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And now your hosts Isaiah Standback, Nick Harris, John Mashoda, and Kyle Yeomans.
It's so Wonderful Wednesday edition of Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, Live.
From the Star in Frisco, Texas, in the s WBC studios.
It is wild Card Weekend Cowboys Packers Sunday afternoon, three thirty kickoff from beautiful at and T Stadium. We've got Isaiah stand Back back in the building today.
Oh yeah, John Mitchoda, Nick Harris, Chris Beam, I'm Kyle Ons.
Sorry, Bud, Sorry for apologize. How was it was it fun?
It was cool? It kid. I got to go with the kid. Oh man. You know, I got to see somebody My teammates didn't see a lot of them because I had the kid and a lot of the events that were going on because you were the kid friendly.
Yeah, you were in like the VIP section and they were in the general public public.
No No, that definitely wasn't the case.
But uh landed in the helicopter on top of NRG.
Yeah no, but repelled down my seats. I was at the I was sitting at the club level and three hundred level And no, I don't know. It wouldn't have sweet. It was just a higher, higher price ticket with a higher view than I probably would have would want. But it was cool. I got a chance to sit next to my guy, warm Moon. That was cool. Two quarterbacks watching the game together. It's probably a bad idea because we literally are talking through all the different situations.
Who around you?
Yeah, yeah, I think he had his Dinnis with He's what he brought to the game. That's very interesting. But yeah, but yeah it was. It was literally myself, my son, and warm Moon. Like that was the line up there in our row. And then a couple of rolls back was the dude from barstools.
What's his name, Dave Portnoy.
I guess like yeah president, Yeah, the main game, the main guy.
He was a few rows behind you. Yeah, oh so you had better shut up, Kyle. Yeah, he had a better interesting, better view.
I guess, like a multi millionaire. Yeah, he was locked apparently he's like a big time Michigan fan, but he was like locked in. He was geared up, locked in, like.
It was ridiculous, fascinating.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
But you should have gotten to that though, because they're they're they're making content. Yeah, you know, I think I don't think you were going there to make content, like you know, like no.
He definitely had his photographers and stuff there, like taking pictures of him watching the game, but but you could tell he was genuinely into the game, like he was locked in on the game. Like people were he was cool. People were going up and taking pictures with him. He was like okay, yeah, and it's like just like to get back to the game.
Like imagine if like Brad Sham showed it to a Cowboys game with like film crew every week.
Yeah, yeah, that would make sense.
I mean it would be like the content, it would be.
Anybody that worth what Dave Portnoy, Yeah, take a guess what isn't that worth?
Is one hundred million?
Might triple digits? I would say eighty.
I know he sold that company a couple of years ago for a bought it back for like half the price or.
Not even far like a dollar.
Oh really, friends are razy?
What is it? One hundred and fifty million dollars?
Goodness?
Good for him? He built that from Yeah, I built that from the ground up.
And on that site ground right now, what does it say the net worth is for a standard.
Fifteen dollars?
Well, you had better seats, so it's probably one hundred and fifty one million.
What I thought.
I would love for my name to pop up on there and it says like seventeen dollars and twenty.
Don't forget the twenty seven. It's very more than.
Twenty sixteen million. You're right, yeah, sorry, that's warn Moony exactly. Definitely be throwing shots back there.
You got to get picture there. I like that, the one of you and your son and warm Moon.
That dude, that's not bad, not bad. I was glad to my that was It was important to me because Warn Moon was very important to me and my development and my tenure over there at the University of Washington. He was the first African American quarterback. I was the second. We were sitting there watching the fourth. It was pretty it was pretty dope. Yeah, I'm pretty dope. Pretty surreal. My son had no idea I was talking about. So I'm like, you know who the first black quarterback was
a University of Washington. He was like, yeah, you I'm not, as I said, you know what the second one was? He was like yeah, I was like you know who the first one was? He was like, no, I'm like that guy. He was like in Warren's Order eating Poper, Like.
That's me.
Who was the third?
Uh Price? Price Price? I can look it up.
Well, yeah, picture the other day on Instagram and made me, I think of you forgot to send it to you.
Yeah, that's a dope on a.
Moon dus awesome, Yeah, like you can really Yeah, I could have told.
You that he's the beast man.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Though. That was all the records in Canada and the NFL.
It's just in Keith Price.
Keith Price.
When I first started like really watching college football as a kid. Though, Washington's guy was Steve Batman, and I.
See, yeah he was there. I wish I could have saw him. Man. There were so many alumni events that I just couldn't attend because they're usually bars or they had like I think they we had offset offset and some other people.
I heard that it was tough for like, uh, some of the pregame tail gating and things like that because of.
The weather was trash. Yeah yeah, we didn't. We were going to get to the stadium early, but it was literal thunderstorms. Like we're driving there and the clouds were grilling. It had the sunroof opening and you just feel like that gust of cold air come through it. You're like, oh, because it was like a seventy three degree day. It was cloudy, you know, on and off rain, and then it dropped down to like forty like immediately and it was just freezing and freezing rain and it was nasty.
So like we parked and you just tried to hurry up and run in the stadium. And then after the game it was pouring again. I was like, come on, man, and we walked the wrong direction and they're like where did we part at?
That's how it was last year at so Far for the Georgia TCU National Championship. And like the people that were sitting in the upper deck of that stadium.
Were right, it was pouring, right, was one of them?
He was one of the poor new Yeah it is, but that was all cowboys, baby. Yeah, my Boys had a chance that they dropped the ball. Now Cowboys got to deliver college football over over baby in the back, wildcar around here, wildcar time for a little time of.
A little little news and notes.
Yeah, well, there wasn't a lot that happened in the building yesterday. That's per usual, so that there's not a whole lot to dive into on news and notes. I guess you could take a look at the defensive unit and just kind of the confidences being built around, you know, the the defensive unit going into the playoffs. They're coming off a stretch where allowing eighty eight rushing yards for game, seventeen points per game in the final three games, and
Jarron Curse a couple other guys. A lot of confidence in that unit. Dan Quinn expressed it on Monday as well. So, I the more I look at this Green Bay game and the more that I kind of see what they do well defenses that they have done well against, I feel really good about this Cowboys matchup. You know, I think the more I look into it, the more confidence I have that this this team should be able to pull this one off and pull it off comfortably.
No updates yet on Tyron Smith. Tyler or Tyler Smith. Excuse me, yeah, Tyron Smith, he's good. It should be free to go. Yeah, not on Wood Tyler Smith and Zach Martin. Appears both of those guys are trending in the right direction.
We'll get more on that today, correct.
Yeah.
In terms of practice.
Stefan Gilmore as well, same thing with Stefan.
Any McCarthy say on Monday that he thought, as of Monday thought Tyler would be in the limited category.
Yeah, yeah, which is a step up from last week.
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and that that would be huge if he's able to get on the field as limited today. Although I don't expect him to be limited today because like some of the times on Wednesdays, they'll be like, yeah, we expect him to be limited, and then they don't practice just because those Wednesdays they take really light. I would be surprised if he's limited today, but I think tomorrow would be the big determining factor on if there's actually a little bit of concern going
further into a week. That's just me though, that's that's my thinking.
I'm wondering if they're going to practice outside or yeah, because they're it's cold outside, but they're also playing inside, and if they win, they'll play inside again.
So I'm wondering how that would be today.
I mean, there's only a possibility of one more potential outdoor game the rest of the way, and it's in California. That's if they play in San Francisco and that would be warm, you would.
Hope, Yeah, you would think they'd be sunny in seventy five if you hope. Now, I'm interested just from a mindset standpoint.
Grass grass, Yeah, Yeah, that's the difference.
Yeah, that is the difference.
What I'm saying. You want to you want them to practice on grass as much as possible because of how easier it is on the joints.
I'm interested from a player standpoint.
Did you like it more going into playoffs because you were in playoffs scenarios with multiple teams?
Did you like it better if you kept the schedule.
Completely the same, didn't change anything completely, business as usual or maybe a.
Little bit more emphasis, a little bit more.
Intensity, business as usual? Yeah?
Why is that?
Because you wanted to as much as you know it's not a normal week, you want it to feel as if it's a normal week because you know, the reality is football players and most professional athletes are creatures of habit, and you don't want to break that habit. You don't want anything to mess with that schedule. So you want
to keep it as normal as possible. I mean, you're still going to have more film, You're still going to put in more hours, all that kind of stuff, and people going, oh, why don't you put those hours in in the regular season. Listen, y'all, you do, but this is the playoffs, so you put in more. It's overtime, it's unpaid overtime. So you go out there. You take
care of business in that regard. But yeah, you want it to be as normal as possible so that you can go out there and your your clock is rolling. You don't. That's why you don't like those Saturday games. Those Saturday games throw you off, completely flip. They completely screw you up. You know, Thursday games screw you up,
and except for Cowboys, are used to that. But those Saturday games, man for playoffs, really really suck because your body clock and now you obviously turn it on, right, but your natural clock, you know, and that's in your body, like it's not on. You wake up that day and you're like, oh, okay, oh crap, we got a game today. Oh they say, you got to kind of kick yourself into gear. So I'm happy that those guys have a Sunday afternoon game.
And with this particular team and the situation that they're facing, I think it would be foolish to do anything different. You've been awesome at home, You've won your last sixteen at home. It's going to be a three thirty game at home. Why would you do anything different. I am completely open to the idea of trying to change stuff up. They if let's say they go on the road to San Francisco, because of just how they've played on the road.
You know, they played better obviously against Miami, but if they wanted to do something to switch some things up for that game, just because they lost them the last three times, they're like, hey, let's just try and do this a little bit differ cerently.
Maybe this is a spark whatever. I can listen to that.
But this week, if they win this game next week, don't you should do exactly what you've been doing.
Don't touch it right.
That would be interesting to see if they do upended going into San Francisco.
You just completely change everything.
Think San frances gonna get upset at all?
What do you mean?
I'm telling you the Rams beaten before then the Rams have a good chance. But I'm taking the Niners ten times out of ten.
Who are you thinking?
I don't know. I just I just get a sense that there's gonna be one heck of upset that nobody's seeing coming.
It's going on like Packers over Cowboys.
Stop stop now, man, don't say that. I can't say that.
I don't work for the team. I can say I can say whatever I want.
Uh, let's talk about that Packers team a little bit here unless there was any news and.
No, absolutely, thank you so much, Packers, gotta check.
I really had to cook something up there.
I saw you.
The defense.
I was impressed with what you came up with.
Packers the youngest team to make the playoffs since nineteen seventy eight in terms of median age.
They are a young, young ball club. Does that scare you a little bit?
In the fact that they're young, you can get a little over excited. You can be, of course, you're led by a young quarterback. Jordan Love, by the way, first quarterback in Packers' history to lead their team to the playoffs in his first season as the full time starter.
Aware, you should be aware, do that, You should be aware. You should not be scared of anything that they're doing.
Okay, what you should be scared of?
Their roster.
You're playing at home, you're battle tested that there's nothing that the Packers bring that you should be scared of. It shouldn't be looking back at what Vince Lombardi did, or Mike McCarthy or Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre. That's all behind this history. A different Packers team. You've been great at home. There should be nothing that scares you. Be aware of that stuff. By all means, you should definitely not take them lately. They can beat you, but you should not be scared of that.
What would they do best off of your early study.
It's funny because I think that they're probably at their best when they're throwing it around.
But you want to go at and t Sam throw it around.
That's a bad idea.
Let's see what happens bad. I don't think that's a great idea. I think that you probably need to run the ball. I thought it was interesting NFL research tweeted out that stat yesterday about of all players that have ever gone against the Cowboys at least three times or more rushing wise, the highest rushing average any running back has ever had against the Cowboys is Aaron joneses like at one to twenty point something. So two is Barry
Sanders and three is Walter Payton. So I think their best bet is to run the football and keep the Cowboys offense on the sideline. Yeah, but their best thing is probably thrown it around. I mean, Jordan Love had had a big year statistically with his arm. He's got some weapons on the outside. But I think that's a foolish game plan to go in at and t Staum think that you guys want to get in a shootout with with this Cowboys offense.
Yeah, and that running back room has been just so banged up this year too. It's interesting how they kind of approach this game. I will say that offensive line's been really good for them. They're allowing the fourth few of sacks in the NFL into the season, really strong, only allowed too in the final three games. So if they want to pass it around and they want to enact that play action game that they do so well, then you know they've they've certainly shown that they can
do that. But what will win is that the Cowboys pass rush ers are the protection up front for Green Bay. If they can get some protection, then you know, I think they'll be able to make some things happen. But if they can't, I just I just don't see where this offense finds consistency. That's that's me specifically. They also do really well out of the halftime break. I think this is something to kind of point out. They score the second most points in the NFL, or actually the
most points in the NFL in the third quarter. Cowboys are bottom five in the league in the third quarter. So I think coming out of the break really strong with those halftime adjustments, if the Cowboys can kind of mitigate that and do those two things, if they can attack the pass, run, attack the Jordan love, and come out of the half strong, they win this game comfortably in my eyes.
And you mentioned the run game and how much they've they didn't rely on that early in the season. I mean, when they've been winning these games late, they've they've relied on Aaron Jones last three games, he had one hundred and twenty seven, one hundred.
And twenty one hundred and eleven.
So, I mean they used him quite a bit, and he had twenty plus carries in each of those games with with Aaron Jones and I, like you said, they've they've had a banged up running back room.
Do you feel better.
Now going up against a two headed attack out of the backfield than you did a couple of weeks ago, just based off of what you've done these last three weeks. If the if you're the Cowboys after Buffalo torched you for two sixty six.
Yeah, I think there's I think that's healthy.
A little bit of Higgins is up back. I mean that's a huge part of it.
That's big, I think. So, I mean this is this I feel like they're playing themselves offensively. Yeah. This is a West Coast offense like Packers. Yeah, like to the t like this is the route, combinations, the concepts. I mean, this is literally Coach McCarthy reincarnated on that side with less weapons. So our defense should be very familiar with the style of offense. I think the biggest challenge to the Dallas Cowboy's defense this week is going to be communication.
I truly believe it's going to be communication just because of how these guys get to their route concepts. They're running a lot of bunch sets, tons of bunch sets, and even when they're not in bunch, they motion to a bunch or they shift to some type of bunch.
Everything's a three by one. Like almost everything they do comes out of a three man route combination, and it's hard to decipher who has who and when you're trying to play man and man, communication becomes very important because you need to figure out Hey, on the switch releases, you know who's taking what guy? Are we in and
out in this? Are we locking it? When you're playing zone this, if he has time back there, They these concepts will can eat up the zone in a heartbeat, and you have to play it balanced because they have a running They do have these guys that have a solid running attack. I don't think they're home run hitters. They're definitely not home run hitters at the running back position in terms of their scheme, but they definitely like
to create shorter down of distances. They want to have all This team is more disciplined in terms of just having longwithstanding drives. They want to end up in second and four. They want to end up, you know, in third and three, like they're comfortable in that position. And then it makes it difficult for you to really be aggressive because they only need a handful of yards to get the first down and move the chains. They're not trying to take the big boy shots over the top.
They don't feel the necessity to do so. So these guys are patient in that regard, and I think that's going to be the greatest challenge to Dallas. Can you communicate in the passing game. Can you negate even their ability to get three or four yards on the ground right, You're not trying to stop them from cutting back and taking this thing, you know, taking the top off it. These guys just want to be manageable down in distance, and they are disciplined enough to keep going it like
that the whole game. So conditioning is going to be huge as well. And then you have to get some stops, and to your point, they can't. They can't win in a shootout, but they do a good job of having sustained drive to.
The point of getting stops. I think one of the more important things up with this top three in this game is winning the time of possession battle. Yeah, and we've seen that be so critical for the Cowboys this year and whenever they possessed the ball thirty five minutes
or more than unefeated six and zero. So, especially in a game like this where you're gonna try to mitigate the run and limit what Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon do out of the backfield, you want to take the ball out of a quarterback that's a top five passer in the league second touchdowns, you got to win that time in possession battle.
And it's really weird that his stat line is like that. It's mainly because it's offense, because it's the West Coast offense. He gets the ball out of his hand relatively quickly, right, So that's why I would imagine his stats are like that. But I don't like his ball, Like, I don't like his ball. It's weird. His ball like floats. There's no velocity on his throws whatsoever.
That was a knock on him coming out of the draft is that he didn't have enough I guess just playing in simple velocity.
Yeah.
I mean he's got a strong arm, don't get me wrong. He can get it down the field. He can get it down the field, but it's in the air forever.
Yeah. So in regards to and again, I didn't do a bunch of research on Jordan Left prior to this game, right, I'm looking at him in depth now, But like his ball, he's on time. So in terms of him not getting sacked, it makes sense because he's getting the ball out on time, but he's releasing the ball so early that the defensive backs have just as great of an opportunity to find the ball in the air than the receiver does, and
it's not getting there in a quick manner. So if you can be in a good position and you can get your head turned around, I think our dbs have a great chance of getting multiple interceptions in this game, multiple, multiple, multiple. Yeah. I mean the ball seems like it's in the air for twenty minutes. And I'm not talking about one or two throws. I'm talking about I'm watching a lot of his stuff and I'm like, yo, like this. Yeah.
I know, I've already brought it up a couple of times this week, and I think it's just it's an important note. In this game. The Cowboys rare opportunity that they have the experience advantage in a playoff game, and this is definitely one. Whenever you're going up against the Packers offense, the oldest guy in their entire past or in their entire ball catching room, whether that be receivers or tied as Christian Watson, and he's twenty.
Four years old.
Yeah, their top six leading receivers are either rookies or second year guys. I mean, it's crazy. And you got Jordan Low first year starter. I think if you put the pressure on them early, you get points, take the ball, get points, and you sustain that over the course of the first half, and you make sure that they don't come out of the half strong. I think they were this game by two scores.
You go up, you go into the fourth quarter up fourteen, and you don't blow that.
Please please sounds great.
Force them to throw the ball around a little bit, get after it. I want to continue this conversation a little bit when we come back talking about the defensive matchup versus Green Bay.
Where is this defense going to spread? Plus, I want to play a little game with you guys.
Isaiah is not allowed to play unless he puts his phone down because we have the same notes.
We share the same Google doc. So when we come back here on Talking Cowboys.
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Welcome back into Dear Doctor, the show where I answer life's questions with an ice cold can of doctor pepper. Sheila, let's hear from my next caller, would you, Dear Doctor?
My friend supported me during a tough time.
But what's the right gift that says thanks for being the.
Soldier to cry out?
Okay, this one's easy, I say, give her a delicious doctor pepper nothing says thanks gul better than one of a kind soda. Yes, any Doctor Pepper flavor will do. Now, just a reminder that I don't need to be a real doctor to know that Doctor Pepper is the one you deserve.
To the Talking Cowboys.
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You made the road trip back yesterday. You got back in town. Did you get your oats in this morning?
I did not. I have my baby girl with me and she's not allowed in the lunch room, so I did not get my Quaker Oats with me.
So what did you eat?
Actually, Wednesday mornings are usually our waffle house stuff, So you stopped there? Yeah, we did.
I'm gonna join you all of these days right now.
My wife and I are having a competition right now in terms of body competition, so it's not the place that I necessarily should be going.
Don't get my chocolate chip waffle.
What you get waffle and eggs? I eat a bunch of eggs A bunch of eggs. Yeah, yeah, okay, disappointed. I ate half my waffle though.
He was there to do the waffle house challenge. Yeah, that would run four eggs.
Yeah. I would never go to waffle her again.
I got get back in the track. I had a lot of You went to a movie theater down there in Houston, to a movie theater that has a vi Shut up, Kyle has a VIP section. There's a v you can pay for a VIP ticket.
That's the most Houston thing I've ever heard.
So it's sectioned off, right, So it's a whole another part of the building.
Right.
It has his own movie theaters and you have unlimited listen, unlimited ices. Found drinks and popcorn. There's the bottles.
That's the bottle, right, bro.
It was so word husky.
They got like the color pis in their hands like it was so worth it.
Bro.
So I only went one time to one of those I'm not gonna say the name of the.
Theater, one where you can eat.
There.
This dude that was sitting like two rows behind got like some like chocolate Sunday and it was in like a you know, in the in the glass type Sunday thing and just like, yeah, you're in.
The middle of movie, Like, bro, you get it all.
We're good. I hate trying to watch this thing.
I'm never doing it.
I hate like unnecessary noises. Crazy.
You got like another section in the corner and they're buying like all the.
I whatever, giving me another round. It was awesome though, because my son was like killing his icy. He's doing the same day. I'm like, bro, it's gone. You want another one, like, I'm gonna go get you another.
Gets you one more as long as you stop tell me what I missed in a movie.
Akwarman.
I was good.
Yeah, it was good. I liked it.
You didn't like the first one?
I did not, Yeah, I did not.
Like I'm actually shocked that you went to the.
First one was pretty soft, but I mean first one was pretty soft, but I like the second one.
All right, let's get back to football.
Uh.
Green Bay wins seven.
Of the last ten to go into the plays playoffs and to make the postseason. Isaiah was talking about it a little bit, the makeup of this team, the way that they work effectively down the field.
I want to play a little game with you guys.
Where do you guys think these two ranks or let me rephrase, which team do you think ranks higher in these categories? So more efficient between the Cowboys and the Packers. We'll start with average pass EPA. You think it's the Cowboys or the Packers that ranks higher.
Explain what average pass EPA is again.
So it's expected play basically, is EPA is when you decide.
To throw a pass.
It's the expected analytics of how successful and how many yards it does on average basically.
Okay, it's kind of a hard thing to explain without reading.
The exact A tough question being that these are the same offense as pretty much, Kyle, you.
Would take the Packers here though, because I feel like they take a little bit more downfield shots.
Okay, it's a good question.
I mean, I hate to just make fun of your game here.
But if you guys looked at the Packers schedule, yeah, Cowboys might have two losses against that schedule, So none of these stats will surprise me.
Green Bay, Green May is not in the playoffs that they played the Cowboys.
Schedule Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit.
Be a loss on there that the Cowboys play.
That Detroit, Maybe at Detroit.
Maybe at the Troit. Well they won at Detroit.
You know that.
You're sure about that, the Chiefs at that point. Okay, so we'll give them two.
Yeah, the Chiefs weren't playing very at Chicago. Come on, yeah, that's rough against the bad Rams team.
It was against the bad Broncos team that they lost to.
Just want to keep everything in perspective.
No, that's a good point. No, I'm glad you did.
But average pass EPA, John, which one you think like Packers?
I mean, there's this daunting schedule. I know how they got passed that. I don't know how they started out two and five.
Looking at uh, Cowboys actually ranked higher. They're second in the league in average pass e p A. Yeah, Packers are fifth.
What about run.
Run EPA rush e PA. You think that's Packers far and away, you think that's the Cowboys.
I would think Packers in that most of them have had kind of an under the they've kind of stopped trying to No, no, no, I'm not. They've kind of fell short of expectations to put that down stuff. He's over your.
Cheating, he's looking at the same notes.
I would take Cowboys, Okay, slightly.
I'm gonna guess Cowboys.
It's the Cowboys.
Which surprised me whenever I looked at him is the fact that the Cowboys, like you said, sneaky season, but not the not the rushing campaign that you thought that they were going to have.
You thought Dallas was going to be effective running the football.
They're seventh in the league and average rush EPA and the Packers are twelve.
A couple more.
And honestly, John, you you were making the point before I made the point to a certain extent.
You talk about average pass EPA allowed. It's not on the.
I'm looking at the reflections your intuition here.
Average pass EPA allowed Cowboys seventh, Packers twenty third, average rush EPA allowed Cowboys tenth, Packers are twenty third.
Cowboys have no business messing around in this game early.
It is ultimately the point that I was trying to make, which and to add to it, John, talking about the schedule specifically top to bottom. This was against a much worse schedule competition wise than what Dallas had.
At any point in the campaign.
So what about this offense gives you the bubble guts? Honestly about it, That's what we're talking about today, right, Packer's office efficiency.
But like that doesn't give me bubble guts. I think it's just something they do well. There's nothing that gives me bubble guts.
I would say the biggest thing is just them coming into the game nothing to lose, and you just get some guys that just play.
Above what they normally like in the offense.
About the Packers offense, That's what I'm talking about. Like Jordan Love has these floaters that you're talking about, Yeah, and they're just not picked.
They just end up getting That's what I'm talking about.
That would be the only only thing again kind of yeah again though, I just a big playability to I'm not like, I'm not a Cowboys fan, so when I say things like this, I don't care about the Jinxes people.
Oh, don't say it, you're gonna jinx whatever like that.
I'm just like, I've seen this Cowboys team play too many times at home for me to sit there and think that for me to expect anything other than to win this game, I.
Don't really care where the game is being played.
I just think you don't think it matters sixteen in a row.
Nobody else is doing I isn't close to doing that if it's just not.
A big deal that it matters to the outside. But I'm talking about I look at personnel matchups. I don't give a dog on where I play. We can play at the playground for all don't care well, but.
A particular team that we cover isn't in the realm.
I hear you. But I'm looking at matchups, and when I look at matchups, I feel confident in Dallas's ability. I want to see Jordan Love under pressure.
My argument to that is I can look at matchups where you're like Cowboys advantage, Cowboys advantage, coverage advantage, and it can be on the road and I'll be like, I still don't know about this game.
So that's the only problem with this particular team.
I hear you. I hear you, so taking that out of it, taking out where you're playing at. I'm looking at the players, and that's what I look.
At players too.
If all their alarm clocks wake come up at that exact same time, the same route to the stadium, I really like their I really like their chances.
I like I like Dallas's chances too. I foresee the only problem with this team being that they are consistent, and they are persistent, right, and their ability to be balanced offensively, you're talking about green Banks, That's what we're talking about that. So I mean, like, yes, like their ability to be balanced bothers me. Their efficiency bothers me, and that should bother Dallas and they're gonna have to
do something to disrupt that. You can't. The Gilmore injury affects how aggressive you could be in the secondary physical physically, right, So now you're asking your guys to play coverage, whether it's man or zone from off. You're you're asking you guys to play off coverage now because Gilmore is not gonna be able to come up and jam up people
with that shoulder, regardless if he's on the field or not. Okay, And if he can't come up in jam, then nobody else is really gonna come up in jam, right, because you have to be able to decipher who's doing what and who's playing who and the concepts that they run. I have a little bit of bubble guts that they take the they take some of the win out of the Dallas's sale being at their at home, right, John is going to your point, energy and all that jazz.
You're getting hyped up. And it's third down, it's third and three, and it's oh they mood of chains. Here he goes third down again and they moved to changed right, and just them just being able to sustain drives and winning that time of position that you're talking about, nick right, being able to take the win out of Dallas's sales and not just getting really close to making big plays
with them just not happening, right. And that's my only fear that I have about Dallas' defense versus Green Bay's offense. There's nothing lightning about it. There's nothing that's gonna like there's I don't fear a big spark from these guys. It's not a Dolphins, it's not a it's not a Buffalo. It's not a big play type team. It's just a team that's just gonna chip away, chip away, chip away.
All right, do we score awesome? Okay, Now, we're just hoping that our defense can make a stop, right and then if they if you don't score on office, then they're right back to it. Chip away, chip away, chip away. And all of a sudden, you looking around, you're like, dang, it's a dog on the third quarter. Right, that's my only that's my only fear. If I have one, that that is it.
I'll say this. I think the best defense for the Cowboys on Sunday is offense. Like if they can if they could chip away some clock again, win that time of possession battle and get it going. I'm not doing this, Derek shout out over there. I think if they could just have long, sustaint drives and keep that offense off the field, then it just whittles down their opportunity to win. I don't see. We'll talk more about it tomorrow. I think there's a ton of opportunities for this cow offense tomorrow.
But but yeah, that's how I see.
Does that make sense? Though?
It does?
It does so like just just consistency, man, Like there's I know a lot of times we want to sit up here and talk about splash players and how you know, big play that's not them, that's not and then and they don't third down doesn't bother them. There's some teams with third down there, like they get jittery. They're like, oh crap, here we goes third down. Here comes Dallas with their blitzer, and here comes Dallas with their pass rushers.
I don't see them being nervous about that. Now they need to, they need to respect the crap out of it. But I don't foresee Green Bay coming in here being nervous about third down situations in this past rush. Now you have to earn that right by going out there and taking care of business on Sunday. You hit Jordan Love a couple times in his mouth, then they'll have a reason to fear it. But I don't foresee them coming in with a fear. I think they come in
with a respect and a high regard. But again because of the scheme that they run. This is Dallas's offense. For all those people that haven't watched film yet, this is pretty much what Dallas does offensively, except for they do it a lot more with two tight ends, and they do it a lot more out of the bunch formation.
And you're worried about them getting the ball out quick, they're going to and just slowly.
And I'm worried about them getting the ball out quick and us playing soft in the secondary because of what we have out there and what their capabilities are. I don't want this team to be able to keep just work this way down the field.
I don't see why you would play so off against him. I'm agree is because be aggressive. They beat you on a big one. Oh well, now you get the ball. Now you go do the same thing to this, I totally agree.
But Gilmore, like I'm projecting based upon my personal experience, I don't foresee Gilmore having the capabilities of being able to be press and be physical.
Well, I'm saying that with that he can possibly get beat. Let's say, give up a couple touch up. Well, then you come right back at them. You don't sit back and let them slowly bleed you like that.
You just don't do that. You come up and you play aggressive. They beat in a couple of plays.
They beat you in a couple of plays because you can't sit there and let them just beat you with a constant quick game. You need to allow the best thing you have going for you on defense. As far as I'm concerned, is that health of your adjur rushers. I mean, Mike Parsons is healthy, to Marcus Sowren's is healthy, Dorance Armstrong is healthy. Dante Follower like, you have all these dogs ready to eat, you have to allow them to eat.
I agree, I am with you.
I think it's a good conversation because this is a team in Green Bay that has a similar mindset, a similar game plan, or might have a similar game plan as to what Buffalo did to you a couple of weeks ago. They're not nearly as physical, They're not nearly as talented as Buffalo. I'm not comparing the talent and the physicality. But that's what Buffalo did. They move the chains, they kept going. It wasn't the big playability. It was the run game. It was bleeding you to death, and
it was just death by a thousand cuts. That's what Green Bay would like to do to take the crowd out of it early. Whether or not they're good enough to do it, that's still to be seen. Because I agree with John, I think health wise, this is a Cowboys team that's going to have a lot in their favor.
All right.
When we come back here on Talking Cowboys, little national storylines to get you ready.
For Super Wildcard weekend. We got some stuff coming up here on the other side of the break, more Talking Cowboys.
Right after this.
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To Talking Cowboys.
Back here on Talking Cowboys presented by a Black Rifle Coffee Company. This segment of the show is brought to you by in visial Line, the official Smile of the Dallas Cowboys, Isaiah stand Back, John Matchoda, Nick Harris, Chris Beam in the back of Kyle's all right, John National storylines, It's playoff time.
Wild Card Baby, here we go.
We're jumping all the way to super Bowl. Here, super Bowl odds coming at you.
I didn't take long.
Who do you think is the favorite to win the Super Bowl right now?
Baltimore's forty nine Ers, they're plus two to twenty five. Ravens are second at plus three twenty five. Who do you think is third?
The Bills?
I agree with you there, Yeah, give me Buffalo.
I've been hot.
So there's a there's a drop off between the Bills, I mean, sorry, the forty nine Ers and Ravens. Then it's the Bills at three. But it's very close between the Bills and who's at four?
I know the answer, Dallas, right.
So do you guys look at that as kind of it's those four and then everybody else?
Yeah, though, because I feel like any other team in the NFC could catch Dallas on the wrong day, for sure. It likewise for the Bills. You know, I feel like the Bills could get tripped up at some point. Oh it takes is Josh Allen throwing three picks and the Steelers are in the divisional rounds.
Kind of like what we talked about a little bit.
It was either Monday or yeah, or it was yesterday when we were talking about how there's there's six.
Teams in my head that can win at all.
There's six teams and Baltimore, San Francisco, Buffalo, Dallas, I would say Detroit, and maybe Kansas City.
I don't think any of those other teams can win has a chance this year. That's why I said maybe Kansas. So maybe five and a half teams.
I'm a little bit more pessimistic. I really only see like two.
Yeah, see, but that's the NFL.
Though I agree with you logistically, I would say it's Baltimore San Francisco, but it never works out like that, and if it does, it does I mean, they're the one seeds for a reason.
So Vegas is with you for the most part, except for on your Detroit. So Vegas actually has after the Cowboys have the Chiefs, Eagles, Dolphins, and then the Lions.
The Lions are plus two thousand. It's a long level rope my thing on the Lions.
So I just I haven't looked this up, and I probably should have. Is I just don't know, like Dan Campbell, you know, your first time coaching a team in the playoffs, like, it just seems hard for that to be a team that to go to the super Bowl, like usually you have to kind of get there, you know, kind.
Of isn't it Mike McDaniel's first time.
Too, though, I also don't think they're winning the Super Bowl?
Yeah, well I know, but I'm saying compared to the Vegas Oh yeah, specifically.
But it's I mean, it's very It's not that much higher than the Lions. And then the other one I want to talk about most likely super Bowl matchup? Obviously the first is going to be the forty nine Ers Ravens. What do you think is the next most likely Super Bowl matchup?
Dallas?
Baltimore in Dallas?
No on either of those two, either of them?
Yeah, Buffalo and Bills Niners.
Yep.
Yeah, I had a vision that there's gonna be Baltimore in Dallas, just saying.
And then what do you think when was this vision?
Was this like last week or I think I was sleep a couple of days ago. Seriously, I don't dream, I really don't dream. So I woke up and like it was like, you know, something's like you feel like you're in it. I'm like, that's Raven Like that was Bultimore. Alright, weird?
I know, bro, I know we're gonna circle back on dude, We're totally gonna clip Baltimore.
Dallas, Baltimore, Dallas, forty nine ers, forty nine ers Ravens is one happens, but it happens forty nine ers, Bills is two.
What do you think is three?
Now?
Baltimore Dallas, No Dangers, Lions h San Francisco, Kansas City.
Really so it's San Francisco, San Francisco, San Francisco against the top three teams in the AFC.
Interesting and then fourth is Cowboys Ravens.
Oh, finally, very close.
The Cowboys. Cowboys Ravens is very close to forty and Air's Chiefs. It's very very close.
I know nothing about betting. There's a guy who was sitting in front of me from from esp and there's like a whole crew from ESPN could day Portanoyd probably could yeah, but but dude like turns around, He's like, hey, you think they're going to cover the fifty five. I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. Broad the disgust on his face, he looked said, I don't know anything about betting.
Bro.
He was like, like, I do think that's funny though, because we're all obviously sports fans here at heart, and I do think it's interesting how we all can't be obsessed with every part of it, and there's some parts that you enjoy.
More than others.
And I'll give you a great example of something that I think me and this gentleman are very different on,
and that is knowing the playoff scenarios. Ye like you and sod Usuf are like super into them, like even after the game, like like the like we went down outside the locker room when there's still a couple of minutes left in the game in Washington, and sod knew every single one of them, like no, if if Packers win, this, this, whatever like that, And I'm embarrassed at how much I'm like, yeah, okay, whatever you know, but like I don't know them like that.
So like the like thing was last week we did the show when you like had them all like like listen, Like I do not follow that stuff at all. And I want to say, about three or four weeks ago, CD was asked about it, and CD was like, I don't know, man, I just see what you guys read
or whatever. And I was just like, CD, I've never agreed with you more about it anything, Like, I'm just like, there's just so much different things, especially with the way that every thing ended at the end of that Washing game. It was down to like the last minute, you know, So I just think to your point, like, I don't think we can be all like into every single There's just so much that goes on with social media. There's
so many different things that you can know about. It's I mean it is there's a lot out there too. So I completely get you not giving a bath about.
I'll say, the Rams coming back and beating the Niners fight in that game. It made it very exciting because you look at it on paper and you're like, Okay, if they won this game, that means they're gonna be the sixth. They won't see the Cowboys until at least the NFC Championship game. Pip go through the Niners. They lose, They're coming here next week, and I feel like that's the hottest team in the NFC when all their starters are playing.
Yeah, we were on the First Word. We were finishing up the First Word broadcast, and I had it on my computer.
We had already found out all the scenarios and we were going back and forth, and I mean, Isaiah and Nate and Barry were in the middle of talking and I'm just sitting there just watching like the final snaps of the Los Angeles game, just to see who's winning where. And Yeah, it gets kind of crazy there at the last one.
It kind of in fact, it impacts the Cowboys a little bit, just because it's the NFC East. So I like drama, and there's obviously some going on in New York right now. So Giants defensive cornerator Wink Martindale reportedly cursed out Brian Dable, the Giants head coach, after.
So spit in that conversation.
I would imagine their season obviously ended.
Yeah, there season obviously ended, and there were coaching staff changes, and some of those changes included a couple of Wink Martindale's closest confidence on the defensive side. And while the Giants want Martindale to stay as the DC, he was furious with these changes. And this is all from a New York Post report. Stormed out and next thing you know that there's pictures of him at the airport flying to Florida. He was spotted on Tuesday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Oh.
He went to Newark wearing a.
Black sleeveless vest, which he always does Yankees cap and joggers.
So, I mean, this is just such a New York thing for like everyone to have, like the video and like pictures and everything like that.
So I believe he has a one year left on his contract. They still want him to be the d C. Dable still wants him to be the d C. But it's kind of up in the air right now because this is the time of year when even when your season's over, generally your coaches are doing exit meetings and things like that, so they're usually not storming out and then leaving, and and it just the fact that it's in New York.
That wasn't the only drum that they had New York. Barkley opted out of his little was it was it optional meeting and they had optional exit meetings, and he was like, yeah, no, I'm good. He was like, well, if you guys gonna tag me, just tag me now, like like I went through this last year. He's not happy, Bro, he gets tagged.
I think his quote wash they have my number they could call me.
For Yeah, he knows what they're going to do. They're gonna tag him again.
You guys still think Brian Dable is the guy there. I mean he'll be the coach next year. But when they first hired him, I was like, man, I think that's that's the right hire.
I think it's now.
I'm like we were talking about it week one. I remember being on this show going into that and saying, gay Ball's got that thing. We're working in the right direction.
It might be better, might be better. He might be one of the guys who's just a better OC.
Yeah, might be.
Everybody's not, you know, a great head coach.
And you can have a flash in the pan as a head coach and not be a good head coach, Like you can have some success just based off of Hey, it's a new hire, so everybody wants to impress the new coach, But like establishing a culture is a different thing.
Can you be a good head coach or a great head coach without being a good or great coordinator?
Yes, because your coach or job as a manager of men.
Can you get to that job in the NFL without having the coordinator or probably?
I don't see nothing.
Yeah, I think you're I see what you're saying.
Anti Antonio Peers example of that.
You know, and he might be a great court We just don't know exactly.
Yeah, Yeah, that's tough. That's why I give credit.
He's an exception because has his career right.
True. That's why I give credit.
Though to what Mike McCarthy has done, because he came in and did not have a great first year.
But did did he waiver after that? No?
No, he's he's continued establishing the culture. He did what he needed to do to turn that team from six wins in twenty twenty to twelve wins in twenty twenty two, or excuse me, in twenty twenty one, and then you had twelve wins and twenty two to twelve wins now in twenty three. So I give credit. I mean sustained success in the NFL is the hardest thing to do.
Dan Campbell has.
Never been off in the coordinator. By the way, Campbell, that's a good one.
So he was a tight ends coach and that is a good assistant.
How do you find this so fast?
He's Chris breaking baby, he knows dany I know Dan and I don't.
I didn't remember him being.
In oc right, So he was assistant head coach for the Saints, and that's kind of what he got was he called Dan.
I was just to say that for sure.
He shot him a text message exactly, said, hey, have.
You two way coordinator? He was like, no, man, but you know, I never reported, doesn't know if it's a coordinating Oh I just love talking man.
Shot its longing for it, like I'll be here all week.
A nice job this week.
I'll be here all week.
We will be here. It will be great.
We'll be back tomorrow Thursday morning, nine am Central time. We'll give you a little QB vision Cowboys offense versus the Patrick Packers defense.
I was terrible blocked it, bro, I.
Didn't touch that. I just got a solid defense in your face.
Chris Bey, Miaiah stand back, John Machuda, Nick Harris and Kyle Yoman saying so long, We'll see you tomorrow with more talking Cowboys. This has been a production of dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.