Talkin' Cowboys: Perfect Playoff Test?

of Talking Cowboys. Welcome everybody to the s WBC studios at the Star in Frisco. We've got heck Ma Harrison, We've got Isaiah stand Back, We've got Rob Phillips virtually again. I'm Kyle Yeoman's along with Chris Beam here for Talking Cowboys today. Everybody, it is hump day in the Cowboys in a short week, have just two more days to rest up, prepare and get ready for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Still you're still not on It sucks. That sucks, man Like he hates to day is like the first day that your body is like okay, doesn't hurt his back he could do this again. You know what I'm saying, Like, it doesn't hurt his bag, And now you're all of a sudden seventy two hours. But wait a minute, you gotta do it again. Wait a minute, here we go again, seventy two hours. For now we're gonna be playing again. When you think about it, too, there's going to be

a Monday wild Card game this year as well. There's

a Monday Night wild Card game. And because of the Monday Night Wildcard game, there's a good chance that the team that wins that Monday Night game would then turn around and play the number one seed on Sunday, which means you would have six days of rest coming off of a Monday night game against the best team, playing against a team that has two weeks of rest and the best record in whatever conference there in a man, well, that sucks well, But but the thing is like, say,

for instance, if we play on Saturday, and obviously I don't know how the seating is gonna go for the weekend playoff games, but if we get the let's say the Monday night game, that's an additional day of rest for this team. Yeah, you'd have what would that be? Nine days then basically yeah, right, and then you turn right back around and obviously on a short week again, I mean, who's more who's more prepared for short weeks than we are? Bro, That's true. They've been through it

a couple of times. Right, Come on, that's part of the DNA here in Dallas, part of the DNA. Rob, How are you doing out in the or Rob p Island Studios out there, I'm doing I'm doing okay. I wish I was in there with you guys. I'm doing fine. I'm doing fine. I'm just a board. The beard just coming.

But hey, that's a good point. Like and you know what though, Like if you're gonna tab a short week and take it down, take it down, and maybe you play next Sunday instead of Saturday, so get that extra day. The beard is coming back, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, you're growing it out. What are you doing? Tell you look at look at it connects on at the top. It connects at the top. I'm telling you, Pete, you will have a icy beard. Man, you gotta let that thing come in. Man. He is let Rob Pa. He is

in chill more. He has a chill a sweater on right, now on his face, chilling. He's got a volleyball named Wilson, like a couple of different things. Rob, I got my a m slippers one. That's just a big party over here. Man. Just don't stand up Rose, all right, Rob, We're gonna start with you. News and notes from yesterday. The Cowboys had an opportunity to rest up a little bit, but still trying to get that preparation turning around for Philadelphia. What was what was going on at the Star in Frisco.

Not a ton of news and notes at the Star yesterday. A very small practice report, which is good news going into week eighteen. And they only had a walk through yesterday. They were had a light light you know, kind of jogged through a meeting on the field type thing yesterday because of the short week, but only as Zeke is on it, and he was a full participant, and you know, would have been a full participate with a regular practice. Jeron Curse and Tony Pollard would have been limited in

a normal practice. So they're pretty healthy and that if that's one thing you want to point to given, you know, despite their struggles last Sunday and apprehension about how they're gonna play heading into the playoffs, they've got to be one of the healthier teams in the league right now. And that's uh, you know, with a disclaimer, everybody's trying to dodge COVID, but from an injury standpoint, they're doing

they're doing pretty well. And Quinn Bill Hannah was back off the reserve COVID list yesterday and Blake Jarwin's on his way back as well. They've designated him for a return from the IR list. How long do you think that timetable looks like. I think he would probably be back for the wildcard game things continue going well, if

not this week, you know, they started the window. It is a short crunch this week, but the way Mike McCarthy was talking, I think they feel pretty good about getting him back fairly quickly in time for the playoffs. How big is that to have not only Blake Jarwin, I mean, or excuse me, Dalton Scholtz, because you're not trying to replace Dalton Scholtz right now, but just to have that rotation with another tight end that can mix in with him and Sean McCune and guys like that

that are talented in that tight end room. That's major. I mean, because you have to remember the confidence level that they have with Blake Jarwin. Know how much money they paid him obviously is indicative of their confidence level with him in his ability. So when you have a player of that caliber, even though he hasn't necessarily been that over the last season and a half, he still has the potential to make contributions to this team on

a high level. So adding that element back into your offense obviously is a huge benefit, and I think you benefitial play design in rotation as well. From the tight end perspective, I think we tilt our hand a little bit with our tight end packages on what we're going to do. Teams obviously know that Dalton Scholtz isn't the best blocker that we have in the tight end room, so a lot of times they can dictate what we're gonna run based off of those packages that we come

in with. And so look, I don't believe that Jarwin is a superior blocker either, but I think from a perspective of yards after catch and what he does with the ball in his hands, I think he obviously is an asset for the Dallas Cowboys offense. I think it is something that the Cowboys could utilize because once again it adds to the rotation. Then also remember the one two punch that Scholtz and Jarwin had whenever they were together.

You think about the taking the top off. I mean, they've been pushing Dalton Scholtz down the field a little bit more as the season has gone along, but that's still not his strong suit. Having both of those guys on the field and two tight end sets could really open things up, I think for Kellen Moore's offense. But now I want to open up the floor a little bit. This wasn't on the rundown, but I do want to

hit it. Why do you feel like this loss to the card set everyone's expectations back because I, and maybe not everyone, but a good majority of fans out there right now are so disappointed in the fact that you lost to the Arizona Cardinals, you lost to a good team, that you feel like those expectations are starting to temper a little bit. Not the case in the building. They're still going for everything. Still, everything's out on the table,

and that's what it should be. But do you feel that you get that same sense that you feel that the confidence level in the fan base surrounding this Cowboys team took a massive hit whenever they lost to the Cardinals the other day. I think anytime that you're you know, as fans, I think you know, when your team loses, you obviously take a hit, especially when you face a team that's well respected and that you know puts out

a good product. And I think that's what happens around fandom in regards to any team, not just the Dallas Cowboys, but you know, especially when when when your team is winning and you're going into the NFC race and you're eight and one versus NFC, and then you all of a sudden face a team that is at the top of the rankings in their division and you lose, and it's kind of a I guess I jo to to your ego a little bit because you're like, crap, we were riding high and all of a sudden, we have

to face the reality that this is what happens. This is this is the evidence that's that's shown when we face another good team or really good team that's that's can considered to be one of the best in the league, in our in our conference. And so it's a reality check and I think people would like to think that Dallas is above and beyond most of these other competitors around the league. And when you have games like this, you have to realize licking the mirror and say, crap,

we got some work to do. Yeah, it's it wasn't the expectation I think from from fans were just riding high from the December four wins in a row and then you all of a sudden, you have your heels cooled a little bit by a team that going into the game you said, look, this is a measuring stick game, and that's the way that it was being dubbed going into Sunday. You lose that game, and your offense doesn't fire the way that you wanted it to. Your running

game isn't there. You have so many things that you can point to, and obviously, uh, all Cowboy fans are you know, looking on social media and just hearing the naysayers and what they have to say about this team. Um, if you do a close analysis or if you listen close enough, man, these people will convince you that we're the worst eleven and five team that's ever in the league, you know, and that we shouldn't be in the playoffs and that everything is is one week is the Cowboys

super Bowl? Next week is they suck? You know? So uh you know. My my take has been on this is that when anytime you you look at this team, I do, I look at it in totality. I don't look at this season as a sample size. I don't go back five games. I don't go back three games. I look at the whole season. And if you can do that, I think it puts a greater perspective on

where this team is right now. Rob, Yeah, I agreed, and I think I think it comes down to really the fact that they it's been ten games since they beat a playoff team, and so that gives people a lot of apprehension. They beat the Patriots right before the bye week, and everybody was riding high, and you could argue that's been kind of their signature win of the season. I want to say, they're like three and four this year against teams with winning records, and obviously Arizona was

the most recent loss. But that gives fans apprehension, can we beat the best teams in the league when we have to? And I think that's I understand why fans feel that way. And I think the other thing, too, is there has been an unsettling feeling around this offense. I think he just referenced that for weeks now, and the Washington game kind of made everybody feel better for a few days. But you ran into an Arizona team that did a lot of good things schematically to stifle you.

And I agree with the fact that you have to look at the full six team games this season and look at it and say, this team is awfully talented, they are well coached, They're capable of beating teams in the playoffs. I still believe that, but based on what we've seen just now on Sunday, that's not gonna get you far in the playoffs. And obviously that's why fans are worried. And I understand that, and I'm glad you phrased it that way because now it leads me into

my next question. Is this the perfect pre playoff game for the Dallas Cowboys, the pre playoff matchup because it is a playoff team. The Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs, they will be the six or the seven seed. They

also are above five hundred. You could add a win, you could add some confidence against the team that's above five hundred with a win against Philadelphia, and of course you would be six and oh against your division, which that bodes pretty well for confidence levels as well, first time since nineteen ninety eight that they would be undefeated

against the NFC East. So, Rob, I'll start with you on this one because of all these factors, because of the opportunity that's in front of you for this Cowboys team to build momentum, build confidence, and to win this game in Week eighteen, do you feel like this is the perfect lead into a postseason run. I don't know about perfect lead in, but I think it's a good test, especially provided if Philly gets back some of their key

guys they're currently on the COVID list. I mean, that's another factor in this matchup this week, because we don't know how many guys they're going to have or not have in this game. But I agree with you in the sense that this is a very tough place for the Cowboys to play. Every single year, I've covered a lot of games up there. Whether the Eagles are good, whether they're not so good, it's tough, and I would argue that they're playing about as well as most teams

in the playoff field right now in the NFC. I mean they offensively are playing more efficiently than the Cowboys right now. I mean the Cowboys are more talented offensively, but Philly's doing a nice job of balance and helping out Jalen Hurts and all of those things. I think it's a good test for the defense this week, and just going up there in the cold and against and that environment is a good test for the offense. It

always is. Yeah, And you know, when you do the evaluation of the Philadelphia Eagles, you have to look at the fact that they've played some of the same teams that we've played in the last three weeks as well. Um, we get no credit for beating up on the Washington football team, and I'm not gonna give him any credit either. Uh, you know, we're gonna take it. They don't deserve it. They don't. If we don't deserve it, they don't deserve

it either. Well. I agree with you Pee. You know, they've gotten some things going, especially with their running game in Boston Scott Is. They found a way to make him a weapon. I think maybe they have pulled back the reins h so to speak on uh, Jalen Hurts, you know, just taking those short drop off passes. He's done a really good job of those. And I do agree that this offense is running with a bit of rhythm.

But when you talk about this game being important to us, obviously you want to be six and oh and the NFC. I just want to see this offense get back on That's that's all I care about. I want to see that synergy continuity. I want to see all of those things start to happen for this offense, because we know going into the playoffs, if we don't forty five yards rushing, it just ain't gonna get it. Yeah, that's factual. I don't want to give this Philadelphia A team a lot

of credit. I really don't. However, I have to face the facts and acknowledge the fact that these guys are playing well. They're playing good ball. We have two more wins than they have on the year. We have allowed only two less points than they have in terms of defenses all year long, So you have to acknowledge as good as our defense has been playing, their defense isn't

too far behind in terms of points allowed. These guys have also scored almost as many points as a dog on Cardinals and offensively, so you have to acknowledge the fact that these boys are playing and with that you better bring you better bring your dog on big boy pants.

They have some guys that can disrupt some things on both sides of the ball, and with the way our momentum has been swinging, we have to do whatever Dallas has to do, whatever it's possible to ensure that you correct the those things, check those boxes that are simply glaringly open right now, and address those problems so that you can make sure that you are going into the playoffs feeling the best that you possibly can, because you can't expect to your team to go into the playoffs

and be like, oh, yeah, we're gonna fix everything that we've been struggling with. Yep. No, those boxes have to be checked before you get in there, so the light don't just come home. Heck to the know, it's not

a flip of the switch. Yeah, And that's kind of where I'm leading into it, because you would also have not only an undefeated record against your division, but you also have another road win under your belt, and you know you're now you know, for the most part, you're gonna have to win on the road in the playoffs. When the playoffs come around, more than likely you're going to have to win at least one, maybe two playoff games. And going up in Philadelphia, like Rob said, is not

a tough task. It's a I mean, excuse me, it's not an easy task to go up and win in Philadelphia, no matter what time of year it is, especially when it's in the middle of January. Now, I kind of want to go back to what Heckman was saying about the teams that Philadelphia had played Washington twice, New York twice, and they actually lost one of those games. They played the Jets, they played the Saints, beat the Saints beat

the Broncos. So I mean, they've won four straight, they've won six out of their last seven, But is it realistic? Is it a legitimate worried the fact that they're playing so well because these are not good teams and they lost one to the Giants as well. It's an NFC East opponent. You know they're gonna play us tough. It's just what it is. We're playing in Philadelphia. They are going to be waiting for us, and they are ready and look in spite of everything that I'm saying about

the Beliegals, they have made the playoffs. May let's come on, let's keep it real. They made it, and at the beginning of the season it didn't look like it. They didn't look like they were playoff teams, especially when we beat them forty one twenty one. So to see the way that they have rounded in the shape and gotten into the playoffs, it's a testament to the fight that this team has. Jalen Hurtz is playing good ball. He's

you know, not turning it over. And when you play the Jets, the Aiance twice and the Washington football team, come on, guys, it makes you feel a little bit better at homecoming every week. For these guys to get some of the opponents that they have, we just gotta go in there and take care of business. It's right now. Even with the four game winning strick that we've had, our offense, as you could tell, guys, it's been sputtering and slump whatever you want to call it, which you

just don't feel good about. Where you are defensively is where we have to get back. I think Kyler Murray just kind of I mean, we came up against a juggernaut and of a player, and I think Jalen Hurts has a lot of those same characteristics as well, and so it's gonna be interesting. I just want to see how Dan Quinn schemes up for the Eagles and is it going to be a little similarities between the scheme

last week. Well, let's answer that question on the other side of the break, because I want to hear what you guys think the Cowboys defense should do against Jalen Hurts if it is different than what they did against Kyler Murray, and then whatever, what other weapons does Philadelphia bring to the table when we come back with more talking Cowboys after this. There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why SLOR pioneers wigs to make lenses as

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Talking Cowboys. Ac Mahrrison, Isaiah Standback, Rob Phillips, Chris Beam, Kyle Yeoman's guys, is this the perfect ramp up to potentially see Kyler Murray again in that first round? And is this a redo chance for this Cowboys defense against a dual threat quarterback, and of course here this week with the Philadelphia Eagles, we're talking about Jalen Hurts, and I'll start with you, Isaiah, how do you feel like the Cowboys learned from their mistakes against Kyler Murray last week?

And how will they translate that here in the week eighteen went back and watched a lot of film in terms of how Dallas was approaching and trying to handle Kyler Murray. The defensive ends did a great job of applying pressure. There is no internal pressure and we talked about there earlier in the week, saying how against our running quarterback, you have to have internal pressure and there was no presence of that, and Kyler Murray recognized that.

There is also times, as you look at the film when Jalen Hurts in particular, where teams are rushing one defensive end up the field and their other opposing end is either dropping it to coverage or they're coming and getting caught into wash. So what does he see? He sees one open side and he just takes off. He has a lot of different options for him at his disposal. In terms of how dan Quinn is going to approach that, I think he has to get his dogs on the

interior to get things moving. Gallimore and Tristan Hill. Oh so all the guns that are in the middle right there, they have to step up and have the game of their lives because they're going to see another running quarterback the following week. We don't know who that is gonna be, but it's gonna be another quarterback who has capability of taking off and it might be that Kyler dude again. And guess what Kyler's coming. Hey gonna have to come back into AT and T Stadium where he loves it.

So they're gonna have to figure that out. And I think that just addressing that aspect alone will make a huge difference, because the defensive ends I feel actually played well. It's the interior alignment that need to step their game

up now. I mean, and I love that evaluation. What I saw in looking at the game was for when you talk about the defensive end playing alignment, assignment, making sure that you don't bite too far down in And you saw Randy Gregory those last two games to end the game, he lost contained he hadn't been doing that the entire game, and then that was what cost him. I thought the pressure that up the middle from a

diggy Zool and Carlos Watkins. I think I thought that they were trying to, you know, stay in their lane, stay assignment sound and not over pursue and let him out the back door, and that hesitancy, I think didn't allow for that pressure to get up the middle of the way that you're talking about. I think that they can play Jalen Hurst the same way because you know that the Eagles are gonna do a lot of design

runs with him. He had nine carries against us last the last time we nine for thirty five was what he did last time. And look, we have to we have to have the same approach, but we have to get home. We have to get pressure. We had two sacks last time. Obviously we were able to create turnovers as well, but that's gonna be really important. But Boston Scott now as they're running back, I'm really interested to see how we take him on. He you know, he's

bonafied as a rush. He's also bonafied as a pass catcher out of the backfield. But you know, there's so many things it's going to be happening in our on the back half. I think that Dallas Goddard is a legitimate weapon. I want to see how we handle that. And obviously, you know, look, they've got some guys. Quiz Watkins is someone that you cannot fall asleep on because he will take it to the house. Obviously Smith DeVante Smith,

their first round draft pick from last year. So look, it's gonna be another one of those games where defensively, we could put these guys to sleep pretty quickly, but we've got we got to make sure that we apply pressure. We've got to get home. Both Boston Scott and Dallas Goddard are in that COVID protocol at the moment, so they could get back, but hopefully, I mean, I don't want to say, I'm not gonna say it either way.

I hope they get back. Honestly, I want them to get back because I want to see a realistic play scheme. I want to see how the Cowboys answer the bell in a week like this. But having both of those guys out would change a ton of things on the offensive side, but also up the middle with Jason Kelsey, I mean, he's one of the best centers in all of football, and he's also on that COVID list too. That's why I kind of lead into it that way. There were eighteen total pressures in that game against the

Arizona Cardinals, eighteen pressures from the Cowboys defense. Sixteen of them came off the edge. Only two were in the middle, and they were both belonging to Neville Gallimore. So that interior pressure against this Philadelphia offensive line is going to have some sort of have to have some sort of success to really build that confidence. Rob Do you used to see that even if Jason Kelsey's back and he's playing as a realistic opportunity for the Cowboys on that

side of the ball. Absolutely, And we've talked about on the show before and Isaiah played the position. Sometimes that middle pressure is more frustrating for a quarterback than the edge pressure because there's really nowhere for you to step up and go with the ball. He can't climb the pocket. Those kind of things. I love Boston Scott. I think he's he's kind of got a sprolls to his game. And when you look at this the way this Eagles offense is built, it's kind of built the way that

we've seen him build it the last fifteen years. Like like Heck alluded to some of the speed. They've got, versatility at the running back position. Miles Sanders is out right now, and obviously Hurts can beat you a bunch of different ways. Michael Parsons was asked about him yesterday and he said, you know, he Kyler's the more dynamic quarterback. I mean, I think Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray are probably in a different category than everybody else in terms

of what they can do as a dual threat. But we know what he can do. I think I think the Hurts can do. I think the biggest thing is for the Cowboys, can they do this is run up the score, get a lead early. That's what happened in the first game. They got a twenty to seven lead in the first half, and it forced the Eagles to not be as balanced and do all those things you know for Hurts that that's not ideal for him, and they wound up only running the ball twelve times for

sixty four yards. Can the offense dictate what the Eagles offense can do? And that's that's that's contingent on getting off to a much better start than they did against Arizona. What do you think about that? I agree I agree. I mean, I think that you can take him out of his game. These guys, these guys have the recipe that the thing that sucks about when you play against quarterbacks that have the ability to beat you with their

feet is what Heckma said is the hesitation. And that's what you know as well as a quarterback who possesses

those abilities, you know that you create hesitation. You know that these guys instead of putting their head down and simply dipping and ripping and rushing and creating issues, now they're gonna be you know, locking on with two hands, and now they're gonna be picking over, packing over the shoulders, and their feet slow down, their eyes get you know, they get a little nosy, their feet slow down, the rush stops. So you know that, and you know you're

going to have more time to throw the ball. You know you're gonna have more time to step up and step out and get outside the pocketing and you know expand you know the duration of these plays, which in turning allows for your receivers to get open against these dbs or get penalties against dbs because longer plays, I mean, it makes it more difficult for dbs to defend. So you know that as an opposing quarterback, and that's something that Dallas is going to have to try to instinctively

try to address. They're got to just say, hey, I don't give a dog on who's back there at quarterback rolling, And that's something that they're gonna have to correct. Yeah, and when I do my evaluation, man, I go back to the previous year, uh, and just breaking down one last time we were in Philly, and the last time we were in Philly, Bend Nucci was the starting quarter Don't you forget it? We won't a knight? Yeah, what a knight? We won't forget it Nucci? Man. And you know, defensively,

we had nothing going on. We could not get any stops. Jalen Hurts was in his bag against us. But pressure we look Michael Parsons last week. This is the first time that I was just like, man, it's Michael out there, you know. But because of some of the things that the Cardinals were able to do to nullify our pass rush, and a lot of that was due to what we've already discussed. These guys are just having to make sure that they're in the lance and not let Kyle out.

This is a different guy in Jalen Hurts, and I'm not saying that he's not a dual threat, because he is. He could get out on you in a hurry. He's strong, but he has a good arm and he wants to try and make those plays again. I just want this defense to obviously bring that same pressure that they had before.

Jeron Curse has got to be the great neutralizer that he's been this entire season and making sure that, look, we don't let these tight ends get off against us, we don't let these these running backs get out of the backfield. We've got to get sacks. We've got to do the same thing that we did against them last time and not allow them to get any rushing yards. They had sixty four rushing yards the last time we saw.

Oh yeah, and see this is the number one rushing offense in the league right now in terms of yards per game. So you're gonna have to limit them again like that. But how much better are the Philadelphia Eagles since when you watch them in Week three and of course going back to last year as well. Okay, all right, they're not that much better. I mean, they really are. I mean, and you and if we gotta be fair about our evaluation that we go like, I mean, we're

the most critical evaluator in the room. Is that guy right there? And so if it comes down to when it comes down to, you know, with the camera, who they played against and the kind of ball that they played, I mean, they opened up with points scored against them, their defense got drove on. I mean, so it's not as though they've been playing this impeccable ball, uh, this entire run. If they've been you know, getting into the playoffs, it hadn't happened like that. What Pete, No, I mean,

you're not wrong. I mean that there are playing there. I agree they're playing better than they did early in the season. But I just kind of go back to if you get a lead on them, all that balance and you know, one thing that's really helped Jalen is play action and playing off their running game and all that. If you're up twenty seven seven like they were in Week three, that stuff goes out the window. So I

think I just think it's a lot it's contingent upon Dallas. Finally, you get off to a good start, get you know, get get up on them and force them to play out of their covers on a little bit, just to play devil's advocate here a little bit, Rob. I mean last week against Washington, and I know Washington and Dallas are not the same teams by any means. We proved that week sixteen, but they were up sixteen to seven at the halftime break. They had built that lead, they

had had the momentum. They played really well in the first half, but Philly was able to kind of find their footing and then kind of charged back to the lead and put up what it's that thirteen unanswered points to win it. Uh? Do you see is there any sort of improvement in that regard to the Philadelphia side. So that way, if they do get down early on, if the Cowboys do what you just said and jump out to a lead, they still have an opportunity to answer, well, yeah,

and I mean give yeah, give them credit. And they've they've got guys heck mentioned the guys they've got down the field that can make chunk plays. It hurts you. I would just argue that that's Washington and this Dallas defense when they're playing with the lead and you've got Mike aten Off and Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence. That's that's a world of hurt to potentially be it. So

that's that's when this defense is at it's best. That's when this team is that its best is when they're playing with the league and the chunk plays are dangerous for us. And it is and we saw last week and trey Von Hunt dis gave up the big play to aj Green that if it had been out a little bit further, it would have been just a walk in touchdown for him. And that's been so much talked about our secondary and the big plays that they give up. One of the things that our defense can't afford to

do is give up those big chunk plays. At the beginning of the game you watched last week, we gave up a twenty six yard run to open the game, followed it up by another run that was you know, fifteen twenty yard run that changed field positions, set the tone for the entire game. Those are just little things like that. Just being alert and aware right from the first bell is what I'm looking for this defense to do. Philadelphia is sneaky in the sense, and I do believe

that they're better. I think they're substantially better now than they were earlier in the season when we faced them. And one of the areas is that they are committed to this run. They are They are diligent about establishing the run, and they will lull you to sleep with the run right, and they have the ability. It's it's not just a running back that you have to worry about. It's not just Scott, It's not just how are these guys that you have to worry about, You obviously have

to take into account. They're dog on quarterback and they have no he has no problem. He's strong, right, he's a weight room guy. He has no problem running the ball and getting downhill. He's not a quarterback who can run. He's a quarterback who does run, and they utilize him in that aspect. And I think that's where they're dangerous because they will pound you, pound you, pound you, and then all of a sudden, the chunk play right, and

it's discouraging. There's gonna be a lot of third down opportunities. They are going to get into third down because they're not gonna throw big plays on first and second. They're gonna run it, run it right, and there's gonna be a third down and you're gonna get all hyped up, get ready to get off the field, and then they poom they run it again, or they have a chunk play and now it's back to another set of downs, and they keep doing it over and over and over again,

and they are okay having patience in that regard. That's where Philly is dangerous. So to you guys's points, you are heck when and Rob you have to get up on these guys just like you did it earlier in the season. And I like, I think I completely agree with what you just said. And that's a um when you break them down that way. But I think they went to the running game because they had to rely on guarding to miss you. At a point in the season, Uh,

they were, they were getting killed. The turnover differential was was was not favoring them at all, and so they had to go and rely on what they do best. Look, the strength of the Philadelphia Eagles team is their defense and offensive line. They are strong upfront. Uh, And that's why you can't let them get gone. That's what I'm saying, that you can't let them get going. That's so even though they were forced to identify they and forced to go back to the run light bulb. Yeah, Oh dang,

I guess we do have that. Maybe we need to go back and figure that out too. An office a line for Kella Moore. Sorry, Rob, do you have something that came out? No? No, I agree, I agree. That's a that's a good point too about how you know, they they probably had to shift things around with the quarterback change early on, but they you know, they they want to get the RPOs going, they want to move the pocket and get get gently kind of on the move and those things. So it's all really it's been

a nice flow for them. But again, like this defense, when it's playing at their best, is a different challenge than what they faced the last four weeks. So I'm interested. I'm interested to see it. And when we come back on the other side of the break, we're gonna talk about can this defense still win without the takeaways? Because they're one in three in games where they haven't had a takeaway this season. When we returned with more talking Cowboys,

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With lenses, you can see every exciting play book an appointment at your local or experts and see what selor can do for you. See more, do more Talking Cowboys. How do you like so effectively just comb through your entire face, like you said you do that. Oh, it was all the way through it right there. I don't know, it just comes to me, Kyle, it comes to me. I'm sitting in Rob P's seat though, so you gotta yeah, I mean, I gotta step it up. Yep. Pressure is on.

Hopefully we'll have Rob P tomorrow. Yeah, so that way he can do the read tomorrow, so we can maybe do that. We don't know his Friday is his day is Friday. I'm on Friday. Tomorrow is our last day show. Yeah, we don't have shows on Friday. I will probably be back. It's it's gonna be Monday on Friday, like, oh, okay, Monday, Chris. Chris just said we have shows on Do you do have a show on Friday? Oh dude, nice? All right, get you mister vacation. It's awesome. Well, Chris told me

earlier in the week they were canceling show. No, I never said d right here and I was standing in that I said, I said, I have not talked to Derek. Yeah, see, depending on flights. I don't I don't think. I don't think that's what I don't think that's what I saw you reading that number. I am happy under the bus right now and backed it up. But that's okay. I'm happy to have a day off, and he's like, oh, ruling, Yeah, I just always definitely gonna be a Colorado. I definitely

deserve it, all right. Is this defense good enough to win without takeaways? Because you were mentioning you were mentioning earlier in the show yardage middle of the pack, which they are middle of the pack, even lower of the pack. They've given up the big play, but they don't get takeaways, which they've had four games this year where they haven't had a takeaway, which is pretty darn good. That means

they take the football away quite a bit. And we knew that that was the calling card for this dan Quinn defense. But when they don't get it, how much of a factor does that have on that side of the ball. It's major because it's complimentary football, right, and this is a three portion game. It's three aspects and three obviously contributors to this game. Offense, defense, special team.

When your defense is not able to create the turnovers that you have been dependent on them to create, in your offense is not putting up the points that they're capaball and putting up it makes it more difficult for this team to win ball games. It really does. In that case, that is not complimentary football, not it is, you know question, it's you know. The one thing about that is it sounds so absolute when you say, oh,

can you guys win if you don't get takeaways? People win their teams winning every Sunday that don't get a takeaway. It's all contingent on Obviously, you know, at the beginning of the season, we're talking about how explosive our offense was, and obviously the defense was not. It's a pleasant surprise, and all of these takeaways are as well, but you cannot count on them. What you can count on is getting off the field on third downs. That's what you

can do. And regardless, if we don't get any turnovers, we have got to go back to that our formula and you look at our losses, go back to the Denver game or the Las Vegas game. Slow methodical drives have killed us and we cannot continue to allow that. We can't go into the playoffs, even against those great quarterbacks that we're gonna face, and allow them to have those you know, time melting yard melting slow, methodical drives and get scores at the end of them, regardless if

we don't get any any takeaways. Nine of seventy eight yards, fifteen of ninety one, ten of forty eight of seventy five, nine to forty nine. I mean, those are all the drives that Arizona had in the game on a chivity days. So it's gonna, yeah, it's gonna hurt you, Rob Yeah,

I mean you hope. So because you can't you can't guarantee that you're gonna get takeaways every single game, and there is an element, there is an element of luck in getting takeaways, and some of it has to do when when your offense is clicking because you're forcing the other team to kind of play in press and sometimes that can lead to those things. So I think it depends on what your offense can do too. Can you can the offense get back to scoring more points and

manufacturing things and creating more opportunities for the defense? I think I think the defense in a way to me, that was a winnable game based on the way the defense played Sunday. And I know they gave up some big plays, but twenty five points playing at home allowed. I think that's enough for your offense to go win

the football game. You should be able to win. You're right, I think that loss was I think that loss was more on your offense didn't get started fast enough and you missed a big field goal, you know, and obviously, yeah, there are some calls that didn't go your way too, but but I think it was more about not playing well enough early enough. I have a quick question. There's something we haven't addressed, and we may not have a time to address it right now in this particular show.

But I saw something come across the screen the other day and had it was in regards to Trayvon Dix. And yes, he's leading the league obviously interceptions. However, he's also leading the leagues in the league in most yards allowed in his direction. What are you, guys thoughts on that? You do? You? Are you happy with that trade off? Yes, especially when it's eleven interceptions. A lot of people were. I saw one that said he was the Jamis Winston of corners Jesus, and it's like, come on now, a

lot stop it. I think this is a dumb argument. Honestly, what do you think? Well, I think the argument is all based off of guys that played the position before, and that's what they're talking about. And it's this comparison business. And at the beginning of the year, everybody's comparing them to Dion and guy you know, Revo Island, and these are guys that probably didn't give up a thousand yards in multiple seasons to wide receivers. I think the NFL

has changed. I think it's so much about what cornerbacks can do with the line of scrimmage that they cannot do anymore. I mean, Dion used to be able to bear hug you at the line of scrimmage, and now he can't do that, you know. Uh, it's it's it's for what he is and for the skill set that

he has, I think he maximizes it. There have been other shows that have talked about him being susceptible to the double move, right, and we've seen it over the last couple of weeks that the double move is something that will kill him. He will get caught on it, but then he'll come right back and take one to the house. So the ebb and flows, the give and takes right now, the eleven interceptions, I don't take it I'll take it. I'll take it, Robert, do you think

totally agree? I mean, I don't know, Isaiah, if you've seen all year long the PF has ranked him. I think at one point recently he was ninetieth among quarterbacks in the NFL. And I think PFF has some good stuff. But like they've got to change their grading system based

off that eleven interceptions. You are you are, You are impacting the game in a major way for your defense, and I you know, there's got to be some kind of let's meet in the middle here in terms of yes, he gives up big plays, he gambles, he'll freelance, and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. But if you are in the firmly in the conversation for defensive player of the year, then you're better than the ninetieth player at your positions. Right now, he has currently ranked as

eightieth out of the cornerbacks in the NFL. He is the third best or third highest rated corner the cowboy away throw it all out the windows take on that. I figured you guys have stronger I mean no, I agree, I mean yeah, you change the game when you when you when you negate the ability for somebody to throw

it in your direction. However, that you know people are getting yards on him, and that's something that you don't want to continue aloud if he's unable to continue with the turnovers, because that just means that you're going to continue to pick on him in that regard. But there's always a chance of him making a big play, and I think that that possibility is a game changer for your defense. You played against the real Reevis and guys

like that. I mean, what is as a comparison between the two, what would you say would be the difference between the digs and revs. Revs were more way more physical than Dick's way more physical, and he was a strong human being. But I feel like people really were like scared to go at Revis. I don't think people are scared to go at Dicks, Okay, And what's the hesitation? Why why do teams like you saw watching football team they came right out against. I think it was dumb.

It wasn't dumb, especially from Washington. But I think that with Revis, I think, obviously I think Reves was a better cover corner, just pure cover corner, not the ability, not the necessarily to make a big interception. I don't think that was the fear for people against Revis. It was like Revas actually just shut you down. I don't

think Diggs is there yet. I think Diggs has a capability making a big play, but the fact that he's allowing the most yards his direction, he hasn't he hasn't shared up that aspect of his game yet, but he will. And well also not to mention he's a second year player, Yeah, absolutely, I mean he is on the early, early early parts of his career and he's even new to the position.

Remember he only switched to play corner halfway through his career at Alabama, so he's what four years now, this is his fourth full year of playing the position period. I think you're all right. I think he's got plenty of for him to grow and he's an impact player. If teams aren't scared to throw his direction by now, keep going, yeah, I mean, keep going at him and then we'll see who's scared to throw his direction come twenty twenty two, so we'll see how that works out

in the Cowboys. Of course, we'll talk about the Cowboys offense against Philadelphia defense coming up tomorrow as We do get closer and closer to the Saturday matchup the Eagles in the final week of the regular season, but that's it for us. You're on Talking Cowboys for Chris Beam, for Rob Phillips, heck Ma Harrison, Isaiah Standbackam Kyle Yeoman saying so long from the Star in Frisco. We'll see

tomorrow on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.