Talkin' Cowboys: Frustrating Finale

it's kind of a mark. I don't know of another m word. Maddening munday, bady, do what we can't say here? That's about to say. We can only say certain things on the airways. We classify the today as Murky's murky because there's so many questions. Can't see what's ahead of you. Yeah, you gotta look through something kind of slush and work through it. No, uh yeah, okay, that's fair. That's probably better than marvelous. All right, let me start over here.

We going three two one. It is a murky Monday here on Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official Coffee of the Dallas Cowboys here from the s WBC studios at the Star in Frisco, alongside Isaiah stand back Patrick, no sleep walker. We've got Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeoman's gentleman. How are we doing after Georgia? Boy man? He's getting ready for game? Baby? Yeah,

you got a game? Huhep. You do have a game today? Um, and I hope the Cowboys use would uh what they what happened on yesterday? Combine it with would almost happened to my dogs against against Ohio State. Do not play with your freaking food. My my dogs life flash before the very eyes they heard all all season and this is why. And you guys know from offline conversations, UM, so many people will no see. You know, your dog's gonna run through everybody. Nobody's gonna beat your dogs. What

was my reply to all of that? I said, stop stop saying that. Stop saying it, because you say that Georgia had a warning shot. They smelled the game, They smelled themselves, They started smelling themselves and it almost ended. Oh well, let's let's kind of transition that to the NFL. Then let's transition transition to that into the regular season finale, the Washington Commanders take down the Dallas Cowboys twenty six to six. Cowboys took down the Dallas Cowboys, and Dallas lost.

They lost that game. They were bad, lot, they were bad. Washington did what they needed to do. Twenty six to six was the final saint, the one to say it though. I'm saying, but if we're always gonna say no, we're not always gonna say, we're gonna say when you say the team just beat when it applies. Okay, So so you're telling me that the Commanders were good enough yesterday. They their coverage was incredible. Yesterday they did. Their coverage was all over the place. You had zero separation, you

had a ton of pressure. I'm not saying they weren't. They didn't have their good moments. What I'm saying is if the Cowboys play even remotely service, they did it. Your question to me, Isaiah, was when are we going to say that a team actually defeated the Cowboys? Okay, yesterday was not that day. Of the five losses, which game did Dallas get beat Philadelphia? Okay? With a backup quarterback back of Philadelphia, they took the ball away Tampa Yeah,

Tampa Verse Week one in Week eighteen are doppelgangers. It was the worst performances of the year Week one in Week eighteen. No coincidence to Cowboys lost those particular games. So if you look at yesterday, for example, you start the game um solid return by Kavante Turpin, callback because of the penalty on Tyler Coil, and let's keep it to special teams. Brian Anger fumbles to snapper, Covers gets tap code, Washington gets the ball in the red zone.

Keep it the special teams. Kavante Turpin must the second point of the season, loses it, Washington recovers the ball in the red zone, and that's just special teams. Yeah. Then you go over and you look at the offense. You talk about the drops picked by Kendall Fuller. Okay, well let's try him again. Bad idea, mister Prescott pick six on the very next throw, and that is one hundred percent accountable to Deck and he knows it has

to own it, and he does on it. But the list goes on and Norm couldn't get the run game established. We talked about it in the preview. We said that this defensive front is one of the best in the league as far as the Commanders goes, and you were going to have problems establishing the run. So then when you if you did have that problem again this week, where are you going to be able to pass the ball? Cowboys couldn't pass the ball, couldn't run the ball, couldn't

pass the ball. When you pass the ball, you made mistakes. Special teams were making mistakes. The defense was the only ones that showed up to play, with the exception of the unbelievable struggles of Trayvon Mother. And we wanted to see. We wanted to see what that that backup cornerback position looked like opposite Bland and Digs, and we know what

Nishan could do, but they showed his Trayvon Mother. They gave Mother more snaps yesterday than they gave Nashan right because they wanted to see if he was viable in the playoffs. Well, now we know that he is not because from the penalties to you know, not getting his head around and then there was a DP I missed over the middle that would have been in the end zone, would put the Commanders on the one yard line and

flag Mullin did not have a good game. So now you know it's Nashan, right, and then we'll see who's backing up right between Alexander and some of these other guys. Xavier Roads is in the building, Big XS in the building, former pro bowler, from former two time All Pro. He gets it done, We'll see if he can get it done for the Cowboys. But all I'm saying is all of that is to be said, or is for this to be said. That game yesterday was absolute trash, absolute trash.

I'm proud of you, absolute trash. I'm proud of you. Know. I know I'm proud of you because normally you wouldn't say that. You would give a reason normally as to why they, Yeah, gave several because the Cowboys. What I said before Mike's went hot, and I didn't, I'll change the word. The Cowboys pissed in their own bed and then rolled around in it for four quarters. That's basically what they did in Washington, and it needs to serve as a reminder of what's coming up. There's no more mulligans.

There's no more if we don't get this right, Okay, we'll bounce back next week. No, you're watching the Tampa and you play even remotely as poorly as you played in Washington and you're fishing can't happen. What do you think as there? I think they showed what we expect of them at this point in time of the year. I mean, unfortunately, they are a team that you just don't know what you're gonna get from week to week. And it sucks because when they're good, they're really freaking good.

But when they play teams that they're supposed to beat up on, they don't. And it's very indicative of a I would classify it as a mentally immature team in the sense that they're not approaching every game the same and they're not performing at the same level or above that level every week. And I know if fans are probably tired of it, I just look at it as inconsistent ball, and they're going to have to have a complete one eighty. This is not the first bad game.

I sat here last week, the week before, even though they were getting victories and some of those games, and I'm still saying that they're not playing good football, and people were like, oh, you're just hating. Okay, cool, they're not playing good football. You call it what you want to call it. You can win the ball game and

have an ugly win. It's still a win, but it's an ugly win because you're the level of ball you're supposed to be competing at, and when you don't play to that level, you just fall into some victories just because you're more talented than teams. But when there's days like this, this is very indicative of what this team has been doing, putting on the film for the last six weeks, and it's very unfortunate, and you hope, but it is an h word. It's a hope that they

can turn it around. There's nothing that shows any level of consistency in any three fastest of this team right now. And it used to be your defense. That's not the case anymore. We knew this as a defensively led team. Offense has not shown you much confidence at all in terms of what they're capable of doing on a consistent week to week basis, and then now it's rolled over

into special teams. So at what point what are you leaning on to give you confidence to say, this element of our game, we know it's going to be president every single week. We can rely on this to be president every week because that's that's where we're that's where we're laying our head on. Yeah, there's nothing. There's nothing. So everything now turns into hope. You hope that your team shows up in plays. No, you're exactly right, because let's run it down. Let's go all the way top

to bottom. This was a team loss, much like the Cowboys have had team wins throughout the season. Let's run it down. Who did their job right yesterday? Quarterback? No, not at all. Fourteen to thirty seven. Sorry, guys, if you're if you're a Dak fan, I'm a Dack fan. If you watch the game, then you know the answer is no. It's no. If. Even if you're a Dak fan and you defend Dak, you're doing him a disservice by saying he's doing his job lately. He's not. Fifteen

interceptions in twelve games is not acceptable. And then you come out and you throw fourteen completions in thirty seven tries not going to get the job done, especially not against the Washington Commander. It's just wait until you face the Buccaneers, the forty nine ers, the Philadelphia Eagles. If you get a chance to get past Tampa Bay, in Round one. Running backs, did they do their job yesterday? No? No, they did not. Ten yards for Zeke, nineteen yards for

Tony Pollard. Congratulations to hit a thousand yards, but there's still a long way to go. Tight ends no, not at all. Offensive line, no, not even a little bit. Jason Peters really struggled yesterday at left tackle. Connor McGovern had his lapses. I thought Zack Martin even struggled a little bit. The guy who you can rely on more than anybody, he even struggled and let up a couple of plays yesterday, A couple of pressures. Defensive line maybe as close as you can get. Yes, I'd only I

think I would say a solid neutral. I would give it a neutral. I wouldn't even say yes. I didn't look at that defensive line yesterday and say, wow, Sam, how is under pressure consistently fair? The Yeah, they didn't go obviously they didn't go mall Sam Howe, But which they should have? Did they get back to the old ways? I think they'd hack now, Okay, I don't think that they looked at How's tar heel tape and they somehow forgot that he has legs, he can run, He can run.

He took off and burned him a couple of times. But I mean they were certainly positive to take away from the defensive line. Chauncey Ghost and for example, he stood out Ohsa Diggi Zul. He had some plays um but as far as not defensive even Osa sack that was Sam how blowing the play call. So I mean defensive line, they were above average. We'll say we'll give it, We'll give it a halfwayfty yards giving up on the ground. Yeah, okay,

not good. Well, contextually speak, and when you're tasked as a defense with going up against that time of position because your offense goes four and eighteen on third down plus one for one for three on fourth down. Yeah, and unfortunately we talked, we talked about a guy like Treylon Mullin, and not to beat up on a guy, but the secondary as a whole. And you know, sure

the glaring light is on treyvon Mullin. But because Sam Howe was able to extend plays being with defensive pass interference and or big you know, catches to Terry mclurin. Because they kept targeting Mullin. That stretched the field so you can't drop down and try to, you know, add that extra man in the box to stop the run. So so yeah, there you go, let's keep going. Linebacker, No, not at all. Damon Clark, Anthony Brown did not play well. Anthony Bark, excuse me. And and Damon Clark did not

play well. Hanks hankins yit. They're gonna need him back coming back. Corners no, no safeties. Hooker, yes, he had the pick in the end Zoe took. He was out of position on the He was out of position on the huge completion to uh Dotson number one. Uh that No, that one. That one was with Nashan and coverage. I saw one. There was a deep one he was also out of That was with mclauren. Mclauren's big completion was with Mullen and coverage, and Hooker was was trying to

get there. It's time. So even then you have a lapse. Kicker, no, no punter, non return kick returner. So every single piece of this Cowboys roster has some sort of The blame is absolute, every single piece. You cannot get past anybody and say all right, man, hey, great job didn't work out for you today. We'll see you next week. We'll try and do better around you. Nobody zero, everybody in that locker room has a chip on their shoulder right

now because they were all bad, all of them. And I'm I'm I'm the one that usually defends these guys. You can't after that much like Week one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, not so coincidentally, um, as we get ready to face them here in the next few days, it was, like you said, it was a total team loss. All three phases just went to hell. Um. And and

that's how I mean, even Brett Mayer. You know, you talk about Joey Slot missing his kids, right, but Mars Mara he missed a point after and that that's really when you know you're in the twilight zone where it's just like, I don't know what's going on here, but it's going on and this ain't pretty. So let's just try to get out of here. Hold and then now the Cowboys and kind of a quick news and notes tip bit de Ron Blanchester injury. He will be evaluated

this morning. He was in good spirits on the flight back. UM. Rumor floating around that right now is that that's just the coaches. That was a coach. I'm totally fine, and I mentioned that in the Updates dot Com yesterday that it was most likely precautionary. But we'll get an update from he came back in in the third quarter. Yeah, but because he played a little bit so. But that combined with the fact that he was in good spirits on the plane. Not good in the aspect of smiling,

but good in the aspect of that. There wasn't any sense of concern on his face for whatever the injury might be. So it's not like he was being jovial on the plane or anything. You know, he just had a you know, not so downtrotten facial expression as if Home Grammer season. So it wasn't that kind of vibe coming off him. So that's that's good news. We'll get more update on Darron Bland. But I can't get over how and Nick even put it very well when we

walked into the locker room. He said, this, this has been a full full circle regular season. You you ended the regular season exactly how he started. Signs you know, injury to Dak Prescott. But yeah, you went to bed in week one, you went to bed in week eighteen, and and now the Cowboys, who usually well I'm not gonna say usually this season, some of the time has responded very favorably to getting punched in the mouth. All we can do is look at that and say, they

have demonstrated with resiliency. Let's see it again, because you gotta have it now. I mean hope. Yeah, it's it's it's hope based on evidence, because they've not suffered the two game losing streets, so it's not phantom hope. It's actual, evidential based hope. They lost to Tampa Bay, most people said the season was over, Wrap it up, it's done.

We lost Dak Prescott. It's a rape. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals with Cooper Rush and they went on a you know, four game win street before dropping to the Philadelphia Eagles. They lose the Green Bay. They've mall Minnesota. See now that that is what I'm expecting to see from the Cowboys. You got you didn't even necessarily get punched in the mouth by Aaron Rodgers. But the fashion in which you lost that game shouldn't have happened. Fourteen

point collapse, you bounce back, and you just destroy Minnesota. Vikings. This question, go for it. What aspect of the of the game of football. Do you know for sure will show back up for the Cowboys next week? You want to be honest, absolutely, I do. Well, I know the defense is going to show up. Hell, they showed up yesterday until they got gassed, and trayvon Mullin is not

going to be you know CB two. It's going back to Nashan, right, So I think so showing up means defense is going to show up and do what you pay them to do. Get pressures, hopefully, get some sacks, get some takeaways they leave the league and takeaways. So I'm hanging my head on the defense under four hundred yards that, like, I'm trying to understand, like what is

what would you doing their job? Showing up against Tom Brady and all, well, give me, give me showing up for me against Tom Brady and those weapons would be three sacks on Brady, um an interception, uh, forced fumble, slash, fumble recovery, all those. Yeah, that's not You're not asking a lot from a defense that showing you it can do it. And I didn't say, I'm just, of course I would love six or sevens asked this three. I

asked this question because you just don't know. So that's why utilize the term hope facts and nobody likes that term because hope is not a real it's not over real thing. I hope I hit the lotto. It's not a strategy. That thing's over at Billy right now. I hope I hit the relative because what's what's been your success? I get it, I get it, but you just okay

with this team. To go with your point though, going back to last year, come on, I'm not going back to red I am because the red flags were there all the way throughout. To go back to the history, we got to go back to history. You were twelve and five a year ago. We're talking about them right now in the NIXT But those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And I'm trying to say that moving forward. Come on with twelve and five last year, you had red flags all the way throughout.

Where do those red flags rare their ugly head against San Francisco? It's correct, you have red flags all the way throughout this game. This season in a twelve and five record, great, congratulations, you won twelve regular season games. You've got to limit the turnovers. You've got to find a way to run the football against Yes, and you gotta find a way to get back to your identity defensively.

All of those things haven't been working lately. So how can you sit here and tell me that it's going to all show up magically whenever you play one of the better teams you've played all years? Or did I you want to run that back? Did I say it was all magically going to show up? You just told me the defense is going to have what they help you that I expect. He asked me, what do I expect? Which phase do I expect to show up? Of the three phases, which do I most expect to show up?

And you said, and I said, the defense, That's what I most expect to show up. Do you expect anything else to show up? I expect Dak Prescott to bounce back in the passing the tap. I expect that to happen. I do expect the Cowboys to have a difficult time establishing to run against the Detapa frontempt. I expect that to happen. But I expect Dak Prescott to show me that he can bounce back as he showed me in

the past. My point being, I'm not saying it's magically going to show up anymore than I'm trying to apologize for yesterday. Run the tape back. What did I call the outing from yesterday? I said it was trade They peed in their own bed and then rolled around in it for four quarters. That is what I said. That is all true. We just sat here and went position group by position group, and we failed most of them and just gave an average grade to the defensive line.

I agree those are my grades. They're all true. What's also true is there's evidence that the Cowboys have been punched in the mouth this season and have come back and have come back and won the very next game and going on runs more often than not. That is also true. That's what I'm saying. So I'm not apologizing for what happened because it's indefensible against that Washington team.

But I'm also saying we can't see we can't look at the macro of what happened over the course of this season, and a week ago talk about how McCarthy and this coaching staff has fought through adversity and losing Dak Prescott and all these injuries and losing Hankins and losing lt Vanderesh and losing Toron Smiths before the season move a rookie first round picked Tim with Smith and left guard after not having him take any reps there

and training camp. The list goes on and on, and still they find ways to not lose two in a row en route to a twelve and five season. There is evidence there that this team can bounce back. So what I'm saying is that's what I expect to happen.

That's what they need to expect and demand of themselves in the locker room, in the meeting rooms, on the practice field every day this week, and when you get on that field against Tom Brady, you have a chance to not only bounce back from an embarrassing, nauseating loss against Washington, but to hand Brady his first loss loss against this franchise and possibly retire him in the process. The stage is set. Go do your job, because we know you can do your job. That's what I'm saying.

I wouldn't be this frustrated if I didn't think you were as elite as I think you can be. But I'm gonna I'm gonna say it like I would when I'm coaching, and you know, coaching Little league and things like that. These are grown man. But coaching is coaching. Parenting is parenting. It's the same thing. If I've seen that you can be great, I no longer accept anything less than what you've shown me. Bottom line, and you've

seen it, and I've seen it. If I if I didn't see it at any point this year, I would be sitting here saying, you know what things are? Things are? You know, go ahead and wrap it up. We're gonna get blown out in Tampa Bay. I understand Isaiah makes valid points. You make valid points. Anyone who saw the game and actually watches film over the course of this season knows that there are valid points to be made for having concern about this Cowboys team going into these playoffs.

All of that is true. What's also true is anyone who's watched this season, watched the film from this season, knows that there's also a chance this Cowboys team might benefit from being punched in the mouth. As much as we hate that they that it had to happen. That's

what I'm saying. I hate that they lost that game in Watchington, I hate the fashion in which it happened, But if it had to happen if if Week eighteen had to be the sacrificial lamb to get to the promised Land, and they put the head off that goal manad off that I've got a stat that's gonna back your point up here, and I've got a stat that's gonna destroy the point at the same time. And fourth, I mean, depending on how you want to take it, perception is reality. I'm going to give it to you.

On the other side of the break, We're going to continue with more talking cowboys right after this. When you build, you start with the foundation, and homeownership is a foundation of a stable future. The Bank of America Community Homeownership Commitment has helped over thirty four thousand people lay the ground work so far with up to ten thousand dollars. So it's your down payment or three percent of the purchase price, whichever is less. The satisfaction of owning your

own place can become a reality. Visit Bank of America dot com slash homeowner to learn more. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America an a equal housing lender, credit and collateral as sophie to approval restrictions apply. This is not a commitment to lend this sweet. Did you get to work on time? Yeah? But I just realized it's Sunday. Little sweets his head on home. Doctor Pepper is on its way. Maybe there's nothing better. I bet you've probably done something investoristic and f G

and know what that is. It's a nonpunchable token something 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. But the good news is Todd has AT and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew At and

T five G. Fast, reliable, secure, It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plan and device. Five G may not be available in your areas. He att dot com slash big for you for details. Are you ready to take coffee off your grocery list? Forever? Black Rifle Coffee Club is here to hell. As a coffee club member, you'll get your favorite coffee's roasted package and ship to your door free of charge on your preferred schedule. Set it,

forget it, and never run low on coffee again. Members also get exclusive deals on coffee products and discounts from partner brands. Ease your mind and let Black Rifle worry about your coffee supply. Go to Black Riflecoffee dot com to join the coffee club Today to Talking Cowboys. This is how we country. Country Music's Party of the Year is coming to Ford Center at the Star in Frisco. The Academy of Country Music Awards are always bringing you

country music's brightest stars together under one roof. And no one does country quite like Texas Witness History on May eleventh. Get your tickets right now at siegeek dot com. Back here on Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company. We've got our Black Rifle rolling, We've got the coffee flowing, we got the energy here. Because the Cowboys fell twenty six to six in the regular season finale against the

Washington Commanders. So I want to go back and talk about Patrick's point in that first segment and valid points across the board, because, like I said, perception is reality. Right now, where right now, you can perceive this Cowboys team as they've got the weapons, they've got the talent. If they play their best football, the only team that can beat them is the Star And you saw that again yesterday. They can bounce back, absolutely, they can. They

can bounce back. And yesterday I put this out on Twitter actually for this point, because there are six games from the start of last year that I have had as losses, six losses that stick in the back of my mind. Twenty twenty one against Denver, Week nine, get blown out at home against a bad different the Blueprint game, Week twelve, which is Thanksgiving against Las Vegas last year, penalty penalty, penalty, penalty penalties, and that was even an

overtime loss. You should have won that game, you didn't. And then the wild card game in twenty twenty one against San Francisco. This year, the three games are Week one against Tampa Bay, Week fifteen against Jacksonville when you were up by seventeen, and now twenty twenty two, Week

eighteen against Washington. The part of that stat that's going to go toward Patrick's point, what did they do in each of the weeks After all of those games they won, They won every single one of the weeks after that. They were six and oh following those six games, those are the games that stuck out in my mind as signature losses. Absolutely just did not play well. Performances across the board bad. They won all six games after that, which,

to their credit, that's huge. So for everybody that's saying this guy is falling, let's tup, let's tap the brakes. They've got a game next week. You can say it next week. If they lose, you can say sky is falling. So we'll tell me Isaiah. Then, from your standpoint as a player, how much do you have to rely on your own motivation? Because the motivation wasn't necessarily there in week eighteen, but now it is. It's either win or go home. Your motivation can't be dictated upon the opponent

that you're facing. That's first off, Then why is it? Why is it? See, you can't speak to that because I weren't. I was not in locker rooms that that existed. Okay, so I cannot speak to that mindset. I can identify it, I can I can acknowledge it and say that that's I've played teams that are that are wishy washy and up, up, sometimes down, sometimes going with the tide, you know, but you gotta remain steadfast as as a team, as an organization.

You got the right mindset, and unfortunately this team has not. To date, they have not been a pinnacle of consistency in any facet of the game. I guess you can say Special Teams has probably been the most consistent out of out of all the units, and that fell apart yesterday. So I can't speak to their mindset, but I can speak and say this is what needs to take place going for it. Yesterday was yesterday. I don't even know if they're going to review the tape. I probably wouldn't.

I probably wouldn't view the table watch on the flight. I'm sure. Yeah, But once you land be done with it. Yeah, And that's yeah, once you land be done with it, because now it's all about film study going forward. If you don't, if you have to get up for a playoff game, you just should not be in the locker room. So I'm not even going to I'm not even gonna project that anybody on the roster has to get up

for that game. I'm not gonna put that out there because I don't think they have those type of competitors on this team. I do think that collectively they need to come together and figure out what the ultimate, real,

the realistic goal is for this team. It's easy for every single body to sit in the locker room at the beginning of the year when coach walks in and says, we're going for the Super Bowl this year, We're going NFC Championship, then we're going you know, we're you know, we're going to Division championship, NFC Championship, and then we're gonna win a super Bowl. Everybody says it, Okay, cool, Ray, Ray, what's your realistic expectation? What what's the identity of your team?

And you can know I talk about culture and identity a lot because when it comes down to the nitty griddy, like we just saw yesterday, like it matters who want So when I ask the question, you know, to no ce, not to not being a jerk, I'm just saying, like, what do you truly expect to that you know you're gonna rest your head on, You're gonna yeah, what can you teams that have such a church? Isaiah and I sit on the postgame show yesterday, there are certain teams

that have that have an identity. He's not really a joy. I'm just joke. Yeah, I mean we watched everybody, everybody at home set there and watch that Detroit in Green Bay game yesterday for the most part, and that team bald. One thing you know about Detroit is what they're gonna They're gonna freaking fight. They're gonna bust you in the mouth. That's their identity. It doesn't matter if they win or lose. You're gonna leave. You gonna leave LIMPN. Everybody's not going

back healthy. But that's the identity of a team, right, And there's certain individuals and certain cultures that are established. And I'm just waiting to see Dallas is we know that Dallas is fully capable of being a freaking amazing team when they play all together, when they figure it out, when they when they come together, it can't play. Oh they're they're a problem. And everybody knows that. Everybody league knows talent wise, based upon the roster, based upon their

coaching staff, the capabilities that that Dallas possesses. But it's a mindset to go out there and put that on the show every single week. So you have to go back and watch a crapload a film. I mean there is no video games, there is no TV, there's not even no reading. Okay, this is all you're when you're on the toilet, you're watching film. When you're when you should go you should go to bed falling asleep to film, wake up first and you grab your tablet watching more film.

Like everybody has to be on one accord, and then you have to have meetings on top of meetings. I go back to our time on our on our Super Bowl run, and we would have we would watch film

like crazy. Then we would have installed, and we have practice, then we have walkthroughs, and then we will come back and in Eli would have a whole other film of the package that he had put together, and he'd bring all the people who are gonna catch a ball and we would sit in a room and we would watch film based upon from his perspective, and you would just I mean, it was so much so that we were all on one accord, so that the non verbal communication

was one on one accord, all the install, everything that you were seeing, everything that I was seeing, we were all seeing the same exact thing. That's where this team has to get to within the span of seven days, and they just happened to have to do it against the best dude to ever touch the touch the football field, who's had his own share of struggle. Absolutely. Yeah, And here's what I'm interested in, the same um you mentioned

twenty twenty one. So let's talk about the back end of twenty twenty one for a quick moment, and as it relates to the back end of twenty twenty two. The seasons wise, Cowboys went into Week eighteen against the Philadelphia Eagles last season and just walk the dog. Yeah, they did fifty plus points. Walk the dog. Everybody was

feeling good. Everybody was feeling great, from the fandom to the analysts to everybody inside of the building feeling great, feeling wonderful going into the playoffs twelve and five on the heels of that kind of a win against the division rival. Absolutely let's goal. And then what happened in the wild card Fast forward to now, the exact opposite

has now taken place. The Cowboys are still at twelve and five, exactly what they were last season, but they're entering the playoffs having been punched in the mouth in Week eighteen. Okay, it'll be very interesting to see if they can flip the script. Maybe they were riding too high off of that fifty point bomb against the Eagles. In Week eight, team went into a ten t against the forty nine ers and thought, oh, we got this.

They can come in with their boomboxes and whatnot. We're gonna walk oh and and oh right, So maybe, and again, nobody wanted to see that. We all predicted this team would win in big fashion against Washington. Nobody wanted to see what we what we watched at FedEx Field on yesterday that said, it will be very interesting to see because that we've seen the Cowboys going to the playoffs twelve and five, you know, hanging a fifty brisket? Is that what we're doing? Fifty brisket fifty hanging a fifty

brisket on a divisional rival. Well, now you're going into the playoffs. You're still twelve and five, just like last season, but you're you're missing some teeth, So now what are

you gonna do? Okay, let me just play at Devil's Advocate here though, ye playing Devil's Advocate here yesterday When you went into that game, you had everything still on the table at kickoff, and now of course that that left it at halftime, right, you had everything still on the table, could have been the top seed in the NFC, could have won the division at least go into and

following in your favor exactly. The last game of the twenty twenty one season where everything mattered for the Cowboys, or something outside of seating mattered, was Arizona Week seventeen. You got beat in that game. You got beaten that same game, So yesterday was the last game everything mattered in the regular season. Just so happy to be the last game in the regular season. You went into that Week eighteen matchup against Philly resting guys. Are talking about

resting guys. Now they didn't. They played in the first half, and then you won fifty one twenty six. So I've I've always looked at that Philly game as false hope, fool's goal old because you didn't play in the game that mattered most against Arizona the finale last year, correct as fools gold because you you went into Arizona needing a win to improve your seating. You could have been the two seed in the in the NFC at that point, and you didn't win that game yesterday, same thing. You

went into it. You needed a win to improve your seating, and you didn't win it. So that's my that's my one devil's advocate point there of talking about you were riding high, sure because you won fifty one twenty six, but was it really did it really feel the same Isaiah? Or is what was it? Again? Back to the hope that we're talking about as hope, it's always hoping until you show me that you can consistently give me the same performance. Yeah, it's always old, always, and the people

a goat as a bad word. It is a bad word. It's just like saying somebody has potential, because that's what we're talking about. Dallas has the potential of showing up next week and smacking Tampa upside to head. They got the potential, absolutely, but you don't have the confidence in it right now. And anybody who says they have confidence in it right now is because you're hoping, because you don't have any any work over the last five weeks to show that. Yeah, these boys show up and they

do this every single time. You don't. So if you don't know that, there's no coach that's gonna pick a player that you don't know what they're gonna get every single game. Okay, So here's Devil's advocate. So now I'm gonna play that. I'm gonna piggyball devil. Advocateness, new word, go with it, different advocacy, Let it work. Um. I

don't think hope is a bad word unless it's blind. Okay, Right, So I have to I keep harping on the fact that there is evidence to support the fact that you if you choose to have hope, I can tell you if you or not. We just put the facts out there and you see it with your own eyes and then your terms what you want to do. But if you choose to subscribe to hope, I choose to subscribe to hope. Here's why I choose to subscribe to hope. Again, Cowboys have shown a proclivity to bounce back after losses

this season. That's one. Two. You're getting Jonathan Hankins back, Hankins back for the playoffs. You're getting a key player and your defensive play caller and laying Vanderesh back, And there's a very good chance to put a pin in it. But there's a very good chance you get your starting center back for a super wild car weekend. Combine those variables into a cauldron. Sprinkle in some coaching staff praise that we've been giving as far as overcoming adversity and

the hope. It's not a bad thing, because to me, it's not blind. If the Cowboys had shown you nothing to believe in back their way into the playoffs, then you could probably say, you know what, Okay. You could look at the Giants, for example, say well, they backed their way into the playoffs that season and then they went on the running. There you go. You just gotta get hot at the right time. Fair. But even that

was closer to blind hope than anything. Because they backed in, they didn't look great on the back end of that season or for the majority this season. This Cowboys team, which goes back to my frustration, this Cowboys team has shown that when they come to play and when they don't play down to the level of competition, they can beat every other team in the league. Now show me once again that you can take a punch in the

mouth get up off of the mat. But now the task is more daunting because now everything's on the line against Tom Brady on his field. So yes, degree of difficulty through the roof exponentially higher. But the hope is not blind. It's what I'm saying. I like your point.

I like your point, and we'll talk more about this album obviously as the week goes on, Cher, then I have to go and I'm not This is no set conclusion for me, right, I still have a ton more film to watch and a bunch of other stuff, right, yea, As of right now, what's the strength of your team? What portion of your team is a strip? It's supposed to be your pass, your pass rush? Okay, Tom Brady hold the ball. Okay, they get it out pretty quick. Okay, Um,

where's the weakness of your team right now? Secondary? Okay, where's the strength of their team? So as we're looking at this Hope and then we look at the matchup, right, that's where my mind's going with it. I'm not in again, I'm not set on it. It's not Friday. I haven't said it with my chest in terms of where I'm going whatever. I'm just looking at the reality, Like the areas that we suck right now is the areas that they excel in the portions that you think that you

can usually take advantage of the game. You can't because he's not gonna give you an opportunity to get there, right. So you start looking at it and you start saying, okay, well, where else can we can we figure things out? Okay, we gotta be able to run the ball. Well, they got some dudes that kind of make it hard to run the ball right. And then you start looking at okay, well, when we thought the ball on it right, we got kill.

The more we got that, we got that, and you start thinking some of the decisions that are being made. So I hear you on the hope, But it's the same reason why you wouldn't put Russell Russell Westbrook on your your basketball team right now. You know, you she's showing you what he's capable of, but you know, but you know what he's capable of, right, you've seen it before. I'm saying, but you've seen it before. You know what

he's capable of. But he's not somebody that you're gonna pick out your roster right now because you're hoping that the old school Russell Westbrook shows up. Hope's not a strategy. I understand the hope from the beginning. I understand it not being blind hope as well, but you also don't want to be You don't want to be negligent to what could come. Absolutely, because the red flags are there, They're all there again, and they're waving right in front

of your face, much like it did last year. We chose to ignore it and then went right into it. Patrick's wearing the Georgia red the day walking red flag. Now I'm just kidding. Uh, when we come back, we're gonna wrap things up. We're gonna turn the page a little really, okay, let's do It's playoff week, please, No, we're gonna turned the page a little bit earlier. This one, this one hurts. Oh no, it's win or go home next week against Tampa Bay. Right right after we come back,

you're on Talking Cowboys. Todd thought it would be secure to jog in the Cheetahs Savanna. 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. But the good news is Todd has at and T five G. It is fast, reliable, and secure, and he learned the best thing to do is stop running and toss her the backpack with the beef stew at and t five G Fast, reliable, Secure,

It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plan and device five may not be available in your areas. He att dot com slash big for you for details. Black Rifle Coffee Company serves premium coffee to people who love America. When you drink Black Rifle Coffee, you are directly supporting veterans,

law enforcement, and first responders in your community. Black Rifles expert roasters love coffee almost as much as Texas loves football, so it makes sense that America's coffee partner with America's team. Go online at Black Riflecoffee dot com and fuel up with the official coffee of the Dallas Cowboys. That's Black Riflecoffee dot Com. To fuel up today? This sweet? Did you get to work on time? Yeah? But I just realized it's Sunday. Little Sweets his head on home, Doctor

Peppers on its way. So sweet. Maybe there's nothing better. I bet you've probably done something investionistic and NFTAP and I don't even know what that is. It's a nonpunchable token something doctor dot. 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 Clack skincare favorites plus a full sized intense 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. All right, guys, it's playoff week and the Boys needs you. Cowboys Nation, show your team pride and support this postseason with the

best gear in the league. Head to the nearest pro shop or log on to shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com. A fanatics experience, and let's get rowdy. We don't know where it's going to be yet, but there will be a watch party, an official Cowboys watch party, either at the Miller Lighthouse at at and T Stadium or in the Tostitos Championship Plaza here at the Saarin Frisco. It should be one of the two and wherever it is, We're bringing it. Cowboys pregame live and postgame coverage will

be live from that Blatch party. So keeping ready, keep keep keep an eye out. We'll get you. We'll get you all the information you need to know. Back here with Patrick nose Walker, We've got Isaiah stand back, Chris Beam in the back. There is some breaking Cowboys news. By the way, uh Broncos as of ten minutes ago, a little bit more than that, Broncos have requested permission to interview Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for their head

coaching job. Perch Soorts that has reports from Adams are talking to every week. Everyone is Sean Payton, dan Quinn everywhere. Ryan. Yeah. Now they're talking to everyone. Demko's already waved off. They're gonna call you next. Demicos already waved off that job in South Texas. I don't want no parts. It's like no, thank you, thank you. All right, if you had to pick one area of improvement that you want to see from Week eighteen to the wild card, you only get one,

get one card. Where are you gonna play it? Where do you want to see the Cowboys in order to get a win against Tampa set, not even in position collective mindset. Okay, what would you want to see? I want to see a killer instinct. I want to every facet of others game. These guys, every player that takes the field has to not only understand their assignment, execute their assignment, and be relentless in their approach to the game. That's what I need to see. That's what we have

not seen across the board. Where does that start? Does that started? Your coach started your quarterbacks and always starts with your coach. But the only thing is your coach can't make players play, okay, so it starts with your coach. He can, he can have all the meetings he wants to, he can instill all the practice. You know, scripts and schemes and you know everything else. But at the end of the day, that your players have to make the

decision to go out there and be dogs. That was a huge talking point in the off season when they were drafting, when they were adding free agents. We want to go out there and add dogs. We want to add guys that have that killer instinct, that have that second hand mentality of we don't care who you are on the other side of the football. We're going to do our own thing. I haven't seen that. Over the last month and a half. They've been winning games great,

they haven't been showing that. It hasn't been that killer instinct yet. The playoffs you have to have an etching sketch mentality, wipe and repeat every player. That happens. Oh that was nice, Okay, shake it off. Next one for me, I'm not I'm not concerned with the mindset in the aspect of all season, we've been concerned that this team has been playing down to his competition. Valid fair, We've said it, we've seen it, we've criticized it. Side. On

the flip side, they're theoretically no bad teams in the playoffs. Yeah, so I'm not worried about you playing down to your competition because you know what true you know tru up against. So here we go locking low. But to answer your question, passing the tech passing offense from Week eighteen to Super Bowl car weekend, passing offense has to get it has to get firing. There were so many miscues in Washington, and some of it, a good bit of it was

accountable to Dak Prescott. You saw some arrant passes I remember one in particular the shows that kind of sailed over that would have been a first down over to the left hand side. Uh. Um. But then also in the passing attack, uh talk about the MISSQ to Ezek Elliott out on the screens. He didn't even know the ball was coming his waist so he didn't turn around. Um and Zeke can make that play. But I wonder why Paula wasn't there so kind of looking at Kellen

Moore for that one. Uh t y one of the more shorthanded pass catchers in the history of the game. Two drops I registered and one of those was on the big third down play. Would you know he had to climb the ladder, hit him right in the hands. Right passing attack. That means the quarterback Dak Prescott has to play cleaner football, has to make better decisions. I'm not saying no, it's all passing attack. And like I said, you took you took an umbrella with the question too,

so he can take take an umbrella. He took more than umbrella, the whole team putting the tarp the top over the over the building. But no, for me, it's passing attack. Dak Prescott not saying anyone needs to new to him. We say that last week. That's not what we're saying. But be smarter with your decision making. Make better throws than what we're made in week eighteen. On the opposite side of that, receivers, get your hand on

the ball. Catch the ball, because those possessions are going to count in a big way against Tom Brady, because all he ever needs is you to give him one more possession than you should have. Yeah, you've lost five games this season, one to Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, one to Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, one to Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence, who's on fire and now a playoff team. Sam Howe added his name to that list with the

Washington Commanders. But the first one that handed you a loss could also be the one that hands you your final loss, and that's Tom Brady. Monday Night Football seven, seven fifteen Central Time kickoff coming up next week. We've got an entire week of shows to preview it and to break it down tomorrow. Just exercise this demon man. The power of Jimmy compels you. Okay, Oh, we are going to open up the phone lines tomorrow. Yes, give us A call eight eight eight eight five five two two,

nine to seven. We'll get started nine am Central Time tomorrow. It's a Talking Tuesday. We want to hear from Cowboys Nation for Chris b m I Saya stand back, Patrick nose Walker. I'm Kyle Yeoman saying so long from the Star in Frisco. We'll see tomorrow with more Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.