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It is the morning after a thirty one to ten loss for the Dallas Cowboys up in Buffalo. As we welcome you into Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company. We are live from the Star in Frisco, Texas, in the SWBC studios. We've got Isaiah Standback, Nick Harris, I'm Kyle Yeomans.
And it wasn't pretty in Buffalo. It was never pretty.
Buffalo jumps out to a fourteen to nothing lead, Dallas musters of field goal and really outside of garbage time, that was about it for the Boys.
Is uh?
They were down by the biggest tap time deficit nineteen points or excuse me, eighteen points since they were down nineteen against Washington and twenty twenty and then they lose in this one thirty one to ten with a late touchdown from Ceddee Lamb, Nick Harris, you were on the scene, you were there, you watched it. The weather wasn't as bad as it definitely couldn't have could have been, but the play on the field wasn't very good.
Yeah, that kind of leads into my point. The weather was not the issue. Jonathan Hankins not being in the game. I don't think that was the issue.
Oh that was a big issue. I completely disawreveed. Well, I like what you're saying.
Hold on, I think you've got an MVP award for Jonathan Hankins.
Okay, hold on, Jonathan Hankins was not the reason they lost that game.
That's what I'm saying. Do you think we'll get through going We can get to it.
The reason that the Cowboys lost this game is because they don't show up on the road, and it's it's becoming a theme over and over year after year, these big games, these big tests on the road, they don't show up.
There was no physicality.
I mean sure, there's probably a lot you could take away from these past two games. You can look at and say, Okay, these two last two games against the Seahawks and the Eagles, really physical games, probably more physical top three physical games that the Cowboys have had all season, So maybe there's a little bit of layover going into this game. But still you have to show up on the road against a team like the Buffalo Bills. We
were talking about their offensive line last week. All these guys are six five plus three twenty plus, and they all showed that throughout the game. They were getting into that second level, dominating de Mont Clark, dominating Marqueespell. On the offensive side of the ball, it was the same deal. I mean, Dak Prescott was running for his life at times. And Dak was not great either. I mean, he made some poor decisions. He wasn't trusting, he wasn't trusting the
timing with Ceedee Lamb and Brandon Cooks. And I'll talk about the running game really quick, just because I know that that's already an early talking point here. Jonathan Hankins being in the middle of the field doesn't prevent the edge not being contained the entire night. James cook still runs for probably one hundred and twenty yards last night. If Jonathan Hankins is in the game. There were so
many running lanes around the edges. It wasn't just the a gap was the a gap abused absolutely one thousand percent, but it was coming around the edges and there was no contain James Cook was breaking tackles looking like Barry Sanders was.
It was tough from the very beginning.
But I think the biggest issue with this with this team right now is they can't show up on the road. And there's another opportunity to do that next week, but now since you lose that game, you have to figure out how to do.
It before the playoffs come around.
Yep, because that's it's becoming a certainty now that you're gonna have to go on the road in the wildcard round.
Well, it's been a talking point too.
I mean even Mike McCarthy addressed it yesterday talking about the lack of or the presence of a gap, the fact that there is a gap between home and away and hearing your head coach address that, to me, that's a concern because if you're head coach, a lot of times, even if it's obvious you have a gap home in a way, you're not going to address it from a
head coaching standpoint. You're gonna talk to talk maybe within closed doors within your staff, maybe even not even address the team in that instance, but he said it out loud yesterday in the post game. He's like, no, there's a problem here. And if there's literally, if there's a full blooded problem of having a lack thereof consistency on the road, I have zero confidence going into these big pressure games on the road in the postseason and getting
a win. The only one I can really think back to in terms of big pressure wins where you got it done on the road in recent memory was the Tampa Bay win.
Last year in the Wildcard round. That was about it.
That was the only time that they've carried that over from what they do at and T Stadium to what they do on the road.
I hear what you guys are saying.
I agree partially with what you guys are saying as a former player, even though it might very well be abundantly true that their play is diminished on the road versus at home, there's no real justification, you know, like, yes, that's a factual statement. They have this year played like trash on the road. At home, they play amazing. The
stats back that up, coach backs that up. But there's no real reason as to why you will play differently on the road, and people are going to be looking for a reason, they're going to be looking for a fix. There is no fix to that. It's just how it's happened. No, you don't have a different approach to the game because you're not at home. You might have a little bit more energy, a little bit more momentum at times because
you're vibing off the crowd. Sometimes, depending on the environment, you might have to go to nonverbal communication because of the environment. But in terms of your exit cution, there is nothing about a different environment that changes your execution of a play. There's no there's nothing about a change of environment that changes your assignment or your ability to
execute that assignment. Like there's there's nothing literally nothing about playing on the road aside from the noise and what you have to do to account for the noise.
That's it, Like literally it not the.
You get out there early, you do your walkthroughs, you find the play clocks.
You know exactly where or everything's at, you find where where.
Your sidelines at, and all the kind of information that you need in terms of identification. Outside of that, you're playing ball. So this narrative of you know, cowboys playing like trash on the road, and we got to find out why there's no why there is no why.
Could it just be as simple as this this team. Maybe there's an inexperience, Maybe there's an immaturity with this team. I think there's a lack of discipline, because that was my that was my number one thing yesterday was lack of discipline.
Penalties, bad assignment. Yeah, I mean, but penalties are going down, frustrating. Yeah, yeah, there's three prints.
There were three bad penalties, right, personal foul penalties that obviously when they happened, they had a dire effect on the game. However, the penalty mark has been going down. I think we were at fourteen twelve seven five now, right, so that number is going down.
Yeah.
Yeah, they're very impactful, right, So, yes, some of those stat lines that you wanted to address, they're going in
the positive direction now. The impact that those that number still has on the game is obviously is showed up in the game obviously, but again, as people were trying to dive in and trying to figure out this role versus home, I'm telling you, as a player, you ask any players outside of the alterations that you have to make and to account for the noise and the communication to how that noise affects your ability to communicate effectively
in the game. There is nothing else that's different. Cowboys are not playing, they're not practicing on their home field, they're at that home field eight times a year. Whatever it is, like, there's no true advantage out side of the fact that.
Your crowd is there.
Like that's it, And I would love to hear anybody else that says differently, because there's no You can't find an excuse.
You just got beat up.
And the teams that are willing, that have the physical ability to beat you up and have the determination to be resilient and to be just unwavering in their approach to expose your weaknesses, they have beat you up. And that's something that you have to acknowledge. That something that you have to identify and you got to find a resolution for it.
I think if you look at three of these four road losses, I'm gonna leave Philly the Philly loss out of this equation just because I feel like they were in that game. It's completely different. I'm looking at Arizona, San Francisco and Buffalo. They didn't bring physicality to either of those three games. They didn't bring discipline to either of those three games. So when you're trying to figure out where the road woes come from, I think you have to look at those two things first. Is it
a home versus a way situation? You know, like, is there a lot to put stock into when it comes to that.
Probably not. I think there's some truth in that.
But I think there's a big difference between sleeping in your own bed the night before, being able to pull up to the stadium on your own accord, and having having a little bit of juice, having that little bit of fresh feel, and knowing in the back of your head you don't have to get on a flight back home after the after the game, whereas going into Buffalo, you're coming off a hotel bed.
You're going into the stadium with your.
Entire before Anyways, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't know what they're doing nowadays, but.
This year they've been sleeping in their own bed.
Yes, it's been a big talking point about the home, you know, home success and things like that. I don't know, I think there's something to put in there. Sure did it not maybe not work for the seasons that you were playing, for sure, But you have to look at what's different about this team. What the difference about this team is they are sleeping in their own beds this year. They are not bringing the physicality or the discipline on
the road. You have to look at those things whenever you're trying to evaluate the problem, because those are the only things that are different between this and times past.
I just think that they're getting beat up. They just getting just getting beat up. I mean, people are trying to the physicality. That's that's what's happening. That's you have an undersized team. You're your team is undersized, that's the reality. And teams that have the personnel to beat you up and bully you they do.
So. The forty nine ers are more physical than you. They beat you up.
Philadelphia, you went out there, you had a competitive game. You lost the game. Okay, cool, Arizona caught you off guard. You weren't read, you didn't show up for that one. Okay, Buffalo, we're bigger than you. We're bigger than you. We're more physical than you. Who's the biggest guy that you have on your defensive line last night versus thirty huh? Two ninety versus their three sixty. The lord, the smallest guy they had on their line was McGovern at what three fifteen.
We're bigger than you, we're bigger, we're more physical. Show us that you can stop us. Forty nine ers do the same exact thing. We're bigger, we're bigger, we're stronger, we're more aggressive than you. Show us that you can stop us. Teams that have that adrid that have that personnel number one, have the attitude and and have the gall to simply just punch you in your mouth.
You gotta punch back. And if you can do so, then guess what I'm I.
Am literally more physical than you are, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's no different than if I had a basketball team and I had a bunch of seven footers.
You know what I'm doing. We're going post game the whole game. We're going post game. You know why, because you can't do anything about it.
We're not putting them no shots, Yeah, no shots, you're.
Six three, I'm seven foot We're going post game, right. So it's it's a physicality thing. So how do you address that? Well, first of all, they need to figure out who the heck could come in this building and start warming up.
As Jonathan Hankins is gone. That's number one. And I know you talked about the edges. You're absolutely correct about the edges. It's not just a minute.
They didn't play well either, but there is a gaping hole. And I said it on the show on Friday. If I'm the Buffalo Bills, I'm turning around and I'm handing the ball off the cook and I'm coming downhill until you.
Show me that you can stop it consistently. And they did it, So why would I change anything else.
It just so happens that they ran into a office a coordinator that was willing to keep handing it off forty nine times out of sixty four plays.
That's the difference. That is literally the difference, by the way, just based off of weight. And this is on the Cowboys official roster. This is not what they're playing at right now. I can guarantee you that. But Mazzie Smith is listed as the biggest player on the defensive side. Three thirty seven is what he's listed as.
There's no way he's MASSI Mozzie might be two ninety five right now.
Yeah, he's maybe he's slimmed down a little bit, by a little bit, I mean significantly. But then you've got Hankins, who, of course was out three twenty, and then after that it goes all the way down the Neville Gallimore at three zero two. So yeah, you're right. I mean there was a size discrepancy. I said it on Cowboys Game nine last night. This was a bludgeoning in Buffalo, is what it was. They continued to run the rock, they continued to expose Dallas defensively in the run game, whether
it was inside or outside. I do agree with you in the fact that it wasn't all Jonathan Hankins. He played a significant factor. Him being in the middle there would have completely changed things. I fully believe that because it would have allowed the linebackers to play better. Dimone Clark did not.
Have a good day.
It would have allowed for the edge rushers to possibly be able to pin back and have some more success getting outside, because I mean, they were double gapping everywhere. And I would love to go I can't wait to go back and look at the film today and really see how much he was missed in the middle.
Because he was missed significantly.
But the other part about it is the offense had no rhythm because the defense was playing downhill as well. Just because the offense was playing downhill, James Cook was playing downhill, and there was a way for them.
To be successful there. Defense did the exact same thing.
They weren't scared of what Dallas brought offensively, and you could see that it was one of those games. And you can't blame one person. You can't blame Jonathan Hankins missing. You can't blame Dak Prescott. If you're blaming Dak Prescott today, and I know there are some fans out there that are doing so, that's a lazy take. This is coming from from Isaiah's book. He calls it the book of
a Bonyx. Everybody got beat yesterday, Absolutely everyone had and nobody, nobody did their job to a perfect extent yesterday, maybe with the exception of Brian Anger and Brandon Aubrey, and even that's a stretch.
This is the game of football, and in the game of football, if you can't win the trenches, you don't stand a chance.
And they got beat, you don't stand a chance.
This is the reason why whenever I put on my GM had I would spend all my dog on money on the bullies up front, and I would fill in the gaps everywhere else.
Because defensively, defensively, you couldn't get.
Home against their offensive line, no, right, and first of all, they only threw it fifteen times. Second of all, you couldn't stop their run. So defensively, you were undersized, you got beat up, you got bullied. Flip it on the other side, Okay, their defensive line. We talked about how this was going to be the most athletic defensive line that Dallas has faced to date. Right, San Francisco has a freaking really good defensive line. Right, So that's up,
that's up for argument. But these guys are right there with them in terms of athleticism across the board, right in terms of every guy being able to beat you all the way from Olive other and on the inside all the way to Leonard Floyd on the outside. We didn't even talk about von Miller last week, and von Miller really didn't have an impact on the game that you still got to respect them, right, So these guys are athletic, and everybody was getting beat up front, and
it killed you. When Zach Martin went down so we're talking about guys going down and then your team still having a confidence and a mental strength to overcome those adversities. I'm not sure that Dallas has gotten to the point where they can overcome major adversities and major losses in the game. You're missing your big dog on the inside on defense, You're missing your big dog on the inside on offense.
Didn't overcome it. We've talked about that before, absolutely have.
And even with those two guys, it would have been a blood bath in the chrenches like it would.
Still I'm talking about from this point, I'm talking about the mental.
Yeah, absolutely, and then take those two guys out and that's when a mental really corts.
It comes to equation. But I mean, I have to give it a TJ. Bass. He didn't play poorly.
It's just I feel like whenever Zach Martin got pulled out of the game offensively, they just they did what they did in Arizona or it was like, okay, everything quick game, but we have to get the ball out quick. And the timing wasn't there. Because a secondary for Buffalo played so well last night. I mean they were on CD, they were on Brandon Cooks. Those guys were not able to create. It's on a separation and it threw Dack out of sorts, and the offense just never found consistency
until that final drive. And I was kind of tracking like before that final drive they were on trend to have like a top ten worst total offense performance in franchise history, but then that final drive kind of pushed it along and got them outside of that range. But yeah, it was tough, man. It's a really good team. Buffalo is a really damn good team. It's they're not eight and six, like they're eight and six, but they're not
an eight and sixteen. That's a nightmare of a team to catch in the wildcard round.
It's going to be a shame if they do miss the playoffs. And Chris Collinsworth or not Chris Collinsworth, whoever, the old Greg Olsen said it yesterday and he said, if they sneak in, watch out for Buffalo. I agree, And we knew that going in. We talked about that significantly last week. Don't look at the record, don't look at seven and six. This team's not seven and six, and especially when they have a run game that can
do that around Josh Allen. And then you have the ability of Josh Allen, who we talked about all week and he threw seven completions. I mean, we talked about Josh Allen at nauseum last week, thinking this was going to be a shootout, it was going to be him versus.
Deck and it was back and forth. That wasn't the case. They took the air out of the football.
James Cook had an incredible day, twenty five carries a buck seventy nine and then he had.
Forty two through the air six percent rushing.
Yeah, that's ridiculous, most or least amount of completions in a win in Josh Allen's career seven completions at.
Least amount of passing attempts by an opponent quarterback for the Cowboys since like two thousand, I think it was.
It's yeah, my entire lifetime.
Yeah, that's bad. All right.
When we come back here on talking Cowboys, we're going to continue deep diving into the thirty one to ten loss, even as painful as it may be, and we're going to take a look at the offensive side.
I like what Nick you just.
Brought up about the changing of mentality from a play calling standpoint, is this something to be concerned about moving forward or is it something that could change based off of the learning that you did here in week fifteen.
More Talking Cowboys continues.
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Isaiah, did you get him in this morning?
I did, Actually, Kyle, I needed him because there was a little somber around here, you know today.
But it's okay.
You gotta sometimes you gotta get your oats in and get you get a pep in your step sometimes, and this.
Is just a peek behind the curtain a little bit some of them. Sometimes the best conversations that we have are the weeks following a loss like this, because coaches want want there, they want to air out their dirty laundry from the week before. They want to talk about something specifically. This morning, there was not a whole lot of talking.
You know.
I saw coach Slari this morning. He had a pepper
his step and Coach Laras was walking around. He was I've been around for a long he's been around for a long time, and I think he was surprising people by the energy that he had, you know, because everybody's kind of walking on eggs shows a little bit this morning and Coach Salari comes in, he says, it gets better, it gets better, it gets better than I'm like, all right, coach, I see you, like, yeah, the loss sucks, and you learn a lot about yourself and losses.
If you're able to acknowledge.
Where you were short where your shortcomings were, you learn a lot about yourself, much more about yourself in losses than you ever would and wins. And it's very important that this team identifies this consistent weakness that they have in their approach to games.
It is not a capability.
It is a willingness to be relentless and to be physical, regardless of the adversities that you have in the shortcomings that you have. In terms of size, some teams are just going to be bigger than you. That's why I do not look at a previous game from one team versus another team and say, oh, we're going to do this because they lost to them. Like matchups matter, Yeah, matchups matter, And unfortunately Dallas size, size, and aggressiveness hasn't been their theme. They can beat you a lot of
different ways. But if you have the personnel and you have the relentlessness, relentlessness to just just bang your head against the wall all day long, you're probably gonna have some success, some success success against Dallas. And that's something that they have to identify and you have to find
a way, Like how do you work around that? Like not every team that you're gonna face is gonna have that capability, but the teams when the teams that you do face that have that personnel and have that that approach, you have to find a way.
I'm with you.
One good thing. Massie Smith got a sack last night. It was credited to Golston whenever I left the press box, So this is news to me. I'm just stop checking.
Wow that was that was wild? But yeah, it's it's it's we talked about it in the first Segment's first Way. Yeah, it's his first sack of his career.
What do you want to see change from this past week to this coming So that was kind of my question was was they haven't lost back to back games since week eleven and twelve back to back in the same season.
I might add since weeks eleven and twelve of twenty twenty one, so it's been a while since they've lost back to back games in the same season. That means back to back CRUs from this one, like you said, from where this loss was and how bad it was on the road, and from Nick points in that first segment, from your points there about learning lessons, is that number one lesson learned physicality. And then my follow up immediately is can you learn how to ramp up physicality in
the span of seven days. Yeah.
I don't think there's a way you can just be tough. You know, you either are or not, you know, so.
Is that a problem?
I don't think it is, though, because we've seen this team be tough.
I love going back to watch that Seattle game and parts of that Philadelphia game, because that was a team that came in Seattle specifically, came in and was more physical than you at the very beginning, and then they are able to match that and exceed that by the end of the game, especially they're late in the second half when they needed to put a run together to win that game, and they did. So I've seen it
from this team before. You've seen it whenever they're dominating opponents at home, and we can even look at a couple of road wins like Carolina that game got sneaky physical in the second half. We've seen it from this team this year. I just it's it goes away sometimes and it kind of feels like it's felt like for the last four or five years. You can watch a Cowboys game and within the first eight minutes you know how it's gonna go because it's the physicality is either
matched or it's not. The intensity is matchless or it's not.
And it was it was.
It was that way yesterday, and it's gonna have to be fixed before you go to Miami next week, because I'll get to you because that's a really physical team and it's a really fast team, and those are two things that I think when you pair those things together, I worry about a lot.
Yes, your next two games, Okay, let me start here.
Your most recent game was against the number six rushing team in the league. Your next two games or against the number four rushing team and the number two rushing team in the league. How do you fix what is apparent that you need to address right now.
Yeah, it's a huge concern.
It's a huge San Francisco's number three, Okay, you lost to San Francisco. They beat you up.
Arizona is number seven. You lost to Arizona. Buffalo is number six. You lost to Buffalo. Okay, So three of the top seven teams you lost to so far. There's two more teams that you still have to face, Miami and Detroit that are in the top five.
So what's the highest ranked rushing team that they've beaten so far? Philly and you lost to them once two?
Yes, what are they? Their number ten? So you have not beaten a team this year inside the top ten and rushing. I don't like that.
And the difference too, when you look at these next two games is, yeah, James Cook was awesome last night, but he carried the ball twenty five times. And when you look at the difference with Miami and Detroit, they have two headed monsters that will be fresh, that will be you know, rotating in.
It's gonna be it's gonna be tough. They're gonna have to figure that one out.
Phillies number nine, Phillies number nine. Okay, so you have beaten the top ten rushing attack.
That's good.
So of the top of the top nine teams in the league you have already played, You've already faced one, two, three, four of those top nine rushing teams, you lost all of them.
You still have the number two and the number four to go.
Yeah, without Jonathan Hankins most likely, yes, almost certainly in Miami, and then it's gonna be I think it's gonna be kind of.
A game time thing Detroit, but or against Detroit rather so, Yeah, it's it's tough. I think.
I think the biggest thing is, you know, you look at the guys that are replacing Jonathan hank It's Mazzie Smith, Neville Gallimore. And you want to ask, Yeah, those guys have to step up and improve.
Yes, they do.
I need it more from de Monk Clark because I'm not expecting it from those two right now, but I expect it from de Moonk Clark. So De Monk Clark had a very rough game yesterday, so I'm hoping that he can feel running lanes a little bit better.
Stop guessing that.
That was a big thing for me, especially once it got down in the red zone, that's where James Cook had most of his success.
It felt like, So, I just think those guys at the second level, including Damont Clark, anybody else, who decides to walk down here, they have to be more decisive.
Right.
Even when Van der Esh was playing, Van deer Esh would choose the wrong hole relatively often. But you just have to be decisive. The reason why it's important to be decisive even if you choose wrong is because now the players behind you know exactly where to go. So if you go right, even if you choose right and they go left, guess what as a safety Now, I know I have to feel left.
Right, I'm playing off of you.
But if you're playing any you know, any menie Mighty Mo, then you're trying to, you know, trying to decide on what direction you want to go. Now I'm left in no man's land, and now I have to hesitate right because I don't know where to go. Because I'm the last line of defense. The defensive line has to play better because they can't allow guys up to the second level is the reason why we talk about how important it is to have big boys up front. Talked about
this many times. Up to the trade deadline, I was beating against the table. I'm like, get another Hankins, get another Hankins in here, because if Hankins goes down, you're screwed.
There were two spots we were hanging for the trade deadline. It was interior defensive line up and interior off office lin line.
Ye.
But the one thing that we knew was that if you don't have a big boy presence up front, your second level is done.
They're toast.
So you're talking about Damon Clark, the player that everybody keeps watching, where he got hemmed up. Well, you got a two hundred and forty pounds Damont Clark. You know, he's built like a football player, all those things. But there's a three hundred and sixty pound offensive lineman that has his hands on his chest. You're not getting off of that. Why is there a three hundred and sixty pound office a lineman at the second level.
Yeah, it was Dion Dawkins, but he was really at the end.
Because DeMont Clark came out to the outside right he came all the way on the outside left side.
He got locked up, cut up inside, and he just couldn't get off the block. Yeah. Right, So you have to address things in waves.
The d line is supposed to be the first wave, the linebacker's supposed to be the second wave, and then your safeties are your last line of defense, right, And everybody has their roles that they have to play. Yes, the second level has to play better. They have to play more aggressive. They have to come downhill. They got to hit their office the lineman in the mouth. They
got to get shed blocks right. They have to do a better job of shocking and releasing because right now we're seeing as a lot of guys getting caught, right, and those little shoulder pads that come down. Once the big guys grab on, I don't care how strong you are, You're going for a ride. There's this the NFL. Once those guys lock on, Andy, put those little vice grips on you, you are going for a ride. That is bench press range. Once you're inside my shoulders and I grab you goodbye.
Yeah, Yeah, it's a wrap after that, and then that just keep again another physicality point yep, that's all.
This and I mean, de Monk Clark had a tough task anywhere last night.
Because there wasn't just the one play where he was getting pushed back by Dion Dawkins and he was getting pushed.
All the way into the goal coverage on Cook.
He had to play in coverage multiple times and James Cook routed him up.
I mean, you know it's not even that's not even a real running a corner, right He cooked him? Yeah, he cooked them. But that's not even a fair.
Matchup right right, Like that's like you have, that's an unrealistic expectation.
I mean, linebackers in this day and age of the NFL are expected to cover running backs out of the backfield, not as fast as Cook.
I completely agree, I get it mismatched. There's there. I'm not disagreeing.
I'm just saying from de mont Clark's standpoint, he's expected to do.
That from a scheme standpoint. That's why they draft guys like that.
That's why, I mean, honestly, if you go all the way back to twenty twenty one, that's why they drafted a guy uh like Trabrill Cox because he had coverage ability. Then he got her and then that coverage ability was significantly hindered because of it. So there's there's ways that these linebackers are put in position that are either going to put them in a spot for success or a spot to fail. And it felt like last night he was in a spot.
Coach Brady drew that up. He knew once they came out, they knew.
He said, Hey, when we come out in this formation, Dallas plays man ninety sei percent of the time. Right, it's like first first in the league or second in the top three I know for sure in the league in terms of man coverage. So when we come out in this personnel, I know, based upon this alignment that Damon Clark has cooked man to man, and I know that my office a line is going to give Josh
Allen time. That's how confident they were, so much so that I'm gonna take my running back who is lined up five to six yards behind the line of scrimmage next to my quarterback in the shotgun, and I'm going to run him on a twenty yard corner route, a twenty yard corner route from the backfield, and I'm gonna have time to get it there, and he's gonna have time to get up on that linebacker and run right by him because it is a mismatch.
They're first in dime and their first in man. That's what it was.
They are you know what I'm saying, So like that has to be addressed too. If we want to play so much, man and man, you're not don't do it this week.
If you thought cook was bad, gosh man, yeah, something.
I'm just saying, like, yes the moon Clark had a bad night, But like some things are just unrealistic expectations of players as well, and that's the reason why you have to there's there's certain personnel groupings that you have based upon personnel that comes in somebody something to me. So many teams sit up there and they wait to see who's coming into the game on a substitution for the office so that they could put their guys in
because you want the right matchup. Putting Damon Clark inside the box linebacker on a four to three running back asi ye.
But just a bad idea. Eight eight eight eight five five.
Actually that's the phone line. We're not taking phone calls today, sorry, guys. We're taking them tomorrow. Eight one seven two nine zero three two nine eight. That's the text line eight one seven two nine zero three two nine eight. When we come back, we're gonna hit some of these text messages. You can still get yours in on time when we
come back. And then we're also going to take a look forward to that Miami matchup, which one physicality or speed concerns you to most with this team moving into that week sixteen matchup on Christmas Eve. More to com from Talking Cowboys right after this.
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To Talking Cowboys.
Welcome back into Talking Cowboys, Presented by a Black Rifle Coffee Company. This segment is brought to you by Invisile Line, the official smile of the Dallas Cowboys. We're trying to smile here in Frisco and it hasn't been great. There's Isaiah's smile. It's fantastic.
Got that invisil line working as well.
We've got Isaiah standback, Nick Harris, Jasmin Marshall running everything in the back. I'm Kyle yeomens all right, we've got a flood of text messages. Goodness, you guys are right
on top of it. Eight one seven two nine zero three two nine to eight real quickly you were talking about about Joe Brady and scheming up against the moon Clark, yes, and how he was able to put him in some spots there bines the Monk Clark was or was recruited by Joe Brady, right, no matter he was, I mean not recruited by Joe Brady, specifically by his staff at LSU at a fat time.
So they know each other very well.
And I mean he was putting some tough positions last night, all right, from the five to nine. Why didn't Dan put any bigger guys on the offensive line and move Micah back to linebacker?
So, yeah, I had this question a lot. A couple of people have sent this the same question.
Anybody who tweeted me. I apologize, I'm not really on Twitter like that, But Michael Parsons is not a linebacker. I'm sorry to tell you guys, that is true. He's an amazing athlete, amazing athlete, one of the best athletes that you can ever imagined and touched the football field.
But he's not a linebacker.
Just because your an athlete doesn't mean that you can do everything to the level of people who that's all they do. Michael Parsons, much like we're talking about people choosing the wrong holes and hesitating and things of that nature. Michael Parsons, I don't think would hesitate in terms of trying to fill a gap, but it may not be the right gap. Michael Parsons in coverage has not been great from what we've seen. He looks like a fish
out of water in that space. So I would hate to take your best athlete on your team and put him in a position where he cannot be intentional, and put him in a space where he has to hesitate and question his decision making and question his abilities all that stuff. Just let him do what he does. He needs he needs more help, but he's not. The answer is not putting him at linebacker. And you don't have any bigger guys. You don't have any bigger guys to
put it at the defensive line position. The biggest guy that you had, you have one of those guys. And that's why this podcast was screaming for another one of him, just because you need a backup plan.
Yeah, and I've said this a few times. I don't want to take your my best pass rusher away from what.
He does best. And I'm not going to do that.
Five.
If I'm coaching the defense, I'm not gonna pull Michael Parsons away from what he does best to put him in the linebacking corps, even if that linebacking corps is heavily struggling.
I'm just not gonna do that. Not me, not this guy.
You know, you guys, you guys, we don't always agree, we don't, we don't always agree.
But I agree with both of you.
That's why you got this one right. Guys, I'm right good with you, But I appreciate the comment. Yeah, No, I think it's a concern. I mean, I think it's as you're looking for answers. You're searching for answers because Dallas sure as hell.
Did not have an answer yesterday. They did not defensively. Especially.
I think there's there's options there, but that's not an option to me. I don't think that's one where you can make it happen. Stanley in North Carolina says does Dan Quinn. He called him Daniel Quinn need to stop being so stubborn with man coverage and mix in zone at times.
Nick Harris, Yeah, I think that. I think that's pretty valid. But I that's not a problem that was specific to this game, I don't. I don't see that as an issue from last night, that the passing game. I mean, it didn't even have to get tested, so I'm not looking at that.
Yeah, if you're playing primarily zone or I'm saying not primarily if you're rolling in zone coverages, which he does, but he just percentage wise plays the most man in the league. If you're playing zone as a Dallas Cowboys, most likely you don't have as much run support. So if last night you had the most run support because you were playing man, what do you think would have improved in the last night's game by taking a safety and moving them in and back into coverage.
I don't think I heard your question correctly.
Single high safety man coverage, yes, Dallas runs, okay, meaning that you always have eight guys near the line of scrimmage. Okay, eight man box, Okay, by playing more zone okay, there are single high zones, but there's not many of them.
Okay.
Majority of the zone coverages are played with two high shelves. So if you take if they to answer the question, if you take one of those safeties that is down near the box, near the line of scrimmage, and move him back into coverage. You have less and support than you had last night, So to appease this question, you would have been worse off had you played more zone.
Well, if we're talking split safety looks, they were forced to do a lot more split safety looks last night, and they came out I believe if it was right off the top of my head, four of the first six plays and a split safety look with Donovan Wilson and one Yea Thomas not having Mollie Cooker, it kind of forced them to figure out what to do with the safety is there. You know, typically Mollie Cooker is that single high guy that they trust up there on
that island. You saw Jaron Curse back there at times, you saw one of you Thomas back there. At times, you saw even Donovan Wilson back there. That leads me to believe that there wasn't confidence in having that single high look. So they were forced back into split safety look and that takes one more guy out of the box.
But for fans out there, right, quarterbacks, if you have most quarterbacks have two plays going up to the line of scrimmage.
All right, I come out. There's usually a pass play and a run play.
If I come up to the line of scrimmage and I see single high coverage, okay, depending on.
What I believe, it is most likely I'm going to pass the ball. It's not what you want.
You don't want eight guys near the line of scrimmage for your six seven guys blocking, Okay. So but if I come out and I see too high, even if I have a pass called, most likely I'm going to change it to the run because there's less run support. We have a greater probability of having success on a running play when there's two safeties back and.
Not one of them near to line of scrimmage.
So, in terms of what you want to see a mix in of Morris's own coverages, there's a method to the madness. If you can have more guys near the line of scrimmage for run support and still be able to handle your responsibilities and coverage, that is the best situation possible.
It's interesting to hear all of the different possibilities there, and I think there were multiple things wrong.
We said that early everybody got beaten. There were multiple things wrong.
But that's one thing that you can maybe do to remedy a bit of what happened, especially whenever you play against the speed of Miami coming up this upcoming week.
I just had to say it.
Huh, he just had to say it. A couple questions about the penalties. I'm going to try and merge these questions together here. How big of an impact do you feel like the three personal foul penalties had on the overall mindset of this team?
Do you think it played? It a significant factor? I certainly did.
Some just flew in my eye right as I was like trying to get to that point. But yeah, absolutely, yeah, I know. The three touchdown drives, Uh, the three first touchdown drives in the first half, the first one aided by the DeMarcus Lawrence roughing the passer call, which.
Week, Yeah, I didn't love it.
It was weak.
I didn't love it.
I didn't love the call, but you know it got called. It was late, it was a high. It was late, and it was high. So I was like, I understand it to a certain point that gave them four points? Is high that that gave them four points?
Uh?
Then you look at the Sam Williams of roughing the kicker, roughing the punt or whatever.
It was a penalty.
That is the most Sam Williams penalty of all time. I tweeted it out when it happened. That was like, first off, how did he miss the block? He was there by like a second second. Yeah, we broke it down, So that's.
That's that's seven points, So that's we're looking at eleven now.
And then the third touchdown drive had both the fumble where Marquis Bell forced it and good job by Buffalo getting back up to the line realizing that no.
Hand cooking there. You can get a replay, didn't get a look.
And then it also it was also aided by the curse fifteen yard penalty on those second and nineteen in completion that would have forced a third and nineteen was also weak, I'll give you that. So that's eighteen points there in the first half. That's pretty much almost entirely aided by penalties. And you go to the half down twenty one.
To thirteen, which is eighteen points.
So yeah, absolutely that killed the mentality I think from a certain point, and when you're battling mistakes and battling shooting yourself in your own foot, then yeah, that's always going to be a tough battle to overcome when you're having to fight both the other team and yourself.
Yeah.
Final question this is from Ashley and san Diego, a loyal listener, and she asked about the offensive play calling, and by Ashley standards said vanilla offensive play calling in the way that it happens whenever Lineman goes down. We
kind of addressed that a little bit earlier. Do you feel like that's a concern moving forward, the change in mentality in the middle of a game, or is that something that is a normal thing for a play caller like Mike McCarthy to go through in the ebbs and flows of the game.
All an Isaiah Star here, It's a tough question.
I'm not sure that I agree that it was vanilla. I don't like the things that I didn't like from last night's play calling.
Really just go to the the swapping of running backs. I want to see more Tony power.
Tony Poller had had what thirteen touches yep on the night, eleven on the ground, two I think in the air. Okay, that's you got to have more. He's you got to have more. He was just dude, was he was killing it? He had what five five and a half yard averagewe.
Around there four point seven, but that's still solid.
So five yard carries. I mean, you know, like give him the rock. So I think you need more of that.
I think the situation of the game, the game management took you out of some of the things you wanted to do, but I think that you could have still continued to strike them with your running game. Dak miss throws, Dak miss some throws. Yeah, I mean that's reality as well. He wasn't perfect, but he did not have a good day. That's back to back not great days for games for Dak. The last week wasn't great, but you were able to handle some business otherwise, and then this week was just
not was in a good situation. So that's something he is gonna have to go back and look at himself in the mirror as well.
Yeah, it's unfortunate.
I think the MVP campaign kind of died yesterday with this loss, but nevertheless, it was still a great year so far. Talking about the play calling, yeah, I think there's a lot of truth in it being especially when Zach Martin went down. I mean I talked about it in the first segment. I feel like when Zach Martin went down, everything got simplistic again, and they ran back.
To the problems that they had back in Arizona.
It just kind of the offense felt almost exactly how it did in that second half against Arizona. Yeah, that was the first thing it reminded me of. It wasn't as bad as San Francisco because San Francisco it was just they were forced.
You just got that point. Yeah, that was just that was completely different. But like if you're.
Ranking how bad it was, from like a one to ten scale, one being the worst, ten being the best, like San Francisco was one, this is a two, so and I'd put you know, Arizona second half in that two range as well.
Yeah, and you mentioned the m VP conversation.
I think if if Dak balls out and they win these final three games and he goes on just a tangent and somehow you win the division, I still think it's a live But man, I agree, And if you have Philly win tonight against Seattle.
You can go ahead and kiss the Seattle go by, I hope.
So well, even if phillyp beats Seattle tonight, if the Giants beat Philadelphia one of those two times, the Cowboys are leading the division.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
I'm saying. I'm just saying, I love your positives.
Your your positivity.
I'm Seattle not as daunting as it seems.
It's not as Dante.
Seattle will win in Seattle tonight and Seattle krack and will win tonight.
Against the Stars. Yeah, there's no way on that one. That's the one tonight.
I have far more confidence in the Dallas Stars to get it done tonight. You crazy, mean, yeah, far more, far more.
All right, that does it for us here on talking Cowboys. It's okay, fellas, We're good. We okay, guys at all We fine?
I wrote I wrote on five Takes last night the headline, believe it or not, the sky is not falling.
This guy's not falling.
Look, there's a lot that can still be worked on.
There's a lot about the Truman Show.
Got three more we not chicken little, you know.
I like it all right, three more weeks to go. We'll be back tomorrow. We're gonna take your phone calls tomorrow. You better line up those text lines.
Those phone lives at least four weeks left. Yeah, well, we've got a lot more than that.
We're playing till mid February. Everybody guaranteed four games.
That'd be nice.
Uh, but yeah, Cowboys made the playoffs, so guaranteed four games.
Go Seehawks tonight. Let's go go Stars tonight.
All right for Jasmine Marshall in the back, for Isaiah standback Nick Harris. I'm Kyle Yoman saying so long from talking Cowboys will see you tomorrow.
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