Cowboys Seek CRUCIAL Road Win in Denver | Can Dak Prescott Keep It Up?

Summary

Locked On Cowboys Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Cowboys Seek CRUCIAL Road Win in Denver | Can Dak Prescott Keep It Up?
Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Date: October 24, 2025
Podcast Network: Locked On Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

This episode is dedicated to an in-depth preview of the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 8 road matchup against the Denver Broncos—a showdown with major implications for Dallas's playoff aspirations. Hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool break down the matchup on both sides of the ball, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, examine Dak Prescott’s recent performances, and give their predictions for the outcome.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of a Road Win in Denver

• Playoff Barometer: Both hosts agree that a road win in Denver would be a significant achievement and could cement the Cowboys’ legitimacy as a playoff contender.

  • “If the Dallas Cowboys beat the Broncos this weekend, you should be thinking this is a playoff team.” (Marcus, 01:15)
  • Landon emphasizes challenges: high-caliber Denver defense, difficult altitude, and their tendency to trip up against non-common opponents.
  • “If you're able to go in there and score against a defense that is number one in plays per drive against them…you probably feel pretty confident that your offense can do that to anyone any week.” (Landon, 02:31)

• Future Outlook: Winning this one positions the Cowboys for a strong run into the bye week, potentially at 5-3-1, and could build confidence going into the second half of the season. (02:31–04:41)

2. The Challenge: Dallas Offense vs. Denver Defense

• Denver’s Strengths: The Broncos bring the NFL’s most productive defense in several metrics, with an especially high pressure rate (13.3% vs. 9.2% second-best).

  • “Denver is a very good defense…They have the best three and out percentage in all of football.” (Landon, 02:31)

• Vance Joseph's Approach: Broncos’ DC is aggressive with blitz packages (highest blitz rate in the NFL), leveraging elite talent like Patrick Surtain to disrupt offenses. (05:26–06:23)

• Key Matchups:

  • CD Lamb’s versatility could challenge Denver’s defensive plans, as he is often lined up in the slot and harder to double. (Marcus, 06:23)
  • Tight end Jake Ferguson may exploit Denver’s weakness at linebacker due to Dre Greenlaw’s suspension and safety Talanoa Hufanga’s limitations in coverage. (Landon, 06:41)

• Offensive Game Plan for Dallas:

  • Protection is crucial: Dallas must keep Dak Prescott upright against Denver’s relentless pass rush.
  • Play extension: Dak’s mobility and pocket awareness will be tested; creating after-the-catch opportunities for speedy players like Turpin could be key.
  • Be aggressive: Don’t avoid testing Patrick Surtain – playmakers must step up and attack even elite defenders. (Marcus, 08:14)

3. Slowing Down Sean Payton's Denver Offense

• Bo Nix Evaluation:

  • “He’s operating as an average NFL passer…he has a kind of Jaden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields dual-threat aspect to his game.” (Landon, 12:52)
  • Denver’s attack relies on misdirection, screens, and short passes, not a vertical game (Nix is 29th in yards per attempt).

• Key to Defense:

  • “As it is with a lot of Sean Payton offenses, [it's] stopping the run because Sean Payton is so good at marrying the run game with the play action.” (Landon, 12:52)
  • Rally, tackle, and remain disciplined—don’t get burned by Payton’s kitchen-sink bag of tricks.
  • Denver lacks a dominant go-to receiver (Cortland Sutton is “functional X receiver…but not someone you’re game-planning around”), but spreads the ball to many different contributors.

• Potential Defensive Issues for Dallas:

  • Concerns about tackling and discipline, especially with injuries to key defenders like Donovan Wilson and Trayvon Diggs.
  • “This is going to be a challenge for this defense. There's no doubt…everything is a challenge for this defense right now.” (Landon, 16:39)

• Endurance and Altitude:

  • Denver’s quick-paced and deep rotation of skill players could wear down opposing defenses, particularly late in games at altitude.
  • “All of a sudden in the fourth quarter…when they start playing hurry up, that's when these guys can get gassed.” (Marcus, 18:22)

4. Game Predictions & What’s at Stake

• Both hosts pick the Broncos, narrowly:

  • Landon: “I kind of think I'm picking the Broncos this week. Honestly. It's a tough game. Like, I honestly think it's a coin flip.” (Landon, 21:58)
  • Marcus: “At some point, Dak Prescott's not going to have 130 passer rating every single week…There’s a chance Dak has a game of…I don’t know, a hundred passer rating and the Cowboys, it’s just not good enough, right?” (Marcus, 23:27)

• Offense Under Pressure:

  • The Cowboys can't continue asking Dak Prescott to be flawless or “superhuman” every week to keep up with better defenses, especially as their own defense is struggling.
  • Another path to victory might be a strong, efficient run game—Javonte Williams “revenge game” is floated if Dallas commits to the ground.
  • Denver's defense is a rigorous test, especially with their pass rush.

• Denver Offensive Inconsistencies:

  • Despite Sean Payton’s designing ability, the Denver offense is “consistently inconsistent”—scoring droughts followed by quick surges.
  • If the Cowboys’ defense can force some stops or turnovers, the game could tip their way.

• Final Thoughts:

  • “Let me be clear, we're both picking the Broncos. But this is truly a coin flip game…Cowboys have plenty of chance to go in there…Winning in Denver is just as difficult an ask as you're gonna have for your offense this year.” (Landon, 27:43)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On how a win changes everything:

  • “You win this game…you're feeling really good about where the Cowboys are at after…eight weeks. It's a big game.” (Marcus, 04:41)

• On the Denver pass rush:

  • “They're averaging, I think 13.3% pressure rate, which is absolutely ridiculous…and just so you know…the difference between the Broncos and the Rams is…also the same difference between the Rams and the Cowboys.” (Landon, 07:51)

• On Dak’s gauntlet:

  • “Dak has to play at such an elite level against these really good teams and if there’s…slip up at all or a ball bounces off a receiver’s hands or…penalties…offensive line doesn’t hold up…Cowboys could score 24 points…and probably not enough right now with…the state of the Cowboys defense.” (Marcus, 24:02)

• On the Denver offense's rhythm:

  • “Their offense just doesn’t have a lot of flow and it’s pretty easy to defend if you can rally and tackle.” (Marcus, 15:35)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:15] – Episode preview: Win means playoff contender status
• [02:31] – Why beating Denver matters: defense, environment, implications
• [05:14] – Cowboys offense vs. Denver defense: keys to success & challenge
• [09:31] – Turpin as a potential secret weapon
• [12:52] – How Dallas can defend Sean Payton’s offensive scheme & Bo Nix
• [15:35] – Evaluating Denver’s playmakers and offensive flow
• [18:22] – Altitude & depth: the underrated challenge
• [21:58] – Game predictions (both hosts pick Denver, but it's close)
• [24:02] – Pressure on Dak, possible run-game script
• [27:43] – Final thoughts: why it’s truly a coin flip and what to look for

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a high-level, insightful preview of the Cowboys-Broncos Week 8 clash, highlighting the game’s crucial nature for Dallas’s playoff hopes and providing a thorough breakdown of matchups, strategies, and team dynamics. Both hosts express cautious optimism about Dallas’s chances while realistically recognizing Denver as a formidable opponent, especially on their home turf and with their dominant pass rush.

If the Cowboys can win this one, the sky's the limit. If not, it doesn’t spell doom—but it will ensure Dallas can’t coast and still has major issues to resolve, particularly on defense.

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For more episodes and daily Cowboys analysis, subscribe and listen to Locked On Cowboys wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign Podcast Network your team every day. This is the soundtrack of the millions undiagnosed with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa in adults with obesity. It's a chronic condition where the airway partially or fully collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation without your knowing. Don't sleep on the symptoms. Talk to your doctor about OSA and learn more at don'tsleeponosa.com this information is provided by Lilly USA, LLC.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

If the Dallas Cowboys beat the Broncos this weekend, you should be thinking this is a playoff team. We'll tell you why next.

[A]

You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

[B]

Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's Moving the Game Forward moment. Mazda move and be moved. Welcome back. I am your host Marcus Moer. He is Landon McCool, and on today's show, we're going to preview the Cowboys Broncos Week 8 matchup. We'll talk about Sean Payton's offense. We'll give some predictions at the end of the show. But Landon, I want to start with this. If the Cowboys were to win this game, they are three and a half point road underdogs according to fanduel. How should that change our outlook for this team moving forward?

[C]

I mean, I mean it think, I think it should change it a lot. I mean not only the record being above.500, which is obviously, you know, a good step in the right direction, but you feel like if you win this game against Denver, it lines up pretty good that you could potentially beat Arizona the following week and go into the bye week at 5 and 3 and 1 and, and that's a good place to be kind of as you take the break. And I also think that it's about beating Denver. I mean, Denver is a very good defense. Your offense is going to be challenged in a way that it hasn't been previous to this. You're playing in Denver, which is a very difficult place to play. It's a non common opponent. So these are all things that traditionally have caused the Cowboys issues. And, and I think that if you're able to go in there and score against a defense that is number one in plays per drive against them, number one in points per drive against them, have has the best three and out percentage in all of football. I, I feel like you probably feel pretty confident that your offense can do that to anyone any week. And, and that gives you the confidence to feel like, man, we make some adjustments on defense and we could really be a contender if we get into the playoffs.

[B]

The Cowboys are going to play better teams this year than the Broncos. Whether that's, you know, Philadelphia, Detroit, Kansas City. They play the Chargers later in the year they played Minnesota. But I think if you win this game on the road in Denver and you pair that with what you did against Green Bay without CD Lamb, without Tyler Booker, without Tyler Guyton, without Cooper Bibi, and I think it kind of shows that you can hang with just about any team in the league. Right. There's a good chance Denver's going to win the AFC west and be one of the top seeds again. You're going to be playing some good teams and I think this is a good barometer of what kind of team the Cowboys can be. And we could talk about the future schedule, the Cardinal game, the Raider game. Maybe the end of your schedule doesn't look quite as daunting as it did earlier in the year. Man, you win this game. Landon, I think you're feeling really good about where the Cowboys are at after. Would that be eight weeks? I. It's a big game.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, again, like, I, I think you definitely play better teams, but I don't know if your offense is going to, going to face a more difficult challenge than facing Denver. In Denver, and again, it being the driving force of your offense, I mean of your team, I think that if you can overcome what you're going to need to overcome to win this Denver game, you feel pretty good about the strongest component of your team and I think that gives you the confidence to make the changes. You need to fix the other side of your team and make yourself into a team that's going to be really difficult to beat in the latter half of the season.

[B]

Season. All right, let's talk about the Cowboys offense, because if they're going to win this game, the offense is going to have to have a big game. How do they do it against this Denver defense that's loaded with talent and has a really good play caller in Vance Joseph?

[C]

Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how they, how Denver attacks Dallas. Right. Because Vance Joseph is clearly a guy that traditionally likes to blitz. He. Blitz. He's already been blitzing at a very high rate so far this season. I think it's 35.1, which is good for the highest rate in the NFL or, or 1 of the highest rates. And, and, and you know, on. They've got really great personnel. Right. I mean, Patrick Stratan is one of the best defensive players in all of football, you know, and I think that how they are going to play your two big receivers is really going to be kind of an interesting storyline in this whole thing. Right. Are they going to try to stick certain on either one of these two guys and have him. Them. Have him follow them? Is the plan. You know, the classic Belichick where you put your, you're one good corner on your sec on the second receiver and then you double team the, the. The. The first best guy. I, I think that makes some sense simply because you've got CD Lamb operating in the slot a lot more. Right.

[B]

Well, if we talked about this on the crossover episode, I, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the plan. But it's a lot harder to, to double CD Lamb when you can move him all over and play him in the slot. It's not as simple as this guy's going to be lining up as the X and let's have the safety shade over him. It's. It's not that easy.

[C]

Well, especially since, you know, Ferguson can hurt them. Right? Like, you know, you've got no Dre Greenlaw. Dre Greenlaw in, in this game because he's suspended. And, and you know, they have good, they have still some good linebackers, but that does weaken that position. And there's a reason they brought in Dre Greenlaw in the first place to that defense. Right. So Huanga is a good safety, but he's more of a box guy, not necessarily a cover guy. So there's going to be some opportunity if they're going to be doubling Sean CD as he's operating inside for guys like Ferguson to get down the field. In the seam. And man, does Dak Prescott love to throw a seed ball. So, so there is, there are ways that I think this offense that has been very, very good can hurt this Denver defense. It's, it's just going to be about seeing how, how well the Cowboys are going to be able to keep Dak Prescott upright. Because that's really been the problem with this Denver D is that right now they're average. They're averaging, I think 13.3% pressure rate, which is absolutely ridiculous. And just to give you an idea of how ridiculous it is, the LA Rams are second in the league. I looked this up with pressure rate at 9.2. And, and just so you know, the.

[B]

Where's Dallas at?

[C]

Well, I was just gonna say the difference between the, the, the Broncos and the Rams is like, you know, like I said, 4.5.1%. That's also the same difference between the Rams and the Cowboys. Like so that just shows you how much better they are than the second place team. So the Cowboys are somewhere in the 22 area.

[B]

So in two ways the Cowboys can beat this Broncos team. Number one, just by watching the tape last week against the Giants. Dak extending plays. Now, Jackson Dart runs a lot more than Dak does, but he did a good job of moving around in the pocket and letting some of these guys get open. I think that's one area where if Dak isn't, if he can, if he can, if the protection holds up, you know well enough that he can step up and move around, you're going to get guys open. And the other way is to make plays after the catch. Make these Bronco defensive backs tackle in space. They had a hard time doing that last week against Wandell Robinson and Cam Scatabo and Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson. So it's. You can get the, your receivers with the ball in their hands on the move. I do think you can create big plays and you also have to be aggressive. Like I know Patrick Sartan is a really good corner. That doesn't mean that you can't target him. Go back last year and watch George Pickens play against Patrick Sertan. He had a two catch. Yeah, he had two catches for 29 yards if you look at the stat sheet. But he also had a long touchdown that was taken off the board because of illegal formation. He, he had another long 38 yard catch taken off the board because of a holding. This is not a matchup where you have to completely ignore Pickens just because Patrick Certain's out there.

[C]

Yeah, And I think the other name to remember here is obviously the guys that are our key guys that we're going to see. But one name that we shouldn't forget is Turpin, because I think Turpin can be a real weapon against this defense. You can get him on, on, on the jet suite stuff you do, but like, like Marcus just said, get the ball in his hands quickly on the perimeter and see if these guys can tackle Turpin like, like, and if they can, you know, he can run through the defense and get you some quick points. So I think it's just, you know, Turpin is going to help in the misdirection. And, and this is a team that is a big, strong team. You know, they're, they're solid inside, so maybe you get them with speed on the perimeter a little bit. Turpin can really help you here.

[B]

All right, let's talk about stopping Sean Payton and Bo Nix here in week eight. What's the best strategy for slowing down this offense? We will get to that next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here, and FanDuel has an offer that you don't want to miss right now. New customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins. That's right, pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets that you can use across the app. I love FanDuel because it gives you so many different ways to play. Like, I love creating Moneyline parlays. Pick a couple teams you think you're going to win on a Sunday morning, and then, boom, you're off. It makes watching football even more exciting when you've got a little something riding on the action. And whether you're a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience that much better. So what are you waiting for? Visit FanDuel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. This episode is brought to you by Rippling. If you're a business owner, here's the truth. SaaS promised to make work easier, but the average company is buried by hundreds of apps that slow down your teams and simply don't work together. That's not sass, that's sad. So software as a disservice. And that's why you need Rippling. Rippling is the unified platform for global hr, payroll, IT and finance all in one place. They've helped millions of businesses replace A mess of disconnected tools. With one system designed to give leaders clarity, speed and control. And by uniting your employees, teams and departments in one system, Rippling removes the bottlenecks, the busy works in the silos and that your software has created. Whether you want to run your entire HR IT finance operations as one, or just fill in the gaps in your software stack, Rippling can do it all. And right now you can get six months free when you go to rippling.com lot NFL. Learn more at r I p l I n g.com lot NFL that is rippling.com for six months free. Free Terms and conditions apply. Welcome back to the Loton Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. Landon how did the Cowboys stop a Sean Payton offense, which always has a lot of tricks and gimmicks and things that get you going one direction and a lot of misdirection. How do you slow down this offense?

[C]

Yeah, I mean, you know, you watch these guys and they look like an offense trying to throw the kitchen sink at you constantly, right? And, and it's weird collection of players a little bit too, right? You look at, you obviously have a clear, you know, number one receiver. You, you have a running back who's come back that is now, you know, having a re. Another kind of another resurgence in his career, right. And J.K. dobbins and, and, and then you add in the quarterback who is, listen, I a lot of you know that I'm an Auburn Tiger. I have a very weird relationship with this quarterback. And, and watching, you know, his progression away from Auburn in Oregon and then in the NFL has been very weird. But at the end of the day, he kind of is operating as a average NFL passer, I think is probably a kind way to say it. And if you look at him on an EPA per drop back level, he's, you know, below average I would say. But he has that kind of Jaden Daniels, Jalen hurts, Justin Fields dual threat aspect to his game, which can really kind of buoy the offense a little bit and make them more efficient, even if he as a quarterback isn't incredibly efficient. So I think the key is going to be, you know, as it is with a lot of Sean Payton offenses, is kind of stopping the run because Sean Payton is so good at marrying the, the run game with the play action and they're gonna want. They're not a very vertical passing team. In fact, I think yeah, Bo Nix is 29th in yards per attempt and, and it shows it's like they throw the, they throw a lot of screens. Right?

[B]

They throw it. They will throw like one or two bombs down the sideline every game. Now, that's where Bo Nicks has been wildly inaccurate this season. But they will do it.

[C]

Yeah, they certainly will attempt it. Right. But, but on the whole, like, where they're being effective is, is using the run game and then play action pass. And then, you know, Peyton's always been really good at designing screens and, and getting kind of weird, you know, short passes out to the, to the playmakers and then get them trying to get yards per yards up to the catch. So it's just going to be a real kitchen sink game. And you know, with the Cowboys defense that struggled to kind of do very simple things, you do worry about like, you know, all the trickery and stuff that kind of gets thrown in there and, and how the Cowboys defense is gonna react to that.

[B]

Yeah. And if you watched the Giants game last week, this offense for three quarters did nothing. Did nothing. And a big reason why, and I was getting frustrated watching this, is they don't have a go to number one option. Their best receivers, Cortland Sutton.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I like Sutton, but he's not really. He's not CD Lamb. I don't even know if he's George Pickens. I do think he can make some big plays like on back shoulder fades and on fade balls, but he's not somebody that you can run a simple dig route or slant route and feel good about him getting open. So what Sean Payton has to do is kind of scheme everything up. Right. And the problem with that is your offense just doesn't have a lot of flow and it's pretty easy to defend if you can rally and tackle. And that's what makes me nervous in this game, is you need to have guys on the field that trust their eyes, trust their keys, fly to the football and make tackles. And I don't know how many guys, I feel great about that right now, especially if. Well, I don't know if this hurts, helps or hurts, but with Donovan Wilson and Trayvon Diggs both very questionable for this week.

[C]

Well, honestly, I think in that specific area that might help. Right. Because those guys really.

[B]

Oh, well, I will say Diggs has had a couple plays this year, including the packers, where he could read things in fly to the football. But on the whole, he's not your most reliable tackler.

[C]

Yeah. So, I mean, I think, you know, this is a, this is going to be a challenge for this defense. There's no doubt. Like, I mean, I think everything is a challenge for this defense right now, unfortunately. But I, I do think that, you know, there is, you're, you're not wrong in the sense that you look at the talent that's assembled on this offense and you're like, you know, it's, it's just, there's not anyone that's really captivating your attention. Tournaments Cortland Sutton is a functional X receiver on a starting functional NFL receiver. Like good. Better. Better than average, probably, but. But not certainly someone that like, you're game planning. It's not around and I'm going to say that. And he's going to have 175 yards receiving this probably.

[B]

But they also, that's the other thing is Denver will throw the ball a lot like Sean Payton has no problem throwing the ball 45 times in this game. Even if they're running the ball well.

[C]

And even if they're throwing the ball terribly, he'll continue to throw the ball. And that's the other thing is, like you said, the inconsistency. Like, the one thing that you, that you see consistently with this offense is that they're consistently inconsistent, right? Like, they go very long stretches in almost every single game without doing anything, right. Without scoring points. You know, I mean, honestly, the Giants game, it was three, almost three and a half quarters, right? Like, you know, they did the same thing against the Eagles, right? And so I just think that, you know, there's going to be, there's a very high likelihood that you're going to get to a situation where you're in a game and maybe you're ahead by multiple touchdowns, right? And, and you're feeling good about this team. You can't let off the gas, right? I think this team's showing that they can come back and suddenly get hot and score 21 points in, in a quarter and be right back in this game.

[B]

Well, and we should mention, I think a lot of that. They've done that a couple times this year and I do wonder if the altitude plays a difference like they can. Even if they're not having a ton of success on offense, they can wear down your defensive line and your defensive backs and all of a sudden in the fourth quarter when they start playing hurry up, that's when these guys can get gassed and they'll, you know, they'll rotate guys in, they'll be fresh. They've got. This is one of the benefits of not having an offense where you rely on one or two targets. They're going to use a bunch of different guys, whether it's Marvin Mims or Troy Franklin or Evan Ingram or J.K. dobbins and R.J. harvey. Like they're going to have a heavy rotation to keep these guys fresh. But again, you've got to be able to rally to the football. You've got to make tackles. Because if my fear as a Cowboy fan is that Sean Payton's going to have a lot of these like 11, 12, 13 play drives that take up seven or eight minutes and your defense is huffing and puffing and now you keep your offense off the field and that's how the Cowboys ultimately lose this one.

[C]

Yeah, and, and, and you named it too. Like it. This team doesn't. You know what they lack in top end talent. They have in nice solid depth, right Two or three deep at wide receiver, maybe four, two and three deep at running back. Like they have a couple of different guys who maybe they're not necessarily huge playmakers, but they'll get the job done in in a Sean Payton schemed offense.

[B]

Let's make some predictions for Week eight. Dallas, Denver. We will get to that next foreign this episode is brought to you by Mazda's Moving the Game Forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it, there are moments that do more than just put points on the board. They move crowds, they move culture, and they keep the game moving forward. And this week's moment to move the game forward is Duron Bland's pick six against Marcus Mariota. And it's been a rough couple years for Bland, who's been dealing with some injuries. He had a lower body injury. Now he's got a shoulder injury. He had an ankle injury early in this year. He got a big contract but hadn't quite performed up to his 2023 level. But then he got the pick six in the Washington game to seal the win for the Cowboys to improve to 3, 3 and 1 on the year. That was the play that got the Cowboy fans excited, just improved the overall outlook for the Cowboys. Moving the game for the Cowboys moving forward and it keeps the fans moving forward into the season. And when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle, Mazda move and be moved.

[A]

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[B]

Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. For your second listen, check out the Locked on NFL podcast. Two shows every single day. One in the morning with Tyler Rowland, one in the afternoon with Tony Wiggins. Available wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Landon. Week 8 Cowboys. Broncos. Who wins?

[C]

I kind of think I'm picking the Broncos this week. Honestly. It's a tough game. Like, I honestly think it's a coin flip. And. And even Vegas seems to think that they're only giving, you know, the Broncos five points at home, basically, or 0.55. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just think it's. It's. This is a very difficult situation for a team that is offensive driven, that lives and dies by their offense. They're going to. You know, I always look at it like, can our offense be more effective against their than their offense could be against our defense? And this is definitely one of those weeks where I just. I don't know, because first of all, you just don't know what you're going to get from the Broncos offense. And second of all, like, I think this is a really difficult matchup for the. For the Cowboys because this is a very good defense. Not anything more than that, but I think it is something that we're going to see exactly how good this offense is. Right. If they win this game, I will feel really, really solid about where this team can go if they make some adjustments on defense. And if they lose, I don't know that it changes too much other than the fact that there's, you know, the schedule, I mean, the record, and having to kind of overcome that a little bit more. But as far as, like, moral losses, it's a tough game. You know, it's a tough. I don't necessarily expect them to be able to do this with a kind of floundering deal defense. I don't.

[B]

I don't think you would feel like the way we came out of the Carolina game or the Chicago game.

[C]

Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Where it's like, yeah, okay, season's over. This is a bad team, or anything like that. I think it would be disappointing. There's no doubt. But this is a much better team than Chicago or Carolina. I think for me, it's like I'm picking the Broncos by the way, too. It's just that at some point, Dak Prescott's not going to have 130 pass rating every single week. In his last four games, he's got 13 passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He's completing like 74% of his passes. I think there's a chance that Dak has a game of like, I don't know, a hundred passer rating and the Cowboys, it's just not good enough, right?

[C]

Like, it's just not enough.

[B]

Yeah. Dak has to play at such an elite level against these really good teams and if there's, you know, slip up at all or a ball bounces off a receiver's hands or you get some penalties, you get behind the chains or the offensive line doesn't hold up, like, I think there's a chance the Cowboys could score 24 points and against. For most teams, scoring 24 points in Denver against the Broncos would be great. That would be enough to win the game. Probably not right now with the Cowboy. The state of the Cowboys defense. Now, you're hoping that Dallas's defense can eventually get there, but I just think you're just asking so much of Dak and you're putting so much pressure on him that we should expect a less than superhuman performance at some point this year.

[C]

Well, I mean, the other thing he's not doing is, is he's, he's not getting sacked. Right. And, and this is going to be the ultimate test of that. Right. Like I think I quoted the numbers earlier, the Denver Broncos are sacking at an insane high rate this year. So if, if Dak is able to get out of this game, you know, lightly sacked as he has, you know, pre throughout the season, then I think you've got, you've got something clearly that's going positive for your offense. Yeah. And I, I think, you know, another way that this game could play out is, you know, the Cowboys could, you know, get an advantage in the run game and find a way to just grind the, the, this defense down a little bit more. The Denver Broncos have been very good against the run so far this year, but it, they certainly are a little bit lighter on the edge once you're able to get out past the, those, you know, three interior guys and even the three interior guys, like, they're, they're strong and they're stout, but they're not like 300 pounders. They're like 280 pound guys. So. And you've Got really strong interior guys that can help move those guys. So I do think that there's a, there's a game script in this where the Cowboys are able to just run, have a very efficient run game. Maybe it really is a Javante Williams revenge game which is, you know, a kind of underreported part of this because Javante is just sort of a nice guy who doesn't really want to, you know, make ruffle feathers. But maybe there is a way where the Cowboys, you know, run the ball a little bit more, have a more efficient passing game as opposed to, you know, like, like we said, four touchdown, 130 pass a yard game and they still win. But I, I, I just think that you're putting so much on your offense in these games. I mean to, to outpace the, the bad play of your defense and, and with Sean Payton being such a good play designer, it, it almost doesn't matter that they don't have like elite weapons out there. Bonix is still consistently throwing the ball to wide open targets.

[B]

It feels like having said that, they scored 20 points against the Chargers, they scored 28 against the Broncos and I believe seven of those were on defense. They scored 21 against Philadelphia, including zero in the first half. They scored 13 against the Jets. In a game they got nine sacks and they scored zero in the first three quarters against the Giants. So like this is an offense that's still very much a work in progress. And if you ask Bronco fans, they're incredibly disappointed. This should be a game the Cowboys are able to get a couple stops, right? That's, that's the thing, like we saw like Washington last week. I think they got three stops in a row and at that point the game was over. If the Cowboys can, you know, get multiple stops in a row, create a turnover, get good field position, maybe you can get to a point where you're controlling the pace of the game and Denver's having to abandon the run. I, I just hope the Cowboys, and I'm sure they're not, I don't be afraid of Denver. This is a good team. No, this is a team you can beat.

[C]

Absolutely. Oh absolutely. Like, let me be clear, we're picking, we're both picking the Broncos. But this, this is truly a coin flip game. There's just a lot of things going on either side, right, that, that are kind of just hard to predict predict. But I, I certainly don't feel like the Cowboys have no chance in this game. The Cowboys have plenty of chance to go in there and you know play the kind of game we just described and winning in Denver. It's just as difficult and ask as you're gonna have for your offense this year and so if they don't accomplishment I just won't be shocked. But yeah like give give me giving 0.5 points. You know it's Vegas is like giving us a coin flip chance as well.

[B]

All right, that is it for today's show. We want to thank you for making Lockdown Cowboys your first listen every single day. Check out the show on YouTube, download the podcast wherever you get your podcast. We are free and available on all platforms. He is Lana McCool. Follow him on Twitter @McCool BCB. I'm @Marcus Underscore Moser. Enjoy the game and we'll see you right back here on Sunday night.

[A]

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