
The Cowboys return home to host the rematch with the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.
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Glenn Stretch Smith
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Jeff Biggs
I'm Jeff Biggs, host of the Cowboys Squad show and forget the bandwagon. I am jumping on the chuck wagon. I'm picking the Cowboys to win on Sunday.
Marcus Moser
I'm Marcus Moser and it was really nice to see a competent defense for once.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I'm laying in McCool and I'm glad just to be talking about the defense with the smile on my face at the same time.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Glenn Stretch Smith Any way to get to 500?
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How about them Cowboys? It's the Cowboys Squad Everything. Dallas Cowboys every week covering all the big hits and and game changing plays from America's team the way only the Locked On Podcast network can get ready and squad up. It's the Cowboys Squad show starting now.
Jeff Biggs
Squad up and what's up? So the Cowboys are coming off a very big Monday night win in Vegas and they're getting set for another big game coming up at home when they host the Eagles the rematch on Sunday. Welcome to another edition of the Cowboy Squad Show. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. It's that easy. As always, we start with a welcome to the co hosts of the daily Lockdown Cowboys Podcast, Marcus moer and Landon McCool along with former Cowboys coach the one and only Glenn Stretch Smith. Coming up on our hour our show today, we're going to get you the very latest on what's going on with the Cowboys heading into week 12. We will get you ready for round two with the Eagles and a Whole lot more. But guys, Marcus Lennon going to start with YouTube. The Cowboys wanted to honor Marshawn Neland on the field on Monday night. I think they did that. I think they'll do it again this Sunday. But love the energy, love the defense, as you two pointed out, and really great play across the board. What stood out to the two of.
Landon McCool
You, man, what didn't?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right?
Landon McCool
Like, I mean, first of all, obviously the, the outpouring of respect from Marshawn Neland was, was fantastic. And like you said, they're going to do another thing now that they're playing at home this week, which it will be great. We saw, you know, across the NFL, you know, the, the teams were taking a moment of silence. The, the Cowboys had a little video prepared and, you know, just, they never stopped talking about Marshawn Nealon and throughout the whole thing. And then after the game, carrying his jersey on and off the field. All that was really cool, all that was really special. And, and it's very clear that, that he meant a lot to them and, and that this was important for the team to kind of honor him, which is really great to see. And then on the football side of things, I mean, which is, you know, there's so much has happened. This has got to be the most eventful bye week. I, I feel like that we've, we've had to deal with, right? So obviously all the things that, that Marcus and I have been talking about on the show for, you know, the last three weeks, it had an effect like the, the amount of, of different people that you saw in the field actually had an effect. And, and it kind of had an effect in a way in ways that we didn't expect. Obviously, Quinton Williams gets on, on there and, and we'll talk a ton about him and what he did and, and the major effect that his presence alone had. But beyond that too, like you've got Kaylin Carson out there playing 60 snaps. You've got, you know, so basically you've kind of remade your, your defensive backfield outside of Bland as well, because you've got Ravel going out there for 20 plus snaps as well. No more Elam, no more Bridges. Right. The linebacker core looked completely different because you've added two more bodies to that rotation and they were probably the more heavily of the, of the, of the six guys that probably rotated in at the linebacker core. So. And I think on top of that, you saw better play from the defensive linemen that were around Quinn and Williams. You know, OSA obviously played his best Game like I thought, I think Kenny Clark probably played his best game since becoming a cowboy. So it, the amount that was different is enormous. Like, it just felt like the defensive coordinator felt more confident in what he was calling based on all the people the personnel was out there. So, you know, you make major changes in the personnel of the defense. It changes the personality of the defense. It also changes the confidence level that the coach has that what he's going to call will actually get executed again. It's all against the Raiders. We'll see. But I think first impressions so far of this new defense are pretty good.
Marcus Moser
Coach, I want to hear your thoughts. What did you think about this game on Monday night? Because I know you've been very critical of this defense this year.
Landon McCool
What did you think?
Glenn Stretch Smith
I mean, what I liked was that they didn't feel like they had to get in a five man line. I mean you've got two big inside guys now that can eat up their interior 3. So whenever they got in position to do that, that, that, that was, I mean really, I thought for the first time, okay, it, it felt like Eber Flush had. He was kind of dialed in with what he wanted to do. I thought on the back end with the safeties being in there, they played the right leverage and they were able to bracket guys the way that you should when you're getting in a position to where you're dropping six or seven. And then I thought from a second level standpoint you, you saw Murray over shown at least get the depth that they needed to get. When you, when you saw Murray all the bell he got his hand on that ball. I just thought from a read and recognize standpoint was a lot better job by the defense. But I'm gonna tell you I was more impressed with what they did with their pass protections. I mean pulling, you know, you know, pulling a guard and being able to take the guy that was uncovered and come help knowing that you were going to get problems with the, with Crosby and then, you know, we know what Javante can do from a pass pro situation. So I, I just felt like schematically they, they, they had the off week. They took advantage of that time and it felt like they were as complete a football team on both sides of the football from a scheme standpoint as I've seen them all year.
Marcus Moser
I want to talk about Tyler Guy to the offensive line maybe a little bit later, but there was a point in this game, I think it was like in the middle part of the second quarter and the defensive tackles were just Dominating. I mean they were just winning every single matchup. And in my brain I was thinking about like my lifetime as a Cowboy fan and all the bad defensive tackles. I've tried to convince myself we're going to work out whether it's like Ken Bishop or was it Michael Myers and Brandon Noble. I'm sure you could think of a bunch of names that the Cowboys have had in the last 20 years that we were just so desperately hoping we're going to be just average. And then the fact that you can put out like different units with Quinn and Williams, Kenny Clark, Oso Digizua, Solomon Thomas, who might have been your best defensive tackle all year, didn't even play and you didn't need them. It's. It was very, it was very strange. It was like an out of body experience. Me watching good defensive tackle plays for. With the guys wearing a star on their helmet.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I mean honestly, just having, having a watching relationship with someone like Quinn and Williams and knowing what his game was like and then seeing him in a, in a Cowboys uniform was kind of surreal. It's. It's almost like the inverse Micah Parsons, right? It's like. Yeah, it was, it was crazy. And again, like I, I think, you know, it shows you that how much a, a piece like Quinn and Williams affects a defense. Right. Like the, the kind of cascading effect that it had in, in the ability to create one on ones and, and then beyond that too. Like one of the things you and I talked about in the show, Marcus, is, you know, sort of the Logan Wilson type impact on this, on this defense. Right. It's not just about adding superstars. That's fantastic, obviously and that's, that's kind of the name of the game. But just adding more competent pieces to a rotating unit, like it just allowed you to limit the blast exposure of some of these folks that are going in there and making stupid mistakes. So it just gave you more options and it gave you the opportunity to make sure that all these guys were going out there playing with their hair on fire and then having suitable backups to come in and relieve them.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Now here's the other thing. Could you. How long did it take you to watch the football game to see a guy in Quinn and Williams who is well coached, has been well coached, understands head placement, hand placement, foot placement. I, you can tell he is a well coached. Not taking anything away from him from his physical point. No, he is a well, very well coached defensive tackle.
Landon McCool
Yeah, absolutely. And just being, you know, I think you've talked about this more than anyone, coach, that just being fundamentally sound on defense, like being in your gap and knowing your assignment, having your head on the right, having the right leverage on the body, like all those things, like just a very basic stuff, seeing that kind of the floor being raised on that, I mean, that was enough to improve this team quite a bit. But then on top of that, you're seeing guys go out there and make plays and that's, you know, that's even two steps away from where we were week nine the last time we saw this defense play.
Marcus Moser
And I don't want to get ahead of our skis too much here, but like I was watching that game thinking with the way that Quinn and Williams plays, where, I mean, he, he's a good athlete, but his game is based on power and hand technique. And you're getting this guy in the absolute prime of his career at age 27. It's like, are we just going to be able to enjoy this player for like the next six or seven years and not really see a big drop off? I mean, coach, we talk about all the time. I'm up here in Pennsylvania, Cam Hayward, he might be the best defensive tackle in the league and he's like 36 years old. Because you get these guys that are big and strong and don't get moved off the spot, they can play forever. It's not like an edge rusher. And I'm not trying to dunk on Michael Parsons because that's not it. A lot of times these edge rushers, they get to be 29 and 30 and you start to see a little bit of a drop off. Yeah, I don't think that's coming for Quinn and Williams anytime soon. I mean, as long as he stays healthy, he should be a dominant player for this team to build around, not only in 2026, but well beyond that.
Glenn Stretch Smith
The key is in, in the NFL, you know, guys stay on their feet inside, interior guys are looking to get the second level blocks. They're, you know, a lot of people, when you, when you think of, well, that they don't have as good a feat as, as, as the tackle, they can't kick and they can't. Hey, they got great feet and they got great balance inside because you're not going to play in the NFL unless you can. Unless you can 6 inch step, power foot in the ground, get up field and then get to second level and not be a stumble bum. So I'm going to what you're saying, Marcus, you're exactly right. Normally those guys don't get on the ground very often. So you don't, you know, you don't get a lot. And I let me knock on some wood here. You don't get guys falling on guys knees and doing those kind of things because those interior linemen are so skilled at just getting up to the second level. And I, I mean, I think it's a great point about Cam Hayward. I mean, you know, he, he's, he's so physical and that's what you want on those inside guys, I guarantee you. I bet you if you looked at, I bet, I bet if you looked at Cam Hayward's ankles, I mean they're like 10 pound bowling balls. I mean, you know what I mean? I mean and I feel the same way about these guys that have big, big feet, big ankles, big calves. I mean, you know, and they're, and they're what? I'm not long levered. You know, the long levered guys are the guys that are outside the guys that have big long levers. When you get those guys that are, I mean I go back and it's, I'm probably, you know, dating myself too, but I mean we had a, we had a kid at, at Northern Illinois named Hollis Thomas. I was unbelievable football player, but he was 510 nose guard and he went, he went straight to Philadelphia, played about 10 or 12 years and he was a squared stance, just a brick. And I remember asking Larry Allen, you know Larry, who's the toughest guy to block you? So without question, Hollis Thomas. And when you have those guys, it's very hard to move those guys off the football. And that's why they're such great run players. And then when you combine it with power and a well coached guy, that's why he was a first round pick real quick.
Marcus Moser
If you look at like pro football focuses grades, I know they're not the end all be all but of the top 15 defensive linemen, five are over the age of 33 right now. The top two are Cam Hayward, 37 years old and Calais Campbell, 39 years old. Right. And it's the point of like the reason why Dallas made this trade isn't just for 2025 to try to get better on defense. And it's not just for 2026. They think this is a guy that can be an anchor on their defense for the next five or six years. And based on what we've seen, it is one game with Dallas in kind of the history of defensive tackles. It's pretty easy to see why Dallas made this Trade.
Landon McCool
I'll take it one step further, too. It's. It's also a schematic looking into the future, too, because look what's happening with the NFL right now. There's more of a tendency towards be having to be able to stop the run, especially as the season goes on. And then on top of that, what's the other. The other kind of schematic change you've seen in the last five or ten years on offenses? You're seeing more athletic quarterbacks who, if they don't, if they don't see it on third down, they can pick up and run. What do you need to do to stop those guys? You need to collapse the pocket on them, not beat them around the edge. Because if you beat them around the edge with these speed guys, they'll just squirt out the front of the pocket and get the first downs you want. Having more beef up front is how you're going to stop more modern offenses. So transitioning the kind of key player from being an outside edge rusher to an interior pass rusher guy who can push the pocket, it makes some sense because it works more. I mean, look, look at your plan this week, right? Like now, someone asked a question earlier on Twitter, like, how. How do the Cowboys spy someone like Hertz? They haven't done that in the past. And like we've been talking about, you don't necessarily have to do that with an edge rusher.
Glenn Stretch Smith
You.
Landon McCool
You can do that with a linebacker when you've got the defensive tackles to collapse the pocket onto. A guy like Hertz, make him throw from a compressed pocket or squirt out, and then have someone like, overshone tackle him before he gets anywhere. So I think it's not only a play for the long term because you've got a player in a defensive tackle prime, but you're also getting a player that schematically kind of fits what modern defenses need to do to stop modern offense. Us.
Glenn Stretch Smith
And I'm not taking anything away from TJ Watt, but guess who TJ Watt benefits from? That guy eating the double team up in there. T.J. watt ought to be T. He ought to be tithing. He ought to be.
Marcus Moser
I'm all for Steeler slander, so keep going. Coach, this is fine by me.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Go get in the bath with those two little crap birds of yours.
Marcus Moser
Coach is just mad because I made fun of texting this week saying they're not as tough as people from Pennsylvania. It's. It's fine. You'll get over.
Landon McCool
Marcus, buddy. What are you doing here?
Marcus Moser
We're good.
Landon McCool
I'm with you, buddy. Texans still. We die.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Marcus Moser
There you go.
Jeff Biggs
Well, I'll tell you, I, I. When you think about it, when you take a step back, and certainly I don't want to dunk on Micah either, but when you kind of take a step back, you got Kenny Clark, Quinn and Williams, Logan Wilson, and some pretty good picks. So, all in all, did okay. We.
Landon McCool
We still have to hold out until that trade is done, and so we've got all the pieces, then we can look back retroactively and decide how good that trade was. But, you know, as it stands right now, at least it feels like they're making progress in getting back their money, money's worth from that trade.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I mean, and here's the other thing, guys. I mean, everybody has kicked Jerry's rear end for a long time. I mean, right now, Right now, Pickens, Williams, Quinnan, I mean, you got to give him a little credit.
Landon McCool
And people hate doing any credit.
Glenn Stretch Smith
We. You shouldn't have got rid of Micah. Micah really got rid of himself laying down on that table.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I was just gonna say. I don't. I just think we have to take. There's got to be some. There's got to be some separation between us and the Parsons thing before we're going to be able to view it with clear eyes.
Marcus Moser
Fair enough.
Jeff Biggs
Fair enough. All right, when we come back, one more defensive question, and then we'll kind of get back to some other things, but I want to run this by you. The Cowboys clearly no longer have the worst defense in the NFL. I think we can all agree on that. But the question now is just how good can they be? We'll get into that when we come back. Marcus Landon, the coach. This is the Cowboys squad show.
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Jeff Biggs
There we go. We are back. The Cowboys squad show. Great to be with you on this Wednesday as we get ready.
Landon McCool
Commercial that's Cody Rourke.
Marcus Moser
He's from Lockdown Broncos.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, he may be locked on somebody. He's from Locked. He's from Lock On Red Bull.
Jeff Biggs
He was fired up. It was good, good read though. He did a great job. So as I said I, I think we, we need a little depth here so I just want to throw some, some names at you and, and just kind of get your thoughts because that was, we had a really good first segment but we had the Q debut. Logan Wilson, demarvion Overshone, Siobhan Ravel. I mean just all kinds of story lines with the defense and as I.
Landon McCool
Said real quick, can we talk because honestly I think the guy that we, we should be talking about a little bit more that hasn't been thrown around as much I feel like is is Caleb Carson right? Like I talked about this on the show the other day. I mean the guy went from playing, I think it was 15 to 17 snaps in week nine. However, having not basically played at all this season and really not playing very much at the back half of last season to playing 60 all 60 snaps on Monday night and playing pretty well, I, I thought that of all the guys that that came in outside of Quinn and obviously that all the guys that were coming back or that were kind of newer faces on this defense, to me what they asked Kaylin Carson to do was the Most difficult. And I think he, you know, he excelled because he was out there for 60 snaps, and, and. And consistency has been his issue. And I felt like he played very consistent. Football was, I think, the best game he's played. If you can find a way to get Kaylin Carson going a little bit and start to mix in Ravel, you know, add in his snaps a little bit more as he gets more comfortable, baby, you got a stew going.
Marcus Moser
Lynn, I'm gonna ask you this question.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm gonna. I mean, I'm gonna. I. I think Bland is the guy that needs the credit. He's the guy that was going all over the field. When you can leave a guy like Caitlin Carson and just leave him at one place to say, hey, look, you're. You're. You're gonna play. You can play the boundary corner. You're gonna have, you know, you're gonna have the. You're gonna have that baseline to help you. That. That helps those kind of guys. So.
Landon McCool
Absolutely.
Glenn Stretch Smith
What I like. You know, you make a good point, but I think the key is the fact that Duron Bland was the guy doing the traveling.
Landon McCool
100%. I think I was just pointing out, Coach, you got to hear me. I've all the new guys, he was the one I felt played. But you're 100% right. If we're talking about best players on the. On that defense, I mean, Quinn is obviously showing something, but Duron Bland showed you exactly. You know, for all the people that were wondering about that contract because he had a bad week, he showed you exactly the kind of cornerback he can be when he has good talent around him. He's coming off of his man to make plays on other guys, to knock passes away. He's making solid tackles. He's covering, you know, all pro tight ends. He's doing a great job. Yeah, I. I agree. Coach Bland definitely deserves a lot of credit, despite the way that you delivered that message.
Marcus Moser
No, you make one little joke, and he just gets all feisty. It's just. It's whatever. That's all right.
Glenn Stretch Smith
It's not a damn improv show. Get on here and give him a football.
Landon McCool
Talk to each other.
Glenn Stretch Smith
That's right.
Marcus Moser
I'm just gonna ignore coach for a little bit. Lena, my question for you is Trayvon Diggs is eligible to play not this week against Philadelphia, but on Thanksgiving against the Chiefs. Now, it's 40 days. Actually, it's like a 44 days since he suffered that concussion. And he had some mystery leg injury that Jerry Jones was talking about. If he's healthy, which it sounds like he is. Are you putting him back in the lineup ahead of Kaylin Carson?
Landon McCool
I, I mean, I think he's got to earn his spot.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right?
Landon McCool
Like, I mean, I, I think it's got to be about how they're practicing, but it doesn't sound like, from people that we're hearing whispers from that they're gonna just give him his job back. It sounds like he's going to have to earn it, the, the job back a little bit. So. And I think that that's probably the, the best way to handle it is that, you know, even when he's been out there and everything's been healthy, he's been one of the biggest offenders on this defense. He's been one of the guys struggling the most to play. Appropriate leverage, appropriate technique. So, yeah, I'm not just throwing. I mean, look, I think, I think this coach has shown a propensity to play the guys that are best for the, the team. Right? And I, and I'm, and I think that this is an ultimate test for that. Right? So if it's me, I'm telling Schottenheimer, man, you make him earn that spot over Kalin Carson, because I, I saw Kaylin Carson go out there, play solid football. He's the younger player. I feel like Kaylin Carson's gonna.
Glenn Stretch Smith
So.
Landon McCool
I, I think know I'm gonna let him give him every opportunity to keep that job until Trayvon proves that he can take it away.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, fair enough. That's a good way to, I think a good way also to kind of make it a win win. You can kind of ease him in, and then, hey, if he stands out and he's excellent and back to where he was, great. But if not, you, you still have Carson, and it's best for the team.
Landon McCool
What, are you guys still also trying to get Revel up going, too? That's the other part, right? You're trying to increase Rebel snapshot. So, you know, it may be this situation where there's just not a ton of snaps available for guys that aren't listening to their coaches, I guess.
Marcus Moser
Unless you're putting Bland back into the slot full time, and then you're kind of rotating Diggs, Rebel, and, you know, Carson as your three outside corners. I, I guess I could see that.
Landon McCool
But I'm not doing that for Diggs. Like, Diggs hasn't shown me anything to make me want to do that.
Marcus Moser
And that's the other thing is I, I, I have a feeling. I mean, he can't play this week against Philadelphia and maybe it's too quick of a turnaround to get him ready for the Chiefs game. Well, you've got seven days after that to get ready for the Lions game. But depending on what the record is, let's say, you know, they go one and two in that stretch. There might not be a point to putting digs back out there because the season will already be toast at that point. You might as well just play Carson and Revel, two guys that are guaranteed to be on this roster next year and just develop those guys.
Landon McCool
I also say that we still don't know exactly what is going on behind the scenes with Diggs and the Cowboys. Right. Like, I, I, it still feels like there's something there there. So it could be the possibility that we've seen Diggs play his last snaps as a Dallas Cowboy already. I mean, maybe, maybe for the season, but maybe.
Marcus Moser
Well, and honestly, I wonder if there's a point where it's like, okay, let's not bring him back off, off the injured reserve list because we might want to use that spot, you know, for somebody else and we don't want him to get hurt and guarantee money in 2026 when we know he's not going to be on this team.
Landon McCool
Exactly.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Who do you believe is the best cover guy right now?
Marcus Moser
Bland.
Landon McCool
Bland.
Glenn Stretch Smith
He b so pro, so probably he's going to be the guy that's going to match up with devonte. I mean, that fair enough to say?
Marcus Moser
Probably. Yeah.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. So I, I guess what I'm pointing at is if you, if Bland is playing at that high a level like we think he is, then, I mean, I'm, I'm completely agreeing with what you're saying. I want, I want Carson out there. He's obviously smart. I mean, Wake Forest guy, sharp. I mean, he understands what, what the scheme is and what they're doing. I, I'm not going to, though, just push Diggs aside. I think you make a good point. What, what is wrong with, what don't we know that is wrong with the relationship between Diggs and the training staff, between Diggs and over street, between Diggs and Eber Floose. What I mean, I'm going back a little bit to what I said earlier. He's been coached. He is a, well, he's not fast. He is, he wasn't fast coming out of college. I, I, not before that. Before the knee issues. He was not.
Landon McCool
No, he was never a speed guy.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Correct. But what he is, he's a long guy. And he's been coached and he understands how to open his hips and he understands how to press guys.
Marcus Moser
He.
Glenn Stretch Smith
And so I guess what I'm saying is when you have a guy that's that, that I believe is that well coached from Nick Saban and all, all the things that he's been through, I'm certainly not to just saying hey, we, we don't, we don't want to, we don't want to see him anymore because if the Cowboys do get to a 5, 5 and 1 situation here you, you want to press as many people into service as you can. While not, I'm not taking anything away from Ravel, no one might want to take anything away from Carson. I'm, I've seen enough of Stewart. I mean I, I don't need to see him a bunch more to know what he is. So now how do you get your best players on the field lined up from a secondary standpoint? Because I think the other thing that we didn't talk about earlier was the play of these safeties. I mean it, you can tell that with Hooker back and with healthy back, healthy, better looking. It's a better looking leveraged back end.
Landon McCool
Yeah 100 he and I think for Hooker it's just he's healthy.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Landon McCool
We've forgotten like how good I mean look for a team that, that spent years and years in the defensive tackle and the safety wilderness specifically for years, for years I begged for this team to get safeties and defensive tackle help and, and, and we've just plump. Forgot. Right. Like we just forgot and when, and when Hooker got hurt it like it may contributed majorly to the, the collapse of this defense. It went from very, very, very bad to historically bad. And I think just having a confident voice back there who can get everybody lined up is, is just such an important thing for this deep for all defenses. Right.
Glenn Stretch Smith
In a short week where you know you're going to be playing Rashid Rice and Xavier Worthy and Kelsey and we don't need to, I don't need to call roll but I'm just saying you're going to have to carry a lot of what you're putting in this week is going to have to carry into Thursday.
Landon McCool
Well to answer your question too coach, like you're playing a very physical football team this week in the Eagles. Right. And right now they have struggled throwing the football in traditional drop back situations let's say. Right. I think you know if you're going to try, I mean you're not going to try to work Diggs in this week. He's not eligible to come back this week. Right. But I, I do like having this more physical lineup of corners out there that I feel more confident that are going to be solid tacklers and are going to be able to hold the edge a little bit. I think that's one thing that you, you talked about the smarts of Kaylin Carson. I think one of the other things about him is that he's tough, right. He's physical and he doesn't mind mixing it up. He'll throw his body around and I think that that's something that I'm hoping that we're going to get as well from someone like Savone Revelle, right. Who as we start to see him get more and more comfortable. He's a bigger body, he's long, but he's also got some sturdiness. He's not just scrawny, long and stretchy. So, and we saw in the game, you know, he was throwing his body out a little bit and, and maybe that's what you do is when Diggs comes back, him and Savon Revel kind of rotate that spot and that's like the hook to keep Diggs because ultimately what I need, have to have what I cannot get digs on the field anymore with is him not being physical enough to make tackles on the edge, to make tackles and bubble screens like that. Like, okay, you're going to gamble on a couple different passes, that's fine. I could take that because I know you'll probably pick one off at one point. I'm used to that. What I cannot live with anymore is a lack of physicality on the edge with our corners because that just opens things up for the run game, for the screen game and, and, and I'll live and die with a misdive on an interception. But what I cannot abide by is, is a, is a half ass tackle on a wide receiver screen that breaks for 15 yards because you didn't make the effort that you needed to to make the tackle.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I, I believe this too though. When you, when you, when you're talking about guys who are coming off of knee and Achilles issues, it, it, it takes a while and I'm saying like three to four weeks even when you're in football shape to really get it into your mind that you have the confidence to stick your foot in the ground and go change direction right now, I mean Bopa, it has to be that way. And I think with over shown it's just going to take him a little time And I feel the same way about Revel, so I don't have a heart a hard time understanding why he's on a pitch count. But when I watch Clowney, Clowney is in football shape and it, what's it taking in three weeks, a month?
Marcus Moser
Took him a while.
Glenn Stretch Smith
He's in foot, he's in football shape now. You see him stick his foot in the ground and go chase Gino. I mean, that tells you he's, he's got the confidence now that, yeah, I can go run this guy down. And, and when you're coming off an injury you got, you got, it just takes you a little time to work through the mental side of that.
Landon McCool
Well, that's real quick, Marcus. I just want to say I think that's why the Diggs and Ravel pairing as like, rotation makes more sense. Right. Because they're both guys that kind of need to work back into this. You can limit their exposure a little bit. Carson is a guy that obviously has been dealing with a bunch of different injuries, but he's done with that now. He's playing with the level of confidence. Played 60 snaps like we mentioned. So let's go ahead and just keep him out there. We know we want Bland as that other guy. And then those, that, that, that other outside boundary corner, we can rotate Ravel and Diggs. And just to make sure that we're regulating those snaps as they kind of ease back into football shape.
Marcus Moser
And the truth might be you're going.
Landon McCool
To need all these guys.
Marcus Moser
You're about to play three games in 11 days. It's not going to hurt anybody to have a rotation at corner.
Jeff Biggs
Quick thought. What did you guys think of Overshone's return? And what about new edition Logan Wilson?
Marcus Moser
I thought Over Shown was okay. You can still. He still needs some time to kind of ramp his body up. It's nice to see him out there. Logan Wilson, he, he's in the right spots at a lot of the, you know, the right time. He can be a steadying, you know, force in the middle. He just can't really run anymore. So you're gonna have to watch that against some of these teams that want to sneak their quarterbacks out there. But I thought for the most part, actually, for the most part, I thought all the linebackers played much better this week than we've seen in previous weeks.
Landon McCool
Yeah, yeah. I think they just, I mean, I think with Over Shown, he just looked, I think both Over Shown and Ravel looked over. Excited, nervous energy, right? A little bit. I think Over Shown was was over biting on some of the play action stuff because he was just excited to get downhill and tackle somebody at times. And I think Ravel like, you know, just, just where am I going? Where am I going? You know, it's the combination of just being coming back from injury, not playing football for 400 plus days and then on top of that being a rookie in the NFL.
Marcus Moser
So yeah, Coffee house stunt from overshone on one of the third downs, which was kind of fun.
Landon McCool
It was fun. And, and I think that you, you, you, you, you see it with him. I mean he still has all the athleticism. I think it's, it's about just kind of getting his feet moving a little bit more and I, I expect a big bump in his play, you know, performance wise starting next week.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, as he starts to get confidence in that knee, I, I mean I agree. I think as, as he starts to get and feel better about, about how his knee is playing in that brace. I mean all those things, you saw him come off early, he, he was getting it retaped over there. And so, you know, that's that to me that tells you he's still not quite comfortable. It still feels a little funky, whatever the scenario is.
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
All right, well, when we come back, we got to talk about the offense and what Dak was able to do. What the receivers were able to do was really good performance all the way around. Had some Hunter Lipke action. I mean it was good stuff. We'll get into that when we come back. This is the Cowboys squad show, But it is that time of the year and the NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or 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 team's making the late push. So right now FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets. When you're first $5 bet wins. So head to FanDuel.com sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Okay, we are back. Cowboy squad show. Marcus Moser, Landon McCool, the coach, Glenn Stretch Smith. All right, so George Pickens put on a, put on a little show on Monday night. Nine catches, 144 yards and a touchdown. It was the big stage for him. Everybody watching and we've been kind of talking about this before the season started, but now we're seeing him ball out. And of course with that said comes all the speculation and all the clicks and all the thoughts and rumors. Okay, so what are they going to do? Pickens and CD and my question is, and this is. I'm, I'm 100 serious here. Can they. Is there a way for the Cowboys to keep Pickens with all that they have going on?
Marcus Moser
I mean, I. Go ahead later. Go ahead.
Landon McCool
Well, I mean, yes, absolutely. They, they like, you know, the salary cap is real, but it's extremely fungible. And as, as Jerry has told us before, you know, I think a lot of the people that are kind of suggesting that the Cowboys are in trouble here or that they don't have the money to do this are just simply going to over the cap. Looking at the number that is, that is available for the Cowboys next year and not going any deeper than that and saying, buddy, The Cowboys are $35 million over the, over the, the cap next year. There's just no way. The Cowboys have almost endless number of contract triggers that they can pull. They can manipulate the way they arrange these contracts so they can move the money around, push money around. There's lots of different mechanisms they can do. I mean, I think, I think I saw somewhere Marcus may have the numbers off the top of his head where you could pull. I think it's just two triggers between DAC and CD and cut, like basically wipe away all the money that you're are over the cap and just those two moves, if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, there is certainly a way to get this done and kind of, you know, what we were talking about. I actually can't remember if this was pre show or during the show about Pickens's value is, is, is, you know, there, there wasn't a, a ton of opportunity for other teams to go out and trade from. This is a point that Marcus has brought up before on the show as well, that, that not a lot of teams were, were, were, you know, chomping at the bit to trade for him. I, I tend to agree that. I think that NFL teams change their opinions at a glacial speed. So I don't imagine that they're necessarily going to be completely moved by the performance. Performance they've seen for Pickens in one year. I just, I have a hard time believing that he is going to command the kind of salary that I've seen people suggest out there like $35 million what somebody was saying. I, I just don't. I mean I think that's the going rate for top end wide receivers and I think Pickens is performing like that right now. But we can't ignore, and I know teams won't ignore all the history that's there and all the, the kind of gray area of in their reports on the guy. So I have a hard time believing that that's necessarily going to translate into a, a bunch of huge deals coming out this office.
Marcus Moser
And really quick on their cap situation. I want to get too much into the numbers, but they have $20 million at 20 million that they're going to roll over for next year. So if you go to over the cap you see that they're $46 million over. They're really only $26 million over. They could restructure DAC and CD and save about 50 million combined with those two players they can cut Terence Steel, Donovan Wilson and Logan Wilson and save an additional 30 million. They're going to have no problem at all. I think Kenny Clark's number is like a 26 million. They're going to restructure that or give him an extension that's going to free up a bunch of money. And can they sign two receivers to big deals? Yeah, absolutely. The team that you're playing this weekend has two receivers on big contracts. The team that you're playing in two weeks, the Lions have two receivers who are making over $30 million a year and a tight end who's getting paid and a running back who's going to get a bunch of money here soon. So yeah, you can. And I think the Cowboys will. I think they're going to franchise tag him to start. I think they're going to probably work out a deal. Landon mentioned that there weren't very many teams that were interested in pickins in the trade market. I was listening to some Steelers radio today here in Pittsburgh and there was nobody Pittsburgh was offering to him. The teams before the NFL draft, nobody was offering anything close to what Dallas offered after the draft. We have to remember going back to the 2022 draft, there were a lot of teams that took him off their draft board entirely. And I don't think anything he did in the first three years of his career are suddenly going to put him back on the radar. Even though he, he's having a really good season with Dallas. Teams generally are just out on those players. There will be a market for pickings in free agency, but this is not going to be a robust market of like 15 teams banging the door down to give him 35 million a year. That's just not going to be the case. Having said all that, I, I fully expect Pickens to be back because I think he's going to want to be back.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I think that's the key is he, he, he, he likes it here. You can tell he likes it here. You can, you can just see by guys, you know the optics by guys body move. I mean every, everything he is when he's finishing plays and he is going up for footballs. He knew he was out of bound, he knew he was pressed into that boundary. You know what he made the one handed catch anyway and then, then he gave, you know, he told the TV guy hey buddy. Yeah, yeah Matt close. So I think there's something to be said for what guys and how guys react to the situation that they're in. And he, he's, he's in a good place here where he's at. And, and I think he knows that now Here, here, here could be the flip side of this is, is the same agent that, that Micah had and, and hopefully the guys smart enough not to say hey, why don't you go over there and lay on that table and see what happens just for shits.
Marcus Moser
And giggles, right Real quick. George Pickens needs to go out and get his money and take care of his family and do all that stuff. But I will say there are several examples of receivers chasing the money rather than the situation and it end up costing them. I'll give you two from the Cowboys, right Coach, I'm sure you remember by a guy by the name of Alvin Harper, right. Do you remember him back in the 90s? Remember when he left Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin to win the Tampa Bay and you basically never heard of him before or heard him again until he came back to Dallas. Great example. Somebody who was living life as a wide receiver too with Michael Irvin leaves and has a forgettable career. Another example from 2011 was Laurent Robinson who scored double digit touchdowns with the Cowboys as the wide receiver. 3. I think a lot of Cowboy fans wanted him to come back in that role. He goes to Jacksonville and he's out of the league two years later. Pickens is better than both of those players in my opinion. But it's a good example of why situation matters so much rather than getting an extra million dollars a year.
Landon McCool
Yeah, it's a coach's point real quick. Like, I mean I think not Only do we know what guys with good body language looks like. We know what Pickens looks like with bad body language.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Landon McCool
Like we've seen what, what happens when, when he, when he isn't happy with the situation that, that he's in. So I think you, when you compare the two and where he, how he's acting and how he's not reacting and not, and how he's not acting, I think that's kind of showing you a little bit of how, how thrilled he is to be.
Marcus Moser
I also think he just likes it here. He's got a guy that he can go out to the clubs, you know, the, the casinos in Vegas with till the wee hours of the morning. And that helps having, you know, the moderate. You always, you want to make sure that your teammates, you know, you're with teammates so you could help each other out in bad spots. So he has that here 100.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe they should bench them both before every game.
Marcus Moser
No, it's a bad idea. Don't do that.
Landon McCool
No, I don't think we should just.
Marcus Moser
Just make sure you're back in the room. You're supposed to be back.
Landon McCool
Yeah, there's that for sure. And, and you know, maybe just treat, treat the whole situation like a business trip as opposed to, you know, Vegas, baby. What happens to Vegas?
Marcus Moser
Stretch? Have you ever stayed up until 7 o' clock in the morning before?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, in Las Vegas on Monday.
Marcus Moser
How'd that turn out?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I did it one time in Atlantic City when playing the Giants. I wonder, do you remember? I went to Atlantic City and stayed up about, I don't know what it was. The sun was coming up by the.
Landon McCool
Time I saw you have your shirt when you left. Or did you have to leave it in Atlantic City?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Oh, I had. I, I mean, I, I don't remember that. I wouldn't buck naked if that's what you're asking me.
Marcus Moser
Gross.
Jeff Biggs
Quick question about Dak. After the first two drives really settled in. It was nice to see him back in command of the offense like you guys pointed out, just running the offense the way that it should be. Looked like he was kind of on his heels during the two game losing streak, but look, looked fully in command on Monday night, but he showed up today on the, the injury report with a hip injury. Hopefully that's nothing serious, just precautionary, but you know, they're going to need him to be, be healthy and ready to go, especially Sunday.
Marcus Moser
I think he's going to be okay. I don't think we've got anything to worry about. Dak is not missing that game against Philadelphia. I think think he'll be okay? No.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
Landon McCool
I think it's just a little hip thing. I mean, he obviously played the rest of the game game with it. I do think we should take this opportunity to talk about the fact that I think the offensive line played one of their best games in that Monday Night Football game. And I think giving Marcus an opportunity, as he mentioned earlier, we should talk specifically about Tyler Guyton because I think Guyton played his best game as a pro on Monday. And I think what you see from the guy is, you know, it's not always pretty, it's not always perfect technique, but that's playing offensive line in the NFL and he's learning how to win even when it doesn't look perfect. And, and I, I, I, I was just been really impressed with, you know, obviously he's been a pretty solid run blocker this year, but if the protection stuff I think was really where we started to see him grow a little bit.
Marcus Moser
First game of his career, he didn't allow a pressure. I think the only thing that he really needs to work on is the flopping and acting ability because that was pretty, pretty rough.
Landon McCool
I thought it was perfect.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I don't know.
Landon McCool
I don't know. Talking about it was unnecessary, but it was, yeah, just, you need to work.
Marcus Moser
Out a little bit. I mean, that's, that's pretty, that's like acting that would be like in Sharknado 5. It's, it's, it needs to be better.
Landon McCool
It's, it's just gotta react quicker.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Landon McCool
Because he got, he got the hit and it took a beat. Maybe take some improv classes.
Marcus Moser
Yeah, There you go.
Jeff Biggs
All right, let's take our final time out. When we come back, let's dive into this Eagles rematch on Sunday. We'll do that coming up. This is the Cowboys squad show.
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Jeff Biggs
The fastest break in sports. We love that. Welcome to the Cowboys squad show. All right, so we got round two with the Eagles coming up on Sunday. The Cowboys are Huge game. It's going to be another emotional game. As, as you guys pointed out, they're going to pay tribute and, and honor Marshawn Nyland and I know they're going to want to keep that going when they take the field. We look back to that season opener, which seems like such a long time ago, opening night in Philadelphia, and I mean, the Cowboys certainly gave them ch. Themselves a chance to win. They just weren't able to finish the way that they wanted to. But as you brought up, you know, the Eagles are not.
Glenn Stretch Smith
They're.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, they made those moves to help their defense, but their, their offense has been kind of misfiring all season long and you have this thing going on with Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown and they're trying to keep that going and trying to get their offense going. With all that said, though, I like, I like the cat. I really do. I genuinely like the Cowboys chances to just come in there Sunday, strike early, kind of put the Eagles on their heels, make them try to score. I'm looking forward to it, though. I think it's a good test.
Marcus Moser
I spoke with Louis DiBiase from Locked On Eagles and that show comes out on Thursday, so make sure you guys look out for that. I asked him if this is the most miserable 8 and 2 team in the history of the NFL and he said that it's possible. He said there's clearly some disconnect discontent there in Philadelphia. The weather is starting to get worse. The fans are getting grouchier. I get it. Like as somebody who lives in Pennsylvania, I get it. When the weather starts to turn, it's kind of gross around here. But he said things have been boiling a little bit. It's not to the degree it was in 2023, but this is a team that just hasn't looked good on offense now in multiple weeks. And if you can get them behind in this game and force him to throw the ball and get back into a drop back game. We should mention their right tackle, Lane Johnson is out in this game. He's on the injured reserve list. Massive loss. Their center, Cam Juergens, he does. I'm not expecting him to play either. So they could be without two important starters. This is a game that you can get past. If you can get a rush on Jalen Hurts, make him feel uncomfortable, you might have some success on that side of the ball.
Landon McCool
Yeah, I mean, this is definitely a game that I think even before, say, Sunday night, I think the cow. I wouldn't have known exactly how I would have felt about the Cowboys chances in this, but I do think that because of some circumstance these, these two teams have been pushed closer together. And, and I think, look, we, we know what it's going to be a heavyweight bout when the Cowboys have the ball, right? Like the Cowboys offense hitting on all cylinders against probably what's the best defense in the NFL right now. I, I think that's going to be, you know, prime time viewing. It's going to be fantastic. Both have known knowns, have superstars. Everyone's fully aware of what other side does. Like that's going to be really interesting football. But the, but the other side of the football, I mean the, the spectrum of outcomes that could arrive from that, from that side is incredibly broad. Right, because you've got an offense that does have a lot of talent in the Eagles, but clearly has had a really hard time kind of cultivating and using that talent. They seemingly want to win a very specific way, like they've always wanted to kind of win a very specific way. And I think they've really struggled this year to get into those kind of game scripts. And I think that's why there's been lots of fits and starts with this team is because they, they can't consistently move the ball down the field. They're not efficient. They, they're, they're living and dying by chunk plays that they used to be able to get in the run game. They're not getting them in the run game anymore probably because of injuries, partially because Saquon Barkley maybe doesn't look quite as explosive as he did last year. And then on top of that, there's discontent between the quarterback, the wide receiver, the offensive coordinator and the head coach. I guess because of the way this offense, despite having two, as Marcus mentioned earlier, two high paid wide receivers, they can't seem to throw the ball in the drop, drop back passing game in any kind of way. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, you've got the Cowboys, who we didn't know what to expect coming in Monday night. We certainly got a lot better results than I think we would have expected. But at the same time you played the Raiders, so you just don't really know how like how good this is. How does the scale. So you're going to get an opportunity to kind of see all that again. And then I just think that this team, as they are currently constructed, both of them, the Cowboys, match up better than they did probably even week one, right? Because you've got three defensive tackles who can collapse the pocket On Herz, they're missing Lane Johnson, they're missing their starting center. So that disparity between your defensive line and their offensive line suddenly is basically evaporated and you're facing a D, an offense that is not very well coordinated is disjointed and, and that kind of eliminates some of the X's and O's, you know, advantage that Eagles had over the Cowboys defense. So I don't know, like, I, I, I feel like I know what's going to happen when the Cowboys have the ball, but when the Eagles have the ball, I, I have no idea of predicting like, you know, who's going to have more success with the Eagles offensive, the Cowboys defense.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I think Elaine Johnson now, it's really going to hurt the Eagles. I really do. I, I think when he's, he is arguably the best tackle in the game and you take him out now, you add the piece for the Cowboys inside, all of a sudden I think that's gonna, I think that creates havoc. And then I don't think there's been a good transition from, from Killen to Petullo. I, I don't, I, I asked Marcus, let me speak with his right hand guy, Louie today and you know, I asked, that was a question I asked him was, hey, the transition doesn't look to be a very good transition from one play caller to another. And so I think you, you combine those things and it could be some problems. And then I'm going to say this. I really believe that coming home, playing back at, at and T, it will be twice as emotional as what you saw the team play with in, in Vegas. I think you're going to, they'll go back into that locker room, they'll see where his locker is. There's a lot of things that, that they're going to be able to put their hands on and, and say, you know what? We're, we're, we're going to go out here and I, I really could, I could see a very emotional football team coming out for the Cowboys Sunday afternoon.
Marcus Moser
Jeff, do you know the best part of this game is that the, the Eagles are wearing their Kelly green jerseys, Cowboys are wearing the white jerseys. It's just going to be a glorious uniform matchup. I'm so excited for that part of it.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I can't wait. It's going to be great. I, I, my, my gut is I think they're going to try to get Barkley going early to kind of take some of that pressure off of Hertz and, and what you guys were just talking about, I think they'll. They're going to try just to try to get him going and try to see if they can find a spot to get him that will. That he can go against the Cowboys defense and win. But with that said, I mean, that. That's their plan. But I think if the Cowboys can come out and just channel that emotion and that energy and get off to a good start, that they could really set the tone for the game early. I hope they do.
Marcus Moser
And I would expect this to be one of the louder crowds that they've had all season. It's a. Again, I don't want to spoil the show for the crossover show with Louie, but I said this is kind of the Cowboy season. Right. If you lose this game and you're four, six and one, the season's over. You're not winning the division. You're not getting back in the wild card race. You probably already have too many losses at that point. But if you win this game and you're 5, 5 and 1 coming off a win in Philadelphia, you play a Chiefs team that's really, you know, struggling right now. I don't want to say you're back in the playoff hunt, but you've at least stabilized things a little bit to keep yourself in contention once we get into December.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I'll.
Landon McCool
I'll say this. Look, if we want to. If we want to dip into fantasyland a little bit before we leave, just.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Real quick.
Landon McCool
If the Cowboys win this game and then they go and beat Kansas City as well, look. Look out, like, I don't know. I mean, I just feel like if. If it's like that and they're able to get over those two teams and then they go in and at least get. Give Detroit a game or even win that game, I mean, you know, they could suddenly be putting themselves into a spot where, you know, this season could turn around. We've. We've certainly seen that happen before, so.
Marcus Moser
Well, it was two years ago. Philadelphia was 10 and one to start a season and they didn't win the division. Again, it's. Philadelphia's schedule is not the easiest. They'll still have games against the Bears, the Chargers, the Bills in Buffalo. You win this game. Having some different conversations, which is. Which would be really fun.
Landon McCool
You certainly giving the Eagles more excuses to collapse for sure.
Marcus Moser
Yes. Yes.
Jeff Biggs
Coach, what's. What's the best way to handle three games in 11 or 12 days?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Well, you got to have carryover with your game plans. You got to put Things in that you feel like, you know, will work against multiple situations. It's tough offensively because Fangio is going to show you a lot of different looks, and the same way Spagnola is going to show you a lot of different looks. So I. It's. It's. It is a tough. It is tough to do right here. But I. I believe that when you start dealing with emotional football teams, I mean, I do. There's something that tells me this can be a very emotional football team Sunday. And if you can figure out a way to get to 500, then all of a sudden, you know, winning becomes contagious. It really does. And, you know, I'm not. I'm not in any way going to. Going to predict it. Jeff, I know you're ready to get. You're ready to go stand on your head and shake your ass and play some bet for whatever falls out on the Cowboys, but I'm not quite ready to do that just yet.
Marcus Moser
Never mind. I was gonna. This is a. This is a. An age appropriate show that kids listen to. I was gonna ask coach about Big Dom, but please mute his mic before he does that.
Landon McCool
Yeah, let's just leave him there.
Marcus Moser
Yeah, we're good. Sorry, Big Dom, we're not talking about you today.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'd like to meet. I'd like to meet Big Dom.
Landon McCool
We were so close, Marcus.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Invite him. I'm gonna invite him for a little barbecue down here in Fort Worth. Me and being Big Dom, I didn't.
Marcus Moser
Invite him to Thanksgiving, but I worry that I wouldn't have anything left to eat.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I want. I want him to come. I want him to come down and I want him to come down and eat some barbecue, drink one of these real green label Dr. Peppers. I. He'll belch like he never belched in his life. It'll be one of the best things ever happened.
Marcus Moser
Now it's rivalry week. It feels real now. It's great.
Jeff Biggs
Great way to end it. All right, real quickly, Marcus, Landon, what do you guys got coming up the rest of the week? Heading into Sunday showdown.
Marcus Moser
Yeah. Crossover show with Louis DiBiase. A fantastic episode. Make sure you guys check that out, and then Landon and I will be back on Friday to get you ready for Eagles Cowboys Week 12. Make sure you guys check it out.
Landon McCool
Big week.
Jeff Biggs
One thing, one other thing real quick. The Cowboys cut loose Damone Clark, they activated Perry on Winfrey from ir. Is that good? You guys okay with that?
Marcus Moser
Yeah, I want to see how many defensive tackles they can get on the field at one time. It should be a lot of fun.
Landon McCool
Fit them all on there. It's, it's, it's, it sucks that we lost Clark. It just didn't work out there. The instincts just didn't ever kind of turn over the way you wanted. But I'm excited to see what Winfrey did just based or what can he can do based on what I saw at training camp.
Jeff Biggs
All right, be sure and check out Marcus and Landon on the daily Locked On Cowboys podcast. And for the coach, we'll be back with you after the game doing our postgame on Sunday. Marcus Atlanta will have theirs as well. It's going to be a great week 12 though. Can't wait for round two. Cowboys and Eagles. Thank you for everybody for jumping in and for those of you that are watching us later, this has been the Cowboys squad show.
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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 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.
Date: November 20, 2025
Hosts: Jeff Biggs, Marcus Mosher, Landon McCool, Glenn "Stretch" Smith
Theme: The Dallas Cowboys prepare to host the rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles, following a statement win in Vegas and major defensive shifts. The episode centers around Dallas's revamped defense, roster moves, the impact of recent trades, offensive performance, and deep analysis of the upcoming game against the Eagles.
The Cowboys Squad Show dives into the Dallas Cowboys’ revitalized defense, the implications of key trades, roster decisions, and the upcoming critical home matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Hosts provide expert analysis, share locker room insights, and debate the team's evolving identity, with an eye on both immediate and long-term playoff implications.
Defensive overhaul post-bye week with an influx of new players and a dramatic improvement in morale and performance.
Quinnen Williams’ impact felt immediately — both his skill and leadership uplifted the entire defensive front.
Significant snap increases for DBs like Kaylin Carson (60 snaps) and Ravel (20+ snaps).
Linebacker and safety rotations showed increased depth and adaptability.
Analysis of Williams’ technique, coaching background, power, and long-term value.
Comparison to NFL stalwarts like Cam Heyward and Calais Campbell—big, powerful DTs can thrive well into their 30s.
Discussion of NFL-wide trends: the rising importance of elite interior defenders to counter mobile QBs and evolving offenses.
Kaylin Carson praised for stepping up from a handful of snaps to a full workload.
Duron Bland emerges as the team’s top cover corner, freeing up others and optimizing the secondary.
Debated whether Diggs should slot directly back or earn his role upon return.
Coaches value physicality on the edge—passive play will no longer be tolerated.
Pickens’ breakout performance (9 rec, 144 yds, TD) fuels speculation about a long-term contract.
Hosts clarify, salary cap constraints overstated; Cowboys have tools to sign both Pickens and CeeDee Lamb.
Pickens’ happiness in Dallas seen as a critical factor for a likely extension.
Notable warning: “Chasing the money” doesn’t always pay off for receivers (see Alvin Harper, Laurent Robinson).
Eagles’ offense is sputtering, with right tackle Lane Johnson and center Cam Jurgens both likely out.
Defensive line may decisively win in the trenches; new personnel levels the playing field.
Philly’s disjointed offense and sideline drama (Hurts/AJ Brown/OC friction) present opportunities if Dallas jumps ahead early.
Emotional home tribute to Marshawn Neiland expected to further fire up the team.
Hosts view this as a “must-win” and a moment for the Cowboys’ season to pivot positively.
On Defensive Progress:
“You make major changes in the personnel of the defense. It changes the personality of the defense.”
— Landon McCool [04:48]
On Quinnen Williams:
“How long did it take you to watch the football game to see a guy in Quinnen Williams who is well coached, understands head placement, hand placement, foot placement…”
— Glenn Stretch Smith [10:08]
On the Rematch Atmosphere:
“I could see a very emotional football team coming out for the Cowboys Sunday afternoon.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith [57:27]
On Salary Cap Worries:
“The salary cap is real, but it’s extremely fungible. The Cowboys have almost endless number of contract triggers that they can pull.”
— Landon McCool [39:34]
On Receiver Fit:
“Pickens is better than both of those players in my opinion. But it's a good example of why situation matters so much rather than getting an extra million dollars a year.”
— Marcus Moser [44:47]
On the Crowd Impact:
“I would expect this to be one of the louder crowds that they've had all season. It's a...Cowboy season. Right. If you lose this game and you're 4,6 and 1, the season's over.”
— Marcus Moser [58:12]
The podcast delivers an in-depth look at the Cowboys’ transformation on defense, the integration of star acquisitions, shifting roster dynamics, and bold, knowledgeable predictions about a pivotal rematch with the Eagles. The hosts debate hot topics (Pickens’ contract, Diggs’ future, salary cap myths) while keeping the tone lively, genuine, and optimistic.
The Cowboys enter Sunday with renewed cohesion, hope, and a chance to salvage their season — emotionally charged, revamped, and ready to make a statement.
Locked On Cowboys Podcast: Your Team. Every Day.