COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: The Cowboys were mauled by the Bears in Chicago.

Summary

Locked On Cowboys: Cowboys Mauled by Bears in Chicago (September 22, 2025)

Episode Overview

This episode of the Locked On Cowboys "Cowboys Squad Show" features hosts Jeff Biggs, Aisha Morrison, and former Cowboys coach Glenn "Stretch" Smith dissecting the Dallas Cowboys’ painful 31-14 loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Week 3. The crew explores how the team unraveled on both sides of the ball, focusing on defensive disarray, offensive pressure, coaching adjustments (or lack thereof), and the daunting outlook ahead. The hosts maintain their trademark candid, sometimes playful tone, but the underlying message is clear: there are major issues in Dallas, and things could get rougher.

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Main Themes

• Defensive failures: confusion, lack of pass rush, and poor communication
• Offensive pressure to be perfect: turnovers and an inability to bail out the defense
• Coaching mismatches: schematic misalignment and personnel struggles
• Locker room dynamics: looming risk of finger-pointing and morale issues
• Implications for the season: urgent need for adjustments with a tough schedule ahead

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Key Discussion Points and Deep Dives

1. Bears Controlled the Game from Start to Finish

• The Bears "came ready to play," executed their game plan, and made the Cowboys look even worse than the scoreboard suggested (31-14). ([01:43])
• Jeff Biggs opens by stating, "You could make a case this one was actually worse than the score looks." ([01:43])

Notable Quote

“They imposed their will... sometimes you say a game isn’t as bad as it looked. You could make a case this one was actually worse than the score looks.”
— Jeff Biggs ([01:43])

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2. Defensive Disaster and Scheme Disarray

• Defensive confusion carried over from the previous week. The lack of adjustment allowed Chicago to exploit the Cowboys with ease.
• Scheme change under new DC Matt Eberflus has led to mental mistakes and a visible lack of confidence among defensive backs.
• Lack of pass rush (only one QB hit all game, Sam Williams, who was benched early for a penalty).
• Bears offensive coordinator Ben Johnson “came to embarrass them” with aggressive and creative play-calling (“piled it on... the flea flicker and things like that”). ([06:13])
• Secondary appears lost, with frequent communication breakdowns and visible frustration (e.g., Malik Hooker throwing his helmet).

Notable Quotes

“You have a secondary that is completely void of any kind of confidence and nor do they know what’s expected of them.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([04:27])

“No pass rush, secondary confused, sounds bad all the way around.”
— Aisha Morrison ([06:13])

Timestamps:

• Defensive breakdown: ([03:35] through [07:23])
• Sam Williams’ penalty and pass rush issues: ([06:13])
• Malik Hooker's post-drive frustration: ([04:27])

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3. Scheme vs. Personnel: Coaching on the Hot Seat

• Stretch Smith criticizes the coaching staff for failing to align scheme with personnel, referencing the Trayvon Diggs touchdown allowed due to poor technique: "That tells me that’s not being coached."
• Explains that last year's disconnect between Mike Zimmer and Al Harris on defensive back coordination is repeating with the current staff.
• Calls attention to the urgent need for the DC to get the defense "sound" and stop mental errors.

Notable Quotes

“Your responsibility as a football coach is to match your personnel with what you can do schematically. Otherwise, I can just go get anybody to say, 'Hey, we're going to put this scheme in.'”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([09:48])

“Right now it doesn’t feel like they got the right tools.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([34:21])

Timestamps:

• Discussion of coaching mismatches: ([09:01]-[11:48]), ([34:21])

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4. Offensive Margin for Error = Zero

• The offense is under relentless pressure to be flawless; any mistake is heavily punished due to the defense’s failings.
• Red-zone inefficiency: Four red zone trips, only one touchdown. Penalties and mistakes killed drives.
• Run game (Javonte Williams) was effective early, but a fluke fumble handed momentum to the Bears.
• Aisha criticizes late-first half and second-half play-calling for lacking sufficient aggressiveness, calling for more urgency considering the state of the defense.

Notable Quotes

"The perfection in which the offense has to play in is not realistic."
— Aisha Morrison ([16:47])

“You have an offense who has zero room for error. They can't fumble, can't get a pick, can't get a penalty—they have zero room for error.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([13:46])

Timestamps:

• Pressure on offense: ([03:35], [09:44], [13:46], [16:47])
• Red zone and offensive miscues: ([16:47]), ([22:22])

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5. Turnover Battle and Missed Opportunities

• Cowboys lost turnover battle 4-0 (multiple picks, including a tipped interception off Pickens’ hands, and the Williams fumble), each coming at crucial moments.
• Every turnover magnified due to defensive struggles—no margin to recover.

Notable Quote

“The turnovers were killer—lost the turnover battle 4 to 0 today. And every single time it mattered, it mattered.”
— Aisha Morrison ([31:56])

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6. The Risk of Locker Room Friction

• Hosts discuss fear of offense/defense finger-pointing and waning morale as blowouts or repeated collapses mount.
• Both hosts emphasize it's going to take strong leadership to keep the locker room united and focused.

Notable Quotes

“It is going to take a lot to keep this locker room together through this time.”
— Aisha Morrison ([28:16])

“That’s when it’s going to really challenge this first-year head coach.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([27:56])

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7. Looking for Solutions...but "There's No Quick Fix"

• Aisha and Stretch agree: There’s no simple scheme/talent tweak that fixes this overnight.
• Suggestions:
  • Simplify coverages and reduce asks on DBs.
  • Re-examine personnel (possibly give more snaps to younger players like Wanye Thomas).
  • Consider reshuffling or exploring the practice squad for help.
  • But acknowledge the roster may simply lack high-end solutions.

Notable Quotes

“Maybe they don’t have anybody, Aisha. They may not.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([34:49])

“If your personnel’s not picking up on this stuff and every time you’re talking about running some zones or struggling, then maybe they’re just not a good zone team.”
— Aisha Morrison ([36:26])

Timestamps:

• On secondary (Hooker, Wilson, Wanye Thomas, etc.): ([31:56]-[34:49])
• Problems with installing scheme: ([36:26])

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8. Individual Performances and Injury Updates

• Jake Ferguson had many catches but for minimal yards—indicative of dump-off, check-down safety valve football (86 yards on mostly short catches). ([26:34])
• George Pickens: Big talent but still raw; had a costly drop, but was shadowed more after CeeDee Lamb exited with an ankle injury.
• CeeDee Lamb’s injury not believed serious (“feels like he can play next week,” per postgame locker room). ([43:51])
• Kavontae Turpin praised for toughness after taking big hits; could see an increased role on offense. ([61:40], [62:07])

Notable Quotes

“He [Ferguson] gonna have to ice up today because he had a million catches for not that many yards.”
— Aisha Morrison ([26:36])

“Kevontae Turpin is as tough as it gets.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([61:40])

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9. Big Picture: What's Next? What's the Mentality?

• Week 4 brings Sunday Night Football vs. the Packers, who will be angry after their own bitter loss.
• The defense leads the NFL in explosive plays allowed after three weeks—opponents are scoring not just often, but quickly and in bunches.
• The hosts agree Dallas must fix its communication and mistakes internally, perhaps by considering roster churn for players with more range or upside.
• Heavy focus is now on keeping the season afloat—“if you don’t score 35 Sunday night, you’re not gonna win.”
• Aisha stresses the ongoing loss of Micah Parsons fundamentally changes what the defense can do ("the defensive outlook is almost totally different").

Notable Quotes

“If you don’t score 35 [versus the Packers] Sunday night, you’re not gonna win. It’s just that simple.”
— Glenn Stretch Smith ([58:19])

“The Cowboys are number one in the league in explosive plays given up—three weeks into the season.”
— Aisha Morrison ([54:30])

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10. The Reality Check (And Jerry Jones’ Optimism)

• Jerry Jones remains positive, saying “the Cowboys are still a playoff team,” but the hosts (politely) dismiss this as owner-speak, not grounded in the current product. ([60:57])
• The mood is weary (“I’m tired already”—Aisha, [18:45]) and realistic: things may get worse before they get better.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “[This defense]…is fixing to get real rough. And I do mean real rough.”
  — Glenn Stretch Smith ([07:23])

• “Your secondary is only going to be able to do so much. If the guy still has a million years to just sit back there, get a pillow, chill, get some potato chips, and pass the ball, then your secondaries only can keep up that long.”
  — Aisha Morrison ([12:23])

• “They called the dogs off.”
  — Glenn Stretch Smith, on Bears not scoring more late ([37:59])

• “This could really be a tough situation to be in.”
  — Glenn Stretch Smith ([27:56])

• “Williams, who paints his toenails, just wore your ass out.”
  — Glenn Stretch Smith, on Caleb Williams torching the defense ([35:24])

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamps | |-----------------------------------------------------|----------------| | Opening Reaction, Bears’ Dominance | 01:43–03:35 | | Defensive Confusion & Scheme Breakdowns | 03:35–07:23 | | No Pass Rush & Offensive Pressure | 06:13–09:44 | | Scheme vs. Personnel/Coaching Critique | 09:01–11:48 | | Offensive Struggles & Play-Calling | 16:47–19:04 | | Red Zone Failures, Run Game Notes | 22:22–25:38 | | Pickens, Lamb, Receiver Depth | 41:54–45:17 | | Locker Room & Leadership Concerns | 27:56–28:59 | | Solutions and Personnel Decisions | 31:56–34:49 | | Looking Ahead to Packers, Future Outlook | 52:23–56:30 | | Turpin Praise, Final Thoughts | 61:40–62:43 |

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Summary Takeaways

• Major defensive issues: Scheme confusion, communication breakdowns, no pass rush.
• Offense forced to play perfect: Cannot afford turnovers, penalties, or execution errors.
• Coaching under fire: Urgent need to match personnel to scheme or simplify drastically.
• Locker room unity at risk: Multiple players showing frustration; early signs of finger-pointing.
• Tough road ahead: Next week vs. Packers looms large; pressure is on to right the ship before the season spirals.

The hosts’ tone is a mix of hard-nosed realism, occasional dark humor, and frustrated concern. As Aisha sums it up:

“I ain’t ready for it to be like this all season. I’m just not.” ([18:47])

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For fans who missed the episode:
This show offered a candid, insightful breakdown of one of the Cowboys’ ugliest recent losses, explaining in detail—and with some insider perspective—why the issues stretch far beyond one bad Sunday. The crew doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges or offer false hope, but clearly lays out what’s gone wrong, what isn’t fixable overnight, and the tough choices ahead.

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Listen to the full episode for even more breakdowns and to catch next week’s midweek preview before the Cowboys-Packers Sunday night showdown.

Transcript

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

It's the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day.

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[Aisha Morrison]

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[Tyler Rowland]

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

[Aisha Morrison]

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

[Jeff Biggs]

Well, we kind of label this one today the Ben Eber fll. I'm sorry, the Matt Eber Flu Bowl. But I was going to say maybe, maybe I should have called it the Ben Johnson bowl because Ben Johnson and the Bears were prepared. They were fired up. They came ready to play. They had a plan. They executed that plan and they imposed their will, 31 to 14 as the Cowboys were mauled by the Bears at Soldier Field today. Sometimes you say like a game isn't as bad as it looked. You could make a case this one was actually worse than the score looks. It was really, really bad. I know it's only week three. I know everybody's saying September is the new August and yada yada yada, but certainly after what we saw last weekend with the overtime win over the Giants and all the issues defensively, this was certainly not the step forward or game of improvement that we were looking for from the Cowboys defense. And offensively, man, I mean, just the way that the opening drive started with that fluke fumble just kind of set the tone for the entire afternoon. Anyway, it's great to have you with us. Thank you for being with us. Welcome to the Cowboys Squad show. My name is Jeff Biggs, longtime host and reporter. Blessed to be with you blessed to be working with two of the best, Aisha Morrison, who breaks it down like nobody else. You talk about next level. And of course, former Cowboys coach, the one and only Glenn Stretch Smith. So I, I look, today, Today was really a. I'm not trying to get, I'm not trying to get negative or go overboard, but I would like. Sometimes you say pleasantly surprised. I was like, pleasantly unsurprised in a bad way. I, I did not expect them to look this bad. What are your initial thoughts before we break it down?

[Aisha Morrison]

My initial thoughts were, I hope my mic is on. Sometimes it turns off. But yeah, my initial thoughts were, man, there's just a lot of pressure on this offense to have to score. And if they don't, then it's kind of curtains. You get. The offense wasn't able to capitalize sometimes down the field, and the defense couldn't get stops, I mean, at all. And a lot of the same things that you saw last week came to surface and your offense couldn't really bail you out the way that it was before. Well, last week. So just the overall not. It's just not a good team effort on both sides of the ball. To me, when you look at it and it's, it feels like a big deal. You know, I understand it's week three, like you were saying, Jeff, but this, this, this feels like it could get rough, you know, for this team. What you got, coach.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

You, you're. You're. You're putting your best flight attendant hat on because, because you're exactly right. Go. Go pick up all the drinks and all the food that's been put down. We got, we got, we got a really long flight and it is fixed to get real rough. And I mean real rough. The game plan is out there. It's, It's. You know, I've always told guys and you heard me say it on here, new things in practice and that, that's in pencil. But when you do things, when you do things in a game that's in Sharpie and everybody gets to see it. And so now last week, everybody got to see it. Guess what? All they did was play, plagiarize what was done last week, same format, saying not, not, not the same routes, put it into their offense, but said, we're going to take our quarterback who's been average as a bowl of grits, and we're going to make him look like a Hall of Fame quarterback. And, you know, we can say, this guy's out, that guy's out. We could change personnel. We could. At the end of the day, they don't have any answers for what's going on. And all you had to do was see, I believe it was Malik Hooker after the first series, take his helmet and just throw it into the ground. And then you watch a football team after that in the secondary who is very confused. They don't know what's being asked of them. They. They do not know what's going on. And right now it's hard for me to sit up here and criticize because I know how hard the job is. But right now you have, you have a secondary that is completely void of any kind of confidence and nor do they know what's expected of them.

[Aisha Morrison]

I mean, yeah, and it's a huge jump. I mean, schematically we knew it was going to be a big difference coming into this year. You can't hear me? Oh, you. Huh? You, you. You knew it was going to be a difference coming into this season. You know, with Eber floofs and what Zimmer like to do. Maybe some similarities with some of the zone stuff, but just not nearly as much. I think the lack of pass rush is killing you too. And the only person that had even a QB hit today was Sam Williams and he didn't even play all the snaps because they pulled his ass. I don't know if I can say that word, but they pulled him after he had the penalty early in the first quarter. So I mean, the lack of pass rush is not helping the secondary. The secondary is already confused. It's just a recipe for disaster. And to your point, I 100 expected a coach like Ben Johnson to come in and take advantage of it and more. So he's an OC that likes to embarrass people. He's a head coach when he was an oc. He piles it on. So the flea flicker and things like that were not things that I didn't expect to see today. Dallas had no answers and I just feel like, like I said, no pass rush, secondary confused, sounds bad all the way around.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

He tried to troll you really late in the game with a 17 point lead when they snapped it to more and Caleb was outside and they were gonna. He absolutely tried to say, hey, you know what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna troll you in this situation. And you know the NFL, it's rough, partner. And, and I got news for you. It's getting ready to get real rough. And I do mean real rough.

[Aisha Morrison]

Hey yo coach, do the grits have sugar or salt in them? What? They got in them because, because it.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

They got, they got, they got Tabasco and you just turned them back in. So curry or whatever that, Whatever what, whatever kind of bad tasting booty butt stuff you can put on it. That's what they taste like.

[Aisha Morrison]

You shouldn't even know what that is. What you got? What you got?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I don't know. You don't know how old I am. You don't know how old I am.

[Aisha Morrison]

What you got around the block?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I've been around the block a few times. This ain't my first rodeo.

[Aisha Morrison]

Booty butts crazy. Coach. What you got?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Rudy poo butt. Rudy poo Booty butt poot.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah, you gotta, you gotta fill me in on that at some point. But in the meantime, is there, is there what? What? I guess for lack short question, what's the next step? What mean realistically, what, what can they do to try to stop this bleeding?

[Aisha Morrison]

I mean. Well, realistically, this is a, to me, it's a Jimmy's and Joe's thing too. It's not just a scheme. I think it also too is like, like I said, you, the Cowboys, edge players, all of them are powerful edge players. They are not. You don't have a single guy that can win one on one right now. It's a problem. It's a problem. Your defensive tackles are the only people who are even warranting a double team. So teams are able to play you straight up. I mean, Cowboys play rushed for all day and it didn't matter. Caleb Williams sat back there and threw the ball as he wanted to. And so something's got to give. Either you're.

[Jeff Biggs]

Something'S got to give or in her case, give out.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I mean, the situation for me is that this is a. You are talking about a schematic problem right now. You, you have a problem with. And you can say, well, it's not, it isn't the players. At the end of the day, you have to match your scheme and what you do schematically with your personnel. That's why they call you the coach at your job. Match the personnel with your scheme. Now you I watch early in the football game, I watched Trayvon Diggs go up and yeah, he's going to jam the guy. He goes to jam. The guy's feet are square together. He misses, he misses, slips. A Dunesier just jogs mine for a touchdown. That tells me that's not being coached. That's what that tells me. And so I. The last thing I'm going to do is get on here and, and start going at Guys, But I'm going to tell you that your responsibility as a football coach is to match your personnel with what you can do schematically. Otherwise, I can just go get anybody to say, hey, we're going to put this scheme in. I think it goes to last year when Mike Zimmer had an issue with Al Harris. They couldn't get on the same page with what they wanted to do. They couldn't coordinate the back end. Now, it looks like the same scenario here. The back end is not coordinated with what you're trying to do up front. I don't care about all that other stuff. Just put them up there. They're X's and O's to me. But at the end of the day, you have to be sound in what you're doing. And when your players are not sound and they don't know what's being asked of them, it's going to get rough.

[Jeff Biggs]

I guess, real quick, Aisha, I guess what I'm trying to get at is, to your point, Coach Ibrahlose has his system that he's trying to, he's trying to implement, right? The players are clearly, they're struggling. So I'm, I'm, I'm asking, is it realistic? Is there like a, a band aid? Is there something they can do to help the players that he has right now here in 2025 to help them be successful and to try to do better and not get burned and have so many bad plays?

[Aisha Morrison]

I mean, coach was talking about the scheme and, you know, the players seeming like they're not picking up on things. I, I feel like he is kind of in a tough spot, though, because then from the. Obviously, the guys need to know their assignments on the back end. You can't have these safety staking bad angles. You can't have guys jamming at the line and their feet look wonky. Like there's, there's that, but then there's also to the fact that you're not generating pressure at all right now. So secondaries are only going to be. Your secondary is only going to be able to do so much. So then you say, all right, well, how do you bring more pressure? Okay, well, then, now we're doing nickel blitzes. But then if you have a quarterback that can get the ball out, you're screwed either way. So it's one of those things where it's like he's trying to fix. Like it's too much stuff to fix through me. It's, it's a lot because if you fix it on the back end, great. That would be awesome. But if the guy still has a million years to just sit back there, get a pillow, chill, get some potato chips, and pass the ball, then your secondaries only can keep up that. That long. So I feel like he's in a weird spot. I agree with coach that you need to match your personnel to what you're trying to do. You need to figure out, okay, this is what they do well. This is what they don't do well. Well, coach, what if they don't do well? Nothing will right now. What is. What do you. What is.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

That is where you're at. And then you have an offense who has zero room for error. They have zero room for error. They can't fumble the ball. They can't get a pick, can't get a penalty. They have zero room for error. Jeff, you. Do you. Do you. Jeff, are you listening? When I get on this show, these other shows, I mean, how many did I tell you that the Cowboys are going to need to score? Yeah, in the 30s.

[Jeff Biggs]

30S? Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Let me help you out. That'll be next week. That'll be the week after that, and it'll be a week after that. We got, what, 14 more of them. They're gonna have to score in the 30s because it's the position that they're in right now. I, you make the point about Sam Williams and, you know, for whatever reason, he, he at times looks very undisciplined with what he's doing. And, hey, your hand can get up in a guy's Adam's apple and then work its way up into his face mask. I would, you know, I, I don't, I don't, I don't just damn him for doing that. What I, what I am saying is, and, and I get it. You. You. You're not good at that position right now. But guess what? You have, you have to then manufacture some ways to try to make the quarterback uncomfortable. And. Yeah, if you don't play jam press coverage, there are certain downs in the football game you might have to come out and you might have to play that some. And so it's just, it's just part of it because that. If you think that Leflore is not laughing about looking at this film, they're. They're gonna be, they're gonna be laughing their ass off. I'm just telling you, they're going to flip this film on and, and, and, and be laughing their ass off. And so you, You. You have to come up with ways to put your Players in position to at least have a chance. And when guys are confused and not knowing what's asked of them, which I don't. I don't know what the call is and certainly I don't. I'm just looking at it and giving you my opinion for what I see and what I'm looking at. And when you see guys on, on the last touchdown, that he's playing a half field coverage over there, but he's got his eyes in the backfield and he acts as if he's fine a quarterback when in fact they were only bringing three and dropping a guy to spy the quarterback. He makes a move and the guy's just standing there in the. And Moore's just standing there. Or was it a doomsday across the last one? He's just standing on the baseline. It's just, I mean you. He could have punted him the football. Yeah. So again, it, it. I mean, you started the show off. It's. It's fixing to be, you know, we're into the mentality of it. It's going to be rough. And I, Jeff, I don't know that there's a band aid. I, I mean you, you can go back and play more base coverages, but I, I don't know that you can be any more base than what they're doing right now. And so it's, it's ugly.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. You're so simple that, you know, one thing that Kayla Williams has struggled with is, you know, some of the disguises on the back end. You can't even do some of that stuff because they're having miscommunications with the base coverages. Like coach said. I, I think my biggest concern right now is the fact that I don't know, like, like coach said how much pressure this puts on your offense. Now the offense, they, they had opportunities early in this game. Again, we already, we're talking about the defense, but I felt like offensively you get into the red zone four times, you only score one time that matters. And it, it definitely changed the game and the feel of the game. When you had that penalty by Tyler Guyden early, I believe as well that that got you called back a couple other things. So it's like the perfection in which the offense has to play in is not realistic. It's. It puts a lot of pressure on them. And then you start seeing the interceptions and then you still start seeing things like that. So I'm. It's really crappy as well because I felt like the run game was efficient. When it needed to be today. And then you, you. Some of the decisions that were made were kind of odd, too. You're at the 11 yard line. Javante Williams is averaging seven yards a pop. We passed the ball. But I also understand the coach feeling like trying to be aggressive, quote unquote. So it's, it's just the defense is. Is seriously shifting your game planning completely right now, how you. How you handle things. And I will say that I felt like I thought that Shoddy would be more aggressive going into the half to try to double dip. Because you see this defense, nothing that this defense has shown you at this point should make you feel like you don't have to be aggressive every time you touch the ball. Like you gotta go score like coach said. And I felt like there was some conservatism a bit at points in this game. And that hurts you as well. So. I don't know. It's. I'm tired.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm tired already.

[Aisha Morrison]

Like, I ain't ready, man. I ain't ready for it to be like this all season. I'm just not.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

All right, I got a little bad news for you.

[Aisha Morrison]

No, don't do that. You already said.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, get ready.

[Aisha Morrison]

Tabasco and grits.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about the offense and some more turning points in this game and a whole lot more. We got a lot of people watching live. Thank you for that. A lot of people weighing in with their comments. We appreciate that as well. Wish it was after a win, but great to be with you. This is the Cowboys squad show.

[Tyler Rowland]

When.

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[Jeff Biggs]

And I want to talk to you for a minute about Prize Picks because this episode is brought to you by Prize Picks, the daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right means cashing in. And with football back, Prize Picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections and you can turn your takes into real prizes all in less than 60 seconds. It's quick, easy, and really the best way to follow along with football. So download the Prize Picks app today. Use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after you Play your first $5 play prize picks. It's good to be right. Welcome back to the Cowboy Squad show. Cowboys fall to the Bears in Chicago 31 the 14 well, to your point, Aisha, the start of the game with the running game and Javante Williams looked good until that, that weird fumble where literally just instead of taking from behind him and that really just that gave the Bears kind of the opening and the little emotional boost that they kind of needed to get going and they got the offense going and it was really downhill and the Cowboys were on their heels pretty much rest of the game. To your point that they had a chance to maybe get back into the game before halftime, but that totally flipped and then it was just the, the, that drive, the 10 minute drive in the third quarter was that put the game away pretty much.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. Really thought early in that game, especially at the half, Javonte Williams, you could tell that, you know, the run game was kind of wearing on those guys. You had them huffing and puffing a bit and, and again, I, I thought that there would be a little bit more aggressiveness to score before the half and then also try to come out and score after the half, but it just wasn't there. And to your point about the Javante Williams fumble, I felt like it mattered because the defense came out and got a stop. We're talking about a defense that clearly is struggling with some confidence. It seemed like they came out a little bit confident. The coach put confidence in them by deferring again and when you didn't get that result and then your offense puts the defense back there back on the field, it just, it just went down here from there. So it just a lot of untimely penalties as well, erasing plays and, and things like that. And then the defense on the field again, you know, and the eight minute drive for this defense had, I mean watching it was demoralizing. I don't know how you felt coach, but watching it, I was just like, you could tell from the body language that these guys were just, you know, over it. Over it.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, it was, I mean you're talking about before the half and I'm looking at, you know, how I charted it before the half. So they ran, they ran an ISO to Javante for one. It's second and then he throws a speed out to Tolbert is a really poor ball. It should have been intercepted. The ball was behind him and it should have been intercepted. So then on third nine and you got to give Chicago some credit there because they showed blitz, they loaded the line of scrimmage. He checked it to a tight end screen on third nine. And Brady does, Brady does a heck of a job of talking about that. I mean I'll give him a lot of credit. He really is, he's good. Sometimes I think he talks a little bit over that viewer's heads a little bit. But he talked about, hey, they had crowded the line and they, they showed they were, they were going to play second football. And then what Dennis Saladin was, he backed out of it. Well, it caused you to check to a tight end screen and he gets four yards and you have to punt the football. So you know, sometimes they, they, they win the scenario too. And, and I don't think Dak adjusted to that very well offensively as far as them showing that they were going to come after you and then, and then, and then blowing out of it. Now I'm going to say this, that they found themselves a back. Javante Williams can run the football and he runs the football with his head over his toes and his shoulders down and he finishes, runs that that's a good thing. And they found a really good tight end and in Span Ford who I think is physical, that they don't have issues on the offensive side of the ball. They, what they're going to have to do is offensively you have to be perfect right now with the defense that they've got and it's almost impossible to do that in the NFL.

[Aisha Morrison]

I think you bring up a really good point about some of the things, some of the things that Dennis Allen does, dropping his defensive ends and you know, showing him or whatever the case may be, that was something That I pointed out this week because when I was at training camp, I thought that Dak Prescott when, when Eber FL was doing that because he was, he was doing that during training camp. And I know, coach, you say, you know, we see things in training camp, we don't see him again. But that was something that Dak Prescott gave interceptions away to in training camp. So I agree with you that that seems like something that maybe he's not com. He's, I'm not gonna say he's not comfortable, but the decision, some of the decisions he made in checking to those plays, I mean, Lord have mercy. How many yards did Jake Ferguson have today? And a lot of it was check downs. I mean he gonna have to, I tweeted he gonna have to ice up today because he had a million catches for not that many yards. I think he had 86 yards today.

[Jeff Biggs]

All the line of scrimmage.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. All close to the line of scrimmage. And, and that could very well. When we go back and watch the film, coach, that could very well be people because of the quarterback checking and not seeing what he wanted. But then also too, I know that you said coach, you know, we don't have to, we, we don't have to talk about, you know, the guys that were missing. But when you lose a CD Lamb, it does change the defensive game plan on the other side. I mean you can almost.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Oh, I know, yeah, yeah, 100%. I mean, what's he doing in the backfield? I, I don't know. I mean, I guess question that. But I, you know, I was it a great call to run toss at that point in the game to him? I, I, I don't know. I mean again, there's a lot of different things that you can, and this is the problem when you and, and, and I'll share this. This is the problem is when you're getting, when one side of the ball is just getting shellacked. It, it you, you magnify what's going on on the other side of the football and everybody wants to start pointing fingers. Well, you do your job. Will you take care of this? Will you do that? And, and that's when it's going to, it is going to really challenge this first year head coach because I mean, I know, you know, he was into all that rah rah and there was the guy down there with the turnover chain and all that stuff and all. That's cute. And until, until it turns the other way and then, I mean, I'm telling you this is A, I don't want to sound the alarm. This is, this is a. We've seen this now two weeks in a row. You got lucky to win last week and now the alarm needs to be sounded because this is, this could, this could really be a tough situation to be in.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, I mean, I don't. That's one of the biggest things that I was worrying about. And I was kind of looking at the players body language, kind of how they were reacting on the sideline, all those things. Because you you crazy if you think that you don't start getting to a point to where guys again are pointing fingers or the offense is like, well, we did our job or whatever the case may be. It is going to take a lot to keep this locker room together through this time because I would venture to say that they thought that they were better than this team coming out. But unfortunately that did not prove to be true. This is the first game of Caleb Williams career that he was not sacked. And that Chicago offensive line is not anything impressive.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

You, you got a lot of bad, borderline bad.

[Aisha Morrison]

And you weren't able to take advantage of any if any of those gentlemen. I mean, Darnell Wright got injured during this game and you still couldn't. Last week you went up against third string tackles and you couldn't get pressure. So it is, it's too much to me for a coach personally. Like, I'm like a coach can try to figure out things on the back end all he wants to, but if you are literally not affecting the quarterback at all, then it's going to be a rough day all the way around. And then your linebackers look confused a couple of times. There were times where these guys were shooting gaps that weren't really there, missed tackles. I mean, I can't tell you how many times on some of those long runs you saw players turning their back and running with the person find the ball. What's happening right now, it just look so dysfunctional. And I'm, I don't know, man. I, I'm a bit baffled by the performance today because I just feel like in this spot you understood that the Giants, the Giants, the Bears were in a desperate place. You understood that coming in this game they needed to win this game. Well, you did too. You did too. Your division won games today. So I just, I don't know. I'm trying to process what position they're in and I don't. I coach, I just don't think that there's a easy, quick fix to any of this at all. And so I am expecting for it to be like this until further notice.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, I, I think that's right. The one thing I will say is the one thing you must fix, you must fix the secondary. You've got to have players that at least understand what their responsibilities are. I, I, you know, Donovan, Ezra, Rocku, you're going to have to live with what he can and can't do. You're going to have to live with Marshawn Neyland and what he can and can't do. And you're going to have to at least keep those guys, hey. With their motor running. But when you see guys on the back end of the defense making mental mistakes. I'm not talking about physical mistakes because up front we're talking about physically they're just not, just not very good. But you have to eliminate making mental mistakes and missed assignments. It cannot happen because you, you, your margin for error is razor thin. And I'm talking about on both sides. You can't make a mental mistake on offense because literally you talked about it. Aisha, four times in the red zone and one touchdown. That isn't going to get that, that's going to get you beat. And then I don't care. Doesn't matter who you're playing on the other side of the ball. I mean it just, it just doesn't. And so my point is, is they cannot have mental mistakes and mental breakdowns. It cannot happen.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, and the turnovers were. Killer lost the turnover battle 4 to 0 today. And every single time it mattered, it mattered. These are important moments. And I understand the quarterback is trying to make something happen out of nothing. Obviously you had the Javante fumble earlier and set the tone to a degree. And then your quarterback has pick in the end zone, the tipped pick with pickins, the ball going through his hands. And so I agree with you. It does feel like everything is going to be highlighted or under a microscope on the other side of the ball because you are relying on the offense in such a way that's just not realistic at this point. And so I, oh my God. What my question to you, coach, was what would you do with the secondary? I think we saw Wanye Thomas get a couple snaps in this situation if you, if what? If it's your veteran players that are having these mental lapses? Because Malik Hooker is, is someone that played under Eber Flutes. This is someone that is supposed to basically be the telephone from the coach to the field and we see him making mental lapses. So at what point in time do you, you decide to, you know, maybe change up your lineups or is that.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Something that you're gonna have to do it now you're gonna have to do it. I, I mean, I'll tell you that I think Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson are, Are the same guy. They're box safeties, they like to play down, they like to be run support guys. They're physical with how they do that, and they're not. Neither one of them are great cover guys. And so you're gonna have to take a hard look at where you're at and what your personnel looks like. And not a lot of times guys are hesitant to go in there and say that because guess what? You may, you may be criticizing somebody that somebody from scouting brought in or that somebody drafted from this position or somebody drafted in that position, or, you know, that Jerry feels like maybe he's a better player than then. In fact, he is. And it has to be. You have to point all of these things out and you have to then ask yourself, are we giving our guys every tool that we can give them so that they can work on the job that they have to work on? Because right now it doesn't feel like they got the right tools.

[Aisha Morrison]

I mean, you mentioned Donovan Wilson and, and him being a guy that's better working closer to the line of scrimmage. Malik Hooker, I think, has lost some of that ranginess that he used to have as well. I, but I, I just, man, I just don't see them. I just don't see them not sticking with those guys. Like, I just. I. If they do, I would be shocked. If they change, I would be shocked. Donovan Wilson, and they may not have.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

They may not have anybody. Aisha. They may not. They may not. That's probably good. I mean. Yeah. Here. Here's this basically, though, what I'm going to tell you, and I'm going to show it tonight on Channel 8. When you allow a tight end in the red zone who's got his hand down to release and run and run an outside seam route, just, just allow him to just run through there. That tells me somebody, somebody systematically, your scheme is wrong. I don't care if you got a seven technique, which is inside eye, nine technique, which is outside. I give me somebody down in there that can at least get him something to where he can't free release in that situation. And then when you, when you let him make that long, you let him have that nine and a half minute drive and you. And you allow the guy just to go to the baseline. And, and, and we don't. You didn't know what the assignment was or if there was somebody else. And in fact spying the quarterback because you were only bringing three. It's a mental mistake and it's. We call it communication. You can, you can tab it whatever you want to tab it at the end of the day. Cannot leave guys buck wide open in the NFL. Williams, who paints his toenails, just wore your ass out.

[Aisha Morrison]

Coach, you got to stop.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm just calling it the way it is. Some people get don't like that. I'm just telling you as hell all year. And he just, he just, he just stuck it on you. I mean, I mean, what do you say to that?

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, I mean you can't say anything to how many guys were just wide open today. There's no, there's no excuse for it. And, and it's just. I, I don't know the last time I seen, I mean now, and don't get it twisted, I was around last year. The Dallas secondary took time. The defense in general took some time. It wasn't about some mid season almost that they started understanding Zimmer's scheme and what he was asking of them. Because when Dan Quinn was here, it was cover one, cover three, Robert, and we gonna go play. That was it. And, and you had a pass rush that could get home with four. So you, then you shift to Zimmer and Zimmer is asking these guys to disguise on the back end, doing some uneven fronts and trying to do stuff like that. These guys were confused. Confused still. So to your point, coach, you have a lot of the same gentlemen on the back end that you did last year. Maybe this group just struggles with some of this stuff and I mean we're going to look at it. They were, they're running simple coverages. So maybe it's just if your personnel's not picking up on this stuff and every time you talking about running some zones or struggling, then maybe they're just not a good zone team. They tried to do some man early in this game and dudes couldn't jam at the line. So then what is it that you do? What is it that you do? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, well, I guess maybe they only gave up one score in the second half. I mean, maybe that was a minor adjustment. I, I don't know. I'm, I'm grasping at straws here, trying to look at something.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, you are because they, they called the Dogs off. After he tried to troll him with that touchdown.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yes. He called the dogs off.

[Jeff Biggs]

What happened to Jadevian Clowney? Wasn't he supposed to try to play today? Did I, did I miss that? I was multi.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, yeah. He was inactive today. Mozzie Smith. Mozzie Smith got the call up today over Jaya.

[Jeff Biggs]

Okay.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, that was. I was waiting for something. Jadon Blue still hasn't gotten the opportunity to get that out there on the field, but I, I hope that they find out. I thought that Miles Sanders gave you a couple good runs today. Yeah, I still feel like his vision is weird sometimes, but I felt like he gave you a couple good runs today. I love how Javante Williams is running the ball, but that physical style of play will wear on you, and so he does need somebody to come in and be able to take some load off him with some of these snaps. I wholeheartedly feel that way. Hunter Lipke had some good blocks on the outside today. Coach, I think that you mentioned brevis span. Ford had some good blocks on the outside today. You know, just trying to get these guys out in space. So if we looking for upsides, that's all I got.

[Jeff Biggs]

For real.

[Aisha Morrison]

I ain't gonna lie.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Hoffman did a good job. I mean, yeah, your tackles are going to get beat some, Steel's going to get beat some, and Guyton's going to get beat some. And that's. You're trying to, you know, you're trying to trade your back from side to side to try to help chip out. But that, that, that's part of it. I mean, I didn't think that. I didn't think the offensive line just had a terrible day. The offensive line is. It has to have some opportunity to run the football. If you think you're going to throw it 50 times a game with this offensive line, you're going to get beat some at tackle.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, when we come back. Oh, I'm sorry. When we come back, I want to ask you about CD Lamb and George Pickens and kind of get your thoughts on CDs injury. And we'll start to kind of also look ahead a little bit to the big Sunday night showdown coming up with you know who and the Packers. We'll do that. Coming up. This is the Cowboy squad show.

[Tyler Rowland]

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[Jeff Biggs]

All right, I'm supposed to take them off there, which I just did. There we go. I want to talk to you about Mazda and what they're doing. Because with Mazda. This episode is brought to you by Mazda's moving game forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture and keep moving the game forward. So when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved. Welcome back to the Cowboys squad show. That is Aisha Morrison and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. Happy to have you with us. Wish it was after a win. Cowboys fall to the Bears today in Chicago 31 to 14. I have not been able to see. I'm trying to multitask. Did CD talk about his ankle at all yet?

[Aisha Morrison]

One second. Sounds like. I think Jerry talked about it and a couple folks in the locker room.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Aisha Morrison]

Might have caught Aaron. One second. I, I'll definitely check into it and then.

[Jeff Biggs]

Coach, I was going to ask you about. About George Pickens. It's like there's like glimpses of, of like you see the, just the raw talent and star power and then it just seems like he still needs to be re refined and maybe some of the other aspects of just being a complete wide receiver in addition to the explosive part of his game.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah. What. Tell me, is there something particular you're talking about?

[Jeff Biggs]

This Just, just the, just the little thing is working with his hands. Getting. Just learning to. To secure the catches a little bit better. Making sure not to get.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, he had the one drop today that. I mean, you know, I, you hate to see that that happens. I thought he made a great catch down there. You know, on the one handed catch. I thought he read a great route. He. He shows sometimes to be a little bit inconsistent with how he comes off the football. But I think he's a hell of a football player. I mean I think you, you see huge upside in him and what he can do. I haven't looked at it yet so it it's hard for me to come on here and initially say that I'm going to be anywhere critical of what I saw of him, because I saw a player that was. I mean, they. They knew with CD out that they knew where the. They knew where the issue was, and they.

[Aisha Morrison]

He.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

He was getting over the top help. So, you know, I'm not going to. I'm not going to say anything other than I'd like to see a little more consistent consistency.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

With him and his releases and how he comes off the football.

[Jeff Biggs]

Okay.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. I mean, obviously, too. Again, you know, CD Lamb comes in it. CD Lamb comes in it changes your game plan. I. I think. I think Pickens is fine. Sounds like cd. CD Lamb. They caught up with them in the locker room. He sounds. He said he feels like he can play next week. Jerry, you know, echoed those sentiments. So we just keep an eye out on what's happening. But to your point about Pickens, if CD Lamb is in a place to where they're not sure, then you can go into this week game planning for him and game planning for what you want to do with him. I think we saw. To your point. We saw, you know, with Pickens, them rolling covers to Pickets, and then the other. Only other guy that is like, separating is like Turpin or again, Dak was taking the check down to Ferguson a lot. I think that had a lot to do with this. So we'll. We'll go back and look and stuff. But I don't have a whole bunch of negative to say about Pickens. I know he wants that. That catch back. Dak put it on him. Actually threw something similar last week, if I'm not mistaken. Big moment in the game. And we'll see if. If CDs not ready to go. Who. Who is. Who Dallas decides to, you know, have as that three guy. Jalen Tolbert had some important grabs today, but I still don't like his physicality. His physicality at the catch point. So Ryan, for Lanois, is somebody that I'm gonna be looking at this week and see what they decide to do with him if CD can't play.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right. Okay. And just with. With Dak, I. He's been. We. We will. We all agree he's gotten off to a really good start. We talked about that a lot today was to your point. I think this was kind of the perfect example of the pressure and unfortunately not. Not being sustainable. And I'm not saying that to make an excuse for him. I'm just saying that when You're. You're playing behind like that in that kind of a situation. Most guys don't do that well. Like, I, I don't know. What did you think of his performance today?

[Aisha Morrison]

What you got, coach?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I mean, you know, I thought he was. I mean, I thought he was okay today. I mean, I wasn't anything that I thought was just jumped off the chart at me. I do think there's times when he gets a little too aggressive and he sees or he thinks he sees and you saw him. They really exploited that. Dennis Allen did a great job of exploiting that. He. He thought he was making the right call to check out of some certain people place when in fact he wasn't. They were dropping out of it. Now he'll adjust to that. And those are things that. Those are all fixable things. I mean, and they're. They're not mental mistakes. Those are all things that he can point to and say, hey, I felt like when they did this, they were going to do that. And, and. And you know what? It's hard to. It's hard to ding him for that. I. There's times when I, I'm not crazy about his body language. Like, some of that bothers me. But, you know, I, I think Dak is. Is a good quarterback and I think he's very functional, and I think it does need to go directly on him. I mean, that, that's. They're the guys that are making the money on that side of the ball, and there is literally there's no room for error. So I don't know what else to say other than that.

[Jeff Biggs]

I. I think what. I'm sorry, Asia, real quick. I think I'm just kind of looking here right now in 2025, and like we saw, for example in Philly, got off to a great start and then didn't do as much in the second half. And then today, I mean, the Cowboys didn't score in the second half. So. Trying to know balance the good with. With realistic expectations. Right. But I'd like to see them, you know, find a. Find an identity. And, And I, I think him, I mean, he threw 40 attempts today before Milton came in. So like we've talked about, in a perfect world, you'd have a little more balance and a little more ball control to help keep your offense on the field and help keep. Keep your defense off the field.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. I mean, excuse me. You're playing from behind, so.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yeah.

[Aisha Morrison]

You know. Yeah. I mean, defense knows what you're trying to do. Yeah. Coach mentioned, you know, the, the situation, you putting your tackles in that situation over and over and over again is going to be tough. He took some sacks from having to be in those deep drops and trying to deliver the ball. I do agree with coach. I feel like once we go back and look at the film, we'll look at some guys open, open in some spots where, you know, maybe he took the check down because he didn't like what he saw, which I get. I mean, your number one receiver is out. It changes your reads, it changes how things feel to you. I get that part. But I thought the quarterback was fine. I thought that he put together the drives, he put the drive he put together before the half, before they got the ball again and they didn't do nothing with it. And then the two point conversion were huge. And a lot of the reason why they were able to do that was because they were balanced. They were able to run the ball, they were able to pass the ball. They weren't uncomfortable because they were playing from behind. You could, you know, open up your playbook a little bit more. And so I think the quarterback's fine. I'm not worried about him. I am worried about him feeling the pressure again of having to go down and score every time they touch the ball. Heavy is the crown, I guess you want to say. But I do worry about that because. Because we have seen when that happens that he has those untimely interceptions and things like that.

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[Jeff Biggs]

All right. Okay. Let's take our final time out. When we come back, want to get your thoughts on just what this week is going to be like and then we'll kind of look ahead and talk a little bit about Sunday and just get some final thoughts on this game today. All right, we'll do that when we come back Sunday. Week 3 Cowboys fall to the Bears. This is the Cowboys squad show and this episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure that you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer. 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 quick, it's easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays. So are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com to get started. That's FanDuel.com to place your first $5 bet. Cowboy Squad show on this Sunday. Cowboys and Bears. And now it's the week four Sunday night showdown with Micah Parsons and the Packers. The Green Bay packers today who let one get away and actually lost in Cleveland to the Browns. So they're going to be even more motivated than they were would be at3.0. And of course Micah Parsons will be back facing the Cowboys and don't need much more to say about that. So this week that's going to be a lot of hype and a lot of focus. More talk again about the defense like we've already done. What are you guys looking for from, from this team? And this week.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I asked the head coach in Green Bay, who's he going to come in here with a mat on and he's going to come in here and yeah, I mean, I anticipate, much like I just anticipated with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, I anticipate the ball to go up and I anticipate them to take their shots early and I'm sure they will have some things designed to go at you. And guess what, they're, they're going to be mad. They got embarrassed in a 13:10 game to Cleveland when they had an opportunity to win, get a field goal blocked. So you're going to get a team come in here Sunday night with the, with the red ass and you know, you got to get ready to, you got to get ready to play that. And you know, at this point, like I'm, I'm kind of to the point now where I'm ready to take care of what's in your house. I'm, I'm kind of ready to say, hey, go get straightened out. What? You've got to get straightened out because quite frankly, it really doesn't matter who you play in the National Football League. The last I checked, all of these teams are really good. They're really good. And you can say, well, New York's bad Or you say, well, New Orleans is bad. I got news for you. You go flop around, they'll kick your ass because, because those guys get paid and they're on scholarship too. So, I mean, I, I'm to the point now where I just, I'm ready to say we're, we're three weeks into this thing, we're four weeks out of camp. Whatever the scenario is, you. The mental mistakes must stop. And then you got to figure out personnel wise. Do you have an Aisha mentioned it. Do you have the right people in the game? Or guess what? You, you might need to look at some other practice squads, look at some other safeties, look at some other guys that maybe have some range. Look at start trying to turn the bottom of this roster because. Because ain't very good. They're not very good. And, and we have to be. You got to be honest about that. You have to be able to take a hardcore look at it.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, we saw in that Cleveland and Green Bay game, Cleveland was able to do what good teams do and take advantage of the fact that Green Bay had a tackle out. I think Tom was out today or he was injured this week. And also too, they had a guard go down during the game. And honestly, honestly, they just, you know, Miles Garrett and that defensive line just really put a lot of pressure on Jordan Love today. And that really shut down a lot of what they were trying to do passing the ball. Will they run the ball? Absolutely. But their aerial attack is where they live. It's where they, they really thrive. And to coach's point about Eva flu, about Leflore, he's very much so like Ben Johnson. He's very much so the type of guy that will embarrass you if he gets the opportunity to. He wants to put his foot on your neck and throw haymakers in these games. And with Dallas, I mean, you got Matthew golden coming to the crib and it feels like everybody can run past your safeties. So to coach's point, you got to figure out what you got going on base level internally. I mean, obviously they have to game plan. But it doesn't matter who you game plan for. If you can't manufacture pressure, if your back end doesn't know what they're doing, big plays are going to happen and that is that. I mean, honestly, that. That's killing. That's killing your defense right now. Explosive plays. The Cowboys are number one in the league and explosive plays, giving up three weeks into the season. So not only are people scoring on you, they're Scoring on you quickly, quickly. And you're having to go downfield and try to respond. And not only that, you're having to methodically go down the field to try to give your defense a break. It's just. It's ugly. I, I mean, as far as Green Bay coming into town, I feel like it's gonna feel like it feels right now. If I think the changes that Dallas has to make is gonna have to happen through the course of the season, I don't think it's going to happen in a week at all.

[Jeff Biggs]

You know, and you brought up a. You both brought up the point earlier about the defense shifting from Quinn to Zimmer to now Eber Floose and the fact that it takes time, right, to. To get everybody on the same page and all that. But with this team, right, number one, they're the Cowboys. Number two, they're in a division with the defending super bowl champs. And number three, a bad start is the one thing that really, this team didn't want to do or really couldn't afford to do. And, you know, lost Sunday night, you're staring at one and three, and that's just, that's just about as bad. I mean, I guess 04 would be worse. But my point is, is that, like, to your point, coach, what you were saying, I mean, it's might get uglier before it gets worse. I hope not. I hope, you know, I hope they can have a good week of practice and, and make some adjustments and maybe make a couple big plays and ride that momentum and help them, help them help the offense stay on the field a little bit longer and, and get a team win. But it's curious to see how I remember, Coach, you said this when we were doing the squad shows as well that, you know, the rah rah stuff is great now, but what happens when you're in a losing streak or you don't get off to a good start? And here we are.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, I mean, you gotta, you gotta control the things you can control. And I do believe that, you know, you're going to have to challenge your offense. Your offense has got to know if we have any chance to beat the Green Bay packers, we got to go score 35. That's it. And so knowing that you've only got so many possessions in a game, there's only so many times you're going to get it.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yep.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

So that's what you have to do. And you, you, you got to be challenged in that way. And I mean, I. We can sit here and cut this up a million different ways. If you don't score 35 Sunday night, you're not gonna win. You're not gonna win. It's just. Just that simple. You slip the Bears, for crying out loud.

[Aisha Morrison]

Please, please. I have two close friends that love the Bears and I gotta hear from them all week. Pain. But I also wanted to bring up another point about this defense. I don't. And this is me guessing. I don't know. I don't know if I'm a defensive coordinator and I know that if I'm under the assumption I'm gonna have Michael Parsons. I think that this. It changes how your defense feels, especially your defensive fronts. There's so many things that the Cowboys have done through the years. This secondary is used to having a defensive line that at the very least gets pressure. At the very least gets pressure. Maybe not always gets home, but gets pressure. Michael Parsons was injured a good part of the year last year. I mean like what was it, three games last year comes back in, Dallas's pressure rate goes up exponentially. The attention that he drew while he was here opened up things for the rest of the defense in the defensive line. And the fact that he is not physically here or you don't have anyone again that warrants that type of respect. I mean there were times, I know you saw coach last year, there's times that you had three guys on Michael Parsons. So then in turn you have all this attention on Michael Parsons. Other guys are able to get loose. Right now you don't have any of that. People are dedicating double teams to your defensive tackles and. And mind you, one of the defensive tackles also Ziggy Zua is a guy that is here to pressure and sack the quarterback. So you. You're really not affecting the quarterback enough. And I think that the lack. I'm not going to sit up here. I know we don't have to ponder on Michael Parsons not being here. What I'm saying is your defensive outlook in the front is almost totally different. Game plan wise. Offenses are bl. Are. Are planning for you totally different now. And I don't know if Eber Fl knew that he would be without Michael Parsons to start this season. And I don't know if that secondary did either because it makes a difference.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I mean you gotta hope. You gotta hope. You gotta hope that you can get something out of clowning pray. You gotta hope that he can come in here and give you 12, 15 snaps. They're gonna have to game plan for the fact that hey, he can get up the field a little bit. And that's what you're gonna have to do. You're gonna have to hope that I'm gonna pray. You know, maybe you got. Maybe you got a little help on the way.

[Aisha Morrison]

We're gonna fast about it. We're gonna pray and pray and fast.

[Jeff Biggs]

Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, for what. Whatever it's worth. Jerry Jones told the media he believes the Cowboys are still a playoff team. So just. Well, I mean, what else is he gonna say? I know, but nothing.

[Aisha Morrison]

Maybe.

[Jeff Biggs]

Yep. Yeah.

[Aisha Morrison]

As of. After a game like this. But you know what? Nothing wrong with him being confident. I just, you know, we. Not. My mind's not even there. My mind's not even there at all.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right. Anything else stand out to you before we go? Some final thoughts? Anything else stand out to you about today? Any. Anything positive? Anything. Anything. Not surprised? Anything that we didn't hit on?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'll tell you, Kevante Turpin is as tough as it gets. Oh, my God, that is tough. He took. He took a shot catching that ball in the hole. Shot throw. I mean, you. You know what he is. You. You hope guys like that rub off on other players, because to be 100, and I mean, he gets amounts at Saratoga tomorrow and he's out in the NFL. I mean, there's something to be said for that.

[Aisha Morrison]

No, I mean, you read my mind. Coach literally took the words out of my mouth. I wanted to mention. I feel like that's a big deal for. It was a big deal for me to see. I'm sure it's a big deal for some of these other people to see. When Kevonte Turpin, when they start talking about integrating him into the offense. I know a lot of people were worried about the physicality of the game and him getting hit over the middle, him taking some of those shots, and for him to pop up and continue to play through that today gave me confidence that he's capable of doing that. So I agree with you. I felt like that was big, and you're gonna need him moving forward, so I grief.

[Jeff Biggs]

All right, well, 31 to 14, the final today. Want to thank you, Aisha. Thank you, coach. If you're in the the area, coach will be on TV tonight on Channel 8, so be sure and check him out or listen to him on the radio. Aisha, have a great week, and we'll look forward to your reports from practice, and we'll have our week midweek squad show on Wednesday night, and then we'll. But we'll be back with you late and next Sunday night. It's going to be a late night, but hopefully it'll be after a Cowboys win, an upset over the Pack next Sunday night for Aisha Morrison and the coach Glenn Stretchmith. Thank you everybody for watching live and for watching later. Don't forget to listen to Marcus and Landon, the Daily Cowboys podcast tonight and tomorrow, but for us, thank you for being with us. This has been the Cowboys squad show.

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