COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: Full reaction as the Cowboys made 2 trades on their bye week.

Summary

Locked On Cowboys – “COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: Full reaction as the Cowboys made 2 trades on their bye week”

Release Date: November 6, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool (Locked On Cowboys), Jeff Biggs, Glenn “Stretch” Smith (Former Cowboys Coach)
Network: Locked On Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

This episode of the Cowboys Squad Show dives into the Dallas Cowboys’ eventful bye week, during which the front office swung two notable trades—acquiring linebacker Logan Wilson from the Bengals for a 7th-round pick, and, in a blockbuster, trading for All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the Jets in exchange for Mozzie Smith, a 2026 second-rounder, and a 2027 first-round pick. The panel breaks down the rationale behind these moves, examines public criticism, and looks ahead to the second half of the Cowboys’ season after a disappointment in their last game.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. Trade Deadline Reactions: Logan Wilson & Quinnen Williams

Logan Wilson Acquisition

• Trade Details: Wilson comes to Dallas for a 7th-round pick after rotating in and out with the Bengals’ defense.
• Purpose: Addresses glaring linebacker issues exposed on Monday Night Football.
• Panel Reaction: Universally positive, given the low cost and Wilson’s experience.

“It’s a seventh round pick, so you can’t get upset about any seventh round pick trade... The Cowboys were looking for baseline linebacker play.”
—Marcus Mosher (03:43)

• Wilson’s Upside: Knowledgeable, solid in coverage, raises the “floor” at linebacker.
• Short-term Rental: Can be moved on after the season with minimal loss if it doesn’t work.

Quinnen Williams Blockbuster

• Trade Details: Mozzie Smith, 2026 2nd, and a 2027 1st to the Jets for Quinnen Williams.
• Rationale: Cowboys sorely needed a foundational star on defense; Williams fits the bill.

“He’s the type of player you can do whatever you want him to do... He’s an awesome pass rusher... highest graded run defender right now by Pro Football Focus. He’s in the prime of his career.”
—Marcus Mosher (08:47)

• “Gravity Guy”: Draws double-teams, makes life easier for fellow linemen and edge rushers.
• Draft Trade-Off: The hosts dismiss concerns over the pick cost, preferring a proven All-Pro to the uncertainty of draft selections.

“You know what you have in a Pro Bowl player. You don’t have to guess from a draft standpoint... What have they done in the second round the last few years? So give me a guy that’s a proven football player in here.”
—Glenn Stretch Smith (11:05)

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2. Public & Media Criticism of Trades

• Hot Take Backlash: Panel bemoans knee-jerk negative reactions calling the Williams trade an “F” and pushing a Cowboys doom narrative.
• Context Matters: Emphasizes how rare top-tier DTs are and that giving up a future first is justified in this case.
• Cowboys’ Win Window: Trade aligns with Dallas’s competitive timeline—maximize potential this year and next.

“The people that are acting absolutely incredulous about the Cowboys trading a first round pick—not even this year’s first—for a pretty generational defensive tackle… I really do feel like people have lost their mind.”
—Landon McCool (14:24)

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3. Trade Fallout, Parsons Deal & State of the Franchise

• Resisting a Parsons Rehash: Hosts resist constant re-evaluation of the Micah Parsons trade, arguing full judgment requires all results (future picks, cap use) to play out.
• Jerry’s Perspective: Stretch explains Jerry Jones thought he had a deal with Parsons, but after negotiations soured and a perceived lack of commitment from Parsons, the team moved on.

“When he went and laid down on that training table, that sent a resounding FU message to… really all of them. And I think at that time, that’s when Jerry… decided to move on.”
—Glenn Stretch Smith (24:26)

• Franchise Direction: All agree it’s time for Dallas to look forward, rebuild the defense around Williams, and move past Parsons drama.

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4. What the Trades Can Mean for the Team

• Arrow Up: Panel is adamant these trades push the organization in a more positive direction.
• Culture Impact: Bringing in stars can have ripple effects, elevating the whole locker room.
• Williams as Multiplier: Quinnen Williams is seen as someone who can “make other players on the defense better” and help Dallas win some games down the stretch, even if the playoffs seem unlikely.

“He’s probably the best defensive tackle they’ve had since La’Roi Glover... And that’s saying something.”
—Marcus Mosher (27:05)

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5. Reviewing the Monday Night Loss & Current Team Concerns

Key Points:

• Offensive Stagnation: Role players not stepping up; Dak, Lamb, and Pickens can only do so much.
• OL Struggles: Pass protection breaking down when forced to throw.
• Play Calling Under Fire: Lamenting attempts to get “too cute” in the red zone, neglecting strengths like George Pickens’ jump-ball ability and neglecting physical run game when appropriate.

“They are so talented on offense but yet sometimes they make offense way too hard in the red zone... You have George Pickens, who is the best red zone jump ball receiver in the league... I just would like to see them simplify their red zone offense a little bit more.”
—Marcus Mosher (45:49)

• Defensive Play: Frustration with lack of leverage, lack of sound fundamentals, and generally poor play that is putting extra pressure on the offense.

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6. Playoff Prospects and the Tough Path Ahead

• Long Odds: Playoff probability down to 4%.
• Toughest Schedule Remaining: Including back-to-back games vs Chiefs and Eagles.
• The Panel’s Hope: Focus on improvement, aim for .500, and build for the future.

“We just want them to play better football. The record part almost doesn’t matter anymore. They just need to show us that they can play better football than what they’ve been playing.”
—Marcus Mosher (55:05)

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7. Final Notes: Looking Ahead & Other Roster Considerations

• Debut Watch: Demarvion Overshown set to make his debut post-bye; likely to inject energy into the defense.
• Personnel Usage Mysteries: Why aren’t fullbacks or depth RBs being utilized more, especially in the red zone?
• Locker Room/Culture: The promise of Quinnen Williams’ attitude and hunger for winning after losing seasons with the Jets.
• Fun & Personal Tidbits: Marcus announces he’s expecting a baby in March (combine season!), and the crew jokes about weather and football traditions.
• Cowboys in the Limelight: Even NBA stars (Draymond Green) weighing in with trash talk about Dak, drawing laughter and eyerolls from the crew.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Thank God the Cowboys recognized that [Kenneth] Murray was a problem, right? And that they needed to replace him.” —Landon McCool (04:45)
• “He’s going to be the best player on this defense right away and I fully expect him to make Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark look better.” —Marcus Mosher (08:47)
• “There’s not even a guarantee that one of these types of players [Quinnen Williams] is in every draft. Pass-rushing, both-ways defensive tackle… those don’t come every single draft, for God’s sake.” —Landon McCool (14:24)
• “You’ve got a defense that is a damn jalopy. It can’t even get around the corner to go to the front gate—let alone the racetrack.” —Glenn Stretch Smith (32:11)
• “Sometimes we make offense way too hard in the red zone... You have George Pickens—throw them a fade.” —Marcus Mosher (45:49)
• “I feel like the season is over at this point. So I don’t think there’s a Super Bowl team in Texas.” —Landon McCool (55:17)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Logan Wilson Trade Reaction: 03:43 – 08:18
• Quinnen Williams Trade Reaction: 08:47 – 14:09
• Public/Media Backlash Discussed: 14:10 – 17:03
• Micah Parsons Trade Context & Fallout: 20:16 – 26:09
• What This Means for Defense/Team Direction: 27:00 – 32:11
• Monday Night Loss Review: 36:39 – 47:45
• Playoff Odds & Second Half Outlook: 51:06 – 56:10
• On Upcoming Player Roles/Demarvion Overshown: 56:58 – 57:44
• Red Zone/Personnel Usage Rant: 59:00
• Fun Personal Segment (Baby Announcement): 60:15 – 60:41

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Conclusion

This episode cuts through media noise and takes a clear-eyed stance on the Cowboys’ bye-week moves, commending the front office for finally making bold decisions: shoring up linebacker depth and adding a cornerstone DT. While the playoff hopes may be dim, the hosts urge fans to measure progress by the team’s on-field improvement and embrace a new chapter defined by Quinnen Williams and company. The tone is candid, passionate, perceptive—and genuinely hopeful for better football, if not immediate glory.

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For more Cowboys content:
Check out daily episodes with Marcus & Landon on the Locked On Cowboys podcast.

Transcript

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Foreign podcast network your team every day.

[Tyler Rowland]

This is Tyler Rowland from the Locked on Titans podcast. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love how simple it is to pay using Apple Card with Apple Pay. It's built right into my iPhone so it's always ready to go. I was on vacation recently. I didn't even have to bring my wallet to the beach but plus I earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase when I use my Apple card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com Applebee's new grilled cheese.

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Cheeseburger is so cheesy.

[Marcus Mosher]

Want to try the cheese pull?

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Locked On NFL Network Announcer]

I can't believe you get this.

[Marcus Mosher]

And another entree plus an Appetizer for just 25 bucks. That's why I always come to Applebee's for their 2 for 25 deal. Limited time price, participation in selection may vary. Tax and gratuity excluded.

[Jeff Biggs]

I'm Jeff Bigs, the host of the Cowboy Squad show and there's no buy for the Cowboys.

[Marcus Mosher]

I'm Marcus Mosher and I'm very excited that the bye week is here.

[Landon McCool]

I'm Landon McCool and unfortunately I didn't get traded and I'm still a Cowboys fan.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Gwen Stretch met the Cowboys finally have a building block to start rebuilding this mule of a defense.

[Locked On NFL Network Announcer]

How about them Cowboys? It's the Cowboys Squad. Everything Dallas Cowboys every week covering all the big hits and game changing plays from America's team the way only the Locked on podcast network can get ready and switch squad up. It's the Cowboy Squad show starting now.

[Jeff Biggs]

And welcome to another edition of the Cowboys Squad show. Today's episode brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can get can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. We are joined as always by the two co hosts of the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast, Marcus mosier and Landon McG School and of course the one and only former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. As I said, it is the bye week for the Cowboys but as you know, there's no bye week ever. There's no week off. We did a whole off season of shows every week. So there's no off week for the Cowboys but a lot to talk to tonight. We are going to cover everything. The very latest with the team on and off the field. Final thoughts on Monday night's cardinal sin. And and we'll look ahead to what's in store for the Cowboys after this bye week here in week 10. But guys gonna change it up a little bit. Normally we kind of dissect the loss but I thought you know what, let's put that on the back burner for a few minutes. Want to start with the two of you trade deadline. We knew it was coming. You Both said what 90% chance you thought they would make a move. Well, they not only made a move, they made two of them. Not one trade but two trades. Lots of criticism on the outside but for the two of you, let's talk about these two dude two deals. Logan Wilson from the Bengals for a seventh round pick and the big one. Quinn and Williams from the jets for Mozzie Smith, 2026 second round pick and one of the 2027 first round picks. The floor.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Jeff.

[Marcus Mosher]

I'll start with the the Logan Wilson trade because that was the first one that happened. It's a seventh round pick so you can't get upset about any seventh round picked it trade that ever happens. I think the thing here is the Cowboys were looking for baseline linebacker play because if you watch that Monday Night football game and we'll get into it in a little bit, they, they weren't getting that. They were getting very poor linebacker play and it's hard to evaluate a defense when your play is that bad at the second level. Logan Wilson has not played particularly well this year. He's been in and out of the starting lineup for the Bengals, but he is somebody that knows where he's supposed to be. He knows what it is to play good defense. He can cover, he can drop in zones. He's not the most athletic guy but the Cowboys have guys that are athletic at the linebacker, you know, room right now and it doesn't matter. So I listen it's a half season rental and if it goes really well you can keep him in 2026 and maybe you pair him with DeMarvan over shown and if it goes poorly you cut him. No big loss. It's the seventh round pick.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. This is a position that the Cowboys clearly were targeting and look, I think for me I'm just happy that they recognize they had a problem here, you know because and I think even Schottenheimer in the press conference after the trade was announced talked about from a question from Patrick Walker talked about the fact that this was going to be snaps kind of taken away from some of the more veteran guys like this is going to be Murray, who's going to be taking a step back specifically for this and we're still going to see Leo Fowl in there. And I think that that's kind of. That's was the headline to me is, thank God the Cowboys recognized that Murray was a problem. Right. And that they needed to replace him. I think for, you know, what you're getting is like Marcus said, you know, not, not a huge cost. 7th round pick is basically nothing. I think what it does is that it raises the floor floor and, and creates a nice floor for your linebacker group. This is probably kind of the inverse. I almost said it again. I almost said Kyler Murray, Marcus. It's the inverse Kenneth Murray, right. Where you have a guy that, you know, isn't quite the athlete that maybe some of the other guys on the team, but he knows where he's supposed to be. He's good in coverage, he's solid in his technique. We'd like them to tackle a little bit more consistently, but I think outside of that, he's going to be a guy that especially when you combine like with over shown is just going to hopefully create a floor for the linebacker group that it feels like you just haven't had with the group that's in there now.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, I mean this is a guy that Cincinnati's demoted new defensive coordinator and Al golden, obviously he's, he is, they're, they're as bad as the Cowboys. You know, he probably wants his guys and in there that maybe are a little more accustomed to whatever his system is, what he did at Notre Dame. I, you know, there's so many little variables here that I don't think you really know. But for a seventh round pick, normally the seventh round pick doesn't even make the team. So this is a guy that, you know, he, he's going to come in and I think be serviceable with, with the Marvi and Overshone. And you, you just try to take your, your pinky finger up and you try to hit the reset button and see if you can get something out of these guys. For whatever reason, you know, Kenneth Murray, they're, they're not hearing whatever, whatever's coming out of Matt Eber Flush's meeting. I mean, they're, they're, they're obviously not on the same page. And so give yourself a chance to hit the reset button and, and see what you have.

[Marcus Mosher]

And Jeff, real quick, I think the difference between trading For Kenneth Murray vs. Logan Wilson is Kenneth Murray's never been a good linebacker in the NFL. You're always been. You've been betting on the trades, right? You're hoping that with Matt Fl. It would, it would work out with Logan Wilson. That's not true. Logan Wilson has been a really good linebacker. He was maybe the best player on a Super bowl contending team with the Bengals. You're just hoping that you can get back to 85. 90 of that player and I think with a better front ahead of him, which we'll talk about it in a second. Maybe you can. So that to me there is a big difference between those two linebacker traits.

[Landon McCool]

And just, just a plain mis evaluation with the Kenneth Murray thing. I, I like we talked about it at the time. This guy has been what he has been since he's been in the league. I'll take the take my chances on a guy that's getting older that at least one point was playing solid football.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

All right, well.

[Jeff Biggs]

And you bring up a great point too, Marcus. We forget how, how good Logan was not too long ago. So hopefully that change of scenery will do good and he'll be able to kind of get rejuvenated here with the Cowboys. All right, so the, the other big move, Quinn and Williams. A guy that I really, really like a lot. I mean he, he is, he's a stud. A guy that I've liked for like a lot of people. But what do you, but what do you think of his fit here with this defense and this team?

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, I mean I can start. I, I have a hard time imagining him being a bad fit anywhere because he's the type of player that you can do whatever you want him to do. He's an awesome pass rusher. I believe he's number one right now in pass rush win rate according to espn. If you look at his run defensibilities, the highest graded run defender right now by Pro Football Focus. He's got size, he's got quickness, he plays really hard. He is a great fit for a team that needs a cornerstone player. He can. He's going to be the best player on this defense right away and I fully expect him to make OSA De Yazua and Kenny Clark look better. You're going to have fewer double teams on the outside, so guys like Dante Fowler and Donovan Ezraku should look significantly better. These type of guys just aren't available really ever, you know, in free agency or, or trades. That's why you had to pay so much to get him. There's only a couple defensive tackles in the league maybe that you would take over him. He's in the prime of his career. It's not hard to understand why the Cowboys went out and tried to target him.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, he's a gravity guy. He's. I mean, he's maybe not to the extent that Parsons is, but he's another one of these guys that offensive coordinators have to account for. And, and he will provide the gravity of his talent, will provide for the guys around him. Just like Marcus was talking about for Fowler, for Ezraku, for Odigizua, for Kenny Clark. They're all going to get a lot more single teams than they have been previously because everyone's going to have to be concerned with Quinn and Williams. And then on top of that, Quinn and Williams is pretty good at defeating double teams too. So. Yeah, I mean, I think this was a no brainer. You know, the, the when, when this was kind of floated pre the deadline, I thought Quinn and Williams and Simmons were slam dunks for the Cowboys if they could get either one of these guys. So, and I think coach brought it up like, now you've got a piece to kind of start this rebuild around. Right now you've got someone on this defense who's a known commodity, a guy who is of all pro level talent that you can kind of work the pieces around a little bit more. It was a good trade. I think the value was what you needed it to be and you went out and got a guy who can actually make a difference on this defensive line.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, again, this is somebody that you know, you know as a player. You, you know what you have in a Pro bowl player, you don't have to guess from a draft standpoint. This, this, this allows you not to have to reach for need in a draft. It, it kind of takes that back a little bit and Lord knows we don't want to get to reaching and having to grasp for need. I've heard the argument, well, the Cowboys are giving up draft picks and they give up next year. Second, what have they done in the second round the last few years? So give me a guy that's a proven football player in here. You know, we've always talked about, okay, is a defense built from the front back or if you got a really, really. If you got a special corner and you got somebody that could shut down the field, might you flip that line of thinking? I've always felt like you got to build it from the front back. And what it does is it allows you in your draft now not to have to reach for need. Because I don't want to start calling roll on the, you know, Kabika Pittman's and Ebenezer Ekibons and, and all of these guys that the Cowboys tried to reach and they reached for need and, and it was not good. I mean it. And so now you've given yourself at least a chance to play multiple cards in, in next year's draft. Yeah, they gave up the 27 higher of the ones in 27, but I, I got no issue with that. I heard somebody today, one of the shows say, well, Dallas gave back 90% of, of what they got in the Micah Parson. No, they didn't.

[Landon McCool]

What are you talking about?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, yeah, it was one of the gu, the long haired guy. I, I, I, I don't even know who they are.

[Landon McCool]

I'm sorry, it's Nick Wright I think is who you're talking about.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And God bless you. Did you sneeze? I don't know who he is. But at the end of the day, I mean, just, you know, to, to make that statement is, you know, I mean, obviously everybody has an opinion, but that is not 90% of what you got for Micah Parsons. Now I get it. Some people sit back and say, you know, wow, The jets got two ones for, for Sauce Gardner and they got A.D. mitchell and did they get more for Sauce Gardner than the Dallas Cowboys got for Micah? I just think when you start continually looking at where you're at at the time of those trades, I just don't know that you can compare those two things. And so this is a football team that has a window to win with an offense this year and next year, and then, then they're going to have to set the reset button from an offensive standpoint. So with that being said, if you can gather Pro bowl football players and you, you, you do it in line with how you build a defense from the front back, I got no issue with it.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, go ahead, Jeff.

[Jeff Biggs]

I was gonna, I was gonna ask the two of you. Marcus, Atlanta, because you're, you're, your show is different every single day. In all objectivity. Why, why so much criticism though?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Why?

[Jeff Biggs]

Why?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Why?

[Jeff Biggs]

I mean, it's been brutal.

[Landon McCool]

I'm laughing because literally Marcus and I before this, just to peel the curtain back a little bit, Marcus and I literally just decided that we're gonna do an entire show based on the, the frankly outrageous pushback on some of this Clincy Williams. I mean, it's, it's crazy to me. And, and honestly, like, I think that, I think we can all agree or disagree on the value. I think it's Safe to like, you know, oh, maybe I wouldn't have given up this. Or maybe it's a slight overpay. Right. But, but the people that are acting absolutely incredulous about the Cowboys trading a first round pick, not even this year's first round pick, a next year's first round pick for a, you know, pretty generational defensive tackle, a position that, and this was the other thing I was going to bring up. There's not even a guarantee that one of these types of players is in every draft, right? Like pass rushing both ways. Defensive tackle, like those don't come every single draft, for God's sake. So yeah, there's an opportunity cost that the Cowboys also paid for here with this trade. But to kind of go back to what you're saying, I, I really do feel like people have lost their mind when they are saying, seriously when they're saying, I, I saw one guy from ESPN who gave the trade an F. Yeah, an F. Like, are you, are you serious? Like, you know, the Micah Parsons trade happened a few, like a few months ago, just in case you guys are looking for an F trade or something. But I mean like the idea that like people are anything more than the standard deviation away from the, the neutral on this is ridiculous because it's a very straightforward trade. And, and if you have concerns about the timeline of things or, or, or how this lines up with the Cowboys, like coach just laid it out. All you have to do is do a very surface level dive on, on, on over the cap or see what the Cowboys cap situation is and see the window that they have placed for themselves. And Quinn and Williams fits quite snugly into that window. So to me, this actually makes a lot of sense. I understand that everyone is trying to make fetch happen with, with everything that the Jerry Jones does is dumb and stupid, but that doesn't help anybody by just kind of poo pooing every single thing that Jerry does. We have to be critical and actually evaluate these situations on a case by case basis. And if you're looking at this Quinn and Williams thing and you think this is a terrible, terrible mistake the Cowboys have made, I question your knowledge of what's actually going on in the Star.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Right. Yeah, but I mean, don't you think it's people kind of getting at Jerry because he calls himself a carnival barker, whatever else, I mean that, you know, you're setting yourself up for that. So now it become, you know, now we're verbal WWE wrestling.

[Landon McCool]

It's not, you're not wrong. It's it's like, you've got the guy. Oh, yeah. If I get my hands on Jerry Jones, I'm gonna. You know, it's like, it's so ridiculous how carnival barking the ESPN has gotten. It's like they're responding to. To Jerry's Jerryisms with their own Jerryisms at this point.

[Marcus Mosher]

I just enjoyed that whole segment. We got a mean girls reference from. From Landon. And then going back to my childhood with Ebenezer Ekibon. I was like, I think I was eight when the Cowboys drafted Ebon. My dad was trying to talk me into the pick, so it's a good start.

[Jeff Biggs]

Jeff, you gonna miss Mozzie Smith?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Where?

[Marcus Mosher]

I. Where are we gonna miss him?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

We will. We.

[Landon McCool]

We wouldn't notice that he was gone at this point.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, well, we come back. I have two. Just two final questions, and then we'll move on. But I. I think they're. They're important, and I really want to get your input on the trade and kind of the fallout from the trade. We'll do that when we come back. Great to be with you on this Wednesday night. It's the bye week for the Cowboys, but not for the Cowboys squad show. All right, I want to talk to you about fanduel, because as you know, it is that time of the year for FanDuel and the NBA is back, and there's no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your teams making that late push. So right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to FanDuel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, welcome back to the Cowboy squad show, along with Marcus Mosher, Landon McCool, and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. We're talking about the two Cowboys trades that were made. All right, so two kind of final questions. Number one, when you. I know it's only been a, you know, 24 hours, a little more than 24 hours, but when you look at kind of where the season started and the mica trade and then bringing these two guys in and you still have some picks left. You know, we're talking about the criticism and pushback, but how do you feel about, you know, where things stand now that the dust is settled, if you will?

[Landon McCool]

Can I start here real quick? Because this frustrates me and I understand that there's like, this constant need to, like, check in and like, where are we right now? But it's, it's really, really hard, I think, to, Well, I mean, it's, it's pointless and painful, let's put it that way, to constantly be reevaluating the Micah Parsons trade without knowing the actual outcome of all the, all the results. Right. Like, without knowing, hey, who these next picks are going to be in 27 that you get. Well, I guess the 27 picks gone, but who, who the extra pick is going to be this year. Right. Without having the full equation and, and without knowing, like, the, the, the, the money that was saved and how that money was spent. It's not that I don't think that we should be re evaluating the, the Parsons trade. I think, you know, you can evaluate it at certain points, but this kind of constant rehashing of the, of the Parsons trade, to me it's not beneficial, and it certainly doesn't help quantify how good this current trade is.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Okay.

[Landon McCool]

I, I, I just feel like. No, and I understand, like, why we're talking about it, but I think the idea of, like, trying to arbitrate the, the, the, the, you know, whether the Parsons trade was good or not without getting all the results, I think is a little bit unfair to the, to the deal, at least to understand exactly, you know, the totality of, of where it was in the scale of good.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Or bad for the Cowboys.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, not that I think it's good. I think it's bad. But how bad is it?

[Marcus Mosher]

That's what I was gonna say. Landon and I would, wouldn't have done the Micah Po Parsons trade. And I don't want to speak for coach. I'll let him have his opinion there. But now at this point, you can't just keep going back to the trade. It's about making your team better for the next couple years. And they felt like getting a player like Quinn and Williams is going to be the best thing possible to help this team move forward. And I have a hard time disagreeing because this player is so rare.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Rare.

[Marcus Mosher]

I was thinking about the Browns who just drafted Mason Graham at pick number five. And Brown's fans are hoping and wishing that two years down the line, he can eventually become Quinn and Williams. Right. Like that's the hope is that he can become that player. He was taken at 5 overall. Most classes don't even have a player as good as Mason Graham. So I totally get it. The other thing here that I think is fascinating is I was sitting at a restaurant today having a Permani sandwich. Coach, have you ever had a permanent brother sandwich before? It's got the french fries inside of it, the coleslaw to Pittsburgh.

[Landon McCool]

Oh, man. Famous, famous Sailors.

[Marcus Mosher]

We'll have you come up here sometime in the snow and you'll, you'll love it in July. Okay? And I was watching a, a segment from a certain four letter network and they, they were making the argument, why not just do this trade in the offseason? Why do it now? You're three, five and one. And my point is, like, why not do it right now? You want to get him in the building, get him used to, you know, playing in Dallas, get him used to playing next to Osa Digizua. And now you can kind of evaluate your defense, Jeff, and like, okay, hey, now that we got Quinn and Williams, all of a sudden our defensive line is so much better. We don't need to throw more picks at that unit. We'll be okay there. We just need to throw these first round picks and free agent dollars in the secondary, and that's how we get it better. I just don't, I guess I don't get the hang, the hand wringing from making a move now versus waiting six more months before you go do one.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

All right, I mean, here, here's kind of my, my, my thought on this. And, and I'm so glad that Jerry did come out and finally say it on, on first take the other day, because I think that's, I think it's great because he, he, he really showed you, he, he showed you his hand. I aim in no way was I in favor of trading Micah Parsons. I, I, I think you, you, he's a generational player. But here's what happened in, in, in Jerry's defense. He thought he had a deal with that young man. He shook his hand and thought he had a deal with him. Okay? And then it backfired.

[Landon McCool]

All right?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And then the agent wanted this, and then T.J. watt got paid. And then there were other little variables that came into it. And then Jerry was like, I'm going to step back from this. And maybe, you know, we just had him play on the franchise tag. Whatever the scenario, it was there. But when he went and laid down on that training table, that, that, that that sent a resounding fu message to.

[Landon McCool]

To really all of them.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And I think at that time, that's when Jerry. And if you see the grimace that he looks at his face and he changed his whole demeanor, I think he wore two layers of enamel off his teeth while off his veneers, gritting and, and, and, and saying, you know, neither one of these guys would have laid their ass down on that table. Whatever however was he said it, at the end of the day, that's what pushed it over the top. So I'm kind of like, I agree with him. I, I don't like that. I didn't like that posture at the time and I don't like it now. So move on. You made the trade. I'm not for it. I, I think you could have absolutely done something to work that out. But there are other variables in this scenario now. You got to move on. I mean, it is time to, to move on. And I think it's going to be hard to. Because you're going to see Micah Parsons wreck havoc for five or six years. He's going to show you what kind of player he could have been. But I just think now we're past that now. Let's go rebuild this football team. Let's deal with where we're at today on the, on, on the 5th of November.

[Jeff Biggs]

You know, coach, you always say losing is contagious, just like winning is contagious. And I agree with something you said, Marcus earlier. I think greatness is contagious. I, I'm, I've, you know, my, my whole adult life, my whole career. Obviously we all love star players, right? And I think it's, it's a star, star driven league. Star driven leagues. And so to me, I think anytime you can add a, a superstar or a star player, that can only have a positive effect on the rest of your team. And so I'm looking forward to that. But with that said, you know what, what, Realistically, without getting ahead of ourselves, what, what can this do? The defense can't, can't get much worse, right? Although I thought they did play.

[Landon McCool]

We said that before, you know, and it didn't work out that way.

[Marcus Mosher]

I feel bad for Logan Wilson. He goes from the 32nd ranked defense in the NFL all the way up to the 31st ranked, and it might actually feel like a big improvement. I, I don't want to talk about the record so much because they play some really quality teams coming up and I think they could play some awesome games and still come up a little short Short, where we still feel encouraged, I think adding someone like Quinn in, not only do you improve the, you know, the defensive tackle spot, I think he's got some kind of force multiplier where he's going to make other players on the defense better. Maybe you don't have to blitz as often. Maybe you get to more second and longs, third and longs. Because he is a really good run defender. I just think it can't overstate enough how much having a player like him can have an impact on your defense. Is he Micah Parsons? No, but, man, he's going to be from down in and down out, one of the best players that they've had over the last decade. And honestly, he's probably the best defensive tackle they've had since Leroy Glover. And that's saying something. This is a franchise that has desperately needed a player like this. And now you get him and in the prime of his career, under contract the next two and a half years. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

[Landon McCool]

How dare you. Forget about those three games of David Irving, Marcus.

[Marcus Mosher]

I know that Tampa Bay game on Sunday Night Football was a lot of fun.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think. I think you get him in here. Look, first of all, you get him in here so you can win some games. Like, I mean, I don't even care about, like, I mean, I do care about, but like making the playoffs, whatever. Like, I just want to win some more games. Like, I don't want to watch these games that, that where we're just being absolutely brutalized on defense. So, you know. Yeah, you get him in here to learn the playbook. You get him in here to learn what it's like to be in Dallas. You get in. You get him in here so that you can, you know, kind of help him acclimate to what you want to do and then learn how you want to build your defense around him. But you get him in here to win some football games, and again, you don't have to, like, you don't have to be making the playoffs, but if you can get in here and just kind of steal some games here and there because your defense is playing a little bit better, maybe it inspires your offense. Maybe Philadelphia collapses like they have before, and suddenly you got a window again despite against all odds. Right.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, Landon, real quick, one of the things, if you listen to the Quinn and Williams interview that he did today with the. The Cowboys media, you could just hear in his voice how exhausted he was from losing in New York. We talk a lot about how much we want draft picks and how fans, sometimes you're rooting to get the higher pick. You can see how much it wears down players like Quinn and Williams and for him going from the jets to the Cowboys. And I know the Cowboys have not been a winning organization like in terms of Super Bowls and championships over the last five, 10, 15 years, but there's a big difference between the Cowboys and the jets. And I think that's what's got Quinn and Williams excited, is he's going to get to play in a bunch of prime time games on a team that's trying to win games.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, consistently. Consistently winning at least.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Again, guys, there's a lot of difference in playing for the Dallas Cowboys and for the New York Jets. I don't care what anybody says. And a lot of people don't like that. And that's okay. I mean that. That's what makes it the way it is. I just, right now, and I know you guys have heard me say this, and I, and, and I really, truly believe this, your, your arrow is either going up or, or it's going down. Very seldom is. Is it a flat. Very seldom. And I don't care if you're talking about getting yourself in shape when you're, when you're a little older in life like me or, or you're, or you're trying to build a football team. That arrow needs to be turned in the right direction. That arrow needs to be turned up. And if you grade every day and you look at your life every day in that way, the question is, have you done something better today to get yourself to get your football team to get going the direction you want to go? Have you done that today? And if you're realistic looking at this organization, there's no way that you can do anything except put the arrow going the right direction after this trade and after making your defense better.

[Jeff Biggs]

Well done, Preach, Coach. I love it. That's awesome.

[Marcus Mosher]

Be that positive with me when you call me.

[Jeff Biggs]

I think just to add to that, as you guys know, over the course of a long season, right? I mean, the good teams get better, they improve, they grow, they get, they get stronger, they win, they, they try to get better and prepared for a playoff run. So I, I am, I'm with you. I, I'm, I'm really excited to see how they come out of the buy. Hopefully maybe this will give the team kind of a reboot, a reboost, if you will, after a couple of tough losses and, you know, they can start the, their second half With a win on the road and, and try to get this thing going, stay in the wild card race.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, and I think that's the other point. I mean you're, you're at the halfway point here. You're, you're at the by week. You're, you're, you're three, five and one. Your, your defense is a damn jalopy. I, it ain't. It, it can't, it can't even get around the corner to, to, to go to the front gate. To hell with getting to the racetrack. And so what are you going to do from a self scout look at your football team and how are you going to get this thing to where you can streamline it better? Because you know, I can just tell you from an analyst standpoint, I don't like what's going on defensively. And not only do I not like, I don't like anything. I don't like the leverage they play with. I don't like the head position they play with. I don't like the first step off the football. I don't like nothing. Okay, so how are we going again to get this going the right direction? You know, we can sit here and talk about coaching players. You have to take a hard look at the midway point and say, what are we going to do right here in order to move this needle? I, I just keep saying the same thing. But you got to look at it and say, where are we today as the 3, 5 and 1 just booty butt defense? You gotta, you gotta try to make that better. And if you don't, if you don't think that, then I, I don't know what you're looking at after what we just seen the last two days.

[Jeff Biggs]

Well said. All right, with that said, when we come back, we're gonna just spend a couple minutes looking back at Monday night. Gotta move on. But I think we need to kind of look at that and take it. Talk about where they go from here with the Raiders coming up a week from Monday. So we'll do that when we come back. This is the Cowboys squad show.

[Marcus Mosher]

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[Glenn Stretch Smith]

No.

[Marcus Mosher]

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[Jeff Biggs]

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[Marcus Mosher]

The offense was, I don't want to say the most surprising because Jonathan Gannon has actually done a really good job against Dak Prescott over his career. But it's, it was fascinating how well they did at holding up in the red zone and how they were challenging these receivers. You know, George Pickens and CD Lamb have been almost unstoppable at home this year. And while those guys had some big numbers, most of it in the second half, it wasn't like they took over the game. And I think one of the big things that's happened over the last couple weeks is that you're getting good production from Lamb and Pickens, but it's the other guys that haven't stepped up. And Jake Ferguson is the guy that I want to mention. He was held without a catch in the Denver game and in this game, five catches for 50 yards. But he had multiple drops and including one drop that probably would have been a touchdown. He had another one that would have taken them down to the one yard line. He had a fumble. He had a holding call. He's not particularly strong as a blocker like, you need some of these other role players to step up. Kevonte Turpin dropped the pass early in this game. Javante Williams fumbled the ball. This wasn't the case earlier in the year. These guys were making a bunch of plays, and now we're starting to fall back into not being able to trust basically anybody outside of Dax, CD and Pickets.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Landon McCool]

On top of that, the offensive line didn't play well. I think that you saw good run blocking when they had the opportunity, but when they had the chance, when they were taken out of a neutral game script and they were forced to throw the football, that's when you started to see the tackles really struggle to hold up in pass protection. And you saw Dak under duress a lot, which, you know, didn't help the situation with throwing the football. You saw it with, you know, some of the, like, I think about that throw to the sideline with CD Lamb, where he was up in the air. It seemed like forever waiting for the ball to come down because Dak couldn't quite get it all the way into it and to. To deliver a good toss to the side. You know, I. I think that this offense is elite when they are able to keep in a neutral game script, allow them to run the football, allow them to attack a defense, you know, in a variety of ways. But when they're forced to throw because they're. They're behind and consistently have to pass protect when and when the pass rush they know is coming, when, when the pass. Well, I'm sorry. When the pass rushers know that the pass is coming, I think that that's when they've really struggled. And it feels like a lot of the. The magic that the offense has kind of gets seeped away. So. Which is not a great thing when you've got a defense that is bleeding points on a regular basis. And I think what happened with the Arizona game is that that plus a couple of. Of bad calls that kind of didn't go their way at certain points, put them into a negative game script very early in this game. And then their efforts to try to get out of the quicksand really kind of on offense really kind of sunk them deeper and. And it just became a folly at a certain point.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Here's my. Here's my kind of take on the offensive line. And that is, here's the upside is they have a lot of depth. The downside is when they're not always playing together, it's hard to keep that kind of group kind of in unison, you know, as what called five big dancing bears. I mean, where they're all stepping and they're all, you know, they're all working in unison. They feel the pressure of one guy going away and they know what they've got next to them in order to move and get that done. So the downside is then you. When your starters come back, it kind of takes a little time to get to working together. Here's the other thing. Dak Prescott has got to get to where he can understand if teams take away the home run, if teams don't let you push the ball into the middle of the field like he tried to do in Denver just before half, they don't allow you to run deep overs. They say, we're taking that part of the game away from you. He has to be and become patient enough to just continue to throw the comeback out there to Pickens. He could have thrown the comeback to Pickens all night long. All night long. Now, here's the flip side, is they're going to allow you to do that all the way down the field. And then when they get in the red zone, then they tighten the defense up and then it's not as open, it's not as big a window. But you have to stay patient in those situations. If teams don't allow you. And in Denver and Arizona both said, you're not hitting the home run on us, we're not going to allow you to do that. And I think that's a frustrating thing for me, too, was then you get the ball down there, first drive, and you don't come away with points, which I think is really, really dumb.

[Landon McCool]

You've spent all this time building a efficient run game, and then you. You don't use it in the red zone.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

No, no, no, you're right. But I'm saying. I guess what I'm saying, Landon, is they can take that away from you. Right in. In. So I just want to see a patient offense. And if, if you want, if you're going to build that running game, I'm. I'm concerned a little bit about Williams workload, that this is just me talking to you. I'm tired of his workload. And so I think if you build that running game around two backs and you can, you know, you can ying and yang it and you can keep doing that, eventually they'll come down and stop the run and then you can hit the deep ball. But I, I don't think either Denver, I know they didn't well, just looking at the film, neither Denver nor Arizona were going to allow you the home run. They. That. That was out of question. And so either you start running the football like you said, then you get them to bring the other guy in the box, then it gives you the chance to go over the top, or you stay patient and you, you take what they're giving you.

[Landon McCool]

Well, I think what I was talking about specifically, and I'm agreeing with you, Coach, I think what, what I was thought was frustrating was specifically in the red zone. Like, you know, they're, they're. They're winning the line of scrimmage a lot of times in this run game. Why aren't you pushing the issue when you're three yards out? Right.

[Marcus Mosher]

I. I just stopped doing it out of shotgun. Like, if you're going to run the ball, get under center and run the ball.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, get under center and like, you can move bodies. We've seen you move bodies even and look like for what coach is talking about, you're right. Teams are taking away the deep ball. Why did you bring in this run game? Why did you develop this run game if not to get these defenses out of the shell coverages that are preventing the. The downfield pass leverage, the run game? When you. I, I think there's a, there's. There's times when this team is, is. Is trying to be aggressive. And, and I, and I think that, that it's a, it's a great thing to have an aggressive quarterback who's willing to throw into T. Because that's the only way that you're going to consistently generate big plays in the NFL. But I also think that there's a point where, like coach is saying that you need to do the prudent thing if they're giving you a comeback route on the. If they're giving you seven yards each time and it allows you to, to march down the field because you can throw that out to Pickens over and over. Take it. If you have the, if you're averaging six yards a carry and, and you have the opportunity to, to run the football in the red zone, do it. Like. I just feel like sometimes we've spent all this time making Dax life easier. Adding Pickens, adding a run game, giving him these options. It still feels like when things get tight, that he still wants to solve the problem of his own accord instead of leveraging these tools that he has now on offense, which can help him.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Here's the other thing as we head in here to this second half too, guys I, I'm, I look, I, I think soon Maker is, is a serviceable tight end. I, I want to see more span forward. I want to see his big ass setting the edge out there. I want to see him because I know he can block, I know he can get after. I want to see more of that. And now on the defensive side, here's the other thing. I, I want to see more. If Marshawn Neyland has not been healthy and he's now healthy, I need to see more of him this second half. I need to see more of Houston. I need to see more Ezraku getting better every time. I need to, I need to see that so that I can evaluate where I'm at. Along with, like you said, being able to run the football. Span forward will get after your ass. I mean I would, I would cut him loose out there.

[Marcus Mosher]

One more thing, Jeff, that I wanted to mention about the red zone offense. They are so talented on offense but yet sometimes they make offense way too hard in the red zone. Like yeah, there's no reason to be trying to run, you know, Jake Ferguson all the way across the formation and have him try to make a tough catch and then get up the field when you're two yards out. Like you have George Pickens, who is the best red zone jump ball receiver in the league. No players drawn more pass interference calls than George Pickens. If you've got a light box, run it. If you've got one on one, throw them a fade. They have not thrown George Pickens one single fade inside the 10 yard line this year. They've got two receivers that can do that at the high level. There's only a couple things bad that are going to happen. You're either going to get a penalty call, going to catch the ball, it's going to be incomplete and those are really the only things that are going to happen. I just would like to see them simplify their red zone offense a little bit more rather than designing plays for Ryan Floroy in the back of the end zone like they did on Sunday or on Monday. Excuse me.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah, and you all made excellent points. And I would just add, it seems like when the offense was at its peak, scoring 40 points a game, they were dominant, they were imposing their will. Everything looked smooth and, and in control and to your points. You know, the last couple games they just have been on their heels trying to, trying to throw too much Dak, trying to do too much and it has just not looked good. And I think the results speak for themselves. So hopefully that will be something they can straighten out as well.

[Landon McCool]

Last thing I'll say is, and I, I keep bringing this up, what, what you're asking the offense to do on a week to week basis is patently unfair. You know, it's like you're asking them to score points while also protect a terrible defense. And it's difficult to serve two masters in that way. It's difficult to possess the ball and be explosive.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Right.

[Landon McCool]

Like so as much as I'm also advocating for them to be running the football more efficiently or at least leaning on that run game. If you're struggling to score points in the red zone, and this has been a thing that has, you know, been a thing for a few weeks now, stop getting in the red zone. Take shots from the high red zone, right? Take shots from the 25 yard line to get into the end zone. If you want to be explosive, you don't have to just do it from your own 30. You can, you could take shots from the 35 yard line and, and see if you can get into the end zone that way. Because to me, you have a higher rate of a higher floor than other teams when you take these shots a little bit further out because you have a kicker who can make you right. If things fall apart when you're outside the red zone, leverage that and leverage it in such a way that you're taking more opportunities to be explosive from the high red zone, just outside the red zone. So you don't even have to deal with the difficult defenses that you face in inside the red zone.

[Jeff Biggs]

And, and final thing for me, with all that said, you know, we, we gave a lot of praise to the play calling early on. Are you all in agreement? Kind of thinking that, you know, maybe they need to just calm down a little bit and just, just do it. Run the ball shot.

[Marcus Mosher]

He needs to continue to develop. I think teams have figured out a little bit what he likes to do and they're attacking him. This is where he needs to show some growth as a play caller.

[Landon McCool]

I, I think that's true, but I also think again, if there's any one person who's being put into the worst spot because of the defense, it's specifically the play caller, because of what, what's, what's available on his menu. But I don't disagree. You know, Shoddy needs to kind of continue to grow with this offense.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Hey, he's, he's constantly looking for the perfect call, knowing they're fixing to come back and score.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Jeff Biggs]

Simple enough. All right. When we come back, it's going to be a real quick break. Our final thoughts, final segment and something I saw today. Got some good news, but something kind of ugly. I'll share that with you when we come back. This is the Cowboys Squad Show.

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[Jeff Biggs]

All right, told you that would be quick. Welcome back to the Cowboys Squad show with the two co hosts of the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast, Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool. Did you guys, I want to give a little plug here about what you guys will have not only the rest of this week, but also the rest of next week until we get back from the buy. The Cowboys get back from the buy. But did one of your episodes have the, the phrase is the season over in it?

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean, well, you're three, five and one, right. Right now after nine games, their schedule, I believe, is the hardest in the NFL the rest of the way. And there's nine teams in the NFC right now who have at least two more wins than you.

[Landon McCool]

Ouch.

[Marcus Mosher]

It feels, it feels like their odds of making the postseason are very, very slim. Maybe you go on a run, maybe Philadelphia collapses, but that was the game. Like if you were gonna win, if you were gonna make a, a run to the playoffs, you kind of had to win this game at home against the Cardinals. I think it kind of tells you where they're at as a team.

[Landon McCool]

Hey, Marcus, who played in the super bowl last year?

[Marcus Mosher]

That would be the Chiefs in the Eagles.

[Landon McCool]

And who are you playing on Thanksgiving this year?

[Marcus Mosher]

That'd be the Chiefs.

[Landon McCool]

And who are you playing three days before that?

[Marcus Mosher]

That'd be the Eagles.

[Landon McCool]

Ah, interesting. Okay. So, yeah, I think it's a very tough skill schedule, guys. The number one schedule in the NFL and that, that's just a highlight of, of some of the things that this Cowboys team is going to have to face. And I think, you know, listen, is the season over? No, I think I, last time I checked, they were at, I think 14 to make the playoffs, which is seems ridiculously high.

[Marcus Mosher]

The number I saw today was 4%.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Okay.

[Landon McCool]

So it's even gone down since maybe I needed to look at the updated number. So, yeah, I Mean, look, it's the, the chances of making the playoffs are not very great. If you were gonna make the playoffs, you were gonna need to make a run that includes, you know, winning some games in which almost none of the games, except for maybe the Raiders game are you going to be favored in. And on top of that, you've got a team that the last two times we saw them play don't look like, it doesn't look like a team that's about to go on a, that's the.

[Marcus Mosher]

Big, they don't look, you know, playoff team team.

[Landon McCool]

They don't look like a team that's like, arrow is pointing. Now listen, we've made some trades. Things are different with the defense. Maybe they come out of the buy and they look like a different team. And that certainly could happen. But I, I, I don't think it was unreasonable for us to like, look at what happened in, in Dallas against Arizona and, and, and feel like, man, it's, it's, it's gonna be an incredibly difficult thing for this team to turn, turn around and do something this year.

[Marcus Mosher]

They could go six and two down the stretch, which would be an awesome, like, if they went 6 and 2, that would be something that we would be really excited about for this Cowboys team. And that's not going to get you into the postseason. You're just not going to get into the postseason at 9, 7 and 1 in the NFC. And that kind of shows you what you're up against. They're going to have to go 7 and 1 to do it. And with the Lions, the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Chargers and probably the Raiders here in, in week 11, going to be tough.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

You guys, remember early in the year we were looking at this schedule. We were going, man, they got to beat Carolina, they got to beat Chicago, they got to beat Arizona in order to give themselves.

[Landon McCool]

They lost, they lost all those games. They lost everything we talked about.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Right. So, so what is the question here? If, if, I mean, what are we really talking about? They've, they lost all of those games now headed into the toughest part of the schedule. And, and, and I mean, we're still trying to, you know, we're still trying to hit a, it didn't happen.

[Landon McCool]

The impossible parlay. Is that what you're saying?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Like, yeah, you're trying to go, okay, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do this Chisholm Bop math where I get on my knuckles and I, not only is it my fingers, my knuckles, it's on my toes, it's air And I'm gonna, I'm gonna figure out a percentage here. I mean quit, please. Go, go beat the, go beat the Raiders. And then let's see if you can figure out a way maybe to get to.500. And then, you know, you, you, then you've got something to at least talk about. I, I mean like to, to sit here and say, well, they, they gotta be, they gotta be.

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean, we just want to see.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Lose three of those games.

[Marcus Mosher]

We, we just want them to play better football. The record part almost doesn't matter anymore. It's. They, they just need to show us that they can play better football than.

[Landon McCool]

What they've been playing and start with.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Half of the football.

[Landon McCool]

Like, I'll even add this. Like there's a question mark at the end of season over, right? So we're asking the question. I don't think it's, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that this season is over. I think it's fair to ask the question, right, that could this good this season. As far as what the Cowboys, we want them to accomplish coming into this year, I heard every single Cowboys fan go, it doesn't matter if you make the playoffs. What matters is making it to the NFC championship game. What matters is going to the Super Bowl. Well, guys, if that's your standard, I have to tell you that I feel like the season is over at this point. So I don't think there's a Super.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Bowl team in Texas. You just got to figure out how to get the Tech Texans defense and the Cowboys offense, piecemeal them together and let's, let's go play.

[Landon McCool]

That sounds like a trade. All right.

[Jeff Biggs]

Well, hey, I always say that the NFL is the no favorites league, so maybe, maybe they'll surprise us with some games down the stretch. We'll see. But what do you guys got coming up on the show?

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, so no crossover Thursday because obviously the Cowboys don't have a game unless we want to have Stretch replacing me as the host. That'd be a fun crossover. But instead we're going to continue to break down this Quinn and Williams trade on Thursday. We're going to discuss all the stupid narratives that are out there and why they're all wrong. We'll tell you what we expect from Quinn and Williams. We're going to continue to dive into some players that are going to have big roles in the second half of the year for the Cowboys. At least five defenders are going to be playing big parts on defense that we haven't Heard much from in the first half of the year, so be on the lookout for that.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right. And one of them, I think I don't want to. I don't want to steal any thunder, but one of them I think might be demarvion over shown who might be on the list. We heard is supposed to make his debut a week from Monday against the Raiders, which is great news. Can't wait for that.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

And you wonder how much just having him and his energy on the field could really, you know, rejuvenate this defense. And I'm sure the Cowboys are going to be very cautious within because they play, what is it, three games in however many days. 12 days.

[Landon McCool]

11 days. 12 days.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, you know, they play on Monday and then they play on Sunday. They play on Thursday. That is a. Then they play a following Thursday game, which is just a ludicrous schedule. But having over shown back is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

[Jeff Biggs]

Can't wait.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Since it's an off week, Marcus, why don't you give us a weather report there in Pennsylvania for Monday?

[Marcus Mosher]

See? See, he's loving this because he called me today and he was asking what the weather is doing and I told him that on Monday we're having our first big snowstorm of the year. 11 inches supposed to come. So he was just giddy about it the whole time that I'm going to be up here suffering.

[Landon McCool]

It's like a high, a low of 65 here.

[Marcus Mosher]

Great. So happy.

[Jeff Biggs]

You know, we were talking about the running game and. Right. And Javante Williams and man, I mean, he. Because of his size, he does a great job blocking, but he takes some hard hits back there when he's pass blocking. Malik Davis was waived again. So do you think that means Jaden Blue will kind of get out of the doghouse and maybe have a back.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

That.

[Landon McCool]

That's. That has to do with Blue. That has nothing to do with Malik Davis. I mean, I think Malik Davis is gonna come back out on the practice squad and take his call ups and. And then we're gonna continue to see. I know Blue can. Yeah, I mean, I think. I think Blue's still. Still got some developing to do.

[Marcus Mosher]

Okay, real quick, the Cowboys signed Hunter Lipke to an extension right before the season. We thought that was going to be a bigger role in the offense. He's got six touches.

[Landon McCool]

I was gonna bring that up. I was gonna bring that up in the red zone conversation because, like, your coach was talking about how Javonte Williams, he's worried about Touches. And you're not wrong, Coach, but I also, yeah, the Cowboys signed Lipke to this deal, and I, I mean, why can't you give him the ball in the red zone, like, you know, or, or, you know, use a little bit more two back stuff and pound the ball up in some ISO stuff? So. I don't know, man. I, I, I. They need to use Lipy more, and obviously I'm a fullback homer, but they do need to use it more.

[Marcus Mosher]

To. You're kind of quiet over there.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm just. I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm thinking about. I'm just thinking about that foot of snow you're gonna get. I just, I'm just. I just can't. I just can't. Like, it doesn't resonate with.

[Marcus Mosher]

I'll FaceTime you when it happens. I'll show you.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I will. I will be sitting on the edge of my chair in anticipation of just watching it pound down there.

[Marcus Mosher]

No, I'm gonna make my pregnant wife go out there and shovel it. So I'm in.

[Landon McCool]

Don't do that. Don't do that.

[Jeff Biggs]

Congratulations on that.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Thank you.

[Marcus Mosher]

I guess that's the first time I've said that on the podcast.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

There you go.

[Landon McCool]

Is that true? Is that the first?

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, probably. That's fine. Coach got it out of me.

[Landon McCool]

Nice.

[Jeff Biggs]

When's the due date, if you don't mind us?

[Marcus Mosher]

March 1st. So right during combine season. So I've already talked to my wife about, like, what's the process going to be like if we're, you know, in the delivery room? How are we going to cover these 40s? We'll figure it out. I've got my tablet, my laptop. We'll be go. We'll be all right.

[Landon McCool]

I'm gonna be FaceTiming with Marcus while his wife is holding the phone.

[Marcus Mosher]

As soon as the baby comes out, we'll be doing the hand measurements and all that kind of stuff.

[Jeff Biggs]

That's right.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah. We'll be all right.

[Jeff Biggs]

Nice.

[Landon McCool]

Good stuff.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

All right.

[Jeff Biggs]

One little thing before we go. I. Not even really worth mentioning. I'm kind of disappointed. Draymond Green calling Dak a bum. I mean, come on. I. I love Draymond being outspoken, and I don't hope he didn't mean it, you know, in a real malicious way, but come on, he's better than that.

[Marcus Mosher]

He's probably not better than that, but that's okay. That's the Lakers side of me coming out the. The Laker Homerism. So Draymond Green has been carried for a long time there in Golden State. Be thankful for what your teammates have done, Draymond, and maybe stick to basketball.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I got no comment on Draymond Green.

[Marcus Mosher]

I got you.

[Jeff Biggs]

It shows you though. The Cowboys. Cowboys are front and center for a lot of people, you know.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

That's right. Yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

I think Draymond's a Lions fan, so, you know, I can't blame him.

[Jeff Biggs]

That's true.

[Landon McCool]

That's right.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, guys, well enjoy the the rest of the week and the weekend off if you will watch football without the Cowboys and we'll do it again next week. We'll kind of look ahead. We'll be back together looking ahead for the Monday night matchup against the Raiders. But again, be sure and check out Marcus at Landon for the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast. Catch the coach on tv and again, we'll be back with you one week from tonight. Thanks to everybody watching. This has been the Cowboys Squad show.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

It's Glenn Smith, former Cowboys assistant coach and now analyst on the Cowboys Squad show. Expand your daily Cowboys obsession with an hour long deep dive as I team up with the best voices covering your favorite team after every game and every Thursday on Locked On Cowboys Squad up wherever you get your podcast live and on YouTube part of the Locked on podcast network.

[Jeff Biggs]

Your team every day.

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