those guys blocked just

superior blocking for both of these guys. But man, I mean, you gotta credit Atlanta's defense for just forgetting about Dalton Sholtz and just giving him an opportunity to just running those windows. And he did a phenomenal job of finding that space and sitting down on that scene. Man, Dalton shots man, what an amazing play played for him yesterday.

But man, I thought he had a I thought he had two touchdowns yesterday on that one where Dean Jones blew up Dak Prescott and the ball went to Daltons show. Dalton shows. I thought he made an athletic move and got into the end zone, but they said he was

stopped at the one yard line. You know, I looked at Dave Helman in the press box at one point and I said, you know what, I'm never I am never making a judgment off of training camp practice ever again, ever again, because of some of the stuff that we saw through two quarters. Maybe I'm like, Okay, this is not what I saw in practice. But Dalton Schultz had a heck of a training camp, and I've been kind of waiting for him to have a game like this.

I thought in the playoff game a couple of years ago, he did some good things and they drafted him. I know it was the fourth round, but they drafted him with kind of Jason Witten in mine, like a guy that can kind of do it all potentially, And I'm with Isaiah, like, you got to see it more than one week. But he has the talent and I think the overall skill level to be a productive tight end in this league. And they, man, they really need him

to carry it forward. After this game, both Dalton Schultz and Blake Bell according to Pro Football Focus, where the two of the top four graded players on offense and in blocking yesterday, and the fact that they also made an impact in the receiving game, I think that's something that could carry forward and really make you excited if you're Cowboys fans, because you've got the weapons. You've got Cede Lamb, you've got Michael Gallup, you've got Amari Cooper.

You don't need Dalton Schultz to have nine receptions in eighty eight yards. Sure, yesterday to get to the forty burger, you did need that. But you need them to be great blockers. You need them to be efficient on offense, and they were that yesterday, and I think that's the most impressive thing for me moving forward. But we'll be right back here with talking Cowboys when we return. Was this a bad coaching job for Mike McCarthy and where

do they improve heading into week three? We'll come back and talk about it more on Dallas Cowboys dot com. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson Hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and

your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. Want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand into the Dallas Cowboys Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Clack skincare favorite

plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com, slash Cowboys and use the code word Team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com, Slash Cowboys, the Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping. Esselora is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans seemore and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you

can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen Offer where you buy the latest generation of Transitions lenses with select Eslore lenses. You can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slur usa dot com. Selor seemore do more. We're backing the Tasty Treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor

Bad Cream Soda. Is he a new Combonet's music to My Ears? Okay, Doctor the time pass Music to my ears and mouth. New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda delas just do bad. Talking Cowboys. It is a Victory Monday edition of Talking Cowboys, and we're having a ton of fun breaking down the forty to thirty nine Cowboys win over the Atlanta Falcons, they get back to five hundred at one and one. Glad you're with us here on

Dallas Cowboys dot com. And guys, when it comes to yesterday's game, sure there's excitement and we're having fun, and there's forty burgers flying around the table. We all took a collective bite out of our forty burger, and sure it takes great twenty four hours right after that win, and it takes just as good as it did off fresh off the stove. However, we've got to break this down because there were things left on the table for the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. And I want to I want

to pose a question to you. And I've watched it the game back twice. Now I need to watch it more because I haven't really come up with a great discussion.

And maybe it's just because it is fifty fifty, but was this a good coaching job for Mike McCarthy and his staff or was this a poor coaching job by Mike McCarthy and his staff that ultimately ended up in the Cowboys just making the plays they needed to do from a players standpoint down the stretch and Rob I know you probably have a good beat on this, so we'll start with you which one is a good or bad? I don't know if you can say it's bad. I mean when you when you fall back that that quickly,

I mean, when you dig that deep a hole. I don't know if it's all on the coaches. I mean some of that is on players not making plays. I think you definitely can question, like I mentioned in the first quarter, the way they coached offensively early. You know, they could have moved the pocket. They could have done something to help Dak early. That would have prevented some of those mistakes, I think. And then you know, we

can get into some of the questions. You know, they had a couple of fake punts and the big one that everybody's talking about that I think we probably would have led the show off with if they had lost the game. Was the decision to go for two with what nine minutes left in the fourth quarter when you're down I think nine points, And so I mean if they lost the game, it would have been two straight

weeks of what is Mike McCarthy thinking here? And I don't know how you guys feel about I think it comes down to whether you embrace analytics or not, because what his clear answer afterwards was, I want to know. I want to get that out of the way and then know what I have to do late in the game to try to tie the game up. I don't know. I'm of the opinion that you try to extend the game as long as you possibly can and don't put yourself in that bind potentially right away. That's just me.

But I'm not necessarily a huge analytics guy, or at least not in that situation. Isaiah, go ahead, Isaiah. Well, my good comrade Rob over there already has touched on the decisions that I'm going to address, one of which there, I guess there's really three decisions. There's obviously a way more than that, but there's three primaries right there. Rob just touched on. It was a fake punt, right the first fake punt where the our punter had didn't have enough arm to get the ball to the gunner, which

I think was a very bold play. But I think that it was a well scripted play and a well scheme play. They just didn't execute it right. So I give them that one. Yes, I like that call. It is very bold, is very risky. But I liked the call because in all my years of playing I played six years of professional football for four years or four I guess five years of college football, I've never seen

that play. So that was awesome. They just needed to throw the ball, they needed to catch it, and they would have been a first down and everybody would have been like, oh, fal, so you're awesome, all right, but they weren't. Okay, So that one I agree with. I like that call. Now as we go to the fake punt with the run, no, I don't. I don't like it. I think, if I remember correctly, I think we needed five yards or three three five or three yards? Got

he got three yards? Topsy? So you so you snapped so yeah, so you snapped the ball back three yards to your personal protector, if so he can run eight yards in order to get the five he needed. I don't like that call, right, I don't like that call because you literally go backwards to try to go forward for more yards than you actually need it for the

first down. So I don't like that at all. And then Rob you already touched on his decision to in the fourth quarter with five minutes left to go for two. I really don't like that call. I was. I was watching a game with Kyle, and I was in total disregard. I didn't understand. I was in total disarray because why would you put yourself your team in a situation where they now have to score twice possibly instead of only having to score once. And I think everybody's in agreeance

with that. I was not. I did not. I didn't like that call whatsoever. I think he put himself and his team, especially his defense, in some very peculiar positions, and luckily it turned out. But yeah, it very easily. We could have been sitting here talking about how how he just screwed the team. I said, I think the words you want to use is ballzy. It was ballsy. Coach said it, and he said it. I mean, how

do you walk with those things, coach? Because that is man So the fourth the Gopher two, right, let's go start there. It's not that I don't like to look the play itself. I thought Ezekiel Elliott was doing in between the tackles and then you a toss play on the goal line. It gives Atlanta's smallest defense an opportunity to catch Zeke on the outside there. I just didn't

like it. It didn't like the play. Um whatever the analytics show for running that, I guess, And all the times that you've seen watch football, you hadn't seen a coach do that, especially knowing that now you need nine points and there are no nine point plays in football, and then you would need and on sidekick, and oh yeah, as David Hellman pointed out, their percentages for on sidekicks is not that good. So I credit Bones Fossil on that. But at the same time, they couldn't have known that

that was actually gonna happen. But then the fourth and the fourth and five. The only thing about that is is guys, put your if you're gonna go for it like that, put your offense back on the fields. Your office would agree every put those guys back out there. That's the safest bet. I just didn't like that play. But at the same time, you're getting your doors blown off. You're looking to change the momentum in the game some kind of way. And Chris Jones on the first you

got the look, it was perfect. Come on, don't just throw the ball out. It's a little bit of arrow, that thing a little bit and c J good, Hey, se j made up for every mistake he made by getting all side kick. I'm telling you that he could do no wrong in the DFW mental plex because man, that onside kick recovery was amazing. And Gregg the leg that on side kick was like a spindle top. I mean, I've never seen anything like. I've never seen anybody do a onll side kick kicking the ball from off of

the turf like that, but perfect. They set it up perfect. And thank you all of the Atlanta Hawks guy, I mean Falcons guys that just watched the ball. Yes, thanks so every safe that. I watched dan Quinn's postgame press conference with Atlanta just to see the explanation on that, right, because c J. Goodwin told Nick after the game, like, I just knew we were gonna get it, because nobody's ever seen an onside kick like that. It looked like it looked like a putty, looked like a golf put

instead of an actual bat. And actually what dan Quinn said, and I don't know about this explanation, but what he said, oh, our guys know the rules. They know that you can grab it before ten yards. But the front three on the hands team are taught usually when it's a high bouncer to block first and let it go to the second level and then go get it. But you forget your assignment if the ball is right there, gonna pick

it up. I just couldn't believe that, ra ra. Let me, let me, let me clear this up so that everybody out there understands, because I've been on many many hands teams. Okay, you're if you're on the front. Yeah, if you're on the front line of the hands team number one, you have some cohona's huh okay. So so if you're on the front line, that means that you're a dog, right, you are the first line of defense. You have two jobs, right, two jobs. You either are going to the old school

right when the guys can run up. Right, it was a big time collision. Those guys are coming at you. Your job is to protect the guy behind you, which is usually the best hands on your team. Oh, by the way, it just happened to be Julio Jones behind that gentleman yesterday. And number seventeen is the coprint I'm

talking about specifically. All right, So number seventeen and his crew up there on the front line, you either are going and you're taking the head off right excuse me, it was football, but you're taking the head off of the gentlemans that are coming at you right on the kickoff team. Or you are simply jumping on the ball

like it's a grenade. Okay, you are just taking the grenade, and you are putting your back to the kickoff team so that your rest of your team could then jump on tile on top of you and pile on top of you. Said that nobody could strip the ball from you underneath the pile. Those are those are your two jobs. Actually, just like a two and a half point job. If the ball came hot, your jobs will let the ball go past you, let it get to your guy Julio,

and then you go make contact. That gentleman did none of his assignments, and I'll be surprised if he still has a job today. Well, and also you look at really Atlanta in the situation that they had going into it. They had called the time out previously, they had called the time out going into that on site kick. They had time to thought think about this, they had time to see it. And it's also not the first time.

It's the first time that Greg Zerline has made the kick like that, and they called it the watermelon kick, where you lay it flat on the ground and then you hit one side of it so that way it curls around. And I've heard the curling reference where it looks like the Olympics and you're you're sitting there with the brooms and stuff. What it really reminded me of was was an one or not an on site kick.

But when you lay down a bunt in baseball and it's down the third base line, you lay that bunt down and the third baseman's crashing in, but he knows it's not gonna have a play at first when he came and pick you measu morized by it because you're waiting for it to go foul, but instead it stays right there on the line, and then it's an infield base hit, a bunt base hit for whoever the batter was that laid it down. That's what it reminded me of.

Maybe they were waiting for it to go ten yards and maybe they were just so stunned by it sitting there, That's what I'm saying. I'm saying they don't they were scar and by the way it was, it was not number seventeen, just so you know, yeah, called him out, called him out. The kid. They were scurr Okay, not scared. He was scurr all right. What he was scarred of it was he was scared. He was not confident of fact that he can hop on the ball and he

can actually secure it. He was afraid that if he had he gone for the ball, the ball was squared out onto to the Cowboys side, and that they would recover it. Well guess what, buddy, you did none of it and they still recovered it. Dude, I was cracking. I was cracking up right in that story last night because I'm doing my research, like about the rules changes about the onside kicks two years ago, and every damn headline I read was onside kicks impossible Now, no way

you can get an onside kick recovery anymore. And I mean they pulled it off. Give credit to we talked about coaching. Give credit to John Fossil and Greg Girline because that that is a style of onside kick that they kind of experimented with when they were in LA together and they've never used it in a game. They practiced it a little bit and I'll be I'll be damned if they didn't. What did you call that? They call it the watermelon kick? They because it's a flat watermelon.

It was. It wasn't the first or it was the first time that Arline had tried to attempt that kick, but when they were in LA, the punter actually did that one time against the Cowboys back in twenty eighteen or twenty seventeen, one of those two years they've showed it against the Cowboys before. It didn't work out. It ended up going out of bounds, but it ultimately didn't

work out. This time it did, and thank goodness it did because it was a fantastic play and it's one that won't be forgotten anytime soon for the Dallas Cowboys as they went at forty to thirty nine. When we come back, let's talk about the defensive side of the football. That pass rush left a lot to be desired. We're gonna talk about how they can get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks because that is legal in the NFL, and we'll talk about it next when we come back. I'm

talking Cowboys. I'm Jay Novachik, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. I was the guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you, Visit a John Dear dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider

of your Dallas Cowboys. Slur is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur Next Gen Offer, where you buy the latest generation of Transitions lenses. Would select Slur lenses, You can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare

professional by visiting Slur usa dot com. See more, Do more. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Baba cream soda? Is he a Newcombonlet's music to my years? Okay, doctor music to my ears and mouths? New doctor pepper and cream soda? What delas just do? Back half? I want to use what the pros use. How about the official men's skincare brand

of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Black skincare favorites plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys the Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping to

Talking Cowboys. It's the final segment of Talking Cowboys on a Victory Monday, following the Cowboys first win of the Mike McCarthy era forty to thirty nine. The Cowboys get the win over the Atlanta Falcons. We've got our residence super Bowl champion Isaiah standback. Are Cowboys insider Rob Phillips and Heck Harrison with you as always I'm Kyle Yeoman's

and man the defense. They spotted twenty points because of the offense in that first quarter, and it was really kind of they were on the field all quarter long. They just didn't get a chance to get a break. You're going up against one of the top offenses in the entire NFL. But there were still plenty of things that the Catali's defense didn't necessarily do right yesterday, and there's a reason why there were thirty nine points up on the board. But whenever they needed to make plays

down the stretch, they did so. But heck, when when you look at this defense, what's the biggest thing that stood out to you that needs improvement moving forward based off of what we saw yesterday? Oh my god, we have to generate some type of pass rush. That's just got to happen. We didn't get a lot of pressure. We didn't get any I don't believe we even had a sack until the fourth quarter. And so to the fourth quarter, so Mett Ryan was very comfortable. We didn't

throw him office square at all. But I think we discovered that we have a middle lineback and Joe Thomas, who had an exceptional game. I mean, I know we could talk about the faults in it, but man, I thought forty eight played pretty dog on good out there. But we have to generate. We have to generate some type of pass rush. Tristan Hill again show flashes in this game where he could be dominant. I think he pretty much on the third and nine blew up a

play for us man. And just overall, I think the one part of our defense that we thought that we were going to get together, the defensive line, it just hadn't been there yet. We've seen flashes, but they haven't put a complete game together yet. And to Isaiah's Isaiah's credit, Tray Bud Diggs by himself or julioh my god, there was a point where you just had to cover your eyes, just said, oh my god, Rookie, Oh god, rookie. Please no. But just on that plast pass from Gage, I mean,

it's just the football. Gods. You'll probably never see Julio pass like that that hits him right in the hands ever. Again. Yeah, so on the defense. But before I go in, listen up, everybody,

kudos to the defense because Cowboys Nation. In case you guys didn't know as much as you guys want to talk about Dak Prescott throwing the ball for four hundred and fifty yards as much as you want to talk about Cde Lamb catching it for over one hundred, two for over over one hundred, and Shultz and Sholtz almost getting one hundred. You almost had three, you know, three receivers, you know slash tight ends get over one hundred yards.

Great job, offense. But the reason why you guys were in position to do that is because your defense kept you in this game. They were put into some terrible situations early on versus a very formidable offense, a very formidable, formidable offense that has a ton of weapons. So this defense allowed for Dallas to get back in the game. Yes, there was thirty nine points, but shoot, they had the ball on the thirty yard line going in three times in the first dog on a quarter. So what do

you expect? Right, So, as much as people want to trash the defense, and yes there are some things that need to be trashed about the defense, these guys gave the Cowboys an opportunity to win the ball game. So kudos to the defense. Now, now we get to the details. Diggs I told y'all earlier in the week. Don't do it, don't do it, don't put this. There's trial by fire

and there's trial by death. And had Julio Jones not been nursing a hammy injury that it was a very apparent during the game, right now, making any excuses, but that was not one hundred percent Julio, and he was trying to tough it out because he knew how important that game was to his team as well, so he was really trying to push through. But Julio wasn't one hundred percent. Julio dropped what we all see as as one hundred percent Julio catches, right, he doesn't drop those

kind of passes, right. They schemed it up. Diggs got burnt at the line of scrimmage a number of times, right, I know, the one that we always talked about is the one with Julio. But he got destroyed at least four times that I saw where he tried to get a jam on the line of scrimmage and these guys literally just ran by him. So he has to get better, and he will get better. He's young, and he was playing against some vents. Not only did they have Julio

freaking really wit Ham. And when when I talk about this receiving corps that those guys that they just face really is a dog. Let's not let's not disrespect him. He's a freaking dog. Now. I mean he's fast, he's quick,

he's savvy, his routes are impeccable. So we don't have the defensive secondary to match up against those guys man for man, And when they had to face each other man for man, it exposed the crap out of him, right, So all in all, the defensive second that the secondary has to improve upon their technique to be able to handle receivers like this because going into next week, it doesn't get easier. Okay, so it's not gonna get easier every week. You're gonna face a number one receiver every

single week. So we have to figure that out. Until you, guys this point, the defensive line, oh my goodness, we have to figure it out, right, we have to figure it out. They got it. They have to get some kind of pressure because you're not gonna be able to sit back and allow these quarterbacks in this league to sit back here and throw the ball and Joe Thomas, that's hey, that's the heart of your defense right now, whether you guys want to believe it or not. Joe Thomas,

it's the heart of your defense. He has been the most consistent player over these first two weeks. He is bringing the fire. He's popping people in their mouth. He's walking around like, guess what, this is what I do every plays. He's not excited about all the plays. He's confident, he's doing his assignments. Y'all need to pay attention to du Yeah, I wrote I wrote down Joe Thomas, Brandon Knight, and Dalton Shows. You talked about next man up, the guys they needed to step up. I thought did a

pretty good job and Joe, for sure. You guys hit on the pass rush, I mean I think they had. I think they had six plays explosive pass plays down the field over twenty yards. I think Cowboys had seven. But Matt Ryan had too much time to set his feet and survey the field and make his reads for a lot of the game. Now, there there were moments where the defense rose up and made plays. I mean, forcing him to throw the ball away before their final

field goal. I think it was Everson Griffin and Alvin Smith that in a way that helps save the game right there. So they did make some plays, but they've they've they've got to be, you know, more productive with the pass rush, and it was you know, it's concerning to see DeMarcus Lawrence limited with his snaps in the

second half. He barely played in the second half. He had a knee injury early in the game first half, kept playing through it, went to the medical tent at one point in the second half, and I think I only saw him for a couple of plays after that and then he went back out. So you need to be full strength there. To your guys point about Digs, it looked like Matt Ryan was looking for him on a lot of occasions, you know, with Calvin Ridley, with

Russell Gage, not even just Julio. But he also came back and made some plays and he's gonna be better. But I think they've just it does start up front and the pressure. Probably they're going to look back and say, we needed to be more productive in that regard. First also, Rob there's a ton of miss assignments early on, yes, and that led to like Hurst's easy touchdown, right, So those things gotta they have to be shared up as well. I'm gonna I'm just gonna go ahead and assume that

they're still getting used to know Ryan's defense. So those guys got to figure that out too, because you can't give up those easy plays. You just can't put yourself in all situations. Yeah, you look at some of the grades on Pro Football Focus, and I'm looking down at right now, but Joe Thomas was the best defender who played more than three snaps. Actually, Bradley and I was the highest graded one. But Joe Thomas, of course playing

seventy five snaps yesterday. DeMarcus Lawrence only played for twenty eight and he played well. He had good He at least grade wise, had solid pass rush and tackling throughout the course of the game. But whatever it comes to not having DeMarcus Lawrence and Rob I'm not sure if you've heard any updates here. It's so tough getting these COVID injury updates because of the lack of access to these teams. But have you heard anything about DeMarcus Lawrence?

And if he is not good to go moving forward, at least you have some depth at that position, right well, I think to me it was encouraging that he was on the field and did a little bit in the second half. I just know they're gonna take a look at it today and see how he's doing. Sam with Cheeto, by the way, I think he hurt hamstring on a punt block attempt I think in the fourth quarter and he didn't come back. So now you're looking at your secondary two. You just got Jordan Lewis back, but you

got Anthony Brown on IR for three games. So you hope Cheto can make it back this week and be fine. But yeah, that the injuries are ridiculous, and really across the league, man, a lot of top guys went down yesterday, really unfortunate, but hopefully with the Cowboys came out of it relatively okay and not a lot worse than you

were before. Yeah, hey, rob, let me ask you man, And that's not before A lot starts to be made of this as far as Tank and just him changing his stands from you know, handing the ground to a bicycle uh stands and just saying that that may that may change his game a little bit, because we know Tank has been a guy that's had his hand in the ground. How much credence do you give to that move? With Tank now going just in his game, going to

a bicycle stands. In Nolan's defense, that's a great question. You know. I saw John Owning, who I really like his work with the Morning News. He said, batask two point stands. It's something he's got to continue to work on. So I don't know, I said, do you see a difference with it and the way is it affecting his play at all? I don't know if it's If that's what's what's the testament to his a piss play right now? I do know it is a change for somebody who

hasn't been in that position before. It's to stand up now and come out of that off of that stands no different than it is for you know, a youngster to go you know, when they're running track from a stand up, you know, from a two point stands all of a sudden getting into blocks. It's different, right, you have to you have to get accustomed to it. So, um, it's something that he can learn. He's a professional, he's the top one percent of the one percent. He will

figure it out. And if he doesn't figure it out that I'm sure that paycheck will remind him to figure it out. Yeah, yeah, And I think whenever it comes to DeMarcus Lawrence, it hasn't necessarily just been the two point stands. He's not necessarily seen the same kind of dominant success that he had earlier in his career, at least a couple of years ago, prior to the contract.

I still think he's the same player. I just don't necess certainly know when we're gonna see that same kind of production, in that same kind of oomph from DeMarcus Lawrence. And hopefully it comes soon because that pass rush absolutely needs it. But that's gonna do it here for Talking Cowboys, our first victory Monday of the twenty twenty season. We'll be back tomorrow, nine thirty am Central Time. It's fans on the fifty day. Bring your fan questions, get them

riled up, good, bad, ugly, let's do it. Let's answer those questions. We'll break down the Cowboys as we start looking ahead to Seattle Week and the Seahawks on the horizon, as a trip up to the Great Northwest is on the horizon. But as for today, for heck Ma Harrison, for Rob Phillips, for Isaiah Stanback, I'm Kyle Yeoman's special thanks to Chris Beam in the back. We'll see you

tomorrow here on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club m