The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Texans, Cowboys Both Looking For A 'Get-Back' Win On Monday Night Football

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

The Houston Texans return to primetime for the third straight week to wrap up Week 11 in Dallas against the Cowboys on "Monday Night Football." The Texans have lost their past two games, with the latest being a 26-23 loss to the Detroit Lions on "Sunday Night Football." The Cowboys are 3-6 on the season after losing four straight. Quarterback Dak Prescott is out for the rest of the season due to injury, so Cooper Rush will start again, hoping to improve on last week's performance that saw only 45 passing yards in a 34-6 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas joined "The Matt Thomas Show with Ross" to provide some insight into a struggling Cowboys team looking to return to the win column against their Texas football rival.

and we say hello to Bobby Belt, 105, 3, the fan in Dallas. Joining us here for a few minutes on the show. Bobby, it's Matt, and Dan, thank you for joining us. Give me the excitement level for this I-45 showdown in the DFW metro area here this week. Oh, man, I don't know how much excitement there is, maybe morbid curiosity for a lot of Cowboys fans right now to see just how much further this could go off the rails, just because they have been really struggling. I feel like a lot of people around town right now just, you know, there's a little bit of apathy almost setting in for people

and that they feel like this Cowboys team has been such a disappointment after what was a very disappointing offseason. And so I think a lot of people just right now feel like they're just waiting this one out. And so a lot of shoulder shrugging. But, I mean, of course, there's always the Dallas-Huston-City rivalry that exists. So there's still some of that for the fans, I think, here in Dallas right now, that they'd like to see this one if they're not going to get any others the rest of the year. They'd like to pick up a victory in this one.

If the Texans blow that out tonight, is there any chance Mike McCarthy gets pulled tomorrow? You know, I don't think so, especially on a short week. They've got two short weeks coming up because they've got the Monday game here, then they travel to Washington, and then coming off of the Washington game, they've got the Giants on Thanksgiving. So just from logistically that point, I don't think so. But Jerry has been, you know, very, very adamant that he doesn't want to make an in-season coaching change again. He did it with Wade Phillips 15 years ago, roughly, and he doesn't want to do that anymore.

We talked to him, you know, twice a week on our station here in Dallas, and he is, he's just been pretty adamant the entire time about, nope, Mike's here for the rest of the season. We're going to ride with that. And I think he also just views it as where they're at right now, how poor, they're playing, I think he kind of looks at it as what's the point? Am I salvaging a season for a playoff run? Probably not. So let's just ride this thing out, not, you know, rock the boat

too much, and then let's head into January and figure out who our head coach is going to be for the next few years. Bobby, it seems like there was kind of a little bit of a disconnect in terms of messaging before the season even began, where Jerry is throwing out the whole, we're all in, and then they make little

to no moves this offseason to try to improve this roster. Was that more of Jerry just continuing to be marketer, Carnival Barker, Jerry, in terms of, hey, we're still competitive and really just kind of trying to talk himself into believing something that's just not true? I think so he will tell you, I don't know how realistic this is when you listen to the context of the quote, but he tells you and seems to you genuinely believe that what his statement was about was about, I'm all in in terms of on this core, this core that we have here, and we're making an invest. and we're working to extend C.D. Lamb or we're working to extend Dack Brescott.

And I'm All In on, hey, this is the year where we need to make some determinations about Mike McCarthy's future. And so to him, he says that All In is not a, ooh, chips to the table. Let's like really throw some capital at outside free agents and make trades and things like that. He has said that that's what he meant by All In. Now, the Carnival Barker aspect of that is the fact that he just about every single week since the summer has used the phrase all in. It feels very intentional and very purposeful when he's doing it. So that's sort of rubbing it in a little bit, I think at times to the media and the fan base

by continuing to repeat that over and over again, that's probably more the media master, the Carnival Barker, like you said. But I think his initial comment was he has always maintained that what he was talking about was being all in on investing in the current core that had, you know, contracts that were coming up. And, I mean, you know, this was a team that last year won 12 games. And I understand, like I said, they didn't make very many roster improvements, either free agency trade anywhere else.

But Bobby, I mean, they won 12 games last year. Like, how does this thing fall off the tracks this quickly? Like, like, how do you get to this point? You know, it's a question that I think everybody's kind of trying to evaluate and figure out, okay, where have things fallen off? why did this take such a sharp nose dive? I think first off, the Packers' playoff game exposed a lot of flaws with this team. And I think people felt like, wow, this is a warning signal about where this football team is heading,

and they need to make some adjustments and they need to make some acquisitions. They didn't do that. So they sort of ignored the warning signs that seem to be on the table. Then the other aspect of that is I still say that when they are completely healthy, guy 1 through 22, they're 11 starters on both sides of the ball, they're still a really, they're a good team, they're a really good team with those starters when everybody's healthy. The problem is that you had your depth absolutely decimated this off season

by free agent signings, everything else, you didn't do anything to add to that. So guy 23 through 53 on the roster might be one of the five to 10 worst teams in football. And because of that, as soon as injuries hit, you start seeing that depth really get exposed. and even when they're healthy, there's two rookie offensive linemen at arguably the two most important positions

on the offensive line at center and left tackle. And both of those guys are playing new positions there this year. The left tackle was Tyler Geithen, who was a right tackle at Oklahoma, and their center, Cooper Bebevia played guard at Kansas State. And so it was something where he's having to make a position shift. They've been growing pains with that.

So it kind of all comes together to create the perfect storm for this team that has led to them looking as poor as they have. absent just the injuries. Bobby Belt 105-3 with us here from the fan in Dallas on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. So Bobby, area of strength right now, or is this the number of losses and the big-time losses

really just covered up every problem that this team has had so far? Yeah, I mean, there's not, right now where the team is at with their injury situation and everything else. You know, Micah Parsons is back. he's obviously a really good player. They really love DeMarvie and Overshown, the linebacker from Texas, who missed his entire rookie year last year

by tearing his knee, and he's come back this year. He's played really well at times, and he's been one of the guys most invested in the idea of this rivalry tonight between Dallas and Houston, that he's really leaned into that talking to the media about how hey, no, we want to represent for Dallas,

and we want to, you know, win for our city, and we need to, you know, they may be the up-and-comers, but the Cowboys are still the Cowboys, and we need to remind them who's big brother here. And so, you know, overshone is a guy who I think a lot of people like his play style, the aggressiveness, the ability, and sort of the, you know, the leadership and the traits that he's shown and some of the confidence and the personality. So I think the big highlight for them right now is what they're getting from Parsons

and overshone and the way they can kind of alternate them as rushers and linebacker play. But other than that, our kicker maybe, he's, he's, he's, pretty good. And I'd say the kicker and the linebacker defensive end combination. That's about where the extent of it goes, which I guess if you saw kicking over the weekend of the NFL, then that's not necessarily the worst thing to have

good confidence in. But yeah, this is just flat out right now. This is a really bad football team. There's probably two teams in the NFL right now that I would say confidently I feel like Dallas could beat. So Micah Parsons comments from last week

were they genuine or they just off the cuff. I know he had to backtrack a little bit. What were your take on his comments about the coaching staff and the organization as a whole? Yeah, I didn't have a problem with what he said initially. When he first led up to it and he had talked about when he said that Mike McCarthy

can go wherever he wants, I thought that was taking a little out of context. What he was trying to say there was, if this ends for Mike, Mike will have further opportunity and this won't be the end, whereas some of these guys, some of these other guys that he plays with, that Mike Parsons plays with, you know, Zach Martin, DeMarcus, Lawrence, Brandon,

cooks, this could be the end of either their careers or their time in Dallas. And that was something that I think he was talking about more. The problem was when he comes on the back end of that and says, you know, he's talking about Mike McCarthy. He says, guys like Zach Martin who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. That's a slip of a tongue at best. And at worst, that is a straight calling out of your coach's work ethic. But Michael Parsons has said that he felt like he was taken out of context.

That's not what he meant. I agree the first part of it was definitely not his intent. So I'm willing to at least give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a poorly worded, you know, finish to that statement. But there's definitely going to be questions about Mike McCarthy and how bought in these players are, knowing that he's, you know, a lame duck coach essentially. And you're starting to see potentially some of those cracks. And Houston might, you know, kick a few more in there tonight.

Bobby, I'm assuming you're going to be in the building tonight. What are you expecting that building to look like? It's funny. We're talking about that this boarding on the show. I'm guessing 30, 40% Texans fans probably. I mean, they've had some issues recently kind of holding their territory down. There was a lot of Philadelphia fans recently. There was a lot of Detroit fans at their last game. Baltimore came in and had a bunch of representation. So some of this apathy that's set in, some of the willingness to, you know, resell tickets on the open market. I know last week, I had, you know, a couple different listeners who told me, we've got tickets for the game. and we're trying to sell them. We couldn't get anybody to buy them on the secondary market. We just had to give them way to friends, and we were selling them for face value. And so that's kind of where everybody is.

Everybody's kind of frustrated with where this was, given how things ended last year, the lack of response in the off season, and then, you know, what's occurred this season, it just feels like there's a big, heavy sigh and shoulder shrug. Go all the way back to Oxnard and Cowboys Training Camp. That was as empty of attendance as we've ever seen in Oxnard, California for Cowboys Camp. And so I wouldn't be surprised if on minimum we're looking at 30% Texas fans tonight and it may be more.

Last question, Bobby. Who cross-checks Jerry Jones? I know Stephen, his son, has been at his side for many, many decades. But who really says, Jerry, this is not the thing we're going to do. This is not how we spend our money. This is not how we draft. I'm always curious about who he listens to. Is there a confidon inside that bill?

not named Stephen that helps him make these decisions, whether it be for the rest of this year or for the long term. Yeah, no, it's a good question. I think it's something where there's a little bit of a misnomer about how Jerry runs the organization these days. The old wildcat or Jerry gunslinger, that was an accurate depiction of him, you know, even 15 years ago, probably. But in the last 10 years or so, Jerry has really taken on sort of an executive role with a veto pen. And that's what he does. He builds consensus is essentially what it does. So he's got a brain trust in there of, you know, it includes Mike McCarthy,

their director of player personnel, Will McClay, Stephen, you know, some of their football administration guys like Todd Williams, their salary cap expert, Adam Pacifica. So he's got a group of people where they talk through decision points and things that they want to do. And Jerry sits over that table and kind of figures out what the consensus is and then applies it. And oftentimes just even if he's got. of disagreement, he'll step out of the way if he feels like there's consensus. And so I do think

he's gotten better at that. And I don't know if it's one particular person, but I think he just trusts the group that he's kind of built in the front office to help cultivate decisions. And then he just rules on him. And when he needs to step in and use his veto pen, which he does still from time to time, he will. But, you know, for instance, the Derek Henry thing is the one that's gotten thrown at him consistently in the media is, why didn't you go after Derek Henry? He'll never say it publicly. I think he absolutely wanted to be. go after Derek Henry. And I think he was told by people, we can't afford it. And it's not going to be possible. And so we can't. And Jerry, instead of vetoing it and saying, well, I'm going

to do it anyway, he said, okay, all right, this is why have you guys in place? And this is the decision we're going to make. And I also think that's why he's gotten so frustrated at times when it's come up is because I think he feels similar to the people who are asking the questions of why didn't you go after him. And I think he's thinking, I agree, why didn't we go after him? I was told we couldn't. But he's not going to publicly take that stance. And so I do think he's gotten better about kind of feeding a lot of the decision making or building consensus and then just applying that. It's just it's really bit them this off season. Bobby, great stuff. Thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy the game tonight and we really appreciate

and we hope to bug you down the future. Again, thanks for joining us in the show this morning. Absolutely. Thank you. Enjoy Milwaukee. Thanks, Bobby. All right. Well, I don't know if anybody can. It's 45 degrees, but that's another here nor there. Bobby Belt, 1053, The Fan, joining us in Dallas. Great insight from him.