Talkin' Cowboys: A Puzzling Season

you okay? No, he's not. Oh he's going headphone less. Oh he's left the noise cancelers on and the battery ran down. No, yeah, I want to come sit by me. I'll stay in my spot. Had a power through this. We're off to a roaring start today. Yes, we hope everybody had a happy Holidays. Yes I did. Did you did? It was fun? Get some rest? I know, no rest, no, no rest. It was all about family and yes that's the good thing about is Christmas and my family. We had a good time. Yeah. I think I wore myself

out on Christmas Eves. I believe it. Christmas Day was kind of recovery day. What did you do on Christmas Eve? Oh, we had a bunch of people over, did a lot of cooking. I had a glass of wine or four or five. That's the nick I know some veno. Well, hey, i'd love it to you. I'd love to hear you do the jack black jack reading. I got it? Well, no, no, oh like that after five? Probably better that happens right? Rate more well, and what about you tip the same thing? Family?

It's nice ever since You're right, it's nice to take just a break from this season and kind of put things in perspective. But we're back at it today, and the team is back at it today, practicing outside on a Thursday, even though not going on the road. Their day out there, back at home on Sunday. Yeah, nice, little overcast, but preparing for those Washington Redskins. We'll have Bill Jones back tomorrow. Sometimes it's good to get out of your routine, change things up a little bit. I think,

so kind of refresh. Let's hope it works. I just want to work it needs. They have all these remedies, but it doesn't work. Everything's yeah, we want to lay this out for I mean, okay, guys, you guys are okay, that's all right. You've been having the tough day, you've been having the tough year. It's okay. All you need is just so vast and you'll be good. That is not it? No, not so far right. Wish that was

the game. These guys need to be focused, and it doesn't look like they get a higher level of intensity than anyone around these holidays. It doesn't look like they got any healthier either. By the way, Well, let's go through it. This list is pretty long. Vacation I needed two patents. It looks like, yeah, I'm looking at vacation

for them or allay? I mean? Is that the mindset in this in this arena, that would be That would be like the last slap in the face, because, as I wrote yesterday, the biggest fear should be the motivation should be that you don't win and the Eagles get beat. That would scare me to death. I know I would be out there trying as hard as I can because I don't want that on my legacy of You could have won the division title at eight and eight and gone to the playoffs, but you didn't beat the three

and twelve Redskins. Wow, because all year they've been saying to us after every loss, we control our own destiny, still control our own destiny. Well you don't now, but you could. Isn't that sad that the last weeks and weeks and weeks of this every week you right, we've said that every week and when it was like a broken record. So when you guys sit there and you go to the press conference, doesn't that sound like a broken record? Yeah? Done everything he said, sound like a

broken record. Done every post game interview, sound like a broken record. Yeah, I mean you took it, took you and I think I got this right. Fifteen games to fall out of first place? Wow? Is that in the first place the whole time? Right? Or tiedelievable because when they were three and three, I don't think the Eagles had a winning record, so that no one else did either. That door has been opened for such a long time. Yeah, just waiting for the Cowboys to just walk through and

shut it behind. And I'm not sure when they took over first place last year at the end of the season when they finished ten and six and won seven of their last eight, so at some point they moved into first place. So it's been a while since they haven't been in first place, and that that team's destiny seem to be the opposite of what this team's yeah destiny,

because they were winning all those close games. He talked about it, eight out of ten were one score games, and this year they've lost everyone that's been a one score game. God, this lost six games, right, So do those things even out? Like, you're not gonna win them all and you're not gonna lose them all. But over a course of two seasons it evens itself out. You get about fifty fifty on one score games. And once again it goes back to you've got the players, is

it the coaching? Do the players of this caliber? Do they need to be motivated? As you spoke of just a minute ago, do they need to be motivated? These are players that are getting paid a lot of money. You got a lot of linebackers something I don't think some of the highest paid linebackers maybe in the NFL, I don't think so. No, he's not making much. Vander esh was on his rookie deal, yes, and san Sean took a pay cut to come back and play this year.

It's just him like serious, like he's making two million b bo. I'm sure he was thinking he was going to do it because this team has the potential right to be off the charts. Such same thing with Whitten, Right, he didn't take what he normally makes to come back, but he thought this is I'm sure he thought the same thing. Oh ten and six, you know, if I come back and help out here we go. Hey with Witten, he I think he kind of missed his little opportunity

that he he went into the booth. I think that's when things to change for him all of a sudden. Uh, you know, his hairline goes and he's back with the cop and think about it, the cornerbacks aren't you know, making big bucks? Oh no, right, the safety the only guy that's got paid. The only guy that got paid

on this defense was DeMarcus Lawrence. You know, Quinn was on a you know, uh like a five million dollar base and then he had a a bonus for seven and a half sacks, so he got that ten and a half and I think he had a per game bonus also, so but still no one was making like ten to twelve thirteen million a year on this team. I forgot what Byron Jones would have been on his fifth year. Um um, I forget is it like nine or ten something like that. Yeah, yeah, and he's played.

You know, he didn't have any more interceptions this year than he had last year. I hate to say it, but it's kind of no. But you know what if you take him off of the secondary and where are they at right now? Yah? Know, So just you know, turnovers aside, and I know you're the you're you're the one of the godfathers of interceptions in the in the second area there without an interception. That was that was amazing to me. I talked to him about that. I

talked to him about how did you do that? You know, how do you do that? I don't think there's ever been a pro bowler that didn't have an interception. That's got to be an NFL record. It's because normally they'd look at stats, right, So that's the first thing you can numbers. I don't know how many times you get toasted, they're gonna consider you, right if you've got a number

of interceptions. Yeah, absolutely. And so when you look at this team and you look at the not just the individuals, but you look at this group when this season is all said and done, they're gonna be who's gonna point the finger at who linebackers at that DB's offensive line, You're gonna point out the defensive line. And to me, the answer, the answer is you all failed. There's not

You're right there. There's not a position on this team that you can look at and say they've been one hundred percent consistent throughout the season, and that bar is tough. One hundred percent? Is it to give me a lower percentage? And it's still gonna be. It's gonna be a few, just a few groups, and they're gonna look back at this. And so you can help with the history here, it's been I would think quite some time that a Cowboys

team that so much was expected of did this. Didn't give us anything because normally there was a reason for it, right like in twenty fifteen, Tony Romo played four games, finished two, and there was a reason why they finished the way they did, you know, twenty seventeen, nine and seven, but Zeke misses six games and they had an effect on this team, the one that it reminds me of.

And it's not over yet, but oh eight, they won the first three games of the season, and everybody was talking about how this is a super Bowl team won thirteen games a year ago. Naturally they're gonna take the next step. Right, finished nine and seven. Now, Tony Romo missed three games, l two of them. Yeah, and that probably costs him at the end of the cost him getting in the playoffs. And they went to fill weeks seventeen with with a chance to get in and they

got blown out. I don't know that you could look at this season and say, okay, there's why, right, it wasn't like a quarterback injury. I mean this season, yeah, this is and I call it last season. Yeah, this season. So no, and Jerry has been quick to point out on his radio segments, this is a pretty healthy football team overall. I mean, he makes a point of saying that, and he's right. We knew in twenty two thousand through two thousand and two this team, the roster wasn't very good. Uh,

Troy got hurt in two thousand. Uh, you know, things went downhill. You didn't have a quarterback and O one, O two miracle and oh three oh four you brought in Vinny Testaverdi because you wanted a veteran backup right, and then all of a sudden, he's got a start fifteen game, right, right, pretty right? I remember that, you know, I can take you nineteen ninety nine when they finished eight and eight, but they lost Michael after a three and old start. They got off to a great start.

They didn't have wide receivers, right, So ninety seven, I don't know if anybody thought ninety seven was going to happen, right, and they fell apart they were six seven five. But but there's the difference that that team was getting older. Yes, the core of that team was getting older. And that's

why this one is so surprising. Trying to right, we don't have anything, don't because this this was a young This is a young team that was even younger last year that started three and five, and all of a sudden, you get Amari Cooper and they grew up. They grew up down the stretch. They were able to win closer games because I think they the experience benefited them. And to y'all's point, and six and games decided by one

score less this year, yeah, and someone won. And some of these games haven't been close, and they haven't shown the same Uh, resolve against adversity on the road the best word. We have, no resolve. It seems like every time we hit some type of adversity, we're ready to buckle. We're ready to buckle, it takes us. And then when we do buckle, it takes us a while. We're reeling for so long, and then at the end of the game, here we are got a chance. Guys, we're still in it.

You know. It's like a distance runner who coasted and then that last lap. Okay, my high school track coach I hated that. You come sprinting across the run. You will hear his voice all over the stadium, the late John Freeman. Guys, you man rest in peace. But I'm just saying that it's that's kind of how it is. We don't We always take sometimes even a game to make adjustments. Going back to Atlanta, that gets the heck beat out of him. One guy makes a pro bow

along him in one game made his career. Yeah, so, I mean, but look how long it took it. We didn't even make the adjustment of that game. We didn't even put in two tight ends that game. We didn't even have a back to chip him that game. Yeah, well, the next time they started Cameron Fleming, they had two tight ends in Low Long that was the next year, this year, and then even after that the next week, then I was suddenly, oh we got we got dacks back.

Now we're gonna get protected. But yeah, he just got sacked what was it eight times in Atlanta? Okay, So our coaching staff, for some reason, I don't know if it comes from, they don't trust the players to grasp the changes and the adjustment that needs to be made, uh, in real time, in real time. When they finally made the change in the third quarter in that Atlanta game and brought Fleming in, it didn't get any better. It

didn't get us the same same thing. They just needed help over there, and that's all you just to But I think they were just stubborn. I think they thought that with um A Green in there, uh taking tiring spot, that they'd seen him play well before, so it was like, Okay, sometime it's gonna come along. It's gonna come along and

at halftime and it hadn't come along. And it took them midway through the third quarter to take Chaz Green out and put Fleming in, and it didn't get any better once again the whole time, and they were they were just stubborn. And I know what it cost problem. I think it costs the offensive line coach his job because they made the change. No doubt that they cost him. And it's a ripple effect. That entire season was a ripple effect. That's why your offensive coordinated from last year

it's gone as well. Yeah, it was a ripple effect all the way down the line. So I'm just wondering if we need I wonder why we don't have more of a sense of urgency to make the adjustments sometimes they made I mean next drive right. I've been on teams where they've made that the next drive ye. And that's the thing about Philly last week. Doug Peterson is in a situation where he doesn't have any receivers. Zach

Ertz gets banged up in the game. But they found a way to kind of read refigure things offensively and win ball games. And yeah they didn't. They said, not next guy up, We're just gonna use two tight ends because there are two best wide receivers. Guess when that falls right into our lap, well, we we fall into their lap, I would I would say, because now they're strict, and how they were able to to survive the way they weble to struggle and still make it in those

two games and still be victorious. Yeah, and now that that fall, that fell right into our weakness, right tight ends running backs and when I can't get back into the into the eighties. Eighty six, Danny got hurt, right, Pilau wasn't good enough to finish those last seven games. Eighty seven, the strike was there kind of screwed things up.

Now eighty eight. I don't know what everybody thought the eighty eight team was going to be, but it was done right, it was it was I put it like this, that was the most competitive what we three three, three and thirteen. That was the most competitive three and thirteen teams, right, I've ever been on. There was a lot of close games. I just didn't win them. Didn't win them, didn't win them.

And and a lot of people thought that Tom's uh, you know, age right was getting in the way of him being more aggressive on calling plays and being more heads up. Right. Yeah, we knew it was gonna happen. Eighty nine. Yes, the surprising thing was ninety because they won seventy games and it's so funny about ninety we won three preseason games and we're like, man, we're going to nine eighty nine. Remember nine, we're winning field goal against Houston the final, the last preseason game, I think

or something. I mean, I'm not sending to you a fumble return. We were like, whoa, we are good. We were like, no, that's so much So it's been a while since this has happened to this and every we had excuses on all of those years is where you started. Excuses in all of those years. I mean legitimate, exclusive excuses. No talents. You know, we're getting older. It is what

it is. You can't change for the time. This team no excuses now, they're just they're young, they've been relatively healthy, paid and yeah, and just haven't gotten it done technically. They're still alive. Got to beat the Redskins on Sunday and hopefully loses to the Giants. Let's take our first break and we'll come back. Let's carry this over and get to some of the injuries as we look towards

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with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Better to talk in Cowboys. Welcome back to Talking Cowboys inside the SWBC Mortgage studio, Rob Phillips, Everson Walls, making Spagnola here for the next twenty minutes or so. Cowboys practicing outside. They've got the Redskins at home on Sunday, the regular season finale. Will find out about six thirty seven o'clock on Sunday whether the season continues. We need a couple of things to happen in order for that

to happen. And Nick, you're chotting down what you got? What do you think we should have a split screen on the big video board half giants. Oh, that ego will happen. No, because they change, they change the time. They will not do though, been on the video board. Oh no, no no. In regards to the networks, yeah, I would look forward to that. Got to get dicey on both sides, or either side. Yeah, the other see what they're and they changed it. What we were playing

at noon and now with those games we're gonna be new. Yeah, so they changed both of them. Come on, man, that they want us to fail on national television. That's what they want. This is not about Cowboy fans. You We're gonna give you a chance to root your team on and support them nationwide. No, that's not what it's about. They want to see the Cowboys fall flat on their face. Stephen A. Smith is gonna be I'll get the Cowboy

hat on, right, Yeah. Yeah. Those those those end zone um scoreboards that have stats on them, they just should have the running total of the Eagles Giants. So I'm just telling you this is this is score time out to be Uh how can I put? This could turn out to be uh real satisfaction for the Cowboys. It could, and that is a shame that they have this opportunity. You know, God is good because there's no way a team should still have a chance like this. And they

know it. They know it, and they I mean they set it back after the is It Chicago and they still found themselves in first place after losing on the road, and now at seven and eight. Here's a stat from Gil Brandt. We'll get to the injuries in the second, but the great Gil brand tweets the Cowboys have the best point differential plus eighty two and yardage differential plus fourteen hundred and twenty six of any sub five hundred

team in the Super Bowl era. Last year, the last year, they were ten and six with a plus fifteen point differential and plus two thirty three yardage deferential, which just it speaks again to just how puzzling the season has been. They put up yards, they put up points, but they have eight losses and are staring playoff watching playoffs at home in the face. So it just qualifies what we've been talking about. And to me, I promise you guys, you can say what you want. The numbers for defense

is good. Whether they still ain't top ten defensive, yeah, maybe something. You lost two games when you gave up thirteen points and seventeen points of defense only gave up six of those. And offensively we don't have them any turnout what's doing. I mean, we're not there about they're about even. I bet so. Then you look at that's just how important it is defensively to tilt that scale.

Yes you must tilt the scale. Yes, your dige is amazing, But the turnover differential, to me and I we've always taken it for granted here in this in this organization. I'm going way back to Valley Ranch. I'm going way back to Abham's road. Okay, Mail, rentfro Cornell Green, Charlie Waters, Okay, Dennis Thurma, Thermo Steves, Dion Sanders, Okay, Darren Woodson. This is something that we have taken for granted all this time because it's all about offensively. We've you know, we've

got these stars offensively, we've got this defensive linement. Well, the real catalysts of any successful team, and we've we've seen it with the Patriots, We've seen me with some of the better teams. You've got to have a turnover hungry defense. You have to have a turnover hungry defense. I don't care how good your offense is. And the Cowboys have that culture is no longer here. It's almost as if they're immune to interceptions, which is amazing to me.

It's just amazing to me with these great athletes that we have. A Woozier got benched because forgetting the seven. You couldn't even cover a guy. Okay, he looked like he was tight. He looked like he's going was tight. Everybody else had warmed up, looked like he didn't. I mean, you're gonna have those plays. A defensive back. But to offset any of that, you must redeem yourself with tonos. And and here's how incongruent it is. Their giveaways are

the eleventh fewest in the league. So they've got seventeen come on, and I don't know that's not all that bad. They've lost six fumbles um eleven interceptions. Dack's interceptions are up a little bit this year. But but he's throwing the ball. He's throwing the ball, damn near fifty times a game. Okay, Now on takeaways, only four teams have fewer than their fifteen takeaways, six interceptions, nine fumble recoveries US. Yes, so that yeah, wow, that's a lot more than I thought.

But only six interceptions, and I'm guessing that is quickly looking tied for with Detroit for the fewest in the league. Six. They sit at a minus two turnover margin Reverson tied for seventeenth, and they are ranked eleventh in total defense. But there needs to be a tweak in the rankings formula for defense, I mean, because it's based just off of yardage. Yes, and they're giving up three hundred thirty yards.

Tell you didn't tell you doing the important parts of the game, last two minutes of the game, last five minutes of the game. How many third downs? What's our third down percentage? How long they keep the drives going when we need the ball back? Yep. Those the kind of things that aren't quantified. And you're talking about you and I think they should be able to factor takeaways into that formula too, because that is that's as important

a measure of a defense as anything. How quarterback on all of that, So why shouldn't you wait the defense on it? I agree, they just do it by yards and it's you know, and I think this is the first time since I want to say, the second week of the season that their total offense and total defense hasn't ranked in the top ten. They fell out defensive league to the eleven. There's still number one offensively in total yards because they gave up what four hundred something.

And this is all what I used to complain about with Tony Romo. Uh he would you know, we would all fall into into a deficit a lot of times. He was thrown pick six his members Detroit game. He became he became this quarterback because the team really wasn't all that good, especially defensively. He's trying his best to

make everything happen. You get a couple of big pick sixes, you're down fourteen nothing, and okay, Romo, forget the running game, and that's what Dack's doing, either by his own devices or whatever goes on. You put yourself in this part. Now you gotta fight your way out and throwing one in one. Oh those stats look good. Wow, Look he's got four hundred yards, but that doesn't really tell the stormid. Yeah, all right, uh injuries, Yeah, what you got over there?

We promised the injury Well I got twice four guys, and this was only an estimation yesterday, but I think he qualified the estimation today about who's probably not practicing because the four guys that didn't practice yesterday where DeMarcus Lawrence with a shoulder, Sean Lee Peck thigh, uh, Tyrn Smith with a back, and Dak with the shoulder. Now. I just saw Tyrn Smith this morning. It was all he could do to walk in here on his own two feet. So that back's really tightened up on. Yeah,

and because that's a big bay. Yeah, absolutely, So it didn't sound like Dak was going to do much today. Didn't sound like DeMarcus Lawrence was going to do much. Joe Thomas probably not going to do much. Uh So, I don't know that any of these things over Christmas, anybody laid hands on him and said, okay, you're good and and by the way, so and that I envy right event, And then that doesn't account for having already

placed Suephilo on injured reserve. He broke the fibula, so you know how, you know how you get a high ankle sprain and they say, well, sometimes it's better just to break or tear. Well, he did both. He broke his fibula and he's got a torn ligament in there too, because when I saw him in that walking boot leaving the game, I said, high ankle sprain, and then it was worse than that, and that's why they did the surgery.

And then also latent Vanderish on injury reserve. Finally, and he's going to have surgery in a couple of weeks now. Somewhere along the line, somewhere along the line it was

called mentally invasive. Well I've found out that basically what he's having is interior cervical dyssectomy, which means they go in and they take the disc out between his fifth and sixth vertebrae in your neck and and what they do, and it's also called fusion, and so they take some bone from your hip and put it in the space where the disc should be and they fuse it in there. It was and it's the same thing Daryl Johnston had, Chad Headings had it, and rocket Ishmael had it. So

that doesn't sound minimally invasive to me anytimes. And I think I saw somebody here say it was minor. Well, that doesn't sound minor to me. Jason Garrett called him. Yeah, yeah, And so four months rehab, so he's basically gonna maybe be ready for the surgery before rehab. Yeah, okay, I don't think I've ever minus surgery. So they people, we got some questions from fans why they waited to do this.

I think they were trying to let it calm down, Well, let the inflammation calm down, you see if he could do it on its own. And what people don't understand is it's surgery. You don't just you know, go out there and say, okay, let's go, let's cut the guy's neck, right. You try to medically treat it, and you hold the less resort invasive surgery. That's what doctors think because what you want to do is treated medically. And and again, if it was your back, you would get a shot.

I don't think they can give you a shot in your neck. So what they do is they it's it's like an oral treatment to try to reduce the swelling of the herniated disc. And it it didn't work, and they were hoping and hoping and hoping, and I think the last time they did the exam it was like, this has got to be fixed. There's no two ways about it. Because the last thing you want to do is take discs out if you don't have to. So what I mean we're talking to me sounds like major surgery.

You're taking a disc, right, and we've been putting it into How's it gonna his career? Is it? In? Jeffany? No? I those guys that I mentioned had it and came back and played. And so you know what you do. All those guys came back. They all came back and played. So but what what you what you uh jeopardize is if another disc goes in that same area, the last thing you want to do is have like three vertebrae feuds together, because then you will be Randy White. Yeah,

Randy can't even look up in the sky enough. For real, he can't look up in the sky. You're right, that is a scary thing. And so you don't want that to happen. No, and that that lets you know, guys, and I know we're talking about Andrew, but that's just you know, you gotta put that into perspective about how dangerous this game really is. Well, how old is VANDUS

twenty two? Yeah, scary man to have to go through something like that, and we take it for granted because people haven't served you all the time in the NFL, and people complain about the salaries that they make, and you know that's scary, man. This this guy is an amazing athlete, you know, and forget all of that. I mean, you just want the guy to be healthy as a person, right, and we're trying to get him on the field and

go out here and probably get hurt again. Yeah, so you just kinda kind of put things into perspective about how dangerous this game in You know what helped me put in perspective watching LSU play their freshman corner Stingy and I and I heard his name and yeah, oh is that Daryl Stingley son. No, it's his son's son. And then it made me think, oh, that's right because that was Jack Tatum hit him and he was going for a quick slant and tam hit him head on

and ended up paralyzed and in a wheelchair. And this this, this is his son's kid. So that was his great his grandfather. Yeah, but made me think of that, and it's like, yeah, that dangerous game and here he is out here playing even after what happened to his grandfather. Yeah. Yeah.

And his dad was like, you know, that's his decisions, right, that's right, and his dad and I read a story and his dad qualified it as one of the best things that happened to me playing athletics was the discipline I learned and how you had to take care of your own business all the time every day. And he goes and I probably wouldn't have been the person I was or am if I had and played athletics. So, uh, this kid's a Freshman of the Year, I bet, and he'll last. I mean, if you watch him play corner

at LSU, he's unbelievable. Yeah, as a freshman. So anyway, that made me think of that. I know, I just got off on a team build, big game for the sooner than Saturday night. He's gonna be watching. I'm gonna counter him to my own brigant do it just in case. Please get that going. I'd love to see that. All right, let's take our final break, come back, we'll wrap it up, uh and talk a little bit more about Dak and what to expect from him this week. I'm talking Cowboys

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The phrase two going to be true comes to mind. Get there. It is a rich, delicious doctor Pepper paradise. Wait did did that can of doctor Pepper just open itself for you? They all are as if to say so nice to treat you. And even though it feels weird to talk to we, can you pick one up and say it's so nice to be treated, doctor Pepper, so nice to treat you. Back to Talking Cowboys. Hey, if you go to Jack Black, you can grab the best of twenty nineteen. Think about that. Choose a free

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he's more exciting. He's like black Jack. Yeah he could have done that four times before he got one that was good enough to keep you seem a little frazzled on that one. No, good job, good job. Welcome back to Talking Cowboys. By the way, you had an error earlier talking about the offensive line in tweter seventeen. I apologize Byron Bell was the backup, not Cam Fleming. Right, it's only the second time I've made baby. They're on, They're blowing up my mentions about you, well, good on

Rob's mentions than mine. You haven't been on Twitter in a while, have you. I'm out, No, I'm on. I just don't read the mentions. Okay, So if you all want to just kind of save your time, well you put him on Robs. You told some guy Monday, Hey, big boy, come tweet at me again. But Jordan Lewis didn't you know, I won't say you gotten that yet. I won't see it. I should check in, all right.

Injury update from practice. According to Todd Archer, don't you know what I heard today what Mark Cuban was doing his yearly thing, and uh, he was talking about how you have to work really hard not to pay attention to people that tweet you because the people on Twitter are like twenty percent of the entire world, and so you get one or two people that aggravate you, you

just gotta walk off. Because I think Mike Tyson said something about, yeah, you can say anything you want to somebody on Twitter or over the phone, because you can't get punched in the face, can't you. I can see him do some Twitter face. I don't think yeah, you just I can't punch him in the face. I don't. I don't pay any attention to whatever they say. That's good words to live by for the new year. Yeah, your black jack reading, go ahead and say what you want,

because I can't punch you in the face. Not that I would punch anybody in the face. You would not do that, never verbally maybe never. Dak Prescott courting Todd Archer VSPN. Not throwing during the open portion of practice. I did go through. The walkthrough should be limited at best today as he was yesterday when he was not listed as a participant on the estimated interest. So at least he was doing the walkthrough, which was more than

he did last week until Friday. So at least the walkthrough mean you're walking through all the plays and they weren't even asking him to do that last week. So that's it didn't seem to work well for him, not at all. I thought physically he looked great out there, but yeah, he just he just he looked hesitant, no pocket presence at all. The first drive, I believe he broke out. They kind of kip clipped him at the feed and he stumbled and got up and tried to

run for a first down. Yeah, that's the best pocket present he showed. And that was a little shaky right there. So that was that started at the beginning of the game. It didn't get any better for him. Um, we could talk about all the drops we want and that was something and that can throw you off, but we don't expect that from that. Yeah, we just don't be fourth year. Yeah, yeah, not only his fourth year, but even in this during this season, he's been our steady guy, and this particular game,

he was extremely unsteady. Yeah. It was uncomfortable in the pocket. You could tell. And I don't know if it was in his mind that, Okay, I gotta look someplace to get this ball out because I'm not running and my shoulder and somebody could hit me at any time on my shoulder. Yeah, I got to get the ball out. Oh he did run that one time. Yeah, one time, but that was it right landed right on it, yeah seven Yeah, and and and it looked up. He looked great.

Maybe that's why he never did it again, because that I think the strange thing was not it was he he uh kind of went back to the same problems, you know, throwing behind you know, like he was last year. A couple of years ago. You know, it's like the pregame routine didn't really work. There are certain times where he saw he fired it in there right on that out, that's right. I mean he was fine. It was almost like he wasn't stepping into his passes like normal. And

that had nothing to do with the shoulder. I think it was getting hurried, like okay, I got I gotta get this ball. And yeah, that that's always a factor. I won't care whether you're hurt or not. I don't care if your dad Prescott, or your my homes or you're Aaron. You see quarterbacks, I saw Aaron Rodgers the other night. I'm it wasn't a good game at all for him. It's just they're just right now, they're just human defenses. They get played, gay get paid also, and

sometimes they can cross you up. But we just know that with Dak having all of the fourth coreter drives that we're accustomed to seeing game winning drives that he's accustomed to giving us. But this particular time, he just didn't seem to have the confidence that you talked about in two thy seventeen when you talk to him and said we're gonna win seven out of eight. Yeah, the comp that was you didn't see it in his body language,

nor did you see it in his play. And when you did see it in his play, the drops continued. I believe for a team that has more drops than anybody else in the NFL, they do. And I don't know how much we touched on Amori on Monday, but his stretch that he's going through right now, it's not even close to what he was earlier in the season. Wasn't in anybody language as well. Yeah, it wasn't in for the end of the game. Neither was random. No

one's touching on that. No one asked Jason Garrett about that. They didn't even is that not been asked and known. We haven't got a good answer. And he's not on the injury report. He was not on the injury report. It was not listed as an injury in the press box during the game. He doesn't. He doesn't seem the same to me off the line of scrimmage aspen. But he says his health is fine. So I take him at his word, and so he doesn't really reveal anything.

He's not gonna he's not gonna go against h status quo Uh, I'm sure he's probably like Dak, I mean, I'm okay, guys, no excuses. You know the previous game before the Eagle game, it was the Bears, got that before the Eagles game? Yeah, what was the game before the Rams? The Rams? The Rams they had started off doubling him, for sure, but the Eagles they were in basically man defense the whole game. And so that shouldn't have been difficult for Dak to read, by the way,

because you're in man now. I mean, they were playing single safety high the entire game, and even when they played some weird zones, he still figured out the throws was just still bad. Yeah, and he was off and were bad. And then from Cooper standpoint, yeah, I mean, what do you attribute to I don't know, because his road home splits are they're a thing and I can't

figure it out. But he's basically doubled his production at home compared to a way and he's gonna do it this week and some of those same thing this weekend games.

I understand why it happens because one of the road games was New England, so that kind of that one shouldn't even be encountered in there, right, m but some of the other ones, Yeah, Chicago, Buffalo, and then there was games and he only played two snaps that was on the road the Jets, right, and so that all factors into his road kind of those two games almost he didn't play. So but yeah, last week, I mean,

he needed to be more productive. He was in they were in man coverage and he's got to win those and I don't and I agree with you. He's just not getting off the line of scrimmage the way he normally does. So who knows. I hope they don't have an issue because this is and I say they, I mean it's is QB versus and wide receiver. They have to they have to communicate. So as much as we don't know what's going on, I hope they're talking to each other because this this is it, This is it.

I mean, I love I love Gallup, but he's not I go to guy. I do love Gallup. He has improved. Yes, he's made the draws, but this guy has still shown progress as far as a young receiver doing very well. I think Cole has got to be more involved in the game. I think on third day and we've got to look for Cob or look for Jarvis. Those two guys, you can't double both of them and Cooper, Okay, one of them has to be open. They got to win that one on one off the line. You said it everything,

this is it very well, could be it anyway. Gotta win Sunday. Gotta have some help from me Eli Manning in the New York Giants. Oh God, and we'll see what happens. Hey, no one's coming on him. Yeah, well, turn that music off. The break will be next. Thank you guys for joining us. Bill will be back on Friday, and we'll wrap up the week. Talk a little Washington to finish out the week on Talking Cowboys on Fridays even.

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