The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 'Boys and Girl - Week 2 Atlanta Thriller Reaction; 20 Early Season Cowboys Questions

Episode Date: September 23, 2020

On today’s episode of the 'Boys and Girl Podcast, Jane is off, but Laurie Horesh from ESPN Australia joins Bobby to chat Cowboys. They talk about the thrilling victory over Atlanta, and play 20 questions to evaluate where the Cowboys stand. Follow Jane and Bobby on Twitter and subscribe to get all the latest inside information from two of the most connected people in the Cowboys’ community. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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a Cowboys community with the inside scoop on the Dallas Cowboys. Now, coming straight to you from the Lone Star State, here's Jane and Bobby. No, it's just Bobby again. No Jane and Bobby. Jane Slater is out again this week. She's on the road. She is just up to her ears in work right now. She's actually got the Jaguars Dolphins game this week for NFL Network. So she's off on assignment doing all that. But today I do have a good friend with me. It's Lori Horesh from ESPN Australia, where he co-hosts the Monday Arvo NFL show.

What is Arvo? See, Lori here is like I referenced, ESPN Australia. Lori's from Australia. We've known each other for probably about four years now. And Lori has taught me all sorts of great slang like Bogan. Love using that one a lot. We can get into some more slang later that, you know, Lori can teach you guys.

But Arvo, that's the afternoon, or is that like tomorrow? Or what does that mean exactly? Yeah, that's the afternoon. It sounds close to AVO, which is our shortening for avocado, but it's Avo. So I know the A's get a little lost when you come down to Australia, and it's a little funny over there with all your crazy accents from the north to the south and the east to the west in the U.S. But yeah, Monday Arvo NFL show, afternoon, the football, unlike over in the glorious United States

where you get this fantastic day from, you know, lunchtime till bedtime where you're just watching football on a Sunday and drinking beer and having barbecue and all that. It kicks off at 3 a.m. and Monday morning for us over here. So we watch from 3 a.m. probably get up about 2.30 a.m. set the fantasy lineup until about 2 in the afternoon. And then we, you know, hop on the Facebook stream for ESPN Australia. Me and Phil Murphy, talk a little football.

It's a lovely way to spend an hour. So you do, like you get up at 2 in the morning to watch the Cowboys play. yeah well it depends NFL in general but yeah NFL in general you know the Cowboys being who they are often on the one of the the prime time games whether that's the afternoon the mid afternoon

slate over there in your in your American time zones or you know Sunday now football Monday now football but yeah 3 a.m you're up bright and early watching nine games at once trying to you know keep abreast of everything that's going on from Pill to Post in the National Football League now Arvo that was that was also that Ben Affleck movie that won best picture like eight years ago

I think about the Iran hostage crisis right? I'm not getting into pop. No, or was that that was Argo, I think. I don't think that was Arvo. It's the same thing. So the Monday Argo show, the Monday Argo NFL show starring Ben Affleck and Lori Horash. You can check it out on ESPN Australia

or social channels or whatever else. Now, I got to tell you also, so like I said, Lori and I have known each other for about four years now. This actually where we first met was watching the NFL draft in 2016. We were at the Maverick Bar, Mike Fisher, Mike Fisher's Maverick Bar, and that was the Ezekiel Elliott, Dach Prescott draft. A lot of what we see now about their success was built in that weekend. We all then drove down to Austin for day two to hang out in Cammy Griffin's neck of the woods.

And we were all stunned when they picked Jalen Smith. that was, you know, and then we all, like, you know, we're driving back to Dallas for rounds four through seven and heard them pick Dak Prescott and we're thrilled, but we're more thrilled a little earlier when the Raiders went ahead and took Connor Cook, which everybody was terrified is who the Cowboys wanted. So there was a lot of great memories made there.

I'll specifically remember that before we drove back to Austin, my wife had to go run and get your debit card, which left at Mike Fisher's Maverick Bar. And then I remember that we were, We were going out later that evening, round two of the draft. We were going out to Austin. We were looking for some places to hang out. And the first place we stopped, I remember they wouldn't let us in

because Lori was wearing a jersey. He was wearing a Sean Lee jersey as a matter of fact. And it was too casual to look. And so they said, nope, you can't come in with a jersey. So, you know, we cried discrimination. You know, that they wouldn't let a man in with a Sean Lee jersey. And then, you know, we went off and had fun the rest of the night. But that was a great trip.

That was fun. I enjoyed it. Imagine my dismay having flown something like 15,000 kilometers. And yeah, I'm going to stick with kilometers, Bobby. I'm not doing miles for you. How many is that? How many kilometers? I've flown all the way over.

I know 10,000 miles maybe. Flown all the way over there. It's draft season. I'm in the heart of Texas. I'm wearing a Sean Lee jersey and I, you know, I'm denied entry to a bar. So, you know, that was, that was a lot. Had you done it in Dallas? You would have been fine.

It was Austin, though. I mean, they're weird there. I mean, I love Austin. The few times I've been on a flight. to Dallas and I've rocked to any Cowboys gear. You get a whole lot of love on the plane. You get a whole, there's this Dap going on, there's head nods, it smiles, all it,

but you get invited to tailgate parties. It's all happening. That was a great trip. There's video evidence of me losing my collective marbles when they picked Jalen Smith in the second round. All of us. Actually, I think I was shooting it, so you didn't see me in it, but you saw Bryce and Trees from Inside the Star and R.J. Ochoa

and you and Patrick Walker and Camie Griffin, and everybody's just kind of melting down like, oh my gosh, they just took Jalen Smith. I mean, it was kind of exciting, but it was also like, wow, this is either going to boom or bust. What would you say? Before we get into this Atlanta game, which was nuts, what would you grade that pick at this point?

I mean, considering he was a second rounder, and I mean, there are times where he's not what you want him to be, but I mean, overall, second round pick, I think you can effectively say that that turned out to be a good pick. I think you're probably a little... Maybe not a good contract, but a good pick, I think you can say it was. It's a bad contract. For me, I don't know.

I'd give that, separated from the storyline, the storyline you're going to give an A plus, considering what happened to his knee, the injury he went through, how he came back, the journey, you know, the moment when he got picked and how that was, you know, was shared with his family as well.

But I'd probably give it about a C plus in terms of the return that you're going to get on a second round pick. It was a high second round pick. These are the investments that make up the core of your roster or should make up the core of your roster. And any of his work that you see in coverage and when he's really asked to change,

direction laterally quickly. It's such a liability. 2018 was fantastic. 2019 was a step back and through two weeks that contract is starting to look like an albatross hanging around the Cowboys Necks and something that particularly when you throw it up and start contrast with the decision to let like a Byron Jones go and where the investment went on the defensive side of the ball there. I think this is one they're going to look to regret and it's not one they can get out of, I'm pretty sure from a salary cap standpoint for a little bit to come.

I think he looked I think he looked better in week two than he did in week one I mean what we saw in training camp the little bit we were allowed to see that Mike McCarthy you know sitting there and tapping his fingers together and laughing maniacally at what he shows us at practice

the little bit that we did get to see he looked like he was a lot better in coverage and he looked like he was a more natural will than playing the mic and so you know you had some excitement and then you watch the first week and see oh gosh here we go again over pursuit and aggressiveness. And that's probably what I would say is the biggest thing that happens is he's so aggressive and he flies to one side of the place so much that it's just, you know, anybody who's got the ball in open space, just, okay, I'm going to stop and I'll start

up again and I'll cut back. And he just, he runs by so many plays. I think he's, he's got some great natural ability. But, you know, it's almost like the last two years of his NFL tape. I know you'll remember this. It's almost like the last two years of his NFL tape has looked a little bit like Malik Jefferson's college tape at Texas. Like it's that just guessing and flying to the ball. And when it works, it works great. And then there are other times where it just, he blows by the play and, you know, leaves you open for a running back screen to pick up like 20 yards. Arriving with contacts with heavy, heavy contact and bad intentions, you know, separating ball from carrier, straight line speed and coming downhill. Those are the strengths of his game. But unfortunately,

the key word you threw in there was guessing. It does look like he's guessing a lot of times and he's not guessing correct a lot of the times. And unfortunately, if you're flying with bad intentions at breakneck speed, whether it's across the line of scrimmage or down towards a ball carrier, if you pick wrong,

that just means you're taking you out of the play quicker in a more devastating fashion, not in terms of devastating the offense, but devastating what you've done for the rest of the assignments for the defense and gaps that you open up because, you know, we see that play out. can talk about his working coverage, but even against the run. The Cowboys, statistics aside, when you watch situational football,

they've had some serious problems clogging the run, and he's been a big part of that and that kind of decline in production they've seen at the lineback level. Yeah, and like I said, I mean, I do think he played better in week two than he did in week one. I mean, he had that play against Hayden Hurst. I think, you know, he did make a couple of good plays, you know, diagnosing in the run game a couple times was able to make some stops.

I mean, as a whole, I think the defense, has been pretty disappointing to this point. You know, at all levels, you thought you were going to get better linebacker play. That hasn't really happened yet, except Joe Thomas. I thought Joe Thomas played like really good football, not even within the context of, oh, here's a backup coming in and stepping in and playing this game against the Falcons. I thought just overall, like in any context, Joe Thomas played really good football on Sunday against the Falcons.

But outside of that, you know, Vander Esch got hurt again. You've got Jalen Smith struggling at times early. The pass rush is not generating the pressure that you thought they would. I tweeted on Wednesday that, or on Tuesday, that if you look at the Cowboys pass rush, they have the fourth fewest quarterback hits in the NFL right now with seven through two weeks. That's behind, you're tied with the dolphins and it's behind the Bengals and Vikings who have four. And then the Panthers who stunningly have one quarterback hit through two weeks, which, I mean, God be with you, Matt Ruhl and Carolina Panthers fans.

That seems pretty rough. But expanding on that game a little bit, this is the first chance that we've had to react it. 40 to 39, of course, the most improbable of wins. I put it right up there with, and I don't know how many of these games you'd remember, but over the last like 20 years in terms of just like insane endings, I put it up there with 2003, week two against the Giants. That was the game where Matt Bryant, they're up three with 11 seconds.

I'll have to squib kick it and it's over. And he kicks it out of bounds to the one, puts him at the 40. Quincy Carter hits Antonio Bryant for 20 yards, gets out of bounds. and then Billy Kundiff kicks a field goal to send it into overtime from 50 yards out or something. They win that game in overtime. You've got the 2004 game against the Seahawks where Julius Jones had three touchdowns and almost 200 yards rushing. And they were down 10 with like two minutes left. And then they score touchdown, recover an onside kick and then march down the field and score another touchdown.

And then 2007, the Bills game where Romo through five interceptions. And they get the touchdown. Then Terralones drops the tying two point conversion. but then they get the onside kick, quickly get into field goal range, spike it with like a second left, and then Nick Folk knocks down those back-to-back 53-yarders, the first one getting canceled when Dick Duron got a timeout to ice him. But it was that sort of a crazy finish where when they didn't get the two-point conversion

with about five minutes left, it kind of felt hopeless and like, okay, well, that's game. You're not going to be able to get two more scoring drives together, and yet they do. And they end out getting the glorious, benefit of two big plays, I think, two big flubs from the Falcons. One was the, I believe it was in the fourth quarter, the Julio Jones wide open touchdown drop that should have iced the game. And then there was the Falcons just flat out not knowing the rule about you could touch the

ball before it went 10 yards to recover it. I mean, that's the biggest benefit that the receiving team has in the on-site kick scenario is that for the first 10 yards, the defense isn't allowed to do anything with it. You can pick it up and if you just cover it, it's over. It's over. over and the Falcons let it go 10 yards and then CJ Goodwood and grabs it, picks it up and they're able to march out. I don't know about you. As soon as I saw that onside kick was recovered, I was like, okay, Dallas is winning this game. Yeah, I had complete confidence as soon as they came up with the ball and you could tell whether the body language around that scrum that emerged on the ground that it was going Dallas's way. A supreme confidence attack was going to be able to lead that team down,

get in field goal range and finish this thing off. With that, with the, with the, mentality of the Falcons with their hands team, do we know, have we had comments come out about whether they got the rule, their interpretation of the ruling was wrong, or the rules was wrong in terms of waiting the 10 yards or whether they were just scared of the spinning ball. And if so, I understand it's spinning, you know, it's spinning like a dradle there, you know, rapidly. It looked like a little cyclone on the ground there, that little ball. But at that pace, it's not that hard to fall on top of it. You don't need to pick up, pick it up with one hand run, beat six defenders and make you way

down the rest of the field. You just need to fall down. And at that pace, that ball, that's not a hard job. I understand the pressure of NFL football. We're media members here sitting here, casting us versions about what goes on when you've got this, you know, hulking professional athletes around you and a, you know, a game is in the final throws. But a mind-numbing mistake there and a collective mistake from that hands team, but with everything that DAC, and I know I'm talking to, you know, arguably the biggest DAC fan in. Not arguable. Don't say arguable. We know I'm the president of the Dak Prescott fan club. I have been since day one, as we mentioned, that that trip that you came down for, I was most excited when they picked Dak Prescott in the fourth round,

because as I said, I had a first round grade on the guy leading up to the draft. I was, I was big on him. But I mean, even, I think even still he's performed at a level that I don't think even I anticipated when I said that. And, and, you know, I've got plenty of misses. I don't want to just like, you know, spike and say, oh, yeah, I had Dak Prescott. Because I also had Laquan tread well and said Charles Harris was like a top five player and things like that. And so I got plenty of misses. But no, I think it's fair to say, I'm president of the Dak Prescott fan club. I don't think there's any questioning that.

Well, I think that's very, you know, you've done that very humbly. You've shown great humility and grace taking that mantle. But with everything that he'd done in that game to that point, the poise is not just a production. And we know the weapons he's working with there with the three wide receivers. You know, and the breakout Dalton Schultz get. but everything that he'd done, the calmness that he'd shown in that pocket, the toughness that he'd shown in the pocket,

working with two offensive tackles that were getting bullied is a kind way to put it. I think that's a little much. I think Terrence Steele was getting bullied pretty bad in the first half. I think overall Brandon Knight played well. I think Brandon Knight did a good job for the most part. I'm not sure when I became the harsh critic

and you became the nicer guy to the Cowboys, but that seems to be the tone we're setting early on. I mean, I mean, you got, And maybe part of it was they had, there were a lot of quick throws. And there was not a lot of play action. I think there were nine of his 48 dropbacks were play action throws. And so they weren't doing a lot of slower developing plays. And so maybe that's why it looked as good as it did.

But I didn't see a ton of pressure leaking through the left side. I did on the right side early. I think the first few drives were really rough for Terrence Steel. I think he settled down and they game plan for some chips and some quick throws to kind of neutralize that. But I think overall, I think Brandon Knight played better than Terrence Steele did. And I think most Cowboys fans and people in the media probably would have expected

Knight to have a better showing and still given what we've seen from him before and the surprise that Steele was getting the nod from week one on. And you mentioned the play action there. That's something to look forward to from this game. It wasn't featured highly, but Dak was so good and has been particularly the strides we saw last year when they

employ that once, hopefully they get healthier on the offensive line and those pillars that left and right tackle make their way back with Smith and Collins, what that can open up down the field and with deep crossing routes and the mixture of formations that hopefully Kellanmore can cook up misdirection, throw that in there. I know, and we can talk about pre-snap motion. I know that's had plenty of air time.

I want to say pre-snap motion because they had a lot. They actually did have a lot of it. But I think there's, again, a misunderstanding of what type of motion you're looking for. I think when you look at Sean McVeigh and the Rams and some of what they do in Kansas City and things like that and Baltimore, what you're looking at is motion at the snap guys moving, you know, and because honestly to me, a you don't even have to fake the handoff. Anybody running, you know, jet motion behind the quarterback as the ball is snapped is in effect has the same, it has the same effect as play action.

You don't even have to go for the fake, I don't think, because teams immediately have the of the ball have to watch for any sort of pitch or or anything like that. So I think that it's actually a, it has that benefit without you even having to do it. And so, you know, without having to actually fake the handoff to Zeeke or anybody else, you can get that same sort of benefit by snap at the motion or motion at the snap. And motion at the snap, I think they had six or six plays is what I think it was out of 80 plus. And they had some pre-snap motion, but pre-snap motion is also a little bit of a generous term. The guy they sent in motion the most in that game was Ezekiel Elliott.

They sent him in motion 12 times. And sending him in motion counts as, you know, he is standing on one side of deck and then shifts to the other side. Or, you know, yeah, it's it's, it wasn't a whole bunch of elaborate stuff. The receiver that they're sending in motion the most, though, is is Coup. Amari Cooper's moving. I think he had 11 plays where he was, you know, exhibiting pre-snap motion. That's moving all the way across the formation. And, but I mean, if you're then going to send a guy in motion,

and, you know, you wait another three seconds until after they're set to go ahead and, like, snap the ball. It kind of defeats the purpose of any sort of misdirection or anything else. So I do want to clear that up for people who talk about motion and then they see the statistics of, wow, it looks like the Cowboys had a lot of pre-snap motion. Yeah, but, I mean, it's kind of defeated if it's more functionally being treated as just a shift. You're shifting sides and guys are being carried, but it's that motion at the snap that you want to see. and they had success with it when they used it. C.D. Lamb had, I think, like a 10-yard jet sweep.

Dat completed both of his passes on those, and it caused for some soft looks on one side of the formation. And so I do think that we'd like to see a little bit more of that. And I think that you can get that benefit without even needing your tackles in there. You can get that benefit with, and I think it would actually cancel out some of your concerns about pressure coming from certain sides while your tackles are out. well the whole idea when and you've you've made a nice delineation between the different types of it

but the whole idea with these these motions or shifts you know at the snap pre-snap you don't want to allow the defense to then have time as you said if you if you move make changes in the alignment and then settle and allow three four five seconds for the defense to respond you're not getting that benefit the whole idea is you want to put them in two minds maybe you want to get a tell on the type of coverage and the type of look that they're really giving you whether they're disguising something or not. So when you do slow that down and don't get that in that, don't employ it with the fluidity and the pace that we do see from, say, Sean McVeigh, then you're not getting the benefit. But on a grandest scheme, what can open up with more time in the park for DAC,

allowing some, you know, more slow developing plays to emerge when you do get those tackles back, particularly in the play action game. It could be something we could see DAC elevate to an even greater level than we've seen already, coming off a ridiculous statistical day with 450 yards. But yeah, I think that's one of the confusing things. You mentioned how what you can employ with as jet action can provide some of that similar effect, considering what you are struggling with on the offensive line. And there were some bizarre scenes that when you go back and watch the tape,

where you do see Zach Martin taking care of his business. And perhaps some of the other members of the offensive line are like allowing three or four more yards of giveaway at the like. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think Connor Williams has to really step up, especially right now. Connor Williams has got to play better. You know, we talked earlier about Jalen Smith

and the expectations of a second round pick. He has got to seize that job. He's got to do a better job at left guard. Do you anticipate, I know that there's been next to no buzz on someone like a Connor McGovern, but is there any talk at all? Your man on the ground over there,

are we seeing a challenge at all? Or is this really Williams' is kind of head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, at least in the eyes of the decision? No, I think given the, COVID off season and some of the difficulties establishing the offseason program. McGovern's practically a rookie given his injury situation last year.

And then you've got another rookie in Beaudish. And, you know, I think that it's tough to, you know, go ahead and put anybody else in there for them because they do feel like Connor Williams at least has the experience and has played alongside, not just Tyron Smith. He's played alongside Joe Luny. at center. And he's had that experience with him. And so I do think that it was about continuity for them. And that's more what they were concerned about with this year. But yeah, you got to

start wondering at some point, when is Connor McGovern going to get his shot? And, you know, they're going to have to, I saw John Oning from the Dallas Morning News on Twitter, tweeting some clips of how these combo blocks that Connor Williams and Joe Looney are trying to make these first couple games. They're not, they're not in sync. One play specifically, where Connor Williams ended out taking kind of the inside shoulder on a defensive tackle, which is where Joe Looney was supposed to hit. And then Joe Looney goes to hit and falls over because he doesn't have anywhere. So yeah, they've got a lot to iron out because here's the thing.

With your tackles out, you're running starting, you know, your two starting tackles are out. You're running backup tackles out there. You can't then have mistakes from two of your three guys on the interior who aren't in sync because then you're practically running out there with, you know, deficiencies at four of your five offensive line spots. And so they definitely got to get things together. And Connor Williams has to step up his level of like Joe Looney to. But I mean, I really feel like there's more pressure on Connor Williams to have this thing come together. Because we're, you know, his first two years here, he had the, you know,

Xavier Suafilo kind of competition over his shoulder. And there were times that the Garrett regime felt like Suafelah was a better option for them. And Suafelah was a guy who was similar to Connor Williams and that he was a second round pick and had kind of been considered a bit of a failure in previous spots, and yet he was able to come here and take the job of somebody in a similar stand. And so I do think that, you know, any of that pressure is gone from Connor Williams, and now's the time that he needs to step up. But he doesn't need to shrink in these moments,

especially when you've got your tackles out and you need that. You can't afford for him to do that. They've gone, when you look at Looney and Williams, they've gone from the two big question marks on the offensive line, at least how you had it scripted, how you thought you were going to come into this with your three pro bowl or all pro talents at left tackle, right tackle,

and of course, Zach Martin. And that's not your role anymore. Your role is actually, you're now two of the three most experienced guys out there. And you're no longer going to need to be performing. You no longer can be performing at a level where, okay, we can support you here. We can, you know, tire and can jump across

and help you, you know, maybe save you here or there, provide a little bit of support that's completely, flipped now. So for Williams who has, you know, he has all the pedigree you'd want from where he was drafted and his reputation and some of the tape you had in college, I think

it's hard to say anything but a disappointment as the, you know, as a second round pick and an investment that we thought was going to take, you know, take the Cowboys into the second phase of this new era of the Great Wall of Dallas. Yeah, there's no doubt. And I mean, I think the

there's been a little bit of they're on a street now of some disappointments with the offensive line picks, I think, or at least as it stands now. And, you know, the time's wasting. You've already seen Travis Frederick retire. You know, I don't know how much more of Tyrant Smith's prime you're going to have. You probably, it's safe to say that even though he's one of the better ones, it's probably safe to say we've already exited Tyron Smith's prime, I think.

And he's no longer going to be the, you know, number one dominant tackle like he once was. I mean, Zach Martin is still one of the best guards in football, if not the best, but who knows how long that can go on. And you've got Lyle Collins, who looked really good last season, looked like one of the best right tackles in the league last season, but then, you know, seemed to show up to camp out of shape. And so there's a lot of questions there along the offensive line that they're going to have to figure out.

And that's just one issue of, you know. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

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It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search, learn the hard way and listen now. As much as everybody was excited and it was this big comeback victory, there were a lot of issues on Sunday. And there were a lot of things that need to be answered moving forward. And with that, we're actually going to, I told Lori that we're going to do 20 questions,

20 Cowboys questions. So we're going to finish up here with 20 questions. And I don't mean finish up like we have five minutes left because there's 20 questions here. And there's a lot to talk about. So I'm just going to give you kind of a potpoury of like 20 of the big questions facing the Cowboys right now or 20 questions that I'm just curious for your answers about. So you ready? Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1800flowers.com.

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Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination. Our sense of wonder. And our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring.

I discover the forest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. All right. So let's go with number one. Ezekiel Elliott is third in the NFL and first in the NFC in touches. Is that a good or bad thing? I think it's a bad thing for the rest of the season. I don't think that you're going to be able to,

you're not going to come up against teams that have softer defense, as we saw in week. too, I think you're going to need more stability out of the offensive front. I think there's going to be less lanes as well as he's playing and he's got all the juice back, he's got all the power back that you'd love to see as well as he's playing. I think you've come up against nastier fronts. That offensive line is not getting back to a level top 15-ish, you know, far away from top 10 offensive line.

And the lane's going to be, you know, far more hard slogging when it comes to Zieg's production. And so I think I'd want to see more out there to the three wide receivers trying to break off some more chunk plays and making this a little easy. And I don't want to see us decline back into the grind to third and five, third and four, give ourselves a chance every single set of downs. Yeah, for me, it's as good as he's looked, that's not a good thing. I think he's played six really good quarters of football. And I think he's played two really bad quarters of football.

I did not think his first half on Sunday was good at all. I thought that he missed in pass protection a couple times. You know, I think that he didn't have those. you know, momentum building runs. He didn't have any of the, you know, punishing runs.

He had those two fumbles, one of which was actually lost. I thought Ezekiel Elliott actually was a big reason you fell down 20 to nothing. And he was putting you in some bad down and distant situations. And so I do think that there's a place for Ezekiel Elliott in this offense just with his talented as he is. And I don't mean that to sound as a discounting of his talent is to say there's a place in here.

Ezekiel L. It's one of the better running backs in the league. But I don't think it'd be really easy to misuse him to your detriment, even as talented. I think the best running back in the NFL would be easy to misuse to your detriment. And I think that's something that the Cowboys need to avoid. I think they need to ride Dak Prescott to any sort of success. And to actually, you know, people used to think it's chicken and the egg,

which comes first. does the run set up the pass or the pass set up the run? You need the pass to soften things up for the running game if you want it to be as efficient as possible. Question two here. Has C.D. Lamb already supplanted Michael Gallup as the team's number two receiver in terms of an option because he's already seen more target.

Amari Cooper's been the number one the first few weeks in terms of action, what he's getting in terms of targets and the routes he's running. But in terms of targets, C.D. Lam is ahead of Michael Gallup right now in targets and production. Lamb and who through two weeks are both on taste to get somewhere around 13,400 yards, Gallops at about 800. And he's got five or six fewer targets, I think, than C.D. Lamb.

So is C.D. Lamb already this team's number two receiver? Yes. Yeah. It happened quicker than I thought it would. I think quicker than a lot of people thought it would. But everything they ask him, every little bit more they put on his plate, he delivers and comes back asking what's next. He's excelled that, you know, we've seen him in motion. We've seen him in the short part of the field. we've seen him make big chunk plays downfield.

He provides huge, huge gain right there at the end to help set up the field goal, unless my bleary, bleary four, you know, five o'clock in the morning mind is misremembering that. I think everything that you've asked of him, he's answered, delivered, and gone beyond that. So, yeah, I think he's already the number two. And that's no slide on Michael Gallup, who is outstanding. The conversation coming into this season before and after Cid Lam turned up was that this guy was a 1B, and that, you know, in the future, is it going to be the, is the equation going to come down to other teams going to offer to pay him like their number one wide receiver?

But no slide on him makes a huge catch that, you know, one cheek equals two feet, all that and comes up big with, you know, in an area of the field that he has shown, and his first couple of years in the season that he is a weapon and a strong force to go up and get that ball. But yeah, I think C.D. Lam has shown just the tip of the iceberg, but it's of his talent, but it's already enough to put him in the number two slot. I want to prepare Cowboys fans for something. And I'm not trying to be bleak. But as much as everybody thought, oh, yeah, this is a three-receiver league.

So now you've got your guys, your receiver set for the next few years. I just, I don't know that they're going to view it as a wise investment of capital to pay three receivers big money, especially when they're trying to pay a quarterback and they've got the running back locked in for as long as they do. I just wouldn't be surprised if we've just got two years, you know, two more years left of Michael Gowlinger. and that when, you know, his contract runs out, that they're just grooming it for what they really view as their duo into the future, which is Cooper and Lamb. But that's just my own take.

Question three here. What grade would you give Mike McCarthy's coaching through two games? C plus, I think, would be a fair rank. There's some situation stuff. I'm not going to jump on him for the two. I'm curious. Would the C, just a flat C, are we calling a flat C, Jason Garrett. And so anything above it or below it is how he's doing relative to expectations.

So would you say slightly above Jason Garrett, maybe? I think flat C is a beautiful way to put Jason Garrett's grading number or grading letter there. So yeah, just above it. And I'm, I completely understand and completely I'm on board with when they went for the two point conversion, how the math works out, wanting to know your reality sooner rather than later. But there's elements to what we've seen. from, I mean, this is his ship, right? We can criticize Kellan Moore. We can criticize Mike Nolan.

We could look at special teams, gaffs that they've been, but this is not what we expected. I don't think we expected the offense to, at a lot of the time, look very Garrett-Linnahann-ish. And again, yes, you can point to the continuity of Kellan Moore there,

but they just didn't look, particularly in that first game, they didn't look prepared. No, sorry. Of course, they didn't look prepared in the first quarter, especially of the Atlanta game. but seeing how blatantly they looked out-coached and out-schemed early on was massively disappointing. Credit to him, his team, you can say his team certainly showed toughness,

but I'm putting way more of that on DAC Prescott and Co in week two than on Mike McCarthy. Yeah, I think there was a huge lack of preparation in 2019 heading into game day, and that was something that we heard a lot. Now, players pushed back against that and said this isn't about, you know, preparation, this is about execution. I think that I might argue that that team on Sunday

looked in the first quarter more unprepared than any game I saw them last year. That team looked like they sleepwalked into that game and that falls on Mike McCarthy. And so I think that he's lucky to be one and one. He realistically should be O and two. Something that, by the way, Jason Garrett never did. The team never started the year O.N. 2 under Jason Garrett.

I think C is fair. I think he has been equal to what fans always said about Jason Garrett at this point. Question four, the Cowboys best player on defense through two games has been. I mean, week one, you're going to give it to probably Alden Smith. I think week two was stepping in that we've already brought up his name, but Joe Thomas, I think he was the best defender on the field. And I think, yeah, I'm considering his limited opportunity. versus, well, you know, Alderman Smith's working in a rotation there, but coming from,

he wasn't expected to be a heavy game day contributor to jumping in there and playing, you know, the expectation now until Van Deresh gets back until Sean Lee works his way back into the mix as well, is that we're looking at a guy who's going to be playing starter snaps. I'm going to give it to Joe Thomas. I know Xavier Woods had a decent performance this past week as well, but he's going to give it to Joe Thomas, not only that, I think he's going to need to continue. to provide that type of output considering the questions in the middle of that Cowboys defense right up the same. Yeah, I think Joe Thomas, I mean, you could argue the fact that he

stepped in and played for Leighton Vanderisch and played well against the Rams. I don't think he was all the Rams, but I mean, I think he played well against the Rams and then he had a really good game against the Falcons. I mean, I don't think it's necessarily sustainable, but I think you can say that overall through two weeks, the best performance they've gotten has been from Joe Thomas. Number five, what Cowboys criticism through two weeks? weeks, Cowboys narrative, whatever else, which one is the most blown out of proportion? Which one is the

biggest overreaction and the one that you don't see as a sustainable criticism? I know I just gave the guy like a C or a C plus, but the two point, the criticism of the two point attempts has been the most overblown for me. I think if you're looking at, I think I'm going to

tweeted something out like this. If you're looking at the play you got from the offensive line, what's going on, where the absentee pressure. of this pass rush with these three big names, they're three big talents in DeLore Griffin and Alden Smith, where the pressure on the quarterback has gone

and the issues that we knew coming into the season at the secondary, the lack of, I say lack of talent because there's talent there's talent there, but the lack of proven talent, I'd say at the NFL level, the safety and quarterback position, digs has come in and help there.

I think with all those problems that we've seen, the fact that people want to zone in on a guy who's getting aggressive with two-point conversions, and the maths and the science adds up for it. That, for me, has been the most overblown. I think that there was a lot of undue criticism in the first week to the safety play. I think Dary and Thompson played better

than people were giving him credit for him. They were talking about him as if he, you know, had the worst game of anybody on the field, and I just don't think that was accurate. And I think that Xavier Woods had a good game in, you know, the second week. And so I think overall just this, we need Earl Thomas, we need some safety.

To me, safety is not the biggest concern right now. So I think that's kind of been blown out proportion has been the level of play from the safety. It's not to say they've been pro bowl level, but I don't think they've been below average necessarily. You don't want Taylor Rap, Bobby? Oh, I mean, I'd love Taylor Rap, but I mean, you know, they made their bed and they got a lie in it now.

And to his credit, Tristan Hill, I thought, played well on Sunday, too. I think Tristan Hill was actually one of the more consistent players they had on defense on Sunday. So number six, what Cowboys criticism through the first two weeks is the most sustainable and has the most long-term concern for you? Cowboys criticism that has been the most long-term concern. I know I've just given the guy, just given the guy, you know, playing next to him,

defensive MVP, the concern over Jalen Smith is the most troubling for me, just with how much is on his plate, how much he needs to contribute. That actually, no, I'm going to pivot there. Sorry, I've given you half an answer there. Oh my gosh. The biggest concern is the edge rush, the pressure from the defensive front.

I think the criticism of them is fair. I know it's blown up on Twitter this week, and we don't need to dive into all of that. But the fact that we're not seeing clearly superior talent take advantage of definitely not facing elite offensive lines and that they're not pushing the pocket, they're not causing quarterbacks to be under consistent heat, that for me is the biggest long-term and most sincere

and severe criticism that the Cowboys have got so far. I don't know what they're going to do at cornerback. I don't see anywhere where they're going to get consistent play for the rest of the year. That's the biggest thing to me right now is as much as a lot of this talk was about, and part of it could be on the pass rush too about how they were going to get better opportunities with the pass rush and they were going to be disguising coverages. They weren't going to be as predictable any longer pre-snap.

Even if that's going on and that's the case, it has not resulted in better play. We've seen busted coverages. We've seen, you know, honestly, just not good play from Cheeto Ouzier through the first couple weeks. and you're going to have to, you've already got Anthony Brown on injured reserve. Jordan Lewis, I've always loved Jordan Lewis, as you know. I've been a big fan of his. I think Jordan Lewis dating back to the second half of last year

and then end of this year has not played great football. And, you know, you're kind of relying on a rookie and Trayvon Diggs to do a lot for you. And so for me, the biggest thing, the biggest worry for me is in the league that has become so pass-heavy. I don't know where the cowboys are getting coverage right now. And that's terrifying to me, I think, for their long-term sustainability. Number seven here, should the Cowboys make a trade for a veteran corner? Yes, if there's one out there, absolutely. The only reason I didn't pick the corner in the previous question or the cornerback spot is,

because that's my expectation coming into this was they were going to struggle. Yeah, if there's a corner out there, and I haven't perused the depth charts of late, but if you can make it work with the contracts, if you can find yourself, some level-headed calm veteran presence that you can inject that works well in the Nolan scheme because it does seem to be like the talent whether you have faith in the Ousiers and the Jordan Lewis's of the world and Diggs I think has shown some really bright spots early on the talent that you have there this new era this disguised schemes these different looks we're not going to be as basic it doesn't seem to be meshing if you can find a fit yeah go out and make a trade

especially considering the compics that you could come in next year. I think that they're going to have to make a move. They're going to have to bring in another corner because I think they approach this cornerback position. It seemed like in the same way that they approached running back in 2015 and receiver in 2018, where you went, oh, we don't need to Marco Murray. We can run a committee here. And then they end up going, okay, we need to go get Kristen Michael and we need to go get Robert

Turbin and we need to make moves because this isn't working out. And then 2018, we don't need Des Bryant. We can say goodbye. and then they go, we need to make a move. We got to go get Amari Cooper. I think the same thing. We don't need Byron Jones and they're going to get in the season to go, okay, this committee thing for a third time has bid us after we said goodbye to somebody.

We need to go make a move. And I think that's eventually what they're going to have to, even if it's more along the Kristen Michael level move as opposed to the, you know, Amari Cooper type of move. I think they're going to have to go out there and get somebody else who can be more sustainable at cornerback than what they have right now. question eight here speaking of sustainability can Dalton Schultz we saw one terrible game one good game

can Dalton Schultz be your full-time replacement for Blake Jarwin for an entire season I think you're going to have to try and find out if yes that's the answer you've got you have the benefit that he's never going to have to face you know bracket coverage or anything like that with the other weapons that you have in the backfield wide receiver position for now I'm happy considering with the considering what we just saw in week two and a massive jump in production and just overall performance. I don't think that you're going into 2021 feeling like Dalton Schultz is your guy,

but considering the issues that you have elsewhere that are more pressing. We've talked about a number of them already. If you're going to go out and make a move, I prefer it to be there than at the tight end position where at least you've got a young guy with some confidence and some momentum coming off week two. And you do know that he does allow you some ability to work as a two-way tight end. the criticism about him, you know, his hands and exactly what he can do as a receiver. Okay, you saw a bit more of a flash in a positive sense of that week too,

but you know he's going to be able to help out in some way as a blocker. He's not going to be an absolute turnstile in that part of the role. So, yeah, I think you're going to, considering what we've just talked about, trading away assets, tight end can't be the move at the top of the list of the fixate list for the cowboys right now. So, yeah, roll with Dalton Shultz the rest of the way. I think he can be your starting tight end for the rest of the year. I think you're going to, I would be in favor, and I tweeted this out on Tuesday,

I would be in favor of going ahead and calling up Shaywo Alana Lua from the practice squad to be your fullback. I think that your plan of just, you know, well, we've got four tight ends and we can have like some H-back types and Jarwin can be our true tight end. I think you got to throw that plan out the window and adjust now that Jarwin's gone. I think you need to just focus on these are your tight ends and that's the world they're going to play. We're going to bring a fullback to be an actual fullback. Number nine here, how many more times will the Cowboys score 40 points? Since everybody was so Team 40 Burger, we got one now. How many times give me a number you think they're going to get this year?

I have no idea what the record is, but six. They're going to put it up six times and they're going to have to. Six more or six total? Let's go six total, so five more. Six total, five more. I think they're just going to have to. I mean, I'm not going to sit here after everything we've talked about for the past. What has it been half an hour or so?

Rosie cheeks and rosy, you know, roast-inted glasses about the defense. They're going to have to. Good thing is they've got the weapons to do it. their last 19 games they've played dating back to the playoffs you know my stat the last 19 games they are 0 in 10 when they score fewer than 30 points they are 9 and 0 and they score 30 or more

that's what it's been for them they've got to score in fact last year when they went 8 and 8 and 8 and they were 8 in games where they scored 30 and 0 and 8 when they scored fewer if you look back they are the first team in NFL history not to win a game by scoring fewer than 30 points and then still have a record of 500 or better. Typically, that's the record,

a team who doesn't win a game, scoring fewer than 30 points, your record is generally going to be like 4 and 12 or 3 and 13. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games, and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

This platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you're going to be. can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and comments.

conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions. bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. And so the Cowboys were running up against a little bit of history last year. And so far, it's holding true this year. number 10 and I'm going to be definitely interested for your take on this since you were dumping on him and and saying that he was no better than

Chas Green earlier should Brandon Knight be the starting right tackle until Lyle Collins returns Yeah if you've only got one spot to feel more impressed I was not dumping on him as much as I was Yeah you were you said he was in turn style You said that he was he provided as You said he provided as much protection for

Dak Prescott as one of those silly face masks protects you from coronavirus. I heard you say that. Bobby, I'm out here trying not to get back to me. And I would encourage everybody. Go ahead. Go ahead. And nobody freak out. I'm clearly doing a joke. It's a parody. It's just whatever. Okay. I'm just doing a bit. So if you agree with that take or disagree with that take, nobody yell at me because I was just joking. Go ahead. Bobby knows that I'm very health conscious and safe young dad. Well, not so young. I have a new,

dad. So that's the perspective of an hour. Laurie himself is old as hell. Yeah, yeah, a ripe old 32, just turned 32. I'm looking forward to the birthday present in the mail there. What was the question again? I should know, Brandon, right tackle until Lyle Collins returns. Yeah, if you need a swing addition there, hopefully get Tyrants Smith back quickly. I've seen enough of steel. I'd take Steel Panther over a Terrance Steel at tackle right now.

It is pretty rough, and I obviously think Brandon Knight played well. I would have started Brandon Knight in game one. I was stunned that Terrence Steele is the one who got the start over Cameron Irving and Brandon Knight. And I was more stunned when even though Tyrant Smith couldn't go, that it wasn't something like, okay, well, slide Williams out to left tackle, put Connor McGovern in at left guard and let Brandon Knight play it right tackle. And it almost killed him because like I said, that first quarter, Terrence Steele had Dak Prescott run in first life.

Number 11 here, we're halfway done now. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. No, what else grows in the forest? imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org, brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic

of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time.

this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about nine or ten, has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed and they're off. Ah, but looks like Mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car, and there it goes. Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fan favorite.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Visit nhthsa.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by Nitsa and the ad council. Number 11. How many times will Ezekiel Elliott rush for 100 yards this season?

Let's give Zeke seven games of 100 yards rushing. If he rushes for 100 yards seven times, this team is not going to the playoffs. I will say that. And I'm not trying to be funny and I'm not trying to kill the running back fans out there because God knows saying anything that could kind of be interpreted as slander against Ezekiel Elliott,

riles people up the same way it does when you say, yeah, maybe Roma wasn't perfect. Like it gets the same sort of reaction from fans. But I am just saying, If you've got a running back rushing for 100 yards seven times, I feel like you're feeding the running back way too often. Here's where I'll offer some just a different take on your interpretation there. And we've already talked about how we didn't want to see Zique.

We agree that we didn't want to see Zique as the league leader in touch as the NFL. Lori wishes that the Cowboys would run 23 formation, 23 personnel all game. Bobby, considering this is the first experience so much of your audience has had to my take I'm being sarcastic people. I got to chill out. Yeah, Lori doesn't think that he would just want 21 personnel. Sorry, go ahead. We welcome your sarcasm down this way.

Sarcasm is a way of the Australian humor. But getting back to it, I would just say that I think there's a couple times there where it's not going to need 20 touches for him to get to 100 yards, just by virtue of what we've seen from Zieg. Is it fair to say from what we've seen in the first two weeks, I feel like Zieg's very close to snapping off a massive run, the likes of which we haven't seen in a couple years. time.

Yeah, he looks like he has more juice this year than he has in recent years. I was in the building with you and the Detroit Lions game back in that amazing rookie season where we saw him rip off a massive, massive touchdown run. Again, coming off of 27 hours, like 37 hours of flying or whatever on earth I was going through that day, put my poor wife through that trip straight to Dallas. You're lovely wife, Alicia. She's the best. She is.

She's punching severely above my weight class there. We both did. That's true. I'll absolutely agree on that front. Yeah, I just think there's a chance at one or two times, maybe three times this season. We see him get to that 100 yard mark, courtesy of a few massive games that we haven't seen in the last couple of years,

rather than he's going to pound the rock 25 times a week in week out. That's the one thing that Zieg supporters, the aggressive Zieg fans seem to, I don't understand why they can't even come and give that and say that he is not the same explosive runner that he was in 2016. 2016 he absolutely was but I don't think you can look at 17, 18, 19 for a little bit in 18 I think he was

early in the season he played really great in 18 he had that big game against the Seahawks that they lost but overall I think that it's impossible to look at his body of work and say he hasn't been less explosive from his rookie season so hopefully that's coming back a little bit here number 12 does Sean Lee play in a game this season I know he's supposed to come back from IR

but it just feels like one of these things to me like we've seen in the past from the Cowboys where it's like oh, he was hurt and he didn't really doing the preseason, but we kind of expect him to come back. It's similar to like Connor McGovern last year, and it's eventually just going to be one of those things. We're like, yeah, he's not playing this year.

I think he does. I think we do get a swan song. I don't have any faith that he can hold up for more than three or four weeks at a time. The only that, you know, if it's not injury, the reason that he wouldn't play would be that they fire Mike Nolan early in the season and just install Sean Lee as a defensive coordinator. Oh, goodness. Goodness.

Number 13 here. Who has a higher passer rating on Sunday, Dak Prescott or Russell Wilson? The cook off. Let's go with Russell Wilson just because I don't necessarily think his pass rating, it's because he's going to play better in a vacuum than Dak Prescott. But let's just say that I think his offense is set up to perhaps put him in less hazardous situations than even with, even the fact that the Cowboys.

And Russell Wilson's running for his life just as. much as Dak has been, though. He is. He is. And I won't pretend that Seattle Seahawks pass rush is anything to crow about. They were clamoring for the likes of Everson Griffin just as much as, and more so than Cowboys fans were. But I'm frightened about what the Cowboys offense is going to do with how the Seahawks can deploy their, you know, Hall of Fame lineback talent in Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams lurking around. I just think that there's going to be a few situations where Dak could be put in and maybe through no fault of his own position to cough up a football that's just going to affect that rating. So just from a disaster

chance set a, you know, kind of mindset, I'll give Russell's going to have the better past rating. Jamal Adams, and I would not give up what the Seahawks gave up to get Jamal Adams, but Jamal Adams, I think, I mean, it's looking like classic like Troy Palomalu, like Bob Sanders Prime type football. I mean, he has been all world, the first few, because that's a motivated football player and he's looked so good. And I'm kind of terrified about that. Number 14 here, who has more pressure to perform. Whose job is more on the line with their performance this season? Kellyn Moore or Mike Nolan? Mike Nolan, because I don't know that another opportunity comes around.

As much as the, you know, you see same names get recycled through the, you know, this better than me, through the coaching world and the NFL coaching ranks. Kellan Moore is promising enough offensive mind that he will get chances again and he's younger. Mike Nolan, one of the, when Cowboys fans and media saw that his name was thrown into the coaching, you know, the coaching ranks for Mike McCarthy's new stuff. They went how to look at his recent records, particularly as a defensive coordinator. It wasn't pretty. And I think you stack two of those up or you stack another one on top of that recent tale of

the tape. And I don't think he's getting another job as a defensive coordinator. I think that in terms of their immediate future with the Cowboys and keeping a job in the next season of the Cowboys, I think Kellan Morris got more pressure on him. Just because Mike Nolan was picked by Mike McCarthy, whereas Mike McCarthy allowed Kellan Moore to stay and I think if there's trouble this season, it'd be really easy for Mike McCarthy to say, I can do a better job in that role. And so I'm taking that back over and we're going to let Kellyn Moore go. But I think that there's a greater possibility that the Joneses might put more

heat on Mike Nolan's job than they would Kellyn Moore's, depending on how that performance goes this season. Number 15, Dak Prescott and Tony Romo are now tied at five games, the most 400-yard games in franchise history. Dak Prescott's breaking that record. I don't care what anybody says that's happening. Is it happening in 2020? Does he break the record? Does he have another 400-yard game in 2020? Yeah.

Again, same on the 40-point discussion we had before. He's going to need to. So yes, DAC breaks the record in 2020. Dak breaks the record. I haven't looked at the schedule. Dak breaks the record before Thanksgiving. You haven't looked at the what? Did I say schedule?

You did say schedule. What is that word? I don't know that word. I know a schedule. What's a schedule? Right after the podcast, we can, we'll go through our latest English lesson and I can bring you out today. Oh, great. I'm excited. I can't, I can't wait until we're done with 20 questions here.

You can tell everybody what Jats Crackers means. Yeah, I think, I think that's before Thanksgiving. He breaks record. Yeah, I think I think that's fair. I think, what was it? I looked it up. Over the last 18 games, six of his performances, he's gone over 380 yards, which is obscene. I mean, that's, you know, Patrick Mahomes level. Number 16, do you buy Mike McCarthy's analytical? conversion or were we kind of sold a bill at goods? No, I think we sold the bill of goods.

I think he said enough and to help with the image maker. But I do like it from there's certain parts of that. I think he believes in, I think, or at least he's employing. I think there's parts of it that he's always believed in as the thing. I don't think he believes anything new about analytics. No, he's always been aggressive when a cut. I know KT, Kevin Turner, was who follows. the Green Bay Packers closely as well

and talked about that he'd always been a more aggressive coach in situations like 4th down than we saw with Jason Garrett. I think that's an, as you said, the analytics haven't changed that. I think he's employing some of that thinking with your two-point conversions and stuff, but yeah, I think a big chunk of it

is, you know, is the perception he wanted to put out there as he launched the next chapter in his coaching crew and his head coaching crew, he said, he said and he worked with, you know, great storyteller. and the piece he did with Tom Palisera was really interesting and insightful, but I think it was part of what he was trying to do,

getting himself back into position to coach an absolute pillar franchise in the NFL. I mentioned it last week with David Hellman, but RJ Ochoa had the best analogy to me, which was he felt like what Mike McCarthy did with his interviews and things like that. It was the same as a guy who trains in specific combine, and goes and blows up the combine and doesn't have film that matches and and more just does what he has to do to kind of sway the decision makers and get them all excited and and that was kind of what Mike McCarthy did with his you know oh look I got a subscription to PFF and

uh I follow uh sigman bloom and football guys on Twitter now and um you know I'm a big fan of of all this that's a signal blur but I mean yeah shout out to sigman bloom but I mean at the end of the day I think, you know, he's still, and it's fine. He won a Super Bowl. I think given what the Cowboys wanted, what credentials they were looking for in their head coach, he was the best option available. But I think it's silly to believe that he is all of a sudden

Sean McVey or Andy Reid. It's like I told Hellman last week. Mike McCarthy is 100% closer to Jason Garrett than he is Sean McVey. And that's just something that I think Cowboys fans need to accept that reality. If they do, they can have more proper expectations for what they're going to see on the field on Sundays. Number 17 here, Tony Pollard snaps through two games this year are down from 2019. And that's one of the things fans I think thought they were going to see a lot more of with Mike McCarthy here was an increase in Tony Pollard's production. Does that prove to be the case throughout the season?

Do you think that by the end of 2020, Tony Pollard snaps and usage will be down from 2019? No, I think we see a reversal, not a reversal, of course. I just think it's a small sample size to kick off from two parts of it. Zeeke hasn't, not that you need to think only in one back sets or that there's not benefit to different looks with your running back, but Zieg's done a great job through, as you said, most of the first two weeks of the season and has looked closer to his rookie form. But I think with what you lost with Blake Jarl, Jowen,

just separating a position-wise for a second looking at offensive weaponry. I think he needs to be involved in the passing game a lot more. He needs to be involved in the different. packages that you run out there because you have lost one of your threats that does line up a little close to the line of scrimmage than your wide receivers that are obviously going to be the pillar of the passing game. So I think his involvement picks up just by virtue, you know, I think the loss of Jarwin plays into that massively. Yeah, I think if when the tackles return and things are a little bit more stable along the offensive line, I think if you don't see an

increase in Tony Pollard's snaps, you're not going to, I think that it shows a real commitment to Ezekiel Elliott and believing in him and a real commitment to the 11 personnel, which is fine, but I think it is a little bit of misleading from what they had pushed, it seemed like, about Tony Pollard. Three more questions left here. Who leads the Cowboys and Sacks at the end of the season? Holden Smith.

Randy Gregory. That'd be great. It's going to be either a fantastic story or he's got two sacks and this defense has gone to new depths. If they continue to rush the passer as poorly as they have over the next four weeks, I absolutely do believe it will be Randy Gregory. If they pick it up and Alden Smith can have three or four stacked up by the time Randy comes back, then I'll give it to Alden Smith.

But I mean, if we're looking at one to two sacks for guys by the time he comes back, I think Randy Gregory can make that up in an instant. I think Randy Gregory is going to have a big season when he comes back. Two more questions here. When we look back on him at the end of his career, will Leighton Van deresh's durability be viewed the same as Sean Lee? I think it'll be sadly. I think that it's a different type of injury with Sean Lee.

It was legs and knees and soft tissue and this and that. That frightens me that it's the same. I know it's not the neck injury that a lot of people thought it was when he got that initial test on the sideline. But yeah, I think we could be looking at a player through no fault of his own, through a broken collarbone is not a conditioning thing. That's a contact injury that can happen. It hits you in the wrong point.

but at this rate, I do think we know all about broken collarbones and sitting down. We certainly do. And Cowboys fans knew the timeline as well pretty quickly. So yeah, I think unfortunately with Leighton Vanderisch, we're going to be looking at for different types of injuries, but the same type of conversation. How much are we going to get out of this guy and for how long? Okay.

So without looking at the schedule, I am going to say to you that they're one and one through two weeks. Probably should have been oh and two, but realistically with a, you know, some better performances could be two and oh. One in one, how has your projection adjusted? What's your projection at this point

through two weeks for their final record? I thought they were a 10-win team. I thought I had too much faith. It seems like in the trio of edge rushes. I'm dipping that down to 9 and 7 at this point because I think while that could have been your saving grace fee defense in some games where you could just cause enough disruption to get turnovers.

and allow the other side of, you know, maybe some short fields and allow DAC to really, you know, launch his, the offense and his MVP campaign into the stratosphere. I've got so little faith in that side of the ball right now. I know Everson Griffin said it's just week too, and he's where he wants to be, but yeah, I'll dip that to 9 and 7. And it's not lower purely because what on earth's going on with Carson Wentz, you know, the giants are, and we have a word down here.

I don't know if you have it. They're an absolute shamozzle. I'll break that one down for you later. Is that like a, like a kilbasa or something? No. I don't know what that is. They're just a hot mess. Sell that for me.

And Washington, spell it. Yeah, spell that for me. S-C-H-M-O-Z-Z-L-E. That's just a pop DJ. That's the only way I know ZED. Yeah, you know what? I felt like this was a 12-win team because I believed in their talent last year. and I thought regardless of how much Mike McCarthy's changed or what he was going to do,

I felt like they were going to get that natural Wade Phillips bounce. Like, oh, here's just a breath of fresh air. And just from the newness factor, even when Dak Prescott first stepped in for Tony Romer, just the newness will have guys playing a little freer and a little more energetic and they were going to get a natural bounce from that. That has not through two weeks looked to be the case at all. There seems to be no bounce. And it seems like a lot of the preparation,

and chemistry issues that we saw a lot last year seem to still be plaguing them this year. That's not to say they can't work it out, but I did think it would look different just in that respect early on. So the fact that it isn't, I'm with you, I'm bumping it down to right now.

I think they're about a 9 and 7 team. And 9 and 7 very well may win this division. I still think they're winning the division. I think 9 and 7 is about what it is, and I think there are 9 and 7 team who most every team wouldn't want to play because they don't know which version of that 9 and 17 they're going to get from week to week.

They may get the team that kind of. comes out there and drops, you know, 52 and generates turnovers or something else, but they manned out getting the team that comes out looking flat and makes questionable calls and fumbles the ball five times in the first quarter. Are they that different a proposition to how people view playing the Falcons? Yes, there's holes all throughout that roster. Yes, there's some interesting coaching stuff going on, but they're dangerous on any day just by virtue of talent at, you know, the wide receiver spot, the quarterback spot.

Yeah, I think it's a pretty good comparison. But, you know, they'll get their chance this year. They'll get a couple times a chance to show how they match up against some of the top competition, just when you look over their schedule on some of the teams that they've got, including Baltimore. I'll be really interested to see how this defense plays Baltimore. And I'll be really interested to see Lamar Jackson in open space against Jalen Smith. But that'll be lots of fun. But until then, you can keep up with Lori's 2 AM musings on Sundays.

and, you know, his exhausted takes on the NFL because he's trying to wake up and get his cup of coffee running. You can follow him on Twitter at Lori Huresh. And you can follow his show there on ESP in Australia. It's the Monday Argo NFL show with Ben Affleck and Alan Arkin and, you know, that whole cast. And it's actually Arvo. It's A-R-V-O, which is, again, one of those weird words they use in Australia. But, Lori, we appreciate you, man.

and an honor, a pleasure to be on with you. Monday, I've been an NFL show in case you missed that one, me and Phil Murphy. But any time I get to come on here and chat with you, Bobby, it's always an absolute align. Absolutely, thank you. And we will have one more show this week without Jane Slater, just as she gets wrapped up,

but she will be returning next week. But hopefully we'll have a good preview show for you here later this week, taking a look at the Seahawks and preparing for how in the world they're going to try and slow down Russell Wilson. Did I say schedule? You did say schedule. What is that word? I don't know that word.

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On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

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