Talkin' Cowboys: Opportunity Lost

second straight day. Y'all aren't here to see it yesterday, Mickey and Rob, But it was very foggy this morning. It lifted about three o'clock in the afternoon and then the fog came back. Well, we experienced the fog early this morning. By the way, it's right. I was concerned on your return from Philly, yes last night, if the fog would hit and even after how long was the delay the team charter leaving Philly last night. I don't know. It felt like three hours, but it was probably an

hour hour and a half it was. It was four hours, nearly four hours after the end of the game where the team charter finally took off, but just after ten o'clock Dallas time. We made decent time. But it was the perfect ending to a perfect Yeah that's what I was gonna say. Yeah, you know, you get your butts kicked, you really hand them the game, and then you have to sit on the run way, right, were sitting on the run like, no, you were sitting at at the

stadium on the bus. Yeah, that's even better. Yeah, it was great. It was like one last kick in the ass. That was like me when I didn't make the Hall of Fame and I told me, said, you gotta be downstairs in five minutes, like, uh, hey, what you gonna do when I get ready to the bus. That was just so depressing. Yeah, you especially in the plane, you're all kind of spread out right in the bus, everybody's on top of each other. And I know Rob was

in the safe situation. We're we're going like, well we might as well work, right, Well, everybody else has got their phones going, music's playing, and you know, and you're trying to I put my noise canceling headphones on and it wasn't canceling enough and I had to do all I could do was grip my teeth and like not yell out shut the you were you were been like Textram after one of those sorry Cowboy games, saying Saint

Louis right. I remember him standing between first class and coach and he had his drink in his hand and he was just sneering at us, like, you guys, horrible look on his face. I'm surprised you guys didn't get a lot of that last Well, it's good thing Jimmy wasn't there. He would have cut off food surface. That's right, that's right. I see they're quiet in the dark, no noise. Okay, So where do we start at the bottom there? That's that's where everyone seems to be at this point. Same old,

same old, right, it can't be consistent. Um, Look, I thought, I thought the Eagles, and this is what I wrote in my column. They basically made two bets. The first bet was the Cowboys can't cover tight ends in running backs in the passing game, and the Cowboys showed that in six of the last seven games. They could not covered tight ends in running backs. They were without their top three wide receivers, and they basically ran twenty two personnel the whole game, two tight uh, two tight, two

wide receivers. Basically we had one back sorry uh and and the Cowboys had no answer for it whatsoever. The tight ends and running backs ended up catching uh twenty four passes for two hundred and three yards in a touchdown, which is exactly what the Eagles have been doing. They did it anyway, that right, right, that's what they've been receivers. They they've had to do that secret. It was the Minnesota template. We've seen it ever since the Minnesota game

with Dalvin Cook. If you've got running backs that can do that, run those kind of routes and be effective in space, they're gonna challenge you. And Mickey's right, what would Sanders have seven catches in the game something like that? He had six six five catches for seventy seven yards and ever since talked about it too that you know, the offensive lines have been able to get out on the second level and they've also been challenging the Cowboys

linebackers in space. And it's it's paid off for him. But you look at the scoreboard at the end of the game and he says seventeen points huh ought to be enough to win a football game. And for me, Mickey's exactly right. But I want to get mixed. Second bet. What was the second Did you have a second? Second bet? Was by no circumstance. Was Ezekiel Elliott gonna beat us? So they basically put eight guys in the box, almost exclusively if the Cowboys had three wide receivers out there.

They basically said, okay, fine, we're manning everybody with a single safety high and we're gonna bet that you can't beat us. Dak Prescott, they thought, you know, and maybe they were right, Okay, he was throwing the ball. Fine, It didn't look like he was in any discomfort. He hadn't practice all week, and it looked like he was uncomfortable in the pockets seeing things, and he was uncaref characteristically inaccurate. They had open receivers down the field and

he missed Tis time and time again. Tavon Austin's got to walk in touchdown right overthrows him by five yards. Some of his other passes were just so inaccurate. And I don't think it had anything to do with the shoulder. I don't either, I just think and he finally kind of admitted it he goes. I don't know. It might have been not having any reps or something. He kind of alluded to it. I think he's too old for that.

It should have been down. He's a veteran. They made the bet that he wasn't going to beat him in the passing game, and even on the last play, the fourth down play, if he doesn't underthrow Gallop, it's a touchdown. But he underthrew it enough where Avonte Maddox was able to come up and knock it away. Not that that one. That's the only point I disagree with. I thought there was a chance for Gallup to go up and get it.

But the guy held his arm down right, he got hooked and so he I think Gallup would have I think he would have gone up and got that ball. See he when he did his postgame interview you, he said I made a mistake. He said, instead of going straight up to catch the ball, he goes, I faded and I was going backwards trying to catch it, and I allowed him to get into me. He goes, and he stopped and going up. Yes, I could, like a defensive back, you stop him up. This is the highest point.

This is not yeah, but I don't think he had a chance to even get to his highest point because his arm was being held down. And they know they could have called it. They could have called it. They actually could have called it. They would have been a good call. But to me, as far as I'm concerned, bass gotta be a little bit higher, It's gotta be a little bit better thrown. Uh. The entire game was all about that, can you make this play? No? I cannot. He had gallop on a crossing route earlier in the

game where a little behind him. Four passes that was crucial, and then drop in six drops by the way. See that's the other thing. That's the other thing. Like, I don't know if the shoulder bothered him. He said it didn't. I think he did. Yeah, he won't. He won't, And and look he didn't use it as an excuse. And when you're running, scrambling and falling right on top of it, you know, I think he had to go for it, didn't He first drive, he scrambled and uh, he had

to put his shoulder. Yeah, clearly he wasn't afraid to do that. Um, but Mickey's right, I do think there was some kind of Russ factor there wasn't seeing things. And he does lead the league in explosive pass plays over twenty years. He can make those throws. He didn't make them yesterday. But to me, and I'm sorry, you had two bets there. That the three things that stand out to me when they have not won games this year. They've been bad in the red zone. They were owing

two in the red zone again yesterday. Mickey mentioned not running the ball. Well, I still thought there were opportunities for Zeke to run and five carries in the first half surprised me. It just it just surprised me because they went out in the third quarter and had some success running the football and I thought we were coming back and got him abushed and then you saw the play action working in and I was like, Okay, they're

getting back some of the some of the rhythm. Fum didn't we That was turning point of the game right there, and that was going to be the key. That could have been the key turnaround in the game because you had the last possession in the first half and you milked it for a field goal and guy, God bless Kai four bath right, he kept it, he kept respectable. He is cold And then the first possession of the second half. You drive down, you're at the what were

they like, the twenty three yard line. They throw the little pitch out to a Pollard and he's fighting for one yard and he gets stripped as he's going down. Now, Cox makes a good play because it didn't get blocked. You know what, I went back and looked at Did you go back and look at that. There's not a single player they got a block on the nobody. No, they're not. Not a single player blocked the man on that play. Now, Garrett's coach, Garrett said this morning that

z got banged up. Well, he plays earlier, that's why he was. I talked about that during the game. So it's a shame he's not in there. But the pitch back in that situation, you need a yard. I mean, that wouldn't have been a call for Zeke anyway. Probably. Yeah. Yeah, it's like we'll surprise him. We'll fake the handoff going the other way and pitch it out to the left and they didn't fall for it. It was yeah, yeah, it does. But like you said, you gotta block somebody.

You have to block someone. I mean, because from what I saw, it's one of those players where Okay, that's a great call if it works. Yeah. So and that's a great call if it's executed. Well, it's not. It doesn't just work magically. It has to be executed well. And we didn't execute it well. So therefore it makes a coach and the whole team looked degraded. Yeah, it's like, what kind of play call was that? And that was

a that was thirteen personnel. It was three tight ends that were lined up to the right, so it was a pitch an option to the left side, the week side and fifty Duke Riley, who is only in the game on defense when it's a three tight so it's like the only play of the game he's out on defense. He set the edge, he got out beyond a block by Tyrons, attempted block by Tyron and set the edge, and and it was everybody else was there to And that's strong side about offensive line. So yeah, you would

think that they'd be a little bit more. Well, we asked for polo and we got them. Yeah, that's right. I mean I was saying in the press box and I know it was on Twitter. Two where is he? You know, one hundred and thirty one yards the week before. But that's the thing. So now everyone complains with that Zeke Wedden in the age and yeah, back, not everyone, the same people. They're saying, how come Pauler doesn't get more touches than Wedden Zeke in the game now? And

that was the turning point in the game. And then the third thing for me is takeaways. They just ball hits Xavier Woods right in the hands, could be a pick six, or at least you finally give your offense some you know, some prime real estate there. Those are the things that are that's the recipe for the losses they've had this year. That sounds all of this sounds very familiar days of which which usually those are the things in a playoff game game, and this was a playoff.

It was like all your little hiccups during the season, they show up when you start playing better teams. It's like they expose the things that you should. So it shows that as a team with steal, that team that had the three game losing streak. Yeah, really that's the way they show. This shows that the Rams game was an exception to the rule. To me, that's what it seems like. You know, this this is us And there's

only been really two exceptions to the rule. Two exceptions the Rams game and the first philadelph first Philadelphia game. And that's what drives fans crazy is that you watch them play like that and you say, why can't they do that all the time? Because they're capable of it. But at some point, when you're seven and eight, you're not capable of doing it consistently. That's just who you are.

And Zeke said something interesting after the game. He was asked, I think about losing to a team you're better than when when you're expected to be in the super Bowl and people expect that from and Zeke flat out said, how can you say that they won the game? They played better when it counted, Like, I think we're better, but we didn't show it, and we haven't showed it really all year. Yea, on a consistent basis, we are. We are who everyone said we'd beat. Yeah, I mean

that's where we are right now. Even if we win next week, you know, which I look forward to us doing, we'll probably come out and do all the things that we couldn't do in Philly and all the other games that we thought we could do it and then we're gonna back into possibly possibly back into the playoffs. And I wouldn't even feel comfortable making it. We don't deserve the playoffs. And of course if you make it, you

make it. Like you said, you know, how can you say that, you know, if we keep getting beat how can you say they would deserve to be in the playoffs the way they've time and time again underachieved that. That's to me, that's the question. How do you feel going to the playoffs if you're still the same team. Yeah, especially if you back in, because even if you take care you have it, you got to sit there and say, oh, rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, can you help us out here

a little bit? Because we need you to beat the Eagles, which is not out of the question. It's not out of the question. They've been sneaking by all the what they've won now what well? They got to play in New York. They got a garbage touched down at the end against Washington, Otherwise they would have won that by three points. They beat Cowboys by eight, and they had to go into overtime to beat the Giants the week before.

My biggest fear is that we will make it. That's my biggest fear that Okay, here we are glooming Dome. Then then you're gonna play Then Philly will go in after all this emotion and probably going in later. So you play a team that lost Arizona yesterday, yeah, or a team that lost to the Atlanta last week at home. Go figure out a team were lost Arizona at home yesterday, or a team that lost because both teams to achieve.

That's what's crazy about this. If you back into this thing, you have a home playoff game against team that haven't necessarily played a yeah. I mean, the division round is not out of the possibility. But that's what's so insane about this this season. I can't think of a season like this one where I'd be embarrassed to win. I would I'd be embarrassed to win the first playoff game. I don't know. I'm just you take your hat home, you know, I'd be parading up and down the street.

But now it's it would just add to the confusion of what do we do next year? I mean, we'll always we have to look forward to next year. You got two games, hopefully two games left. What do you do that we're gonna go through this again the entire off season. Okay, I mean probably Dak would get his money, you know exactly, that would be comfortable there. What do we go through this again? Huh? I just what this

to me? What Philadelphia did without three starting wide receivers in there and then managed to get enough points and by the way, zach Ertz got hurt too. By the way it came back in the kid missed like a dozen snaps. They end up they hunt up with four hundred and thirty one yards. Think about what they would have been saying if they lost the game, because four hundred and thirty one yards and translated to seventeen point one hundred and twenty five in the first quarter something

like that. Yeah, where And they were thrown to their wide receivers in the first quarter. J j R. Segoeside hadn't kind of passed in a month, and he catches two in the first drive of the game and the rest of the day, the like we were cold, what we looked like, we were stiff, and they just looked like they were ready. They looked like they've been sitting in front of a fireplace. We looked like we've been

sitting outside in the cold, you know. And it's the weird thing is but when when they out fox you and things they did, it looks like, wow, we came out with no energy. Well then how do you get energy after you get down ten to nothing? You know, I don't get that. They just had an offensive plan or early the Cowboys couldn't handle and then they didn't

handle it the rest of the way. When they said, okay, we're just gonna throw the tight ends when it was what was its second it was its second in goal on the touchdown pass to god Her, I sat there and I said, this was going to the tight end. Well, how many times was there's that little cushion in the middle underneath the middle of the field where they're giving him eight yards. That's the same play. Score. Yeah, when

they score, we give up that same play. Every time you influence the linebacker, you've got the safety over the top. All they do is bring both guys inside running back here linebacker has to make a decision. They influence him up short and then there's that skinny post by the sea. Can't the linebacker can't drop fast enough. And he threw and it was a perfect pass. The perfect should be good. And I told you guys, he was gonna be good. He was. He's been good for three weeks. He was

good in the first game against this team too. What was thirty one forty? It was pretty impressive. About the other about God or no, no, yeah, no, he's been. He's You're right, he's been clutched for them. He's been. And it worried that game. Worried me because they and that we will be give because they they're not playing with house money, but they're down and wounded, and they found a way coach credit coaching. They found a way to do successful things with what they had and it

was ugly and they still did it. It was still successful. And more of that when we come back here on Talking Cowboys in just a moment. SLA is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen offer for you by the latest generation of Transitions lenses. Would selectlor lenses. You can choose a second pair of clear lenses for

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to do something good. You guys, You guys never saw or you might not have seen the picture when we were doing Talking Cowboys when we had Charles Haleyan as a guest, oh man, he was doing his it was a charity thing for book book reading or elementary schools whatever, So we were trying to do something to grab attention. And Charles is throughout ever since he retired. When he'd see me, he'd come and pick me up off the ground.

And I would tell Charles, you can do and you could smack me in the face, do not pick me up off the right. So we decided we're gonna let him pick me up one more time. So you kind of cradled me like a babe. Yes, yes, we have very good sitting on I mean Nicky sitting on Santa's lap right there, so someone can take that and photoshop it and picked up but that he slaps me in the hit the time. He said, well, finally he quit picking me up and slaps in the face. Yeah, Okay,

um specifics yesterday a thing, any specific plays anything. Yep. Rob's just nodding his head in agreement. Stands out that you're ready to well guess guess, yeah, guess what I'm wondering about. Okay, that last last play, last play offense. Okay, Mariy Cooper and Mark Cooper wasn't in the game for certain plays down the stretch. But you don't have a Mariy Cooper or Randall Cobb in the game with essentially

your season on the line, thoughts. I mean, anybody's surprised by that Cooper played forty six snaps in the game out of sixty two sixty two. Ye, Well, the body length was bad, first of all. I mean, it just seemed like he didn't want to be out there initially. Of course, passes could have been better, by the way, and just and you're making a great point, but I also want to point out Zeke played sixty out of sixty two plays. The only place he was not on

the field. Were those two back to back rungs by Pollard For people talking about Zeke's got to be in the game, Well, he was out there for sixty out of sixty two places and he was making a difference. Yeah, so ahead thought we were coming back by the way he tapped out on that too, right, he did right, He took himself out right, he got banged up right, and he had very Yeah, he had six catches for about fifty yards on that. We were doing everything we wanted to do with Zeke. Yes, I thought that was

very doing the comeback with throwing to him. We're running the ball once again. I thought the offensive line played well except for a few plays which were obviously very crucial to us. But go ahead on him all you know. It ain't good on Fox by the way of showing when he hit his head on the ground, somebody, I don't know who would have seen that. That big that was You could see if you could see his eyes,

but you'll see he was dazed a little. But I get why people thought maybe he tapped out because he had six touches already on that drive. Took a little bit of a break. But third and one with the wide receivers at the time, because as you can see doing the game, everyone was just blown you Philly defense, Cowboys offense. I'm thinking, well, the only reason Cooper's not in him because he's been running routed up the route, off the route, and I'm thinking, okay, just just bad timing.

But now COB's not in as well, which is another guy. Well, we finally realize, Okay, Coop's kind of whatever issues he's having, We're going to Cob. Cop catches a few and cops like, come to me, he got him down in that situation. Come to me. I'm ready. I'm the guy now, Okay, nobody's working in That's what you brought me here for. So the play they called, basically it was two tight ends. They had two tight ends and two receivers on that

fourth down play. And I think what they were trying to do with Tavon on the outside with his speed, maybe they thought, Okay, the safety's gonna shade over three and the desks and the tight ends took up the middle of the field, so they got gallop one. I mean, the play worked. He didn't throw the pass, and that's and that's kind of what Jason spoke to on the fan this morning, was that the twelve personnel and they

they had an opportunity there. But aren't you surprised though that in that situation with the game on the line, those guys, aren't you why Cooper to throw it or Cooper over there? But it wasn't like gall of acathing. That was advocate guys. I mean, we had Cooper in the game the whole time. They weren't successful, so then okay, if it doesn't work, it said, well, he hasn't been playing with the crap all game anyway, so why not try somebody else? But then you say, well, Cob would

have been in that game. That's what got me was that both of them are out of the game. Both of them again that very well, that's the player and why and all of a sudden get in touches? I mean nothing on table, But why, all of a sudden is he in this game in this crucial moment. He and Dak Except for last week when the guy fell down,

he and Dak has never had a connection. My guess is because they saw they were getting so much single coverage that he was the one guy that could run by everybody, and they were hoping that's what was and it did right. You overthrew him by five yards. He was white. That's a walk in touchdown, right, So that was I think their gamble because they were getting so much man coverage and if you could you, I don't

you know, you can't see it on TV. Yeah, but the safety single safety high almost every free play, Jeffree play when you when you asked me what about the game, that was where I was headed. Uh, with cooping and and and Cobb not in the game. That didn't help. But no, this is Dacks to me, his worst game in over a year. I'm not sure he saw things well either well to that point, Um, and I texted you the video of the two plays bothered me. And

I'll go to the offensive play first. It was the third and four in the fourth quarter, in the deep ball to gallop. In that situation, you're at the let me make sure I've got it here, you're at the thirty one yard line. And on the next okay, they went in complete. It was forty nine yard field goal at four. We're back. You obviously you cannot take a sack in this situation because you've got the field goal. Okay, you're down seventeen six field goal made at seventeen nine.

But on that play, there's basically go route to gallop. Okay, And if you go back and look at that play, Randall Cobb lines up on the slot on the left side, Whitten his inside him, he comes off basically is like a rub By Whitten. No one's covering Cob on a crossing route across the middle. Zeke lined up in the slot on the right side. Zeke runs across the opposite direction and Randall Cobb comes wide open. If if Dak just holds it for a split second longer, Cob is

wide open. And he probably never was. He he was going, he knew where he was going. Yeah, and again in his defense, you can't take a sack, okay, I understand that, And but he did have time and in hindsight, he did have time to get it to Cobb if he was looking for Cobb. And I think that's what the play was designed for when you look at the routes, I mean, it was designed to get in his head.

It was he was immediately supposed. He never even hesitated, right, And see it wasn't just a shoulder doesn't account for your pocket presence. I don't think he had good pocket presence at all. He seemed extremely uncomfortable. He seemed hesitant even when it was collapsing. It's like, well, what do I do? Now? Do I do? I'm gonna just stand here. Every decision that he tried to make, it seemed to be a beat too late. That's why. That's kind of what we talked about. But a lot of this that's

when they lose. That's how they played. They're always a beat too late. They weren't beaten man coverage consistently either. That those guys that Jay was locked on those guys. He was emphatic about that. Jason app not emphatic, but made clear about trying to stop the run game, and we weren't efficient enough taking advantage. They were daring us to beat them in the passing game down there were

times when they had the overall view. Nobody was over no. Yeah, I mean they were armed them and he's got and the wide receivers are looking like, okay, I'm good, I ran my route. You saw no scramble moves. You just saw them standing there after the initial move. I mean, who was the leading receiver? Um Zeke seven catch catch seven catches ninety yard yeah, yeah, five, and he had another one right he lost it. I don't know if that's the drop. This one is clearly a Drop's best pass.

And I was like, okay, tip for Tich, Now you dropped my pass. It's like it's going back and forth with his receivers. Coop drops one, he throws him, and then then he throws the crapping them clapping the coop. Gallop catches one, drops one, and then he come on. It's just there's three passes there could have. Each one of them is one the Tavon, the last one to Gallop and that one to go. Those games like we played, you could all pick out that made the difference. It's

not execution. You want to blame it on coaching. Okay, fine, the other play you asked about other plays, the Big Past Award, they got him their last touchdown. They blew the coverage right. Somehow some Wayne is looking for help. They put they put the two wide receivers to the right and they lined Malcolm Smith in the slot on the white. Now, they can't expect him to run the entire field with that wide receipt the way he played like that, he settled down. So I'm not sure. I'm

not sure what should have happened. Because Jordan Lewis was the corner over there. He locked on, He locked on, locked, and if he didn't lock on, that guy's wide open. By the way, it didn't so in the safety was single high and he they had the other safety Heath they were on the other side. I think Ernst was over there. Uh, and they ended up doubling Earnest and with Iron Jones, and it's like, okay, well, what was

this guy supposed to do? You couldn't expect him to run forty yards down field with the wide receiver, but the safety was so high he couldn't get there. How much respect do we have for we put Biling Jones on it? Oh? Yeah, yeah, put zones and even so it was that was twelve personnel. Yeah, they had they put their two wide receivers on the right side. And when we're able to scheme it to where the linebacker then was covering a wide receiver, that means that it

is a zone. Got to be zone. It's got to be zone coverage because why the cornerback is not coming over exactly with the two wide receivers right, So, so why tell me why? And I see this all the time and I never understand it. And somebody explained to me, when you put two wide receivers to one side, what's the other corner doing on the other side doing nothing? He's supposed to be in the slot coming over if it's if it's man to man, if it's he stays over,

he stays up. But why why leave him over there? Why wouldn't you put him on the in the slot because they're not expect that right now? The depending on the yard and uh, you know, the down in the yardage. If they're playing run, then I still have to have my safety over here in run situation because you asked you asked about Okay, Jordan Lewis locked on the wide receiver. I don't remember which wide receiver was. It went across the middle. Well, that safety would have taken him. But

but Jordan Lewis took the took the receiver. Defensive personnel. Was it regular? It was regular because Malcolm Smith was on the field. Everybody standard. Yeah, because it was Malcolm didn't That's who was on the field. If if the zone, if it's his zone call, and the cornerback stays over, then he's the force on the on the week side, he's the force on the tighten side. And if it's his zone, then obviously he's gonna be the deep third, or depending on what the call is, he's gonna be

deep third. That's a flat depending on what the call is. I don't know if they should have if the if the cornerback didn't come over, then there's no reason for the other corner to lock on to the wide receiver outside he was in that post, rat would be the safety woods jacko into the stay unless he goes shallow across right sat, then you want to hit the post with somebody else coming down the other side. Yeah, because the running back Jalen Smith took the running back lead. Yeah.

At the last minute, Lee's yelling at her get over there. General. Okay. By the way, he had seventeen seventeen tackles John Lee. Yea, all right, we continue with more talking cowboys in a moment. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and team pride too. You can by purchasing your own Stetson, you can look just like how the

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so nice to treat you? And even though it feels weird to talk to we, can you pick one up and say, it's so nice to be treated doctor Pepper, so nice to treat you. Back to talking cowboys and final few minutes of talking cowboys. I got one more specific play that I want to get to. Oh, I'm sorry, it's Mickey. I'm sorry, I'm jumped the gun. Sorry. Always getting ready. If you have last minute Christmas shopping to do this last sorry Jack Black, because one size fits

all perfectly. The Black Virtual Gift Card. It's always on time, even if you're not. The recipient gets to choose the gift he or she wants. It's available in any amount. You'll love the thank you notes. Shop now at get Jack Black dot com. That's the best. The best was going to get to it. So he was the best one every time, all right, and you gotta applause from Douglas Barriklow, who just appeared out of his cubby hole

over there. All right. The other play that I want to get to is the play on the goal line where Sanders scored the touchdown to give the Eagles the seventeen touched after the play we just talked about, right after the right after after the ward play. Okay, so they got down third and goal at the one. Jalen Smith on the previous play made a great stop along with Xavier Woods on Sanders, okay, to stop him at the one. Now forced a third and goal at the one.

All right. Eagles had two tight ends on the field for almost all day long, right, Mickey, Yes, they did not have two tight ends on the field for this play. They went three wide and the Cowboys went Nickel exactly good on the goal line and he went right up the gut and they went right up to gut and Jalen Smith, your middle linebacker is lined up at right defensive end, a wide nine right defensive end. I'm thinking that they were concerned with the well Shawn Lee had

the tight end. Shaun Lee's lined up to the right side. He's got Goddard. Okay, but I'm thinking they were concerned about the quarterback run on that, and so that's that's the only reason that I can think that they would have Smith lined up as a defensive Did you think what did you think they thought he was going to run exactly the middle? Still? Well, and that's the other thing.

When the when the running back, Okay, when you're running that read option as a quarterback with a running back lined up on the right side, the quarterbacks not running to the left side where Jalen Smith is lined up. If he's gonna keep he's gonna read it, he's gonna put the ball in the belly on the back, and he's gonna take off on the right side where DeMarcus Lawrence was. I have no idea what they were doing

defensively on that. And on the middle of the crushed they crushed the middle the nose Covington got bl right out it. Well, it almost seems as if he stepped that way initially. Yeah, he held out. Yeah, And as if someone as we's called a tango, someone would tango into the hole. I saw Sean Lee looking there that beat. He had got it, and you can't have got it on the running play, right, you gotta have got it on the passing play, right on the running play. That's

his Well, I don't know if that's here. I just think when I saw that, that's all I could say. Well, number one, I just don't see how you can you can go nickel on the one yard line in a goal line situation like that, have a safety, take that wide, receive that extra wide receiver. You can. He gotta have the middle line nickel and still have a middle linebacker in right. You can, yeah, because all you gotta do is Jalen instead of lining up at right defensive end,

line up as a middle linebacker. Now you have. I thought they were going to call a quarterback run. That's what I was waiting for. And they had that defended. Well, they had that defended because the defensive line there were four defensive linemen and then Jalen was the fifth. They were shaded to that side where the to the running back side. Okay, and so if if Wentz was gonna

keep they had the manpower over they had. They were not outnumbered right defensively, we were not outnumbering in that if he's going right, which he has really no choice because the back is the exactly so he has to fake it right, right, right. So but I just don't understand why you don't have a middle linebacker in there on on a goal line, third and goal. That's good, Yeah,

that's a good question. I would think that Wentz saw the alignment and he may have had a pass play called or something and he saw the alignment and said, no, we're giving it to you right up the gut. I saw Cheeto was lined up out wide in the corner, right. I thought that maybe they were gonna go jump all because they were going after Cheeto in the game, right, But you're right. The middle was why I won't ask him enough that they yanked him and put Jordan Lewis

out there in the base defense. And that was why I was. I was gonna why was Jordan Lewis in the game. That was gonna be my question when we talked about the wheel route. So that was not Nickel personnel. That's why I asked you. What was Jordan was in? After second maybe the second or third possession, he got benched and he would only come in on Nickel, so he did continue to play. So it's not the injury. Then, No, no, come in on Nickel and he went back to his

left corner. So I want, I want, I want the guy that tweeted it out a long time ago about me picking on Jordan Lewis that when I said sometimes he gets lost, and he tweeted, he tweeted me and included Jordan Lewis on it. We'll go ahead and tweet again, big boys. Merry Christmas we got would you like to receive a merry Christmas? Gonna have a nice New Year or two? Well, we're about out of time here and we'll be back for talking Cowboys after Christmas on. We're

back on Thursday, Thursday and Friday this week. In the meantime, everybody out there, have a merry Christmas and happy holiday and we'll talk. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.