
COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: The Cowboys look to bounce back in a must-win against the Minnesota Vikings on SNF.
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Landon McCool
I am Jeff Biggs, host of the Cowboys Squad show and I am looking forward to the Cowboys running the table to end the regular season.
Marcus Moser
I am Marcus Moser and I am so thankful for Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm Glenn Stretch Smith and he just stole my line. Thank goodness they breathed a little life back into a Cowboys organization that desperately needed it.
Marcus Moser
How about them Cowboys?
Jeff Biggs
It's the Cowboy Squad. Everything.
Marcus Moser
Dallas Cowboys every week covering all the.
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Big hits and game changing plays from America's team the way only the Locked On Podcast network can get ready and squad up.
Jeff Biggs
It's the Cowboy Squad show starting now.
Landon McCool
And if you don't start and join us right at the beginning, you miss things like Landon would have known. There he is. He's there with us. Good evening Landon McCool, Marcus Moer and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. The stretch from hell is over for the Cowboys. No pun intended coach. Four games in 17 days. But now for the Cowboys. They will try to run the table and win their final four and find a way to knock off the Eagles in the NFC East. Welcome to another edition of the Cowboys Squad Show. We are brought to you by fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL bets live. NFL bets all season long. As always, we welcome you and we've got a lot to get to. Coming up on the show, the very latest with the Cowboys on and off the field. The must win on Sunday night against the Vikings. With some good news to report today, CD Lamb, Jadevian Clowney were both participating in practice. The guys will have more on that, but Marcus, Len, gonna start with you. It feels like it's been a year since that game Thursday night, which is kind of a good thing in some ways. What are your thoughts on the Cowboys as we get set for the final month of the season?
Marcus Moser
I don't know what to think about this Cowboys team, Jeff. Honestly, like, they have some games, they look awesome, you know, including the Philadelphia game, the Kansas City game. They get out to such a slow start against Detroit and they fight back to make that game competitive, but they're never able to quite close the gap. They're this kind of week to week team in a league that feels very much week to week right now, or it's really hard to project which teams. We feel great about moving forward, unfortunately, because of some early season losses to opponents that maybe don't look as bad as we maybe thought initially. They're in a spot where they have to win out just to have a chance. We'll see.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, it's just, I mean, and first of all, sorry, better late than never. Sorry that I was late, guys. But, but I do think that, you know, it's, it's, it's. It's sort of a better late than never nfc, Right. Like, it feels like all these teams have been kind of middling for most of the season. We've kind of gotten into December and we see some of these teams kind of start to rise a little bit. But I think for the most part, what's kind of held the cap, the. The Cowboys in this is that there, there. There haven't been. There's been a lot of, of.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Of.
Jeff Biggs
Of middle class in, in the nfc. Right. And it's, and it's provided opportunity for the, the Cowboys to kind of get into this. I mean, look, they still have, it's not a very likely path, but they still have a path through the wild card, which is crazy considering everything that they've been through these last, you know, month, two months. So obviously, you know, the, the, the Eagles are continuing to keep the Cowboys in this even more so with their bad play. And, and, and you know, it's. It doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility that the gambit that you have to guide yourself through in order to get to the playoffs could happen. I just question. And I think, you know, ultimately that's what Marcus is saying. Like, even if it does happen, what. What form of what Dallas Cowboys team is going to show up in the playoffs? And, and, and are they even a viable playoff contender if they make the. They make the playoffs at all?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. I'm to the point now where it's just kind of handle your business in your own backyard. I don't need you looking over to the fence to your left where the Eagles are, the fence to the right, where, you know, you're. There's a possibility of, you know, telling them how to mow their yard so you can get in the playoffs. Just handle your business right now. I want to see a team that can. Can show that they know how to play defense on the back end. That, that. That's really what I want to see. I don't want to talk about any of the rest of it. I had George Teague on today, and, I mean, it's amazing how he talked about. And it's the same things we've been talking about. I don't understand the leverage problem with these corners. I don't understand the lack of understanding. If the middle of the field's closed, where is your help? And understanding how to funnel that guy to your help, I don't understand that. And so right now, instead of looking any farther down the hood, then can you please, for crying out loud, play with correct leverage on the back end? Like, I can't talk about anything else, Jeff.
Marcus Moser
I got a little sad there for a second because coach is talking about mowing the lawn, and I realized I wouldn't be able to do that for the next six months. So. But no, he's right like that. The Cowboys can't worry about what. What's going to happen in the rest of the nfc. And honestly, I wouldn't worry about it because we see weird things happen every year where a team that we thought for sure was a playoff block loses four games, and all of a sudden they're out of the playoffs. Or, you know, I'll give you a good example from my backyard here, right? The Steelers at this point last year, I believe, were 10 and three going into week 14 or going into week 15, and they lost the final five games of the year. And that was a team that everybody thought maybe could be the one or the two seed. Don't be surprised if that happens to a team like Chicago or Green Bay or, you know, who. You know, you never know who that could be. But you've got to take care of business, even capitalize on that opportunity.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah. I mean, you're just blocking out distractions, like coach said right you're putting the blinders on and trying to move forward. You know that, that's for us to discuss, right? It's just for us to kind of look forward and try to anticipate this and see exactly how we think this is going to play out. But I think for the Cowboys, you know, they struggled to kind of take care of business in Detroit the way they needed to, to kind of, you know, confirm that playoff spot. And so I, I think you're right. Like, they, they need to really kind of buckle down and, and focus on the game in front of them because they're just, you know, they're just not a good enough team to be able to look past opponents, even an opponent like Minnesota, and still expect to win.
Landon McCool
So, so let me ask you this. On our post game show, coach said a big part of it to him, and I'm not putting words in your mouth, coach, but was fatigue that the schedule, finally the clock struck midnight, and when they took the field, it just wasn't there. For me, that was probably the most disappointing thing because I really believed sincerely that this team had kind of turned a corner, and they were playing with so much energy and swagger and emotion that I thought they were going to take that field in Detroit sky high. I mean, I thought they were going to have maybe their best first half. And it didn't go anything like that script at all. It was the Lions, to their credit for that game. You know, we'll see what they do moving forward. But that night they were just at a different level that the Cowboys were not able to get to. So I'm hoping that, that, okay, got some rest, got some time off, which they earned and deserved. And I got a big home game Sunday night. Okay. Four games to go. We know you got to win. There's nothing more that needs to be said. You know, will we see that on Sunday night?
Jeff Biggs
Those, you know, those two games that they play, the Eagles and the Chiefs were, know, emotionally physically draining games, you know, and I think that, I think we didn't account for the fact that that, that is, you know, was the case and because this was one of the few that they had a whole week for.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right?
Jeff Biggs
Like, you know, the other two, they only had four days between those two games. And this one was the, the first one that you're getting back into at least a week of, of practice. Right? But I, I, I, I think, you know, Detroit just came out more fired up. I think Detroit probably had a little bit more on the line. I, I mean, listen, I'M also just not going.
Having Amon St. Brown come back and, and be able to play. I, I think it, it, it kind of invigorated them to a large degree. I don't know how much the Cowboys were anticipating him playing or not. I, I'm not certain about that, but I certainly wasn't anticipating him playing in that game. So, yeah, I think, you know, the Cowboys maybe, you know, had some were lacking on the enthusiasm gap side of things until a little bit later in the game and they kind of woke up a little bit. But this is also, you know, something that Marcus and I talked about on the show is that they in general need to do a better job of getting up and getting ready to start fast in these games because when they get themselves into these negative game scripts, you know, sometimes they can dig themselves out, sometimes they can find a way to, to overcome it and use the weapons they have on offense to produce the points, points to pull themselves out. But it's just, it just puts you in such a terrible position. And we know that the Cowboys can score. It's their average. Marcus pointed out their 3.8 points is they average 3.8 points in the first quarter. I'm pretty sure before last week they were the number one team in scoring in the second quarter. So it's not like they can't score early. It's just they aren't getting out of the blocks very quickly and they need to do that if they want to kind of, you know, win these games in a way that, that, you know, is, is they can handle it and get through these games and, and not have to worry about handling their side of the business.
Marcus Moser
Lynn, do you know that they've only scored twice in the first quarter?
You know, multiple scores in the first quarter. Once all season. That was against Washington. And that was a game that they won very easily. I mean, you look at the rest of these games, it's been incredibly slow. And really lately you look at the Last couple games, three, this is their first quarter point totals 30307 against Kansas City, three against Detroit. That's just not good enough. And when you're going up against some good offenses and your defense is what your defense is, you've got to start out fast. That's something that I think Brian Schottenheimer, I'm hoping with the 10 days off, maybe they can fix going into the final month of the season.
Glenn Stretch Smith
You know, I'd probably go at it with a little reverse psychology. I don't know that I've Ever heard it before, But I'd wait for the football coach come out and say, you know what, fellas, we want to start it in four wheel drive low. I mean, we want to come out just absolutely crawling out of the gate. Yes.
Marcus Moser
It's like what I do out of my driveway every day, Stretch.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I mean, I'm talking about just baby stepping out of there.
Jeff Biggs
Like Marcus backing out of his driveway tomorrow.
Marcus Moser
Yeah, I mean, today, literally today couldn't get out. They put it in four wheel drive. Right, I get it.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
I mean, look, I mean, coach, I mean, honestly though, like, I would love to hear your thoughts here because, I mean, what, what, like, what is your course of action here? Do you need to do a better job of, like, scripting your opening script better? Like, do you, do you. I mean, is it just as simple as, like, challenging these guys to get up for these games earlier? I mean, what, what, what can you do here?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, no, I don't, I don't think it's that. I think what you're really trying to do when you first come out is you want to see if. If what you've looked at all week is truly what they're lining up in.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Okay. Are they really. Are. Are we really gonna see an under, an over, a bare. Whatever it is that they've lined up in all week? Is that what we're gonna see? And we're gonna give them multiple formations here early to see if we can get some sort of a, you know, a tendency as to how they're going to play these things. And so when you do that, you're really, you're almost running base plays early, or like you said, I mean, I guess you could take some home run shots, but then you chance yourself getting behind the chains and going three and out. I'd be interested to see, like, which teams, I mean, and I don't know because I don't look at it that much like which teams are really fast starting teams and then what is it that they do that that differentiates from what you do? We're in a plagiarism business. The NFL is plagiarism at its finest. I mean, everybody steals from everybody else. So, you know, I think that's the thing that you'd want to look at is, hey, who are the teams that are really, you know, that, that really come out of the gate with it on fire? And then what is it that they're doing that's, you know, that. That's making a difference over. Over the long haul?
Jeff Biggs
Well, do you do you think it could be that there's like a difference between some teams that are trying to be more investigative, Right? Like, like you're saying, like they're trying to put out more vanilla formations to see how the defense reacts to it. And then there may be like another branch of offensive coordinators that are just, hey, this is what we're. These are our 15 best plays. This is what we know we run. Well, I don't care what the defense is. We're running these plays for the first 15. Do you think that, like, I mean.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Again, that sounds great, right? But, but I mean, how do you think, for instance, how do you think the Chargers felt when they've got both tackles down? You know what I mean? I mean, they're, they're trying to, they're trying to feel their way through all of it. The Cowboys are, are doing the same thing. I mean, they got a tackle down and, and they're trying to say, okay, what protection? If we do throw it, what protections can we run where we're giving Thomas some help? Are we turning to him? Are we sending the back that way? Are we running a seven man protection? And so you're trying to get all of these questions answered right? Within the first 6, 8, 10, 12 snaps. That's why guys say, well, we're going to go out and script. Well, that's fine. And then they want to see how, how guys, you know, adjust to those alignments and adjust to the, to the motions and adjust to the shifts and adjust to all of that. That. That's what you're trying to do. And not always, I guess what I'm saying is not always does. Doing that investigative work and doing that, running those investigative plays, formations, shifts, motions, whatever, not always does that translate to you, you know, being out, being able to go right to fifth gear and, you know, 2.7 seconds or whatever it is.
Marcus Moser
I've got the numbers here, coach, for you. Here's the top five teams in first drive points. It's the Rams, it's the Colts, it's the Lions, the bears and the 49ers. Those five offensive coaches and five corners. Yeah, lot of those guys work together. Right. And I think one of the things that's most interesting is if you look at the first drive numbers, all of these teams have like a neutral pass rate of like 85%, which means they're throwing the ball right out of the gate. And teams like Seattle, they're using like exclusively play action in motion on all of their first drive points. Maybe that's Just what we need to see from the Cowboys. They've been very run heavy early on in these games and I understand the reasoning behind it, but maybe you just need to come out of the gates throwing and using play action and using some of the aggressiveness of the defenses against them.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right. But what, what is the reason behind throwing play action? Because you're trying to give your left tackle help. Yeah. I mean, right. You're not trying to put him in a distress situation second play of the football game. You're not trying to. To put him in a position where all of a sudden he has zero confidence for the rest of the football game. And you're trying to establish a little bit of the run because you know, your quarterback is better when the play action does work. Now, do they have enough, you know, do they have enough. What I would say is cachet to go out there and say, okay, if we run boot, are they going to even remotely respect the fact that we're running boot? And I can tell you that, I mean, in the first series, I can't tell you how many times this year, many times have we seen Dak naked boot and dump the ball to the tight end. I mean, every drive, damn near every series. Yeah. I'm saying first series of the game.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, yeah.
Marcus Moser
We all know it's coming and it almost always never works.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
I think for me it's just about like inserting a couple more shot plays. Right. Like not taking exclusive shot plays, but just, you know, like finding a way to get a high percentage shot play, maybe a 10 or 15 yard, you know, deep cross or something like that where you can hope to get the man coverage. You can get CD running away from a guy, an easy throw for Dak to make. I, I just think that you're right, you know, Marcus, I, I don't think that they need, I mean, look, the numbers have bear this out. They don't need play. They don't need to run the ball effectively for play action to work.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Correct.
Jeff Biggs
Right. Like they, they can run play action with. Without having to run. And this San Francisco has proven this point more times than any. Right. The Rams as well. And so I do think that there is a possibility of a way for them to kind of fold in a couple more big play opportunities early in this game, if only just to kind of get them rolling a little bit more.
Landon McCool
And I would like, and in light of what you said, I would like them to come out and just if they have to add a couple of simpler play. What, whatever it takes to get the first down and to keep the drive going. Don't, don't, don't try to reinvent the wheel or I mean, just bread and butter plays that you can make to keep the chains moving and keep your offense on the field to get a good start.
Jeff Biggs
Last, last thing that's what they do.
Glenn Stretch Smith
They make it boot the quarterback out and try to hit the tight end for 4 or 5 yards. That's pretty simple what they do.
Jeff Biggs
Last thing I'll say, I would say.
Glenn Stretch Smith
That, I would say that is a day one insert for sure for the offense.
Jeff Biggs
Last thing I'll say is the other thing that's really killing this team at times is throwing the ball on first down, getting an incompletion and then running the ball on second and 10, right? Like if you are going to get an incompletion and it's going to be second and ten, then, then let's, let's, let's adjust that to being a.
A throw, right? Like, not, it doesn't need to be a shot play. It could be the equivalent of a run. But, but just in, in throwing. Because I just feel like when they're running the ball in second and 10, they're just having absolutely no success. And so what's the benefit of running the football if you're not getting any positive play there? I think you should find a way to fold in the short passing game on some of those second and 10 situations just to get yourself in a better spot for third down.
Glenn Stretch Smith
We think the first thing the defensive coordinator says on second and 10 is, thank God. Screen. Watch the screen. Watch the screen.
Jeff Biggs
Well, yeah, don't need to run a screen. Like, don't do that.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I, I, I think that's exactly. No, you're right, you're right. I'm saying that's the. You're asking me a question. I'm giving you a defensive mentality of how guys think and what their thought process is. They're going to make their call, but they're going to tag it with, hey, hey, watch the screen. And guess what the, the opposite side of it is from an offensive standpoint is, hey, watch the blitz. So what are they doing? They're probably going to throw some sort of tunnel or bubble outside or try to get you in a screen situation. I mean, it, you know, we're marching to the same deep here.
Jeff Biggs
I'd love to see them use more RPOs on second attempt. Just because even if you're going to run the football, at least accounts. Right, right. At least you, you've got the numbers advantage if you're not throwing the football.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I don't think Dax, I don't think Dax a very good RPO guy. That's my own opinion though.
Jeff Biggs
I, I don't disagree. But I also don't think you he's going to screw it up enough that, like on, on the, you know, instances where you've thrown an incompletion on first down that if you throw a second round, a second down slant to Pickens or a handoff to Javante Williams for 3 or 4 yards because your number counts are correct, I think it's better than, you know, trying to bang your head on a straightforward run which has not been working for the Cowboys.
Landon McCool
All right, when we come back, coach, you guys mentioned plagiarism before, so I am going to steal a question that Marcus asked on the Cowboys podcast show. We'll do that talking about the defense when we return. This is the Cowboys squad show.
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All right, we're back. Cowboy squad show Landon McCool, Marcus Moger, the co host of the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. All right, Marcus, you and Len posed a great question earlier in the week. Can the linebacker and secondary issues that the Cowboys are having again, can they be fixed this season with four games left to go?
Marcus Moser
No. So thanks for tuning in to the Lots podcast. We'll see you guys next week.
Jeff Biggs
Bye bye everyone. See you later.
Marcus Moser
I mean, do I think they can get better play than what they're getting? I mean, sure, the linebacker play has been atrocious. Are they going to solve those issues this year? No, you're just going to have to play with the guys that you have and hopefully this offseason, whether it's, you know, free agency of the draft, you can upgrade those spots. But I mean, we've got four games left to go. This room isn't going to change too much. These guys are who they are. Kenneth Murray is not suddenly going to become, you know, an all pro linebacker. Maybe the Marvin over shown gets healthy. But Landon, I want to ask you, I mean, we had a question after the show was posted, but we, we saw a lot of Dan Quinn and Mike Zimmer blitzing over shown because they thought that was the way to get the best, the most out of him. I think he's had one blitz opportunity since he's come back. Should the Cowboys Maybe be a little bit more aggressive, sending him on some of these blitzes.
Jeff Biggs
I, I'm gonna say yes, only because I don't know that the linebacker can play. Play can be bad any worse than it has been at this point. Right? Like, look. Yeah, I think, I think that's one thing that he does extremely well. And, and obviously he's proven that time in and time out. I think the reality is, is that they are in a situation where Overshone is currently in the role where he's having to make everyone right.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Jeff Biggs
And like, and so it's, it's hard to kind of use him as a point and shoot tool.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Jeff Biggs
Like, you know, we, like we've talked about with some of these guys, some, some linebackers are better like being directed, you know, like coming downhill and like being blitzers. I think honestly Murray is that guy in a lot of ways where you don't want his instincts involved. You just want to tell him what to do and then hope he gets well.
Marcus Moser
It's not fair. He doesn't have instincts. But yes, that's true.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Good point.
Jeff Biggs
So I, I think, but I think the problem is, is that because, you know, the.
The strong desire for, for overshown to come back and fix the issues at the second level of this defense, he's kind of had to be thrown into this role where, you know, he's the guy that's, that is correcting everything and making everything right. I mean, they've, they've already thrown him into the backup green dot. I wouldn't be shocked if he was the green dot this week. I think that, you know, it's easier when you've got another linebacker next to Overshone that maybe you trust a little bit more to kind of do some of the, the, the interesting stuff, blitzing and coverage or however you want to do it. But I think without that guy, without a reliable linebacker, I mean that's the real problem ultimately is like who's the other guy? Like we can't even get one other guy to play consistently decent linebacker, you know, and I think it's so bad that like even Logan Wilson who's, you know, doesn't look like, I mean he looks like Philip, 44 year old Philip Rivers out there. Like when he's running around. Like, like even he is, is only able to get out there and split reps with, with, with Murray, considering how bad Murray has been. So I think, you know, are these two questions are related, right? Like where if we had a little bit better linebacker play overall, I feel like you could do some more interesting things with over shown it like blitzing. But I think as it stands right now, you just need him back there to clean up all the mistakes that are happening at the other linebackers position.
Landon McCool
Coach, what do you think?
Glenn Stretch Smith
I mean I, I, I, I think there's a, I personally believe that somebody is going to have to be held accountable for some bad personnel moves.
Jeff Biggs
No doubt.
Glenn Stretch Smith
It's just what I believe. I believe when you see Mingo who for whatever reason we gave up a fourth for him, he, and he can't, he can't get back on the field. When you have Murray, who you gave the money to because you thought he could come in and step and be.
Marcus Moser
A day, not just money but and a pick.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, that's right.
Glenn Stretch Smith
So you thought could be a day one starter, you let Nayshaan Wright out of the building. Who has gone and been NFC defensive player of the week.
Somebody, somebody has made these, somebody has made these recommendations from a personnel standpoint. Now has it been coaches? I'm not going to point fingers. Has it been coaches? Has it been pro personnel? Have they graded guys wrong? Have they put wrong grades on guys? Have guys been graded.
Higher than what they've been able to come in here and do? But at some point there, there's an accountability situation here and that's what, that's why this team right now is in, in desperately struggling, struggling at linebacker. They're desperately struggling in the secondary because they don't have very good players and yeah, and do I think they play with bad leverage? Yeah, we talked about it a thousand times. Do I think that they're non instinctive at times? Yes, I do. Do I think there's times when I watch Siobhan Ravel backpedal when he's standing taller than I am trying to backpedal into the back deep quarter? Yes. Is, is he's two games into it. I'm willing to say know what? He'll get better. But that's when there's a personnel disconnect here. And, and, and nobody like says anything about it. Everybody just says, well they're not very good. Well, they're not very good. Well, we can't blitz this guy. Well, this guy's slow off the ball. This guy's non instinctive. Well this, this some point the accountability factor has to step into this.
Marcus Moser
And coach, I was going to say maybe it's a coaching thing because we know the Cowboys give their coaches, you know a lot of say when it comes to personnel but when you look at the types of players that have failed. You know, you didn't even mention Kyrie Elam, but a former first round pick, Kenneth Murray, a former first round pick, Jonathan Mingo, a top 40 pick. It's a lot of these guys that had this high draft pedigree and my guess is that it's Will McClay or somebody on the front office side saying, hey, this guy was once a really, you know, highly talented player. Our coaching staff will be able to get the most out of them. And they're, it just hasn't worked out. More often than not, the, the reason why the Titans and the Bills are trading away their former first round picks is because these guys can't play and it's asking too much of the coaching staff. One of their only signings that really has worked outside of like Javante Williams is Solomon Thomas, who they got on a very cheap deal. But I think that one worked out well because he had familiarity with Aaron White Cotton, who was coached by him with the Jets. So he knew exactly how to fit him into this defense. It wasn't anything new for him. I, I gotta believe it's from the front office. It's making some of these poor decisions.
Jeff Biggs
I also want to just, you know, separate out the Murray decision from the rest of these because to me, the Murray situation is so much more egregious than all of those other ones. Like, because Murray was a very known commodity. In fact, Murray was a known commodity from college. Right. And had everything confirmed in the pros. And then he went to the Chargers.
Marcus Moser
Then he went to the Titans.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, then he went to the Titans and had it further confirmed. And then on top of that, you've got a head coach who literally, like, the reason he's even here or as a defensive coordinator is because he himself was supposed to be a linebacker whisperer. So I understand the, the, you know, the missed, the nature of the missed, you know, evaluations. Right. Elam didn't work out, but at least you got some starting snaps out of him. Whatever. Like I, I can wave that away. Mingo, honestly, it's like Bingo didn't work out. But a part of the reason that Minko didn't work out is because you just didn't get an opportunity to ever feel him because you liked the Flannoy so much and what you were getting out of Hanoi, he just never got an opportunity. But, but the Murray situation, like you went out and paid a lot of money for a starting linebacker. That is a very well known quantity with a linebacker coach who is Supposed to be known for getting the most out of this. Guys, this is an absolute abject failure here. It is taken a sledgehammer to the Cowboys defense at times and it continues to be the kind of mistake that the Cowboys refuse to do anything about it. Even by trading for Logan Wilson, you're only still splitting. Splitting the time like that isn't enough of a reaction to how badly Kenneth Murray is playing in these games.
Landon McCool
I was very passionate, Landon. That was great.
Jeff Biggs
I'm really tired of Kenneth Murray being on my football team. Well, it is a good guy, but I'm just tired of it, man. Like Landon.
Marcus Moser
You and I talked about this earlier in the year. There were about three players on defense and yes, you guys can probably guess who they are that were responsible for 90% of the mental mistakes. And that Kenneth Murray spot is one. And listen, I understand why they're not playing Logan Wilson because he's as fast as stretches right now. But at the same time I would. I just want to see somebody else on the field. How fast are you stretched? Can you run stretch?
Jeff Biggs
What's your 40 now?
Glenn Stretch Smith
I could. Back in the day, I'm. I mean, I'm 60. 60 years old. I couldn't. Back in the day I could.
Marcus Moser
You still might be faster than I.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Could run a 465.
Marcus Moser
You still might be faster.
Jeff Biggs
All that. I could run a 465.
Marcus Moser
It's a good time. That's a really good time.
Jeff Biggs
It's a good time for a 60 year old man. Brother.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I could pick him up and put him down now.
Marcus Moser
There you go.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm too old now. Yeah, so. So what the hell does that have to do with anything?
Jeff Biggs
We need linebackers, coach. Get out there.
Marcus Moser
I mean any. Anything would be better right now.
Landon McCool
What do we know today on Trayvon Diggs status? Is he gonna play? Is he is gonna happen at some point?
Glenn Stretch Smith
Are they.
Marcus Moser
Can I make a prediction, Jeff?
Landon McCool
Yeah, please.
Marcus Moser
I don't think he ever plays another snap for the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys are slow playing this a little bit. I mean, you heard some comments from Brian Schottenheimer where basically it doesn't sound like they love some of the work that Diggs is doing, you know, whether it's in the meetings or in rehab. My guess is they haven't put him on the IR list yet because. Or, you know, they're keeping him around in case injuries happen and they get to the postseason. They have no choice, but. And then they have no choice, but I would be shocked if he plays in the Next couple weeks.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I agree. I just, let me just look at the way things have. I mean he should have been back injury wise weeks ago. We still don't, we still don't have any kind of indication as to what actually happened to him outside of the knee injury. And no one's really talking about any kind of certainty about him coming back. It's all very nebulous every single time they bring it up. I, I, yeah, I tend to agree. I think that they're slow playing this to the end of the season. If they absolutely need him, they'll probably call him up. But I mean, I don't, I don't understand how like after everything they kind of been through and, and what it feels, feels like, I don't understand how the coaching staff could trust him.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Jeff Biggs
Like not, not, and not that the coaching staff themselves haven't made terrible mistakes and are, aren't exactly trustworthy themselves. Specifically, it feels like the defensive backs coach. But I, I, I just don't think that after everything that's gone down that there's very much trust between Trayvon Diggs and this coaching staff and maybe even the front office.
Landon McCool
I should know.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm not, I'm not trying to pretend to be some kind of FBI guy, but I do think it's funny that it's a guy that came out and said we don't have an ident. What is the identity? Who, who are we? What are we? And then what, three weeks later, mysteriously their trips over something falls off a ladder, putting the Christmas lights up. Something. Something. We still don't even know the grass. We don't even know what the injury is. So what is the password of the honeycomb hideout to figure out what the problem is?
Landon McCool
Does he have a damn password, Jeff? I, I don't know. You tell me.
Glenn Stretch Smith
They're scratching. No, you just gotta, oh, you 812 would be my guess. I don't know.
Landon McCool
I'm saying, Okay, I, does he have a, a clause in his contract that they're trying to avoid? Like an injury class?
Marcus Moser
I wouldn't be surprised. And that that's gonna kind of land in a nice thing for a while. We wouldn't be surprised if they're making sure they don't have to owe him any more money than what they already owe him.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
Glenn Stretch Smith
He'S one. They find a half million, correct?
Jeff Biggs
Yes, yes. It's very rare and I think that, I think, well, and that was simply, that was very cut and dry. I mean they, they didn't, it wasn't even a fine. He just violated his own contract. Right. He didn't make the workout bonus. I. I do wonder if there isn't another element to this, like, like Marcus was suggesting that we talked about this weeks ago, where there's something about the way he got injured that the Cowboys are trying to insulate themselves from the liability there. I. I don't know exactly. I mean, it, you know, we're all kind of just reaching for something that we don't know the shape of.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right. We just know.
Jeff Biggs
It's like we. We know there's something there, but we don't really know what it is.
Marcus Moser
So I just think the Cowboys are done with Trayvon Diggs.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah.
Jeff Biggs
And they.
Marcus Moser
They're holding on to him just in case they need him, but I think they're over this whole experiment. He's going to be released this off season. We heard rumblings this offseason that they tried to trade him, but some guaranteed money kicked in, so they couldn't do that. I just think they're done with this whole thing.
Landon McCool
Fair enough. We shall see. All right. When we come back, let's talk about George Pickens and Richard Sherman and where things stand with that. And we'll start to look at the matchup on Sunday nights and talk a little bit more about the other injuries with Ceedee and Tyler Guyton. All that is coming up next. This is the Cowboys squad show.
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All right, Cowboy squad show Landon McCool, Marcus Moser, and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. Guys. After the Lions loss, Richard Sherman really went off on George Pickens during the postgame show. On the broadcast, Pickens replied via an X post. He deleted it. Now, Richard Sherman has responded to that, saying he only criticized George Pickens because he thinks he can be a great player. All that said, I, you know, it's over with. It's been almost a week. I, I just, I would. I hope this means that George is going to have a monster game on Sunday night. But what do you guys make of all that?
Jeff Biggs
To me, it's like, I mean, I hate to use a reference from Mean Girls, but to me, it seems like they're trying to make fetch happen here. Like, it's just like that. You know, it's in the zeit. I mean, you use zeitgeist again, Marcus. It's in the zeitgeist, right? That that Pickens is. Is a problem and that he is a malcontent and, and all this. So any kind of angle, they can get that, that any opportunity. And that's part of the issue with Pickens, is that he's. He's got a target on his back now, right? And. And he's put that on his own back like that. Like, you know, there's no going around that. But anytime, like, anything even looks kind of remotely slacker or, or effort is being questioned, he's going to get no benefit of the doubt. And, and he's going to have these guys like Sherman who are, you know, looking to kind of make a headline here. They're all going to call him out every single time that he's giving them any kind of opportunity. So I'm not actually, like, worried about it yet at this point. I think this is, this is the kind of thing that you're. You get from Pickens from time to time. But I also see a guy who is. I still think is number two in receiving yards in the entire NFL and is probably played maybe four or five times better than any of us expected. And, and I'm not going to look at what happened in the Detroit game and suddenly be upset that the Cowboys have him or potentially or talk about not signing him. I, I, I just have a hard time getting as upset as Richard Sherman pretended to be.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I also think when you say what happened in the Detroit game. I'm sorry, what, what is it that, do you know what it is that they're pointing to? I got it.
Marcus Moser
So Richard Sermon said during the post game show that Pickens looked uninterested in playing football and, and that the effort was below par. That was what Sherman said. And to be honest with you, I, I, I don't necessarily disagree but I also agree with Pickens where he was getting a lot of bracket coverage and it was hard for him to do a lot. He was opening up other guys like Ryan Flournoy. I so I think they're both kind of right. I think the problem is, is when Pickens went to, because I love this quote in the post game, like in the locker room, I actually thought Pickens did a really good job.
Jeff Biggs
I agree.
Marcus Moser
Kind of diffusing this. And then he goes on social media and puts out a post that he just didn't need to put out. And that's where Brian Schottenheimer went to Pickens to talk to him about it. I was talking to our guy Mike Fiser today and listen, if it happens one time, it's not a big deal, whatever. He's going to get the criticism. If it doesn't happen again, we can just call it a one off thing. And it was a weird game during this four game stretch where he played in 18 days. If it happens twice in five games now, it's a story. I just don't think it's that big of a deal yet.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Is it? But is there a particular.
There'S got to be a particular play or snap or something where there were, there were.
Marcus Moser
A couple that the Amazon broadcast showed of him jogging on some routes. There was a play on a third down where he was supposed to run a comeback and he kind of just walked through the route a little bit. Some of the blocking stuff was, I think the effort could have been a lot better.
They did show like a compilation of it, but it wasn't egregious to me either.
Jeff Biggs
That, yeah, that's the thing, right. Is that I think you could easily create a reel of like a half a dozen other wide receivers across the league that had similar efforts. But because it's George Pickens, like that's why it's being, being brought up. I, that's, that's my thing is that to me like nothing he has done. And honestly, you're right. The, the deleted Twitter thing, thing he put. Or Instagram, whatever, that was the closest it has ever gotten to me to anything close to truly egregious or, or negative. Everything else to me has just been. It feels like really pumped up, you know. And, and, and I don't disagree that I think that there are, there have been times when his body language wasn't great. That one time when he ran the route that I don't think he was expecting to get the football on the. I think it was a comeback that he was kind of running sort of just up the sideline. I, I think that, you know, you, it's easy to, if you wanted to, to kind of make a highlight reel of a bunch of other wide receivers with similar efforts on different plays throughout the game. I just think a lot of this is being. Because he's Pickens.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Now when you, when you're a smart enough player and you come off the football and I said this, I don't know, whenever. Thursday night and you come off the football, you're driving off the football and you see there's over the top help. You see that there's, there's. You're getting a situation where you're, you're not going to get the football. You're, you're, you're not getting the football and you know, you're not getting the football. I, I don't have a problem with it at all.
Jeff Biggs
And here's, here's the old Art brials coach, right? It's the old R brows.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah. He just stand them there.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah. He wouldn't.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Would even run. But here, here's the point, here's the point I'm making. I want, and I always wanted guys that were smart football players that understood everything. Not just your responsibility, not just some guy standing on the sideline with a damn black hood back behind him flashing a damn spongebob card at the ex receiver or another guy flashing a card at the Z or another guy. Hey, you understand the entire play of the game where it is in the football game. You understand where the football should go and what's happening now If I was coaching him, I'd bring him in, in that situation. I'd say, hey look George, here's what I want to point out. And I, I, I, I'd pull those two plays up and I challenge him and ask him, I've seen you do better than this. I've seen you show me some better things than this. And minus CD Lamb, here's where I'm at with it. Yes, you're going to get over the top of the help on this go ball. But guess what? If he comes to you, it's still, we still feel like there's a 50, 50 shot for you to get this football or he wouldn't come to you and you challenge him in that way. I don't think this is a situation at all that deserves the criticism that he got for gearing it down in certain routes when he knew he wasn't going to get the football.
Jeff Biggs
100%.
Landon McCool
I agree.
Jeff Biggs
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Landon McCool
Coach, are there ever times when, when you're with the offensive group in the game and you're, you make a conscious effort, a point to say, hey, we need to get this guy the ball, we need to get this guy going. We need to be deliberate about it.
Jeff Biggs
We heard it, we heard it with the thing in the, in the, the knockdown.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Yeah, I do think that happens some. But, but the one thing that, that you never coach on offense in my mind or you're not an offensive player is effortless. Effort is for the other side of the ball when the ball goes all the way to the other side and that corner has to bust his ass across the field to go make sure he's taking the right angle in case the ball cuts back. That's why when you have been to a practice, you hear the defensive guys all the time, run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, take the angle. That's, that's, that's an effort, coach. But that to me, that you don't hear that on the offensive side because you expect guys to be knowing the entire concept of what you're trying to do in order to, to be successful in the play, whether that's going up and blocking the run support guy or it's, I mean, or it's busting it off of the, off of the football in, in, in, in a route. You have to know the whole concept of the play. And I'm going to tell you, I'll bet you money, I'll bet you money that he is a damn smart football player. I mean, smart.
Jeff Biggs
And I think, I think, look, I mean, you know, to kind of what I was getting and on the Hard knocks, the NFC east one, you know, we heard, we heard Schottenheimer specifically say, hey, let's, let's focus on 88 and 3, right? Let's, let's get these guys the ball once things started turning around. But to go to, to coach's point, like, I, I just don't feel like.
You know, he should be, he should be punished. I mean, look, he's going to be punished because he's, he's in the spotlight here. But I just, it's, it's, it's unfortunate that he's going to be punished for this kind of thing and, and, and still kind of. It's, it's so easy to just wipe away all the good that he has done, you know, in the month previous to this. I mean again, like just look at the numbers and look at the way he's performed and look at the way he's performed at other times when CD was out. Like, you know, this guy has done more than what we've expected to come in here and, and he, he, he, you know, we, we get shown like three plays by, by someone on Amazon and now suddenly we're, everyone's trying to turn on this. I, I just think it's unfortunate. There's been too much positive from George Pickens to, to kind of overcome just this. What we've seen his effort in Detroit game.
Marcus Moser
On the other hand, it might be able to get you him back cheaper in free agency next off season. So that's not a bad thing.
Jeff Biggs
I guess not. Maybe, maybe that's why Jerry put that chum out there. Is that what you're suggesting?
Marcus Moser
Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time.
Jeff Biggs
That's true.
Landon McCool
All right, let's take our final timeout real quick. Timeout. And when we come back, our final segment and we'll talk about the must win matchup coming up on Sunday night. This is the Cowboys squad show.
We are back. Cowboys getting ready for a Sunday night showdown with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football.
Before we get into that, Marcus and Landon, what can we look forward to the rest of the week for the Lock Daily Lock on Cowboys podcast?
Marcus Moser
Yeah, we've got a crossover show coming tomorrow with Luke Braun from Locked On Vikings. I don't want to say I have favorite Locked on host, but Luke is one of the best guests that we have. He does a great job of covering the Vikings. So make sure you guys check in that, check in on that. And then on Friday, Atlanta and I are going to preview this must win game for the Cowboys. I mean again, when The Cowboys were 3, 5 and 1 coming out of the Arizona game. If you would have told me they had meaningful football in Week 15, I wouldn't have believed you. So this is, this is awesome. I'm glad that we've got a big game to, to preview.
Jeff Biggs
I'm kind of a big fan of Minnesota fans, honestly. Yeah, Minnesota fans are legit.
Marcus Moser
Especially like fans that like, that are like our age. Right. You know, kind of in this, you know, last 25, 30 years they've experienced some really tough heartbreak that only Dallas Cowboy fans can understand. So we, we're with them.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I'm actually popping on Arifa San's show tomorrow as well. So we, we got all the good Vikings host covered at this point.
Landon McCool
Beautiful. All right, what do we know about cd? Do you guys think he's going to be back and play? I mean he, he returned to practice, but he's still on the concussion protocol. What about Tyler Guyton and his style?
Marcus Moser
I've got some updates there. Yeah, so generally players that participate during a Wednesday practice when they're in concussion protocol end up playing. The way that it goes is you have to get a, at least a full practice in, but the fact that he's already practicing in some, you know, capacity is, is great for his outlook. On Sunday, Jadavian Clowney was back at practice, albeit limited. Tyler Guyton, he's still out with an ankle injury. It sounds like maybe he could miss one more week. He's been doing some more stuff on the cords, but not quite ready to practice. And then the only other big one is Malik Hooker did not practice on Wednesday, but he's expected to return for this game.
Jeff Biggs
All right, I, I, I, I'm gonna go ahead and say I think Guyton doesn't play and I think simply because of the fact that, of who you're playing this week, right, you're playing the Vikings. They're gonna blitz you a ton. So you're gonna want the left tackle that's been in there practicing all week and understands what he's looking at. So I think the fact that Guyton's not practicing yet probably means that it's safer to say that they're going to shut him down one more week.
Landon McCool
Thursday night was kind of a tough night for Nate Thomas. What do you think was going on with him and do you think he, he'll bounce back?
Jeff Biggs
I, you know, maybe, yeah.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Degree Right.
Marcus Moser
I think, I think you're going to see him play better than what he played last week against Detroit. It also helps that you're home.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Right.
Marcus Moser
And you can hear the snap count better and all that kind of stuff. But he's a backup left tackle who's really in his first season of action. It's going to be inconsistent. It's going to be up and down and I think Dak Prescott, Brian Schottenheimer and Clayton Adams have got to devise a game plan that can kind of hide their left tackle and they're pretty.
Jeff Biggs
Good at doing that. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just, you know, he's played well at certain points. He had a tough assignment last week, obviously with facing a lot of Aiden Hutchinson. It's going to be interesting to see exactly how he bounces back and, and if he can kind of, you know, get. I, I don't think it's a mental thing from him.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Him.
Jeff Biggs
Right. I think it was a, a going against having a tough assignment issue for him. Although I, I will say that does feel like he also gave up some of the sacks to Al Quan Muhammad as well. So, you know, I, I'm interested to see where he, where he goes from here. But I, I do think that hope he's going to have a bounce back week because I do think for the most part that was far and away, I think his worst game.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Well, and yeah, I'm saying playing against better players where you're behind in the football game, where you're having to throw at every single snap. I mean, now we're back to what we talked about in the first segment, which is, hey, if you can get yourself out there and get a lead in the football game, then you can run the football some and run play action and that helps him. If you're trying to get five out in the route and you're in, you know, he's going to be isolated, you're, he's going to get exposed, that it's that simple. So is Terence Steele. He got exposed too. I mean, it's not like we're talking about, you know, you know, Tyron Smith out there. I mean they're, they've got to have some help and they've got to be, have an ability to turn some protections, send the back a certain way, you know, help with the tight end on the way out, all those things. Because you're right, I mean, he's a, he's a, he's a backup tackle for a reason.
Landon McCool
All right, so with this Vikings team, I mean, they're McCarthy's back, had a pretty good game last Sunday against the banged up commanders. But they're going to come into this game Sunday night playing with house money loose, nothing to lose. So I, I'm expecting, you know, they're, they're going to come out and they're going to want to pass and want to get Jefferson going. What are you guys thinking? What are you seeing in this matchup?
Marcus Moser
Well, what's tough about this one is this is the, really the healthiest that Minnesota's offensive line has been all year. They've had a bunch of injuries on that unit and they're still working some guys back into the lineup, but their past protection has been a big issue. And with JJ McCarthy coming back from that knee injury, you were always worried a little bit about how he's going to be able to escape. So you've got to win up front. You got to win these one on one matchups in Quinn and Williams, Oso Digizua, Kenny Clark. If those guys can create pressure, I think they're going to be okay. But this is a must win game for the Cowboys. I don't expect the Vikings just to lay down because they're four, nine, it's a Sunday night football game. They're trying to develop a young quarterback. I think you're going to get their best shot.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I think they're going to try to run the football a lot. You know, I think they want to, you know, give some stability to their young quarterback. They've been able to create a lot of explosive plays running the football. I think they're going to want to possess the ball a little bit because, look, their defense is based on coming after the quarterback and blitzing the quarterback. And Dak is, if not the best, I mean, he is, he's the best quarterback probably in the league against the blitz. And so if that's your, you know, your, your fastball, you know, that can burn you with it, right? I mean, that's, that's the thing about fastball throws is that if you hit it, you can hit it really far, right? And I think that's what you going to see with Dak is if you could beat the blitz, you're going to beat it for Big plays. So I think the way that the Vikings avoid kind of overexposing their defense and overexposing their quarterback is to run the football, try to possess a little bit more, make life easier for a.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Young quarterback, and that's how you get your shots to Jefferson down the field is off of that play action. So, I mean, I could absolutely see that as to what Kevin o' Connell is going to try to do, and you know what they're going to do defensively, they're going to show you a bunch of different looks and they're going to bring a bunch of different pressure at you. So Dallas will have their opportunities to hit some big plays as well.
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
Landon McCool
All right. Well, we're looking forward to that. Sunday Night Football. Can't wait. Must win, you know. And what do you guys think of the schedules? Looking at the Cowboys, we've talked about that, but you look at the Eagles schedule, they're home for the Raiders, but then at Washington, at Buffalo, and then back home for the Commanders. I don't know, from what we saw, they going to get things right or do you think that this is kind of the beginning of the end for them and that they're going to flame out? Talking about the Eagles, I, I don't.
Marcus Moser
Know if they're going to get things right, but their schedule is so soft that they might just be able to sleepwalk through a couple of these games. But at the same time, it's, it's Dan Quinn, it's probably going to be Marcus Mariota playing at quarterback. And I think these guys want to win. I think they're going to try their best to, to give Philly everything they can handle. There's no doubt the Eagles have a easier schedule than what Dallas has the rest of the way. This is a team that's now lost three straight games, their quarterbacks playing the worst football of his career. Nobody seems happy. They just got the positivity bunny out of their locker room, which, that's a big deal, obviously. So we'll see.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I.
Jeff Biggs
Look, I don't understand how I'm not gonna guess the floor for this team because to me, every time they, they, they, they sink beneath it. So I'm not at all going to be shocked that they lose to Kenny Pickett and the Raiders this weekend. Like, I, I'm just not, like, because I, I just. They seem completely disoriented. They seem completely unable to get the, the ball to their star players. Their quarterback is playing terrible, their offensive coordinator isn't helping their quarterback, and their defense has somehow lost its teeth in a lot of ways. The coverage is still really, really good on the back end, but they can't stop the run the way that they were earlier in the season and it's caused problems for them. So if, if the Raiders go out there and run the football with a talented young running back, they get Colton Miller coming back. If they could find a way to get some, some seams in the run game, I mean, who knows anymore with how bad these Eagles of play.
Glenn Stretch Smith
I'm best part of that is they'll be booing the crap out of them. That's, that's the best part. I mean they are, they are waiting to unload on that team. So I hope they get down there and start frying those three eyed fish out of the school for their tailgate and get out there and just get the booing the hell out of them.
Marcus Moser
It boots Santa. I mean come on.
Glenn Stretch Smith
Oh, I beat him up. I only boot him. They beat him up.
Landon McCool
All right. Well, as we wrap up the show, the Cowboys currently sitting with a 10% chance of making the playoffs. But of course one game at a time. It starts with getting the W on Sunday night. So we look forward to that. Marcus Landon, Enjoy your shows the rest of the week on the daily Lock On Cowboys podcast. We will speak with you again next week. Coach have a great weekend as well. We'll talk Sunday night, but enjoy the game and thank you to everybody for weighing in and chiming in with your comments. We love you, we appreciate you. And again, be sure and check out Marcus and Landon the rest of the week. This has been the Cowboys squad show.
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Landon McCool
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Jeff Biggs
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Landon McCool
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Hosts: Landon McCool, Marcus Mosher, Glenn "Stretch" Smith (Former Cowboys Coach), Jeff Biggs
This episode centers on the Dallas Cowboys entering a crucial stretch of their season: a must-win game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. The hosts break down recent struggles, discuss the path forward, analyze key personnel issues, and examine what the team must fix—particularly on defense and in their weekly preparation—if they're to keep their playoff hopes alive in a turbulent NFC race. The crew dives into injury updates, recent controversial media moments (the Pickens/Sherman incident), and what to expect against Minnesota.
(02:01–05:31)
(05:31–11:29)
(13:05–19:19)
Notable Quote:
“NFL is plagiarism at its finest… look at what the best [fast-starting] teams are doing and copy it.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith (13:05–14:38)
(25:23–31:52)
Notable Quote:
“It's taken a sledgehammer to the Cowboys defense at times and it continues to be the kind of mistake that the Cowboys refuse to do anything about.”
— Jeff Biggs, on Kenneth Murray (33:23–34:45)
(42:03–52:34)
(54:38–55:41)
(57:59–60:23)
Notable Quote:
“This is a must-win game for the Cowboys. I don’t expect the Vikings just to lay down because they're 4-9. You're going to get their best shot.”
— Marcus Mosher (58:24)
(60:24–62:42)
(62:49–63:44)
This episode captures the urgency and tension surrounding Dallas as they head into a must-win Sunday Night matchup with the Vikings. The hosts lay bare the team’s lingering issues on defense, challenge the coaches and front office for questionable moves, and stress the need for a faster offensive start. Despite off-field controversies and a dwindling playoff chance, the mood is focused and combative: one game at a time, or the season is done.
Find more Cowboys analysis and daily updates on the Locked On Cowboys Podcast.