Talkin' Cowboys: First Half Grades

Talking Cowboys. It is not Isaiah stand Back, it is not Patrick, no c. Walker. You'll see them later on on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. But today instead, it's the triumphant Talking Cowboys return of Brian broad Us on the show. Brian, how's it going. I am doing great, Kyle. It is nice to be with you and Nate. Every time I work with Nate, I think about a story if I could tell it real quick, Okay, Nate and I One time we're doing a Cowboys postgame show. I think it

was after San Diego Thanksgiving. They played awful and Lindsey Draper was the host at the time, and she took the break and I was saying I was just going off, and I was when I when I get around Nate, I tend to just go off on things. And I went off on something about the game went to break and Nate looked at me and goes, you're trying to get fired, aren't you. He was brutal, and I looked at him and I, uh, I go uh, I'm not wrong,

am I? He goes, no, you're good. So yeah, it's it's great to be with you and Nate again, thank you for making me. Let me be a part of this. Yeah. No, there's gonna be a lot of fun. And of course, without a further intro, I mean, you've got time pro bowler, three time Super Bowl champ Nate Newton on the other side. Nate, how's it going with you? Great? I'm great man. I like getting up early, you know, getting out of the way right. I like doing early shows. I like just

bouncing that way. You can go home and do other things. Man, have phone with the wife and all of those things that entails work the phone for that trade deadline stuff. Yeah. No, there's a lot of different topics that we could hit this week. It's a good week for a bye week. Shake up because sure right smack dab in the middle of the season. The trade deadline hits today at three o'clock Central time. Nate's got his Black Rifle Coffee Company.

We're ready to go. Brian's got his Black Rifle coffee too. So let's get into it a little bit, because first off, I want to get your thoughts since we haven't heard it on this show, specifically on Sunday's win, and then we'll talk into the trade deadline. But Brian, when you look back on how the Cowboys got there forty nine twenty nine win over the Chicago Bears, how would you classify their performance and what they were able to do this past Sunday. I've been super critical on this platform,

which is great to have. And then also one three the fan of Kellen Moore throughout the year, and you know, talking about creativity using players much like Dan Quinn and the defensive coaches use their guys like Kellen Moore. And the staff really figured out some things the other day

and I was all about that. I was all about, Hey, let's get these receivers on the move, Let's create opportunities, separation, big swinging motion, you know, to cede lamb up the sidelines, puts the corner in a bind, puts the safety in a bind. You know, route combinations, all these things that you've kind of been asking for when you watch the games, because you watch other NFL games and you're going, how

are they getting their guys so open? And you know you've got just as talented guys as other teams around the league. But I thought this was one of those games the first fifteen that Kellen Moore had a thought, we're outstanding. I said, well, let me see his next fifteen. His next fifteen were just as good. So you know, when you have to be critical and you also have to be fair about it. And I thought he did a great job with the game plan. I thought it

was executed well. About the quarterback, it showed what a week of practice for him, what that meant. And also though it also saw in defense their depth was really stretched in that football game. You know, Makuamu, Bell, Clark, guys playing in that game trying to stop a defense or excuming an offense. That's really really was committed to run in the football in a lot of different ways. Yeah, that's committed, true commitment. Yes, what did you think about

the game. I just didn't think they would do that in a matt Era Flus defense. I just, you know, I like what they did. You know, you guys, you hear me off. I'm just moaning about that one pass. Yeah, interception, that one that one pass, because I believe in winning football. Don't start when the playoffs started. Whinning football starts and he bills all year long as that one pass kind of word me. But other than that, Brian, you are spot on and what you're saying. I mean, they did

what they needed to do. They made play out the play, and I liked it. I mean, you was excited this past weekend. You forty Burgers and I hope you got everybody they water Burgers did, got it all done. I'm excited as long as we don't show that one bad play that can hurt us down the road. As long as we don't show that. I mean, interceptions happen, fumbles happen, but that's not that's not hurt our defense. Because what

that play did was hurt our defense. It put them back on the field, and then coming out of halftime and put them back on the field. Don't hurt your defense. This is your bread and butter our defense averaging thirty two minutes or game, and you wonder why we're banged up. That is the reason. So when you're talking about that interception right before the half, you're about right around in

a minute. I guess there's a little order of minutes to drive down the field and try and put your offense continuously on the board, because at that point they had scored on all four of their drives. Is that aggressive play call what you're worried about. Is that that type of play calling or is it just the execution of if you're going to run an end route like that, a kind of deep D route like that, one thing you'll receiver has to say in his mind either I

am catching it, no one's catching it. You can't be lilligagging. You got to be dedicated to this calls. Am I correct Ryan? Absolutely? And so when this don't happen and you throw your defense back out there, it's just don't you don't. That's not aggressive, that's not if your coach is gonna swinging the bat for you. Hey, hey, coach, I'm going to call this play. It's gonna be kind of deep over the middle. I know we haven't had success there. We're trying to open up something in the game.

Coach McCarthy, you don't know to have his head says something. But if he did, he's like, all right, everybody's gotten to I want to do the thumb up. Everybody's gotten the thumb up. I guess what. Yeah, it didn't work. You gamble and and I'm not and I'm not going to go into this better team and all of that. Sure, I'm just saying. Smart football doesn't start when the playoffs start. Yeah, it starts doing the whole year. You know. It's funny

in Nates, right. I mean, I'm thinking they haven't stopped you yet. That's kind of what I was thinking about. But when you look at it from the defense's perspective, he's absolutely right about that, especially against a team that you know, it was just running the football, and the Cowboys have been put in some bad sudden chains situations

before that. You know, well they've had some They've had a couple of bad punts that put them teams on the other side of the fifty no points, and for them to get the ball again on your side of

the fifty and give up only three points. I think It says a lot about that defense and the heart that they played with because that defense, that that was tough, that that that offense with those backs, that offensive line is not great that they have, but what they've figured out is like, listen, we know they can't pass block, but we know they can run block. And you're dealing with a quarterback that can run like he does and running backs like they have. That that's a different animal

that you're playing against right there. And to finish the game the way they did, I tip my hat to him because that that wasn't going to be an easy assignment at all. And you know, Nate's right me. I'm like, yeah, they haven't stopped. You go for it. And then when they throw the interception and you don't see the receiver coming across, you're going, Okay, I'm an idiot for thinking that. But the bigger, the bigger point is Nate's right about

the defense. Don't put the defense in harm's way even though they're capable of stopping harm, especially in the game like that where they're worn down pound after pound, run after run. You get forty seven rushing carries against you,

your defense is going to wear it down. So kind of going back to what you were just saying, how tough is it for a defense specifically whenever they face a team like that that's going to abandon the past, to run the football, to slow down the run even though you know what's coming, but you still can't slow

it down. The thing that bothered me the most about this Cowboys defense through the first eight weeks was the Philadelphia final drive when they ran the ball ten straight plays that because that was your strength verse them there, what they determined was going to be their strength and running the ball, and so it now it's one of those things where you look at it and you say, okay, where are the issues on this Cowboys defense? If you're going to attack this defense, what do you do well?

Running the football would be where I would start, And a lot of it is and I know you guys all watch the All twenty two. I don't think it's scheme and I don't think it's ability. I think there's sometime times where this team, you know, and when they're playing run defense, whether they they go out of lanes. You know, we interview Tank Lawrence on a He's got a weekly show with us on one oh five three and He talks about lanes, gap integrity, things like that.

You know, if you're if you're responsible for the width of you know, contain and you spin inside and all of a sudden it's a free corner, and then there's a big play that's a that's bad if you all of a sudden decide, well, I'm going to take a bad angle again and now it's another outside play, or I'm gonna go too wide and let them block me out of the play. You know, um on the film,

we all saw this fourth and one. They had an opportunity and I hate to I'm just I know they're winning games and yeah, but I'm I'm talking about it. You know, if you if you're thinking about issues fourth and one, they had an opportunity in that game to get a stop. They slant the right way, they got everything kind of buttoned up. But your corner, you know, he's unblocked, and if he just comes down, then you

got to stop, and now the defense is off the field. Instead, the corner gets you know, doesn't make the play, and now it's the first down and now you're keeping drives going. This is the only thing I think that really hurts this defense and I don't think it's scheme and I don't think it's their ability. I think it's sometimes they have this mentality of get up field, get up field, make a play, so just go rush a passer and stuff like that. Effort and discipline is that kind of think.

I think it's not the effort, it's the I think it's the I think that at times it's like I said, you could watch. You could watch a guy like Dorian's armstrong responsible for the width and then he takes a rush inside and then after the play you see him kind of hang his head knowing that, oh I made a mistake there, you know. And that's I think that's

the biggest thing. You know, this defense when and teams have figured out a little bit and running the ball about the crack, the crack, toss, the get the ball to the perimeter. They figured out it's easier to block Micael Parsons when you can shield him or down block him as opposed to taking him head up. Tampa Bay

did it a lot. Yeah, that's where it started. This is where this is where our superpowers have turned into a curse because the coach gives them the authority saying if you see a play if you can make you play, but they are forgetting to make the play. See whereas Jimmy had the same philosophy, coach wants they had the same philosophy. But if you blow that chance to make that play, then you for the next ten or twelve plays have to just play assignment football. Our guys are

like Ulsa, he's a he's a penetrator. We've had Zeus talk about that, Isaiah talk about that a lot. But when you penetrate, you still have a gap responsibility and some and then instead of going up the field, he'll slam. Yeah, he'll go too far out because he he wants to make a play. When we get into the Philadelphias again, the the news again, and you play your responsibility and I know sooner or later and they're over there and they're gonna say, you know what, coach, we like what

we're doing. But when we face the team that's equally good talent wise, coach wise, we don't want the Philadelphia thing again. Yeah, you can't have that. And that's why I say smart football don't start in the playoffs. It's all year long, and we gotta kind of ring back because parts Parsons his rookie year, he was great against the run. Now Parsons like, I'm going to get that man in that backfield. So well that it happened, and we watched it. You know, we've when you watched y'all

twenty two again. Year a situation where Tank is like, here's Fields, He's they're kind of he's drifting as a he's drifting to throw the ball and his eyes are to the left, and he keeps drifting and drifting and drifting, and Tank is taken an angle to catch him drifting, yes, and then all of a sudden it's like Fields is like, oh no, this guy's about to punish me. And he gets out and now there's nobody on that side. But

it's not I mean, it's he's rushing the passer. But Tank will tell you that his angle was probably a little steep, but to handle the pass rush, he had to go that steep. It just happened that You're you're playing a quarterback that's pretty rare with the mobility and stuff like that. You're not gonna play a lot of guys like that, but especially the next two weeks. You know, Rogers can move around a little bit. Cousins can move around a little bit, but not like what that guy

in Chicago can. Cousins turned on the gas a little bit this pass way. Did you see that sound run where he kind of got to the edge, turned on the jets and got in the end zone. Showed a little bit of something there. Yeah, nobody's like Justin Fields or Jalen Hurts. I mean, those are the two guys that you're gonna face all year that are gonna give

you problems. The new buzzword in NFL is stress. Yes, everybody's telling the words stress, and Mike McCarthy says it quite a bit the amount of stress you put on the Cowboys offense. Put a lot of stress on the Bears the other day. Three wide receiver, three tight end packages, no huddle, don't let them substitute. You know, big personnel on the field and now they're running plays and they're wide open. You know they can't defend. That's that's kind of stress you need to put on people. I like

it a lie. When we come back here on talking Cowboys, how would you grave the first half of the season and where would you go to make an addition Prior to the trade deadline. Right after this with more from Brian brought us Nate Newton Kyle Yeoman's Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company. When you build, you start with the foundation, and home ownership is a foundation of

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are available right now. Visit Dallas Cowboys dot com, slash tickets, or seek geek dot com, the official ticketing provider of at NT Stadium. Whenever you go out there to see the Cowboys at at and T Stadium, you may see Brian brought us out there on the plaza. You guys do your pregame shows out there, right, we do. We've

kind of endured all the weather factors. It's nice to be back out there, you know, with the pandemic and all that, and getting to see people and the fans and stuff like that, and uh, you know, to really be in that firsthand. A lot of folks coming through those gates over there, and you know, a lot of the the last couple of weeks, the Detroit fans have been fun. The Bears fans have been fun, and all the Cowboy fans had stopped by and say hello had

been great too. That's a lot of fun. You guys were up in the booth during COVID, right You were still in the boy we were actually we were during COVID we were upstairs in the Bradsham Radio booth, and then and then and then there was a lot of time though too, where we were just at the station at one oh five three. And that's tough because you know,

the inner action that you had with the fan. One of the things I look forward to when you're talking about with Nate and how he works with all the folks out there in Oxnard, when you go walking in and Nate kind of shout out for walking in, and you're kind of like, Okay, Nate's uh, that's cool, and then people like turn around and look and you're just kind of like duck in your head and go, yeah, yeah,

how's it going. It's funny because you mentioned this to me when we were on the Draft show a long time ago, and he's like, watch out, watch watch Camp Nate, watch him, Oh yeah, navigate And I was like, oh, I'm sure, I'm sure he's just Nate. Nate takes another level. Yeah, we gotta love it. Camp is fun. Yeah for us, now we're not, I don't feel but for us it's a little bit of work for them, right, Yeah, No, doubt about it all right, since I mean it feels

like yesterday we had training camp. But you blink and we're halfway through this season right now. Yeah, kind of you're starting. You're starting to figure out some things. The calendar's changed. I know, working for Bill Parcels, he always said you kind of you know who you are by Thanksgiving. I think Jerry Jones in this front office and coaching staff have an idea of who they are through eight weeks. Who do you think they are? I think they're a

team that realized that they've got their quarterback back. They can be very dynamic when it comes to use of personnel, whether it's the tight ends, the backs. You know. The way that they're getting both those backs going, I think

is a really really good thing to see. These wide receivers probably need to get them going a little bit more, but I was encouraged by what I saw with the movement of some of the things this offensive line, who I thought was really man A lot of question marks coming out of that Tampa game, not just the quarterback being healthy, but you learned this team is very resilient. They survived their quarterback being gone for five weeks. You know, and I think that says a lot that this coaching

staff again super critical of Mike McCarthy. I said yesterday in the radio he would have my vote for a coach of the year. I know what's going on with the Jets in New York and all that stuff like that, But what other team has survived their quarterback being out for five weeks and have a four and one record, you know, and be one of the better teams in football. So I think you got to give Mike McCarthy the

staff a lot of credit for that. The identity on defense, you know, we saw it last year with all the turnovers, and now they've taken it to a whole other level with the pressures and the sacks and so and they're and they're really really deep the way they're able to rotate those guys through So, um, those are the kind of the main And you got a really good kicking game, you got an outstanding punt returner, If you got an outstanding punter, and you got a field goal kicker that

you can rely on, it's pretty deep. Team is great, It is great. I mean, all we got to his add discipline, Yeah, we got to add a little bit more don't line up off side some third and five or whatever. That one hurt a little bit. Yeah, I add a little discipline, and I'm telling you this thing would be uh oh man, I'm telling you when that kid went down in the Tampa game, you're like, whoa, yeah, but uh, coach McCarthy is stepped up. Man. And I've went to a couple of Will McClay and the guys.

I'm like, I didn't see it. No, I didn't believe it. But whatever, coach McCarthy's feeding these kids and his coaches keep feeding it. Si. He looked at me. I'm like, yeah, I didn't see it. I thought it was gone. Man. Wow. Yeah. Well that's that's the thing about it is that it happened so early, and then you know, you lose Tyrn Smith even before the season starts, and now the questions go. I remember the week leading up to the game on

all the shows were how's Tyler Smith gonna do? And you're thinking, what, I saw Tyler Smith play left tackle for Tulsa. You know, but that didn't see him in training camp. I saw him in OTAs and mini camps without pads on playing some tackle. But you know, I mean he was. He was in a battle for the left guard spot, you know, and I think that, and Nate will tell you this. I mean, he's he's he's lived this. You know, great offensive lineman on all their

plays sixty five places. Don't just great him on one or two plays, because you could have you could have, you know, sixty five plays. You could have sixty three pluses and two minuses. You just hope that two minuses aren't the ones that you know. Maybe, but yeah, I mean it's to the point now where it's like Tyrn Smith coming back, you know, in several weeks, it's like, okay, maybe it's like we'll cross that bridge. We get there. But you're starting to think and listen, I've been super

critical too. Man. It's not like I've been critical a lot of folks, which is what you do for a living. Maybe it's your self aware. Maybe they should be more critical of me, but and they and they are trust me. Um. But yeah, you know, with Terrence Steele, you know, what's going on at right at tackle. I mean there's questions. I'm like, Okay, what's going on at left guard, what's going on at center? The center's playing damn well for you right now. You know what's going on going to

happen at right tackle? You know, I mean all these worries that you have. This crew can run the ball. I mean I didn't run it well against the Commanders, but I'll challenge anybody to run the ball well against the Commanders. Many they are physical up front, now, you know. But this this line has gotten better. The quarterbacks back, he looks comfortable, and the play caller. Let's hope he could kind of keep the momentum going with the way he's doing things. So I don't know about you, guys,

but yesterday was Halloween. Yeah, today is November first. Yes, my fiance was already getting out the Christmas decorations yesterday. Already she was pulling them out. She's getting them all. I had like a Christmas truck in my living room that was Santa's everywhere. It's all already happening. So with that being said, today is your only day to give Jerry Jones your wish list, your wish list moving forward for what you want to add to this team and

the identity that you guys just gave to me. Nate, what would be on that wis wish list in terms of a position you would want for the Cowboys moving forward? You know, because I don't have a player a position. You don't have one, I have one, won't Okay, what is it? And you and you know I will beat a dead horse to death twice. I didn't want this scipline. Yeah, if I can get one thing for this team, and that's why I've been listening and brought us well for

one thing for this team. I wish list well, I could be you know, I live whether for you to be critical than me. I want discipline, Kyle, and I am serious about that. You can't go buy discipline, though, So where do you get it? What you can help teach it? And it's got to be consequences forward. Is that on the coaching staff? Yeah, that's on the coach. That's on the coach seven the leaders of this team. But other than that, brought us is thinking, really brought us,

is thinking the same thing I'm thinking. So tell them what we're thinking. Brought us? Yeah, I you know what to me? Give me an impact player, yes, and I will. I will take it on either side of the ball. Okay. And I learned a long time ago with the Hall of Fame General manager Ron Wolf when I was in Green Bay, and he used to say, when you feel like you're good at a position, at another one, squad out another one, and I think you could help this

team in so many ways. And I think the general manager, I think Jerry Jones sees this. I think he sees I said it this morning, and I hate it. I don't mean this to sound morbid, but Father Time is undefeated, you know, and we don't have we don't know when we're gonna have opportunities again. And you got to look at your team and you got to say, Okay, this is where we are right now as a team, all these things that I just said, that's where you are as a team. You gotta look at the division, you

gotta look at the conference. You gotta look at what's ahead, and if something presents itself where you can go out and make a deal. And the reason I want to keep an open mind about it is because as a former pro personnel guy, I'm going to give Jerry Jones ten names. I'm going to say, these teams are two and six, three and five. I'm going to go after I'm just gonna make calls and I'm gonna make somebody

tell me. No, I'm gonna make somebody tell me. If they're two and six and all of a sudden they feel like they're not going anywhere in second half, I'm gonna go try and get some of these teams best players. It's a wide receiver, whether it's a defensive end, whether it's a linebacker. We saw Roquan Smith go yesterday for a two and a five. You know, I'm doing something

like that. Any picks that Dallas gives away right now, if you give away a one, it's like giving away a two because you're gonna be picking late in the draft anyway. You know, we only have what fifteen to eighteen first round grades. Yeah, okay, it's not like I'm the New Orleans Saints who gave away a pick and now it's the top five, six, top six pick in

the draft. I'm going to get an impact player and the position really doesn't matter to me, but I'm going to get you know, you can talk about wide receiver. That would be a big help. If Kelly Moore is continuing. If that, if we're seeing to Kelly Moore, that's gonna move guys around and work them open and stuff like that. Absolutely. I could see I'd see another defensive tackle. I could see a three technique. I could see another defensive end.

I could you know, just a linebacker, a corner, even though the guy's like Bland and those guys are I mean playing well. But yeah, just add add a position at a big time player. And that's what Nate and Nate used to play on teams when we used to compete against him at Green Bay. They were a good defense, nad Charles Haley. You know they add Dion Sanders, they add you know, it's like they add impact players. You know, that's what you need on this football team. You've got

You've got impact players. At number eleven is one of the best impact, most impact players in the league. Sure at another one. I like that a lot because a lot of people are saying wide receiver, sure, offensive tackle or guard or whatever you wanted to do upfront. And then there's a lot of guys on the open market that are going places. He's just saw yesterday Roquan Smith. He's going to Baltimore. Baltimore's got a good defense, yea,

they added, Yeah, they're struggling. I mean that you watch Baltimore that they've you know they've had their struggles, but they but they realized that, like we need to get a little bit better, we need to get a little bit better. So I'm I'm not opposed to it now. Jerry will tell you you know, he's fielding calls, and

that's good. That's good if he's feeling calls. But I'd also be proactive here too, thank you, and be the one that's making Yeah, but see makes somebody tell you know, yes, if Nate, if Nate Newton is an all pro defensive three technique and he's not a bad team Right now, I'm calling, I'm gonna see how committed they are to really, you know, are you committed to keep winning? Are you are you going to try and win? Are you giving up?

Do you want my first round pick? You know, teams a lot of these teams are run by guys that were former scouts. Scouts, gimme picks, gimme picks, gimme picks, gimme picks. That's what they're thinking about. They're not thinking about really how they build the team. They just want picks, you know, and and where you should take advantage of that? And I you know to say and I know on this on this platform. We can't give names and all we could, yeah, I mean we can't. Yeah, and it's understandable.

But just impact offense or defense. Impact, that's where you start. And we talk about this before the show before you walked in, Kyle. It's a player out there. Yeah, and it will mcclay's y'all with his guys to get those five or six guys. You saying ten, I'm saying I I don't. I am a guy. I am done. I listened to y'all draft show, own and off. I am done with anything. If you're not a fourth round I would never have a fifth, six or something. I would

never have that. I'll be trying to package them to get me a fourth. I would never because those are the only things that I care about. And now getting rid of a first for a Rocon Smith, I would have did it like eight years ago, before he was even born into this league, I promise you, yeah, because how do you how do you quantify not having a guy like that? Well, what they'll say to you though, and this is Stephen Jones, and the way they run the cap is they've got guys that coming up for

future contracts. They've got CD digs. You know, they've got guys some point. And I know, Nate, you're rubbing your eyes and I rub my eyes too. I rub my eyes too because I'm about And this is where I think the advantage they have right now, because Jerry really

does believe this. And again it's not the morbid approach, but Jerry, and you know, when you start thinking about how many more campaigns do you have left, how many more opportunities are you going to have for Aaron Rodgers not to be in the mix or Tom Brady not to be in the mix, you know? Or your main competition is the Vikings, the Eagles and the Giants, you know. I mean right now, if the season ended, you're going

to Atlanta to play a playoff game. You're probably a ten point favored against Atlanta right now on the road, no doubt. So why not if you can add one more player or you know, two more players, And that to me is that to me is that's where that's where you're trying to go for it right there. And I think a lot of people are critical of the

Jones family and there's something they admit it. There's things that that it's the way they operate and Jerry said this morning that maybe that we think that Jerry's too aggressive and Stephen isn't, and Jerry said it's kind of quite the opposite. He says, I feel like that that Stephen at times is very aggressive, and he goes there's times Jerry said, I'm very conservative, but they feel like they have the balance there. I'd like to see I'd like to see the right deal fall in their lap today.

I really would. I think it would be kind of fun because I think they would do it. Yeah, I think they're interested. Everything that you've heard from Jerry and

then Stephen this week postgame got me thinking that. When he told Kevin Gray at one oh five three and the Fan, he says, Kevin asked him the question, and he says, if he goes, I see everything you're talking about about this, I see everything that about this football team and everything that Kevin asked him about going forward that had to do with going forward, and Jerry was Jerry didn't didn't back off. He didn't say, well, you know,

we need to see the right No. Jerry says, I'm I'm thinking exactly what you just asked me, and I think that's that's all as a cowboy fan. That's all you can ask for. Now, the cowboy fan out there will also say they never do anything. This is gonna be another Well maybe the right opportunity didn't come, But to me, I think this is a great opportunity to try and help your football. Bat phone should be lit up the mission of Gordon. You should be lit the

skylighting this guy. And like I said, I have no player that I wanted. He the player I wanted is gone. And uh, I think we needed a linebacker and it was one guy, that Smith. He is the ultimate big play linebacker. He's gone. Now, brodness, you may have a list of guys. Yeah, there's there's guys again, we just kind of can't get into him. But yeah, their targets. Yeah, that's what the thing about it is. So let's let's

see how this thing goes. We got till three o'clock today and hopefully that that Jerry and Will and Steven are fielding a lot of calls. And there's some teams out there that are sellers today. This division, this uh, this league has a lot of sellers involved and its rams are apparently shooting their shot again. By the way, did you see that to the Cowboys. No, they offered they offered Brian for Burns. Burns two first round draft picks for Burns to Carolina. Can we say the name

is that? Okay? I mean it's not a Cowboys, it's not a Cowboys. This is reported by Albert Brier says. Breer says the Rams offered two first round draft picks to for Brian Burns, and Carolina turned them down. Wow, they're always shooting their shot. They're getting in there. They always do. They don't. They don't like they don't like the draft. They don't like holding onto the pigs. I'm not being picks man picks. You hit him, miss, Yeah,

I mean yeah. The thing that the thing the thing about the thing about their their uh and I know less sneed the the GM real well. And Less is one of those guys that where Less has had really good successes. He goes out and gets the best player, but the best player ends up staying healthy for him too. Yes, they don't they This is the first year that the Rams have really struggled with injury. Their offensive line. It's

been decimated, it really has. And so when you make that when you make that thought about going out giving up picks, but you don't have depth to handle it. See, that's the one thing that Cowboys have. Colboys have some depth. You saw that on display on defense the other day. No doubt. That's the thing is players could be involved in it. Trade picks could be involved with it. There are so many ways for Dallas to push the chips all in. They're already a good portion there, got the roster.

There might be somebody on your roster right now that someone likes. That would soften the blow of going to getting another guy. You know, you say, Okay, we'll parlay won a Nate's third or fourth round picks and we'll package it with a player that somebody might like. It might be a little surplus for you. I like it. I like it. We'll see what happens, and we'll of course talk talk about it tomorrow. Break it all down for you whenever the deadline comes to an end at

three pm Central time. When we come back though it's first half grades, how would you grade the Cowboys six in two start and moving forward? How what type of expectation should be on the table for the rest of the season. Right after this with more talking Cowboys, Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the cheetah. Savannah Todd believed the big Cat repellent he bought online was reliable, and now Todd is trying to be faster than this cheetah that can run eighty miles per hour.

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Week edition with Nate Newton. Brian brought us some Kyle Yeoman's Glad You're with us as always, brought to you by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official coffee of the Dallas Cowboys. So we talked about trade deadline, talked about the Sunday win. Let's talk about a little bit of grades. I want you guys to give me an A to F grade on how the Cowboys have fared throughout the season. Brian, you did a great job of outlining it early on.

You survived your backup quarterback for five games. You survived not having Dak Prescott. You went four and one of those games. You're six and two heading into the bye week, technically the halfway point. I know there's nine games left, but this is a good reset point. What would you grade the first half of the season. I think it's been an A. I think you absolutely when you look at what this defense has been able to do, development

of young offensive lineman. You survived your quarterback not being part of five games, you've established that you can run the ball with two guys instead of just one. The wide receivers, probably you need a little bit more there. I don't know if it's the talent. I just know that they struggled with Cooper rush Plane quarterback. You got a great development with these young tight ends. You survived not having Dalton Schultz, who was a big part of that.

I mean, the resiliency, the coaching staff, Dan Quinn, Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore, bones fossil. You know, how could you not at six and two. I mean, if they don't have three turnovers against the Eagles, I think they win that football game. I think they do. I think they find a way to win that game. I think they had the Eagles on the ropes a little bit there, but the turnovers were just too much. But the Tampa game it seems like a distant memory. Now it's a different

football team. And I don't know how you cannot give this team an A for what they've done so far. You're very convincing, Brian. I give them a B plus. What a great job that his defense did. And Ben dating this whole thing, Yeah, for making sure that you couldn't score more than eighteen points, and they made sure the opponents score win less. They did a tremendous job

of doing it. And I want to get coach mccarthyin A but I'm gonna get his team a B plus because when your offense went dormant the way it went and barely survived, you got to get a quarterback at A. But other than that, they just they got through. So I'm giving him a B plus. And uh, a tremendous job of coach McCarthy because he did not blink and I he did his thing. And then I always and our report saying always glaring of him from outsiders, Yeah, of coach McCarthy. But he hung in there, he did

what he had to do. I give him a B plus. Man, So you're bringing the grade down significantly. Yes, from from broad Uster said I would give him an A. By the way as well, I was asked that question last night, and I gave an a same reason. I thought I even thought that A minus, Yeah, it can fit, but

B plus. And you're bringing it down because of the offense. Yeah, So are you not giving in on the fact that they showed again on Sunday that they can go back to that they can get back to a forty point offense, which we saw all of last year. They are you not buying in just yet, just based off of the competition that our first half Yeah, and the first half was our offense wasn't great put it put the defense, but the defense was superb sure. I mean they were

super elite. Yes, and they covered up a lot of things for us, because when Philly came, we saw it. It was it was exposed. But now with Dag back with a week on his belt, we see what we can be. So, uh, if they're a for just hanging in there, what what do we get? Well, you know what, if you want to if you want to really break it down this way, you can say it coaching staff A yes, you can say defense A yes, offense C yes.

I think that's fair. Yeah. And then if that's the case, then Nate's closer to being right than I am about the A. But I mean, because if you if you really feel like that the quarterback, the backup quarterback was he did exactly what he had to do. He did and his eyes around the offensive line got better, the running game, everything got better, The tight ends got better. Yeah, I received was that was a struggle. That was a struggle struggle. Yeah, I think the Nates, Nate's onto something.

So if you even wanted to go a little further, if you wanted just to grade in on all three levels, A, A, and A C, yes, you're kind of somewhere right around A B plus or B special teams. Special teams. I mean A plus. I tell you, with what they've done with it, then they've been good. Well yeah, with the A. I mean I would leave the pluses and stuff out.

I'd just say A B and say whatever. And but to me, it's it's kind of one of those things where this summer, it could have been real easy for them to take that kicking situation and force it and say, no, Garabay is our guy. He's the dude, he's our guy. Yeah, you know higher law who he's our guy. Right. They

didn't do that. Felt like they tried to do that for a little bit and then finally were like and then and then it got then it got to the point where Nate got tired of looking at me and going I haven't made a field goal yet here today, and I go, I don't know, Nate, it looks bad to me. I agree, But they went out and they resigned the punter. Like I had an eighty something yard punt the other day and net sixty something yard punt. He has had a couple of change in the fields.

He changes the field. That's what I'm saying. They go out and this is where you got to get the front office an a for going out and getting for going out and getting turpin, you know. I mean, that's the pro scouting department saying, hey, we're watching USFL tape and you know we don't have a dynamic returner. This kid is a difference maker as a returner. He's likely going to win a game for you here in the second half one of those cold weather games there or

whatever late in the year. He's gonna Tennessee or someplace like that. They're not going to kick the ball all the way down the field and he's gonna take it back. Heck, he had a fifty four yard punt return the other day that you didn't get any points off of that you should have. But that's the kind of thing. I mean. You look at how this team has been built. They

really really survived because of special teams in defense. Yes, and now the offense is hopefully back because your quarterbacks back so nate based off of your grade first half of the season B plus if you give a If you're talking about the offense and their struggles, do you expect them to be better? Are is it going to be better in the second half? To be better? Okay, if you're not gonna control time of possession at thirty one minutes or more, you have to be better because

Philadelphia gonna make you do that. Are they gonna wear it down your defense? Chicag I mean New York Giants gonna make you. They're gonna wear it down your defense. Minnesota Vikings gonna wear down your defense because they have the ability to score. This is not the Bears, this is not Detroit. These guys will make you. They will stress stress your defense and then say that, right, did you got it? This is it? Yes? I think you guys are both making great points because the defense elite,

one of the best in the NFL. Right now, you gotta stop the run. Sure, there's there's there's holes there. You're gonna fix that. I think at some point this season, maybe the tread trade deadline does that. Maybe it doesn't. Same thing for the offense. Maybe the tread trade deadline helps out the offense. Three o'clock potential here it's three, it's four o'clock, it's ten o one. Fellas, got a little bit of time. Yes, we'll see what happens and

we'll talk about it tomorrow here on Talking Cowboys. But the offense gotta pick it up. Defense, you've been great, special teams phenomenal. Let's keep that rolling and we'll be back here tomorrow to talk about what happened on the trade deadline. But it's over. We got forty five minutes in this room. Blows five right when greatness is working, don't stop. I mean at least another fifteen minutes. This wrong, all right? Being for three days. Yeah, we're gonna get

Nate in here. That'd be great, just have him on the board. But that's gonna do it for us here on Talking Cowboys. Nate and Brian will be back tomorrow here at nine fifteen am Central Time. On Talking Cowboys. Presented by Black Rifle Coffee for Chris Beam. Nate Newton Prime brought us some Kyle Yemens. We'll see you tomorrow. Rifle up baby. This has been a production of Dallas cowboys dot com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club