Player's Lounge: How Special Was That?

McCray Barry Church. All right, let's just get the particulars out of the way, gentlemen. We did our predictions on Friday, and I'll just go remind everybody exactly who said what Church? Yeah, yeah, let's do that. Let's go ahead and do that. You predicted a thirty eight thirty two Cowboys win. So you had the Cowboys winning by for the high scoring game, very close, very very close. I had a more lower scoring game. I had the Cowboys winning by two twenty

three to twenty one. And um, somebody had picked the Atlanta Falcons to win by three twenty four twenty one. That would be the man from Houston, Danny mccreg so places for you. Yes, you appreciate that, man, You know I appreciate it, just you know a little bit. You know, I had to put my GM skills on there. I had my coaching skills and predict this. I knew it was gonna be a high scoring affair. Um, and you know,

just listen to Church. That's it. That's all you gotta do on the it'll be you'll be be perfect if you do that. Mccraig, you can apologize. I think on him. I think that, I think that this. I think this is hilarious. I've never been so happy to be wrong. But as we get into this show, y'all can sit here and act like y'all thought this was gonna happen all y'all want to. But that first quarter opened and I was on y'all text line and we all had the same thought. This was ugly. I was right. I

take that out. What I predicted Barry Church thirty eight thirty two Cowboys victory, a high scoring affair, and um, okay, you were four point. You picked a four point when I predicted a two point when in Church, Um, we're right there, You and I, You and I believed that the Cowboys could come out and get this thing done and Dan even cray. I'm gonna tell you this all right.

What I did do after the onside kick, I immediately because I'm sitting in the press box, I immediately went to Twitter and look back on every bad thing I said and deleted. I had what I always said, this is over over there. Then it was another one I put out there, like, oh the crop the crowd has done with this team. They know us, they know us, So I cover my track. Man, My boy knew he was tearing up all the receipts. Man, because I'm telling

you I was looking for all right. I was, oh, a right, man, Hey, hey, your on your on your stuff new he come on, man, don't don't be that guy go in on that you said it said it on it that guy. That guy be that guy. It was rough man. It was rough U. Look the Cowboys um are now one and one and they're tied for first place. And that was an unpredictable scenario as we looked at the first quarter. So let's dive into this right here on the Players Lounge, brought to you by

Hotels dot Com. Uh. It was disgusting to see the way the Cowboys are shooting themselves in the foot with fumbles, fake punts. They did not come out ready to play. And I'll be the first guy that meant. I used to nail Jason Garrett all the time, but man, what's your team doing? Watch your team ready to play? The Cowboys were not ready to play here. And one of the things I couldn't wait to talk to you two about, because you guys made the Cowboys is undrive the free

agents because you're on special teams. CJ's a good one. Is a guy first ever guess we had on the players lads last year. He was right there, slipped, could not catch the ball. And then Chris Jones, it was almost like he tried to aim the football there. So what goes into a fake pump? Call here and talk to me also about the second fake pump that they ran on the fourth and five? How did those things

work on special teams? Start with you mccraig. Yeah. So, so usually you know, the coach will watched the film and they'll see a certain way, Like on the one

with CJ. Goodman where the past was short, you will watching and you will see the corner or the guy who was covering him bailing right, so you'll see him bill all the time before the ball was snapped, and you see that on film and you say, all right, this is a chance for us to get a fake pump because you know, no matter how he plays it, he's going to be five or six yards away from the receiver. And you know, they got the look that

they wanted. And you know, unfortunately on that one, you know, Chris just short short of the short of the throat. On the second one, usually it's hey, it's the same as a defense right offense, you say, hey, if we got we got a box where we have more guys that can block that they have that can come make the tackle, then that that's a favorable look for us,

so we'll running. You know, Unfortunately, on that one, I think the defense had more guys in the box than we had, you know that that we could block, So it didn't work out for us. But it's really just all based on looks that you see throughout you know, that coach's career or what they've done in the previous games, you know, to give you to give you the mindset to go in and run those plays. Yeah, these these

both of these calls were headscratching calls for me. I mean, Danny, you put it right on and you put the nail right on the coffin when you said about the technique and how each play is pretty much developed and what makes them go for the call. But on both of these instances, if I'm not if I'm not, um, it's incorrect here they were both on the Cowboys side of the fifty yard line. So it was just kind of head scratching that you would make a gamble like that.

I understand that your defense wasn't stopping anybody all gang leading up to those points, but to give him a short field that was a little bit of head scratching to me. But for me, I'm surprised that Chris Jones wasn't able to make that throw. I mean, for those who do not know, Chris Jones was one of the most athletic guys on the team. I mean, he's always up for that, you know, offseason award for being able to stand it or be able to be a skilled

position as a special teams player. So I was surprised he wasn't able to make that throw. But the most head scratching thing about at all, and Danny you can attest to this is that gut call up the middle where they run, where they snapped into the PP and he's up the middle. That's usually reserved for like a two to three yard you know, cloud in the dust

type type situation. They had about four or five yards that they had to get here, and you're snapping it back to the PP, who's five yards and you're snapping it back to the PP who's already and for those who don't understand PP as a personal protector, yeah, and he's already eight yards back. So that to me, that was a bit of a head scratcher, Danny. I mean, I know, you know just what I'm talking about here.

I thought that that gut call should have been more of a two to three yard our fourth down conversion instead of a fourth and five. So that was they were both head scratchers to me. Yeah, I don't, I don't.

I honestly don't think they shouldn't run either one. I think they had more of a chance on the first one, you know, because it was earlier, and it was perfect, right, they lined up perfect, they read at that cornerback and he always did the same thing, and he did it on that snafter the play was just short after that, pack up your bags, man, and and all right, we tried it, you know, and let it ride. Right. You tried it, it didn't work. You come out there and

do it again. I remember I text you guys, and I was like, man, these coaches must be like, hey, they walked into mccarthur and be like, hey, I'm running a fake point right here, right cool? And then it didn't walk off because it doesn't sound like yeah, no, nothing. It was just like we were trying this on this

I'm like, well, what are we doing? But we get it too, But it was it was It was a lot of you know, head scratching calls and choices that were made from the coaching staff that we, luckily you know, overcame just by the talent and play of our quarterback and our skill bus position players. Stand on the point there. What you said, Danny was it was almost as though, hey, they're no bad ideas, guys, Fine you want to do let's do it again. Let's do it again. What was

head scratching about the fourth and five? And I talked about it on NBC five last night is Jacques Taylor brought up a great point says, if you're gonna go for it with five yards to go, don't put a bunch of special teams guys out there. This is and give the ball to dari and Thompson. And this isn't what he does. Go give the ball to the sixteen million dollar running back, or give it to the thirty one million dollar quarterback, or throw it to the twenty

million dollars receiver. You know, put it on the guys you are paying money to get these kinds of yards, not put it on these other guys here with a trick. So that was an interesting thing. And so Barry, I'm gonna start with you on this and Danny follow up. Has Mike McCarthy gun two overboards with the analytics here who we're looking at the fake punts, deciding the Rams game not to kick the field goal, deciding in this game against Atlanta to go for a two point conversion

and leave your team down two scores. Has he gone overboard? Barry? Yeah, I think he's gone overboard. I mean, like I said, both of those scenarios where the fake punts and all that stuff was going down on fourth down, they were both in the Cowboys territory. So like, like like I said earlier, you're leaving this defense who's already shorthanded, they're down to their third middle linebacker. You're leaving them with

a short field. I mean, I just didn't understand that, and I think they were getting a little bit too cute and deciding how to go for it. I think you you made a great point there. If you're fourth and five, don't leaving in the hands of like you said, special teams unit leading it, leaving in the hands of the guys who do that for a profession. You're quarterbacks to thirty one million dollars like you said, and down the line. Let those guys get that fourth and five

for you. That's why you pay them, that's why you invest in them. But to get back to the point, yeah, I think McCarthy got a little bit too cute. I think he's going down the line of where he doesn't want to be considered like a safe guy, like how Jason Garrett was who high fourth and inches. I don't know if I want to go that. So he's he's looking like he's want to be like a riverboat raw and type of guy and and go down swinging. But this could have cost this team in a long run

for sure with these uh, these head scratching moments. Yeah, I'm not gonna lot to you. I think analytics was out the window. I saw a straight panic the game, the game was getting the game was getting ugly, and it was like, we got to do something to turn this around. And the first fake pump was was evidence of that, and it could have worked, you know. You know, sometimes the good call is the good call les it

goes wrong. And then we tried for the second one, so you know, I saw a panic and I thought it just didn't make sense because you already had your defense out there on you know which short feels, you know, from the beginning of the game, from the turnovers. And then, like we talked about with special teams, what you want from your special teams is okay, every once in a while, yeah, you can run a fake punp make that splash play,

but you want it to be successful. But you want your special teams to put your offense or defense in position in the best position to have success, and giving them the ball in their own territory is not a good plan for success. And we did that twice and after the first time, I'm like, hey, man, just just move on, and we just we just didn't do it. So to me, it didn't make sense. You know, how your defense is playing, you know, you've got some injuries.

You know, you've got some young guys out there. Helped these guys out, and you know at that point in the game, special teams did not do that. I went and checked out the stats because I like to kind of pour over a couple of things after the games to see, Okay, hey, what certain certain stats can really tell the story of a game. And last week, one of the big statistics I thought that told the story of the football game for the Cowboys was in the red zone. You know, they were two for four and

that the Cowboys needed to improve upon that. And so you look at the game and the stats where it goes in the red zone. Cowboys five or six in the red zone in Atlanta two or four, score more touchdowns, you win the football game. Cowboys win it by a

point forty to thirty nine. And then looking at the second half possessions, the Falcons defense did not stop Dallas at Cowboys scored on five or six possessions and the only time they didn't score was on the when they turned the ball over all downs, but they were a machine. It was truly a tale of two halves. And to me once again that the Cowboys can figure out how to you know, make these stop kicking field goals and score touchdowns, they're going to have an opportunity to win games.

Mccrack uh. You know, listen, we won, right and and and I'm happy that we won. And I'm still gonna sit here and say, look what we expected to happen with Atlanta's defense happened, all right. So yeah, if we could get it together and we could call some players and we're going down the field and we and we

get it rolling. How we got a rolling against Atlanta. Oh, we can definitely win some games, but we gotta come out and we gotta start faster than we started this week and last week, because you know, the competition that we have coming up is if we start that way, you know, we're not gonna get any wins. But I did like the way that the offense started rolling in the second half and we started getting some of our playmakers involved, and that was very positive to see because

I've been on the play calling for while. So hopefully Hopefully we continue that and that just wasn't our. You know, we we have nothing to lose, so let's try to catch up and run everything we had got. Hopefully that is the game plan moving forward. Look, I will give credit. I have to give a little bit of credit to Kelly Moore and Mike McCarthy because they did not give up on the run. I mean, the twenty down twenty points.

They could have simply said, you know what, thoo running back out the backyard, let's put this all on dak arm But they didn't do that at all. They kept with the run. They gave him twenty It wasn't flashy or anything like that. They gave him twenty two carries. I think he had around eighty nine or ninety yards. It wasn't too flashy. But what I think it did

was he pounded and consistently pounded this Atlanta defense. And if you saw in the second half, there was a lot of mistackles on that Atlantic side, and I think a lot of that has to do with the pounding that Zeke was able to put on these guys. If you saw that that goal I run, I think it was like he ran smooth through Demante CAZy. He wanted no part of the rest of the game. I think after that, and I think his pounding to that defense

had a lot to do with their second half success. Hey, listen, question because I may have missed the beginning of the game, but I think did Tony Pauler start the first series the first two stories? They put them? Okay, they put a bull again, put the both of the game, and they gave Tony the first two carries and he fumbled. He fumbled the second. Yeah, yeah, okay, because because we

were talking about head scratch and stuff. You know, I'm just trying to I'm just trying to, you know, level it all up, make sure I got it all listed out. Because I was watching the game and once again the dudes on my fants team, and I was like, what the is going on? It's another another one of those

secretive things. Right. They probably showed that in practice, right, and they didn't want somebody's practice it, Like, hey, hey, we're gonna come out and the way that we're really gonna fool Atlanta is we're gonna give TP the ball first, and look, I'm gonna give him some advice. Don't do

that again, all right, Just that again. All right, listen to that again, rights, I just wanted to do that as you're praising killing more, I just wanted to make sure you remember that that that's what happened at the beginning of again and that's all yeah, yeah, Kelly, Man, look stay away from man and all right, I know that looks good and had you know the two backs out there you gotta receive. You gotta don't do that, man,

Just stick with the gutta that can carry this offense. Man, oh man, that was a head strap of the shore man. Look um, the coaching decisions in this game, and overall, if we're giving the Cowboy coaching staff a grade Church, what grade are you giving them based on this Atlantic? What would you give it? Look? It was it was a like you said, man, it was a tailor two half. When you're looking up in a dictionary, this film should be this game's film should be on there. As terrible

as they were in the first half. I gotta give this coaching staff a B minus. Man, I got to the catchwork. They had a patchwork offensive A B minus. I gotta do it, man, just because it was at the tailor two halves, just that first half it was atrocious. I mean it was the decision making. The decision making was downright awful. I understand that. But the way they were able to patchwork this offensive line together and get the second half rolling, I can't say that it was

just all terrible. I mean, those three first quarter turnovers so terrible. I'm least giving them three nights. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something, full or y'all argument, the best thing that could have happened, for the best thing that could have happened for our old line. It is the injury towards attack that got hurt. But that that was the best thing that that had nothing

to do with coaching. He was a waring the offensive lie out before he got They didn't fast together nothing. I'm giving them. Listen, d's get degrees, all right, so we got the win. So they're getting a straight D

for me, all right? They getting the D. It was, you know, whatever, be a gambler do all this from bringing out all every single one almost of the kickoffs and get tackled inside of twenty five, to the fake punts to going for two to run and Tony polar at the beginning to it's a honey, things right that they could have cost us to lose the game. Thankfully, we were playing Atlanta twenty eight three and they're and they're known for this, and they gave us the game back,

but they got to get a D for us. One man, it was just so many things that they did wrong, so many like just bad calls, like stuff that make you wonder, like where have you been? You know, like have you really been studying since you were off? It just I just didn't understand it from a Super Bowl, from a super super Bowl coach. And of course, of course he's gonna get better. I mean, actually, let me

not say that. We hope that he gets better, you know, in making these decisions, and he kind of, you know, tell these coordinators, you know, this is what we're gonna do. And when they start saying, hey, we're gonna run a fake punt every time, tell them no. But they get a D for this one. And Atlanta saved us. And you know that played great. We came back, but Atlanta saved us. We got up too early. I mean, they

got up on us too early. They took the foot off our throat and they and they couldn't put it back on after after we started rolling, I got to take a break out to hear that from your church. I gotta recover on on real quick, on on before you go, before you go, we got it, before you go, do it real quick, real quick, Cowboys Nation. Before y'all go ahead listening to new and listen to Dandy. These are the same two people that said Dak Prescott is

not worth forty one forty two million dollars. If it was up to them, they would go ahead and sign Andy Dalton for a lesser deal and let him see what he can do with this talent. So before y'all go ahead, listen to what you guys remember backtrack a lot, they backtrack. That's all I'm saying. That's all. We gotta address this when we come back because Church been over there putting words in the mouth out of context all is. But that wasn't what I say it on Friday. That's

not what I'm confused. I don't know, I don't know. If we have we had to take a break here. We will set Barry Church straight because his listening skills are not right there. All points address this after the break right here on the Players Lounge. Brought to you by Hotels dot com. Hey, they're Cowboys fans with Tight Cleaners at home pickup and delivery. Cleaning your clothes has

never been more convenient. Simply sign up at your local store, set out your dirty clothes, and one of our Tight Cleaners professionals will come directly to your home for a totally contactless experience. Your clean garments will be returned promptly the next scheduled delivery day, So skip the errand and enjoy life not laundry. Visit tight Cleaners dot Com or your local store to sign up for Tight Cleaners at Home pickup and delivery today. I'm Jay Novachek, former tight

end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. How was the guy who always got the tough yards and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. We're back in a

tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor and Cream Soda. Is he a new Combonlet's music to my ears? Okay, doctor time, music to my ears and mouths New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. A delisious Dolor is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you

can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen offer for you by the latest generation of Transitions lenses. With select Slur lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying FRAMEK purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slur usa dot com.

See more, do more to the players love. Twelve Cowboys Way brings high rise luxury apartment living within steps of the Dallas Cowboys headquarters at the Star in Friscom, providing luxury amenities and multiple floor plans and unparallel conveniences. Twelve Cowboys Way is where elite living meets exclusive access. Leasing is available. Now book your virtual or in person two or at twelve Cowboys Way dot Com. You're in the

Players Lounge, brought to you by Hotels dot Com. We are in our SWBC Mortgage Virtual in Home Studios new Scruts, longtime Cowboys reporter. I was at the game last night, and we bring in Danny McCray and Barry Church, two former Cowboys players. Now, let's pick up on the slander that Barry Church through at us last segment towards McCray and I talked to press. Okay, so so McCray, I'm gonna let you go ahead and an address Barry right here before. So so let's start off with what Barry

I don't know. It's interpreting, misinterpreting because what we said was if that does not make a deep playoff run, the Cowboys will likely not pay him over forty forty million dollars and they probably shouldn't if he doesn't make a deep playoff run, and they could go in another direction. Knew he said Andy Dunk could be an option. I said, we don't know who will be available, but if somebody else is available, for cheaper, like you know there's a

quality quarterback, then yeah, they'll probably make that decision. We didn't say that. You know, that's what they should do today, all right, And to come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, Church. You you watched, you watched the same season as I did last year and you saw listen. As a matter of fact, as the first quarter was going on, I got a phone call and the dude who called me had Dak on his team, and I was like, hey, bro, don't worry. You know,

Dak gonna get these trash yards anyway. All right, this is this is known. This is known. It's like if versus anybody else, those are trash yards and not a loss. Versus Atlanta, that's a hell of a comeback. And more credit to him for doing it because he does make it happen. But if you do that every game and you lose, and you and that comes with six thousand yards and forty touchdowns and you don't make the playoffs, you ain't getting forty five million. I still believe that.

So that that's why I met with that. It was a great It was a great game. He played an amazing game, amazing comeback taking nothing away from him, but that playoff run is still necessary for him to get the money that he wants. Okay, Okay, it's political season, and what you just did in that last segment, Barry is aching to you. Turning on the television and you hear Nui and Danny hate Dak Prush Scott. They never

they don't want to play. In fact, exact, they want Andy Dalton to get all the cash for funny Barry Church in twenty he scored. That's that is what you threw out there, miss representing the facts. And it's okay, It's okay. My shouldiers are big enough to take it. Okay. But what Danny said it's totally different than what you interpret it. But that's okay, that's okay. What I am happy for Dak Prescott. Let me make sure I run

off the numbers for the folks out there. Thirty four forty seven, four hundred and fifty yards through the air, one touchdown pass, three touchdown runs. First player in NFL history have three touchdown runs and over four hundred yards passing in this game. Dak Prescott, in my opinion, for the second straight week, took the Cowboys down the field where you wanted them too. Last week, that catch that

Michael Gallup made was nullified. Okay, but he went deep may make that catch, and I know you two agreed with the p I call. I didn't. But the Cowboys are right there and arranged to kick a field goal to take it to overtime, if not possibly try and throw to the end zone and win the game. And then here he is again. Second half. He had a fun by the way which led to an Atlanta touchdown the first quarter, but the second half five or six touchdown, five or six scoring drives for the Cowboys. He led

them to the win. He did what you want him to do. He did what a guy who's asking for and wants to have one of the better contracts out there. And I tell you what, because we were all watching the Cowboy game, and I was kind of peeking out of my side eye watching the Rams game because I had Tyler Higbee on my fantasy team. Did anybody look at Carson Wentz. Carson Carson Wentz is the last thing

he is is a franchise quarterback. The way he's two costly interceptions, one in the end zone, and how many times I can't tell you how many times I do these interviews with NBC Philadelphia during Cowboys during the Cowboy Week, and it's always who's better quarterback? Dak? Who's better quarterback wins? And I'm like, yo, you guys took this dude second overall and made all that ALEI a trade up to

get him. You gave him one hundred and twenty seven million dollars, and let's be honest, this is a guy who's not played well since Frank Wright left the building. So many people or who picked Philadelphia this year, We're putting it on Carson Wentz. Pete Prisco CBS Sports dot Com. He said that Carson Wentz was going to have an MVP like season this year, as he picked Philadelphia to win the East. You didn't see anything in MVP the

past two games. This was a game in which the Rams came out, beat him up over their head, Philly made a comeback and Carson Wentz threw him out of the game. Then I bring that up to say, you go back and look at Dak Prescott. People said this guy not worth the money after Game one. He put on a performance and for some folks out here in Cowboys Nation, you're still down on Dak Prescott t about his empty calories that you know, hey, it was garbage toot.

He won the football game, he got the win. Nobody called Tom Brady's went over the Atlanti Fils in Super Bowl garbage yards. Nobody called it empty calories. You know what they called it. They called it a victory, and they called it a Super Bowl win. This isn't a super Bowl win, but they won, and they're now tied for first place versus being oh and two getting ready

to go to Seattle. Dak Prescott should be the NFL Offensive Player of the Week in my opinion, I don't know how anybody else beat him for what he did. As his team was down twenty points, they come back get the victory, so boom, yeah, Simi piece, yeah, it's it's it's only garbage. It's only garbage yards if you if you lose or if you're not playing Atlanta. You know all last year that they were garbage yards. This this this one wasn't. And and like I said, shout

out to deck Man. He played his butt off and got him to win. One of the best comebacks I've ever seen it my entire life. And I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way. So I'm not I'm not down on deck, but if he doesn't make a playoff run with all this talent that he has, it'll be some people that's down on him. Yeah, I mean, like I'm obviously I'm huge on deck right now. You know the guy did. He went out there and played, He played his hard on, led his team back into

the into the game. And it's to your point, knew he with this division. I mean, I think it's it's between It was at the beginning of the year. I thought it was a two race. I thought it would be between Dallas and I thought it would be between Philly. Now, the rash of the injuries the Philly faced on that offensive line, you could tell right now it's it's starting to rear its ugly head. But even with those guys healthy, I'm looking at Carson Winston, I just don't know if

he has it right now. So to me, I'm thinking Washington they even look better than Philly right now. Dwayne Haskins looks like he's doing a little bit better of a job than wins right now at the quarterback position. And we can't sleep on Washington's defense at all, but for right now, after week two, I'm saying, right now, the division, it's kind of up in the air right now. But I gotta give it to the Cowboys for a slight edge over Washington. But Philly they just looked down

right disgusting right now. I got yeah, I got you. No, no, Danny, go ahead, no, no, I I still got us first in Philly. Second. You know, they played the Rams who played well against us last week, and then they ran into the Washington you know front seven who will see and we'll see, you know how good they really are. So I don't think they had you know, easy game

so far. And what we do know about Carson Winson the Eagles is they can start off whenever they want too bad or good, but they know how to get some gags rolling together. So I'm not gonna count them out yet, but I do think that we are the team to be in the division. Philadelphia's talent, in my opinion, has been a little bit overrated. They thought that, Okay, we've got these weapons now because they were saying in the off season, Okay, what you have to do is

get Carson some speed down the field. Okay, So Deshaun Jackson's back after being hurt last year, they draft Jalen Rager. I'm not seeing it right now, and I'm also not seeing them control the line of scrimmage. The Rams came out there basically did to Philly even worse what they did in the Cowboys, and they punched him in the mouth with the run, and then they attacked them over the middle of the defense. That's where Hippy was sitting

up here making three touchdowns and living on it. So Philly's got some words that they've got to cover up. And then on as far as the outside goes, fine, you got Darius Slay who's good on the outside, but they're in the middle. The middle area is soft and you can attack Philadelphia there. They've got some warts and we'll see if Doug Peterson can cover them up. But one of the biggest things Doug Peterson can't go out here play for Carson Wins. He's got to be better.

You cannot throw a pick in the end zone. You just can't do it. And I think it was Fuller, the kid that ended up making that play on CD lame. When the Cowboys went forward on fourth and three in city kick in the field goal to make it a twenty twenty game. He made another group another good play. I think he was the one who made the interception in the end zone. No, no, it was a different play.

It was a different player. But look, the Rams are playing good football, and maybe we wrote the Rams off too quick, and you start looking at that NFC West right now. I picked Seattle to win the division. They're two and oh. They get the Cowboys this week. The forty nine good. Yeah, Arizona is two and o looking good. They beat the forty nine ers week one, then they beat Washington. Then you've got San Francisco who lost Week one. Arizona they beat the Jets, but boy, they lose Nick

Bosa to injury. Raheem Moster's gonna miss a couple of weeks. They're saying Bosa's probably gonna be out for the year. Jimmy Garoppolo's got a high ankle sprain. They've already had some receivers here who are damned. So the forty nine ers are gonna they're having some issues, like they had to pass last year they didn't have any, but the previous two seasons before injuries really hurt them. So the Rams in Arizona and by the way, I picked Arizona

and make the playoffs. The Rams and Arizona could be in this thing, and who knows where the Niners fall depending on where they're going. So and we got another playoff team this year, so it's gonna be real interesting on how that NFC West shakes out here. After two games, the Cowboys look as though like last year in terms of if you do your part, you should win the division. They didn't do their part last year, but with everything

that's going on here, they should. They should win this division if especially if they can get some guys healthy. In my opinion, hey, let's take another break. We'll take our final break here and want to get back into one of my unsung heroes of the game. I got three guys I want to talk about who I think are unsung heroes of this football game that we kind of didn't talk about that we need to and we'll look ahead in the Seattle Seahawks, Louis Scrugs, it's Barry Church,

Danny mccraig, you're listening. The players last right here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com review since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American Maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride too, You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all

self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. Your new apartment's big, such a great deal. That's okay, just okay? What's not right above the subway? Well, I bet you don't even notice it after that's my neighbor. Hang in the deal. That's just okay? Is not okay? Get a great deal with America's best network. Come into an AT and T store to find out how to get one of our popular smartphones for zero dollars down

based on GWS one score. September twenty nineteen to Dallas's frontline responders, thank you. To show its gratitude, Tide is offering free laundry services in Dallas to the families of frontline responders. Simply bring your laundry and your identification to Tide Cleaners and they will wash it within two days. One thing less for you to worry about while you take care of us. All Tide will take care of

the laundry for the families of frontline responders. To learn more and find a location near you, visit Hope dot Tide Cleaners dot com. Slur is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen offer for you by the

latest generation of transitions lenses. With Slore Lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slor usa dot com. See more, do more

to the players. Loud Cinema Drive Ins brings the classic nostalgia of a drive in movie to the star Enjoy all the features of these timeless outdoor theaters in a safe, innovative environment with the latest technology, stunning visuals, and the latest and greatest Hollywood Blockbusters. New movies are featured every weekend in the gay Lord Lot at the Star in Frisco. For details, visit the Star in Frisco dot com. This

is the Players Lounge, brought to you by Hotels dot Com. Um, by the way, you can hit us up on social media anytime. On Twitter, I'm at newis Scrugs. That's n e Wy Scruggs. It's n e Wy Scruggs. Church. Tell everybody way I get hit you at all. You can hit me at Instagram and Twitter at Barry Church forty two. That's very church. At Barry Church forty two. Look yeah,

I'm getting a little echo in the background. You can hit me at Danny dmc forty four on Twitter, and then you can hit me at Danny Utterscore mccraig forty on Instagram. All right, Um, three guys that to me were unsung heroes. I mean, obviously we know about Dak Prescott and what he did, but just you know, in the course of a comeback like this, Um, there's guys

doing some things and they're doing their part. Adalt Schultz the tight End, set a single game and career best in receptions with nine receiving arts eighty eight, also recording his first ever touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter. And then I think about the tackle right tackle Tarrance Steal,

the rookie making his second start for the Cowboys. And then on the other side, he had Brandon Knight starting at left tackle for the first time the season in the in the second overall NFL start for him in his second in his two years in the NFL. These guys, especially once tack McKinley went out, were able to help keep Dak Prescott clean. They the Atlanta only had one

sack and four quarterback pressures. So what those guys did on the offensive, lind I can't say enough of because I remember what happened last year in the Jets game when Lel Collins and Tyres Smith missed that game and the Cowboys were not able to get themselves a victory. They were able to get themselves a victory on Sunday. So I look at those three guys and I just say, hey, very good job, unsung heroes. As the Cowboys come back

and win forty to thirty nine, who do you guys have? Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and piggyback on that man, because both Dalton Shots and those those two guys, I mean, they played phenomenal. I'm gonna be honest. After that first fumble from Dalton Shots, man, I was the first one out there talking about, oh, this guy's trash, get him off to Phil and he can't do nothing out there. But I mean he showed up the plane. Like you said, nine receptions eighty eight yards and a touchdown. He showed.

He showed that he had the same type of grit and scrap that the rest of his team had. Especially with the injury to Blake Jarwin. I mean, we finally had a tight end that can threaten the scenes, that can be a mismatched nightmare. And then who was supposed to be a big weapon for us this year, but

we lose him for the entire year. All Dalton Shows did was you know, the first game, man, he had a couple drops and then he fumbled this one, so he could have easily mailed it in, but he went out there got nine catches eighty eight yards and the TV and I think, if I'm not mistaken, he was one of the top three leaders in the receptions and yards for that game. And then you mentioned the two

tackles out there. The two young guys, I mean one making his second start and I think the other one was making his first start, but earlier in that game, I mean they could have mailed it in as well. The edges were under attack, I mean, tacking Achilley on one side, Dante Fowler on the other side. They were, they were having Dak Prescott out there running for his life.

But like you said, it was a tail of two halves, and in the second half they were able to bounce back and pretty much short up that offensive line to give Dak the ability to attack Atlanta downfield. So all three of those guys, I mean, they played heck of the game. So hopefully they'll be able to get that throughout the year. Yeah, and I agree with y'all. So I don't want to I don't want to say the same people. So what I'm gonna do is I believe it was Neiah Brown with a big catch, catching run

that was That was a big play. When your number is called, sometimes you just get one opportunity. He got his opportunity. He made the most of us, So I'm gonna give him that. I also, man, listen, the defense gave up thirty nine points. But I think they played way better than they played last week. I think they made some huge plays. They stopped the run. I agree. Uh. You know these linebackers, they got in there and they did what they had to do. Jalen Smith made a

good play in the past game. They did some stuff you know that they didn't do that. They didn't show the first week that they could build off of the young secondary. You know, they battled, they fought, you know, they gave us some catchers, but they showed that they had no quit in them and they and they they'll fight. Scratching claw and my third one, it's gonna go to the Great dan Quinn Man. He told Mike McCarthy, Hey, hold my beard. Hope you think you're doing something, Hold

my beard. Let me let me show you how to really do this. So he's an awesong because because what without him, what they say, Without him, none of this would be possible. The Great dan Quinn Man, the ultimate folder man. Dan Quinn was like, no, no, no, I'm special with this. This is what I do. This is what I do. Okay, let me show you. Let me show me. And literally Jeff Jeff Schultz, who writes for

the Athletic Um down in Atlanta. He's covered Atlanta sports for a long time and he wrote a column and the basic thing he wrote in the column is this feels like this is really the end. And and you're going back and looking at and you know what they've done since the Super Bowl? He put their record out. I think it's like ten and twenty something. But the bottom line is dan Quinn is done much in the

same way that Mike Smith was done. You know, you reach this point, you get here, and once you don't break through, you just kind of keep on falling down. And so they were given the opportunity to come back and try and do it one more time. And look, they can say all the platitudes and we've got to just go back and do the work. But it's not working. They're not going to be better this year than the Saints. They're not going to be better this year than Tampa.

And Rich McKay, who's now overall, he's over the GM, Thomas, Jimmy Troup and Dan Quinn. But McKay is gonna tell Arthur Blank fire him. So right now, I'm telling you there's gonna be job opening in Atlanta, and it's gonna be a job opening in Detroit because GM, Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia are terrible. He fired Jim Caldwell. Bob Quinn said nine and seven is not good enough. Matt Patricius now in his third season with Detroit, he's only won nine total games. They can't even get the nineties.

Lucky if they could get the seven and nine. So there's gonna be some jobings. And you know what I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna give you a name of a guy who I could easily see being the head coach in Atlanta, Jason Garrett. Jason Garrett was offered the job from Arthur Blank, which he turned down to stay with the Cowboys, and they ended up hiring Mike Smith for that job. So I think, if given an opportunity, I think Jason Garrett could very well be

the next head coach in Atlanta. He's already gone through the process with Rich McKay and Arthur Blank. So keep in mind, you hurt it, you hurt it here, You hurt it here. First, baby, listen, question real quick. Let me ask you a question. So what what do y'all think that says about the coach and staff. I mean, like there's two huge just comeback victories and then that special teams that on side. How do you not jump

on the ball? I mean, I know the rules are that you know, you got it has to go ten yards before the kicking team can jump on it. But what goes through their mind right there? Maybe Danny, maybe you can attest that, But to why they wouldn't want to jump on that, I just let it just blew my man on that one. Yeah, So so let me let me dissect that for y'all. Man, let me dissect this onside kick, because this is this is the play that's worked on. It's worked on about once a week,

right on Saturday. If you get out there and this is where you do the onside kick, you're bringing them out there and you're getting ready, right. So I'm blaming this The first person I'm blaming this song is Julio Jones. The second group of people and I'm blaming this song are the people who's supposed to be blocking for him. And if you look at it, we actually did everything wrong and so did the Falcons. Right. The people who are who are on the line, what you're supposed to do.

This is why they call it the most dangerous playing football, right, because if you're the kicking team, you're supposed to go take out everybody that's across from you and let a guy run behind and kept and scoop the ball, right, So you supposed to eliminate everybody in front of him. We didn't touch a soul. If you're the other team, you're supposed to clear the way for Julio Jones to

be able to make a clear catch. So you're supposed to run up and you're supposed to hit the opposing team, clear the way and let Julio do what he does. Neither team touched anybody, right. Everybody just kind of looked and CJ was the guy who was supposed to be going to battle with Julio, and CJ just be Julio. But Julio is just sitting there waiting like his main job because what you told the front line is don't

worry about the ball. We got somebody with hands who's gonna sit back catch the ball, right, So Julio's only job was to scoop the ball, and the people in front of him job was to go hit the people that played for the Cowboys. Nobody did any of that. And the reason they didn't get the ball is because usually when that thing rolls like that, uh, it doesn't go ten yards nine times out of ten when that ball is rolling, it goes about seven and then it

dies and the nation's an easy play. They were waiting for that ball to die, and it never died, and it bit about. That's what happened. May my boy HOULI my boy, Julio, I can't put My boy made a business decision, man. He was like, hold on my handstrains are already hurting. I got these line packers running at me, running four fasts, running at me, about to blow me up. Man, Hey, y'all take care of that. Y'all handle that man. Church.

But Church, you see, if you see our squad bro, we didn't want to touch nobody even Oh yeah, no, Archie didn't do nothing. I think that was I don't know what number it was, but he screened past everybody the ball the Atlanta Front seven. Julio, he ain't touch a soul in there, and then turned around and look that nobody had the ball yet. And he was just like, man, I guess I'll standing around with the rest of y'all. So that was terrible. I sack it was all it

was all wrong. It was all wrong on both sides. It worked out for us, but we didn't touch a soul. They didn't touch a soul, We didn't clear the lane for nobody, and we just ended up getting the ball first. It was It was bad, but it worked out for us. Somebody, somebody was sending that home with that Buffalo wild Wings button, except it was they gonna keep hitting that button to the Cowboys win. So they made they made the ball,

you know, bounce a certain way. They made Atlanta dude dump stuff, and they just kept hitting the buttons to the Cowboys one and we made it happen. So good for us, but that was horrible execution. I was one of the luckiest games I've ever seen in my life. Man, for somebody to take I don't know if y'all Olympic, but for somebody to get a curling you ever seen curling in the Olympics. How they shoot that, I don't know how they made a football act like that, but

it was the same thing. It was just slowly, just matriculating this way until across the ten. Man, I've never seen anything like and you don't tell us. Listen, listen if Joe, if Joe d Commissa's in their room, everybody cursed out. Everybody. If you cursed out, you just get called all type of week whatever, because your main goal is to go out there and be a football player and hit the guy that you were siding to hit. And I didn't hear a pad smack at all that

it was. I'm gonna in the show at this. It was a good point made by former Dallas Cowboys Scott Brian brought us where he said the Cowboys were very smart to make sure they kicked that ball towards their side of the field versus Atlantic side, where the Atlanta coaches could have yelled at their own players, get on the ball, get on the ball. So that didn't happen. So a bones fossil and greg'srline and special teams already, um, you know, making making two pretty good plays, uh, and

then airline with the game winning field goal. Hey, that is the players, lads here on a victory Monday. Danny McCrae former Dallas Cowboys safety, Barry Church, former Dallas Cowboys safety and meet longtime Cowboy reporting new we Scholls. We appreciate you. We'll do it again tomorrow two thirty Central time, right here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.