Depleted Cowboys Face Must-Win Game vs. Jets | Can Dak Prescott Overcome LACKLUSTER Supporting Cast?

Summary

Locked On Cowboys – Depleted Cowboys Face Must-Win Game vs. Jets

Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Date: October 3, 2025

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Overview:

This episode previews the Dallas Cowboys’ crucial Week 5 matchup against the New York Jets. With the Cowboys facing major injuries on the offensive line and missing key weapons on offense, Marcus and Landon break down how Dallas can still pull out a victory. They discuss the must-win nature of the contest, strategic adjustments on both sides of the ball, matchups to watch, and their predictions for the game—while keeping their trademark blend of optimism and realism.

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Main Themes

• The Cowboys are facing severe injuries, especially on the offensive line.
• This game is as close to a “must-win” as you get in Week 5, given playoff implications and a tough NFC East.
• Can Dak Prescott overcome a lackluster supporting cast?
• How will Dallas’ offense function with so many backups?
• Stopping the Jets’ dangerous ground game, led by Justin Fields' scrambling and Breece Hall.
• Final score predictions—can the Cowboys win ugly on the road?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why This Is a Must-Win Game

[00:52]

• Landon: “You gotta store those wins because it may be a very cold winter for Cowboys football and if you want to… get a couple upsets to get into the playoffs, you need to get the low-hanging fruit.”
• Both agree dropping games to weaker teams like the Jets or Bears could derail playoff hopes.

2. Cowboys’ Offensive Line Crisis

[02:22]

• Marcus lists who’s out: Tyler Guyton, Tyler Smith (questionable), Cooper Beebe (IR), Tyler Booker. “That means you can have four new starters on the offensive line.”
• Landon optimistic about depth: “We’ve talked about the depth of this team at offensive line, and it’s one of the best in the league… I’m thinking that Tyler Smith plays… but if you lose anyone else, at this point, you’re really testing the theory of exactly how much depth you’ve got.”

[04:57]

• Marcus excited for Nathan Thomas’ first career start at LT: “This isn't a Chaz Green situation where you’re just crossing your fingers… you want to see how these guys develop—this is not a dire situation like it would have been in other years.”
• Landon adds: “You’re excited… you feel like you’ve got not only a strong backup, but a guy you’re grooming for a starting spot pretty soon.”

3. Cowboys’ Offensive Gameplan Adjustments

[06:31]

• Marcus: “Do you think it’s more short passes in this game? …If we see Sauce Gardner [Jets’ All-Pro corner] on Pickens, how do the Cowboys generate offense with CeeDee Lamb being out?”
• Landon: “Sauce on Pickens could really disrupt that. And then you add in Williams inside defensive tackle potentially disrupting the run game… especially with this backup OL group.”

[07:56]

• Marcus worried about the blitz without top playmakers: “It’s gonna be a lot of like, Jalen Tolbert make sure you’re in the right spot or Ryan Flournoy make sure you’re in the right spot… I just won’t be surprised if this is a game where the Cowboys have 13 points going into the fourth quarter and we’re wondering what happened to this great offense.”

[08:36]

• Landon: “There’s a potential path for this Jets defense to disrupt things a bit… But if they can shake Pickens loose, if they can get Williams going in the run game… they should still be able to generate offense.”

4. Run Game and New Weapons

[09:16]

• Marcus: “You’re going to need to be able to run the ball on the edges… Jaden Blue is expected to make his first NFL appearance. Maybe we see more runs with Jaden Blue outside in some wide zone…”
• Landon: “Williams is going to be valuable in a lot of the blitz stuff you talked about. He could be your hot read.”

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5. Cowboys’ Defensive Concerns

[12:45]

• Landon highlights the dilemma: “Cowboys defense has been terrible… playing too much zone coverage. And now you’re playing Justin Fields, who frankly is just absolutely terrible against zone coverage… one of the worst things you can do is blitz Justin Fields because he’s so valuable, so explosive with his legs.”
• Landon compares Fields: “He’s kind of halfway between Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts… not the same as his rookie year, but he accelerates quickly.”

[14:55]

• Marcus: “This is a team that’s going to run on almost every first down… The best way to help their QB is to get into second and short, third and short.”
• Key to stopping Jets: “Blitz on first down, try to stuff Hall in the backfield. If you can make them pass on obvious downs, Dallas will be ok.”

[15:43]

• Landon: “This is the one offense that you feel like— even with the Cowboys and all their flaws— the way that they're flawed might actually help you in some ways.”

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6. Trench Battle & Containment

[16:19–17:36]

• Marcus: “Cowboys' D-line against the Jets’ interior OL is a huge advantage with Elijah Vera-Tucker out. Osa Odighizuwa, Kenny Clark and Solomon Thomas need to dominate.”
• Landon: “You’ve got to find a way to take the efficiency out of their under-center run game… then contain Fields as a scrambler.”
• Marcus: “Big game for the Cowboys’ edge rushers, especially Jadeveon Clowney. Discipline will be key in stopping wide zone runs and not over-pursuing.”

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7. Defensive Strategy: Limit Jets' Explosiveness

[18:47]

• Marcus: “Don’t let anybody besides Garrett Wilson beat you… if you can limit him and limit Fields’ scrambles you’re probably going to hold the Jets to under 24 points.”

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Notable Quotes

“You gotta store those wins because it may be a very cold winter for Cowboys football…”
— Landon McCool [01:33]

“This isn’t a Chaz Green situation where you’re just crossing your fingers… this is not a dire situation like it would have been in other years.”
— Marcus Mosher [05:06]

“If they could just put Sauce Gardner on George Pickens and just shut him down, it really disrupts that.”
— Landon McCool [07:01]

“I just won’t be surprised if this is a game where the Cowboys have 13 points going into the fourth quarter…”
— Marcus Mosher [07:56]

“Cowboys defense has been terrible… and now you’re playing Justin Fields, who frankly is just absolutely terrible against zone coverage…”
— Landon McCool [12:45]

“Don’t let anybody else besides Garrett Wilson beat you. If you can limit him, you’re probably going to hold the Jets to under 24 points.”
— Marcus Mosher [18:47]

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Predictions (With Timestamps)

[21:18]

• Landon:
  Picks Cowboys to win, expects a slightly higher-scoring game.
  “I just trust the Cowboys offense more… I’m gonna say 31–27.”
• Marcus:
  Also picks Cowboys, expects ugly and close game:
  “I don’t think it’s going to be a pretty game at all. I think this is going to be a rock fight… like 13–13 going into the last five minutes.”

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Memorable Moments

• Excitement for backup O-linemen: Both hosts show real interest in seeing young backups like Nathan Thomas instead of dreading the injuries—a departure from prior years’ sense of doom. [04:57–05:28]
• Realism about offensive struggles: Marcus paints a picture of an offense sputtering, not from lack of talent, but from depleted weapons and harsh matchups. [07:56–08:36]
• Defensive optimism—rare this year: Landon admits, “This is the one game I think… the Cowboys defense could be okay,” but only if they’re disciplined vs. Justin Fields. [25:41]
• Concerns about missed chunk plays: Marcus wonders, “Where did they get the other production from?... Who’s the guy that creates a 30-yard chunk play?” [24:22–25:10]

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Key Timestamps

• [00:52] – Must-win nature of the game.
• [02:22] – O-line injuries breakdown.
• [04:57] – Anticipation for backups’ first starts.
• [06:31] – Offensive strategy without top receivers.
• [09:16] – Integrating new RB Jaden Blue.
• [12:45] – Defensive scheme vs. Justin Fields.
• [16:19] – Battle in the trenches; run game containment.
• [18:47] – Limiting Jets’ playmakers.
• [21:18] – Score predictions.
• [24:22] – Areas of concern on offense.

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Summary

This episode dives deep into the adversity facing the Cowboys as they head to New York for a pivotal Week 5 game missing several starters, particularly on the offensive line. Landon and Marcus are cautiously optimistic, trusting Dallas’ depth in the trenches and the edge at quarterback, but worried about the lack of playmakers and the need to limit the Jets’ run game. Their banter stays balanced between hopeful and realistic, peppered with memorable lines that reflect both their fandom and analytical acumen. Both hosts pick the Cowboys to win, but only after acknowledging how ugly and nerve-wracking it might be—making this a can’t-miss installment for any Dallas fan keeping hopes for January alive.

Transcript

[Marcus Moer]

Foreign Every day, the Dallas Cowboys could be without as many as four offensive linemen. On Sunday, we'll tell you how they can still get a win. Next. You are Locked on Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockedon podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's Moving the game forward. Mazda Move and B move. Welcome back. I am your host Marcus Moer. He is Lana McCool. And on today's show we are previewing the Cowboys Week 5 matchup against the New York Jets. We're going to give our predictions at the end of, end of the show. We'll talk about how they can stop the run with Justin Fields and Bree Hall. We're going to talk about some offensive line injuries, but I want to start with this. Landon. It's, it's a week five game. There's never such thing as a week a must win week five game. But this is about as close as you'll get if you're the Cowboys.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean I certainly think that if you have hopes for the, the playoffs and, and especially with looking around the rest of the NFC east and where you are and I, I, I think you've got, we, as we talked about in a couple other of these shows is that you've got a tough schedule coming up and you've got to find some wins that you may not be able to find later. So you' the squirrel collecting the nuts for the winner. Right. You gotta store those wins because it may be a very cold winter for Cowboys football and if you want to, you know, be able to pull a couple upsets to try to get into the playoffs, you need to kind of to get the low hanging fruit you need. I'm using too many metaphors here. You need to find a way to get these easy wins to even get yourself in a position to pull an upset or two later on to get yourself into the playoffs.

[Marcus Moer]

And it's also like if you lose to the jets on the road, and I hate to be this about the jets, but it's kind of like, yeah, you're getting up for the big games against the Eagles and Packers, but if you're losing road games to the jets and Bears, it's kind of a big deal. But let's talk about the Cowboys offensive line, because as of the practice on Thursday, we have not seen Tyler Guyton. Tyler Smith. Cooper BB is on the injured reserve list. Tyler Booker is dealing with a high ankle injury. That means you can have four new starters on the offensive line. How in the world can the Cowboys overcome that?

[Landon McCool]

It's going to be tough. First of all, I mean, you know, we've talked about the, the. The depth of this team and at offensive line, and it's one of the best in the league, and I think that much is proven out. True. Just, just this last week, to be honest. I, you know, I, I'm thinking that Tyler Smith plays. I think. I, I'm thinking, you know, that he's dealing with tendonitis and that. That he's kind of dealt with on and off, and they're just kind of managing it from what it sounds like, you know, according to Brian Broadus. So it, It'll. If that's the case, then I imagine he plays. If, you know, if you lose anyone else, at this point, you're really testing the theory of exactly how much depth you've got, right? But I think that at this point, like, if you can get by with the guys that you've got out there right now and not manage to lose also Tyler Smith, I think you saw last week that that was an effective group. They may have a little bit of a tougher obstacle this week with Williams on the inside, but I think that, you know, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

[Marcus Moer]

The good news is you have guys at least in the right side, right between Terence Steele, Bass and Hoffman. Even if Tyler Smith were to miss this game, you feel pretty good about the right side. Again, you're. You've got backup offensive linemen in there, but these guys, at least with Bass and Hoffman, they played a lot of snaps. So maybe you just try to help out the left side some more. You mentioned that Tyler Smith, it seems like the plan is to just kind of keep him on ice until the game starts. But at left tackle, it sure seems like Nathan Thomas is going to get his first career start. Tyler Guyton, dealing with that concussion, did not practice on Wednesday, did not practice on Thursday. You usually need to get a full practice in before you're cleared, and I would expect the Cowboys to be cautious here, so that means Thomas is going to get a start. And honestly, I'm fired up, like, this is somebody that the Cowboys clearly like. I'm not saying they like it more than Guyton, but it's somebody that they, I think, have a long term plan for. I want to see how he looks in this game.

[Landon McCool]

It's pretty crazy when you're talking about the fact that you've got three offensive linemen down and you're excited to see all three of their backups. Right?

[Marcus Moer]

Well, relatively excited. Like you did. I, I was writing about this for the Landry Hat on Thursday where it's. This isn't a Chaz Green situation where you're like, no, you're just crossing your fingers on every snap. It's like you want to see how these guys can develop and you know, can they take the next, next step? This is not. They could really struggle on Sunday, but this is not a dire situation like it would have been in other years.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, absolutely. This is a situation where you're excited. Like, you feel like you've got not only a strong backup, but a guy that you're potentially, you know, grooming for a starting spot pretty soon. So you want to see Nathan Thomas out there. And as far as the other guys, Bass and Hoffman, those are guys that at one point, I mean, at least in Hoffman's case, you've had penciled in as a starter at certain points. And Bass is a guy that you've always felt like was a starter level backup in the NFL. Right. Like, so you happen to have injuries at the three spots of the three guys that you feel the most comfortable with. And I think even saying that is we felt that level of comfort with this offensive line even before we knew about how Nate Thomas had grown this off season. So I think adding a competent backup at the tackle position really just completes the set. And, and I think, you know, unfortunately for us, you know, we, we've we've got to see all three of them play this weekend, but fortunately for us, we have all three and, and that got solid guys who can come in and hopefully play good football.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, so what do the Cowboys do on offense? Do you think it's more short passes in this game? Do we see kind of the similar game plan that we saw last week against the Jets? One of the things that I'm curious to see is Sauce Gardner. They're all pro cornerback. He's been following number one receivers and honestly, he's done a pretty good job against Mike Evans and DK Metcalf. If we see sauce on Pickens, how do the Cowboys generate offense with CD Lamb being out? And also Cavante Turpin, who's now dealing with an ankle injury?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, it's a real good question because I, I do think that the combination of Williams inside a defensive tackle and, and Sauce Gardner outside, it could cause the Cowboys problems because, you know, part of what's made the offense kind of run is the attention that that wide receiver one has gotten. You know, multiple people having, you know, cloud coverage, double coverage, bracket coverage, it's just, it's expends a lot of resources to cover these guys, but if they could just put Sauce Gardner on, on, on, on George Pickens and just shut him down, then it's, it really kind of disrupts that. And then you add in the fact that you've got Williams inside a defensive tackle potentially disrupting the run game, it could cause a lot more issues because of that specific matchup than you've had these last few weeks, especially with like, like we talked about this backup offensive line group. So it'll be interesting to see how they can all sort that out.

[Marcus Moer]

I'm a little nervous about Aaron Glenn just blitzing a lot now. Dak handles the blitz very well, but that's with usually with CD Lamb and George Pickens not being covered by an all bro corner. So like you don't have Turpin who can beat somebody with speed or after the catch. It's gonna, I, I, it's gonna be a lot of like Jalen Tolbert make sure you're in the right spot or Ryan Flournoy make sure you're in the right spot. And I think they can win that way, but I think it's going to be more high variance than what we're used to. I, I just won't be surprised if this is a game where The Cowboys have 13 points going into the fourth quarter and we're wondering what happened to this great offense that we saw a week ago.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean I, I could see that just because again like, it does feel like there is like a, a potential path for this jets defense to disrupt things a little bit. I also won't be shocked if this Cowboys offense continues to click and finds ways to, to move around these guys because they're not the jets defense that we've seen of previous years. They're not by any stretch. But, but I think that, you know, they have obviously talented at key spots that, that could cause the Cowboys problems, but if they're able to figure that out, they're able to shake Pickens loose free. If they're, if they're able to get Williams going in the run game and attacking the this jets edge defender group, they should still be able to generate offense even with Jalen Tolbert as your wide receiver too.

[Marcus Moer]

And that's the key. It's going to be able to run the ball. Will McDonald is one of their starting defensive ends. He's like 245 pounds, not a run defender. Designated pass rusher Jermaine Johnson, who is one of the better run defenders, he's not likely to play in this one. You're going to need to be able to run the ball on the edges. And we should mention Jaden Blue is expected to play to make his first NFL appearance. Maybe we see more runs with Jaden Blue outside in some wide zone to try to take advantage of that.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, and Williams is a guy to mention here, too, because I think he's going to be valuable in a lot of the blitz stuff that you talked about. He's very heady player. He's going to be an outlet guy, so he could be your hot read. He could also be a guy who's going to help that kind of sort through the mess and hopefully take one of those guys out.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, let's talk about the Cowboys defense because we have to how can they stop this jets running game, which has been very, very good to start the year? We will get to that next this episode is brought to you by Square. Your favorite neighborhood spots Run on Square. There are certain businesses that make the neighborhood feel like the neighborhood. These are the places that become an extension of your home. Whether it's that sports bar that's dedicated to your team's fan base, or the spot with the best wings in town on game day.

[Landon McCool]

Or.

[Marcus Moer]

Or maybe that beloved chain that's been rooted in your community for years. Like for me, it's my Dairy Queen. We have a Dairy Queen that's like two miles from our house. It's where everybody meets up. It's a lot of fun. These businesses are what bring people together. And when neighborhood businesses thrive, the entire neighborhood thrives. There are a lot of great places that you Square, including in Dallas Firehouse Cafe, one of my favorite. They've got the absolute best coffee. Go check them out if you're local in Dallas. Again, Square brings these businesses and these communities together. So take some time. Go visit your favorite businesses. Use Square. You'll be happy that you did it. Go to square.comgolot NFL to learn more. But before you do, one last time, go support your favorite neighborhood spot. You'll be happy you did Square. See you in the neighborhood. This episode is brought to you by Mazda's moving the game forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it. There are moments that do more than just put the points on the board. They move crowds, they move culture, and they keep the game moving forward. This week's moment that moved the game forward is the blocked extra point that the Cowboys had against the packers on Sunday Night Football. Blocked by Wanye. Thomas returned back for two points for Marquis Bell. That was a three point swing. And you look at it now, in a game that was tied, obviously a big play kind of gave the Cowboys some momentum. And, and in a game that was going to be 14 0, all of a sudden was 13 to 3 or 13 2. The Cowboys scored a touchdown. They got a two point conversion. Now you have a 1310 game. The Cowboys are right in it. That keeps our fans moving forward. And when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved foreign. Welcome back to the Lockdown Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. Landon. Let's talk about the Cowboys defense, which has been not very good to start the year. How do they get off the field against this jets offense that really only wants to run the football?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, you know, it's weird, right? Like obviously the, the Cowboys defense has been terrible and we've, we've been very vocal about the fact that they've been playing too much zone coverage and they need to play more man coverage. And, and now you're playing Justin Fields who frankly is just absolutely terrible against zone coverage and you probably need to play a lot of zone coverage. We've been talking about how we feel like the Cowboys need a blitz more to get, to get more pressure on the quarterback. And you know, one of the worst things you can do is blitz Justin Fields because he's so valuable, so explosive with his legs and then obviously just based on the numbers is throwing the ball over people's head heads on blitzing situations that they do still have Garrett Wilson on the outside. So I, I think that they, they are a team that is going to want to run the football. I mean that's kind of how they're moving the ball and it's not even necessarily traditionally, I think Breece hall has had an okay year so far. He's been about average. He still isn't quite the explosive playmaker that we saw.

[Marcus Moer]

He does look better than he did.

[Landon McCool]

Last year, but it's not for sure.

[Marcus Moer]

The same we saw as a rookie.

[Landon McCool]

Yes, for sure. I think the, the reason the, the run game is so dangerous and has been so productive is because of of field scrambling. Yeah, you know, specifically like they, they just, he's been gashing teams when they're dropping into man coverage and they're and, and I think honestly like half of their passing, their drop back plan is just getting positive plays with, with Fields legs in man coverage. So I think you know, the first thing you have to do is, is prepare for Fields the runner. And, and he, and I think he kind of is halfway between. I talked about this the other day. I think he's kind of halfway between Lamar Jackson and Jalen hurts in some ways he' same kind of tackle breaker that Jalen hurts is, but he's explosive immediately. Once he makes a decision to run the football, he's going to pick up four or five yards just by accelerating quickly moving forward. So Cowboys need to be quick to pull the trigger to come down or green dog him or you know, put somebody on him specifically to make sure that he's not just dropping back to get a bunch of bodies, you know, 10 or 15 yards off the line of scrimmage and for him only to squirt through the front of the pocket and get five or six yards easy.

[Marcus Moer]

And this is one of the teams that's going to run on almost every first down. And honestly I don't blame them. Right when your drop back passing game isn't great, the best way to help a quarterback who's still developing is to try to get into second and short, third and short. And honestly they do a pretty good job of doing that. What they where they've really struggled Landon is they are one of the league leaders in penalties and they've had, I think last week they had four pre snap penalties. They're just not a team that is designed to be able to win when they get behind the chain. So that's how you do you win this game is you blitz on first down and you try to stuff hall in the backfield. Now it's second and 12 and now they're passing. If you can kind of do that and keep, you know, just make it where they have to be in some obvious passing situations. I actually think Dallas will be okay in this one.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And that, and that's the thing is that it's, you know, they're the Cowboys. This is the one offense that you feel like even with The Cowboys and all their flaws, the way that they're flawed might actually help you in some ways more than, than you know, other ways or at least your flaws are. Maybe it's a better way to say it is. Your flaws aren't going to be as easily exposed. Right. So I, I think, you know, they do have, like I said, they do have an incredible pass catcher on the outside at Wilson and, and Fields does have the ability to throw the ball over, over the, the Cowboys have to be as ready as they are capable.

[Marcus Moer]

And they will play action and they'll, they'll roll out Fields and obviously that's how they've got a couple of their big touchdowns is some of these long over routes where Fields extends a little bit and then throws it. That's how you win. But I will say the Cowboys have a big advantage, which I can't believe I'm saying this. Their defensive line against the jets interior offensive line, they've had some injuries. Their best interior offensive lineman, honestly, their best offensive lineman, Elijah Vera Tucker, he's out for the year. Yeah, it's gonna have to be Oso Digizua, Kenny Clark and revenge game for.

[Landon McCool]

Solomon Thomas maybe and for White Cotton too, right? Just overall, yeah, I mean, I think inside is where you're gonna need to control things and I think that would have been the case even if you didn't have an advantage there anyways. Because you've got to find a way to take the efficiency out of their under the center pass a run game. Right. Because if you can stop the run game, you can do what you just talked about them off schedule, behind the chains, force them into passing situations and then you deal with the, the field's problem of, of scrambling and, and, and you know, force the issue, try to, try to come after him, you know, contain him in the pocket. All the kind of rules that you would have for those kind of, you know, scrambling quarterbacks, you're going to have to put into play on third downs and then, you know, worry about the threat of throwing down the field as well.

[Marcus Moer]

This is a big game for the Cowboys edge rushers because they, the jets run a ton of wide zone. So this is where I think like this is a big Jadevian Clowney game because honestly, I think he's probably your best run defender. He's been here for two weeks. He's probably your best run defender. I don't know if this is a Sam Williams game because you've got to be so disciplined at holding up your blocks and not opening up a lane and not trying to dive inside to get a pass rush. Like, it's going to be. It's going to be up to these edge rushers to hold at the point of attack to make sure that, you know, they can let the linebackers get in there and make the tackle.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, the bigger body guys. Right. Like, maybe you see a little bit more Neyland. Maybe you see, you know, just like you said, clowning and, and just kind of holding up at the edge and, and, and, you know, the key thing too, with wide zone stuff is like, we just talked about being able to reach the three technique, being able to. To block the interior, because the interior of the defensive lines can really blow up those plays. That's where you want to see Odigizua. You want to see Clark, you want to see, you know, Thomas disrupting in the middle and seeing if they can blow those plays down, get in them into second and 12, see how they respond to stuff like that.

[Marcus Moer]

And then don't let anybody else besides Garrett Wilson beat you. Like, Garrett Wilson's gonna make his plays. You're gonna live with it. He's gonna make spectacular catches. This can't be a big Alan Lazar game or Mason Taylor or it can't be Arian Smith. Arian Smith making plays down the field if he just finally decides to catch a ball. Like, you can't let the others be the ones to beat you in this game. If it's Garrett Wilson, it's Garrett Wilson. But that's the big thing. If you can take away Garrett Wilson or if you can limit him, you can limit the Justin Field scrambles. You're probably going to hold the jets to under 24 points, and that should give you a relatively good chance to win this one.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, you just got to find a way to, you know, play your game on offense. And if they. If you can, then the Cowboys defense should be able to hold the jets offense to the points you need to win the game.

[Marcus Moer]

We'll see. Let's give our predictions for this Week 5 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York jets next.

[Cody Rourke]

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[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Lock on Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network. Like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. For your second listen, check out the Locked on NFL podcast. Two shows every single day. One in the morning with Tyler Roland, One of the Afternoon with Tony Wiggins. Available wherever you get your podcasts. All right Landon, let's make predictions for this Week 5 matchup between the Cowboys and Jets. Who do you got?

[Landon McCool]

I'm picking the Cowboys. I mean I think it's, it's a road game, but the Cowboys have proven that they can run the ball on the road a little bit. I'm hoping that you would get a Tyler Smith this week and then I think with Nate Thomas they should be able to block up what is at times an un undersized front of, of the jets, especially on the outside. You know they're going to have a handful with, with Quinn and Williams, but I think that they should be able to deal with that as long as Tyler Smith is playing. And, and I think that, you know, if it's about a consistency thing, you know, I just trust the Cowboys offense more than I certainly trust the jets offense to, to be able to consistently score points even against the Cowboys defense. Just because the jets problems often are self inflicted. Right. And, and, and so you're not only do they have talent and execution issues, they also have, you know, penalty problems that they cause themselves. So yeah, I'll pick the Cowboys to win. I'm gonna say. I think it actually is kind of a high scoring event a little bit. Just because the Cowboys defense can't stop anyone and Cowboys offense will score. So I'm gonna say 31 to 27.

[Marcus Moer]

I mean everything says that this should be a game the Cowboys win. Right? Like the jets are played in Miami on Monday Night Football in a physical game. They probably didn't get home till early Tuesday morning, they're beat up. They're.04. The vibes don't feel great. But on the other side, oh, we should also mention, like, the Cowboys have the better quarterback and nine times out of 10, the team that has the better quarterback usually wins these games. But there's also part of me that's like, Cowboys are going to play a road 1:00 clock Eastern game, which has been kind of a bugaboo for them over the last couple years. Right. They're coming off this weirdly emotional overtime game that was a tie and I, they're beat up. I, Everything just in my, in my bones thinks this is going to be an ugly game where it's like, you know, 13 to 13 going into the last five minutes. Well, actually, if the Cowboys held the jets of 13, I'd be so happy.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

If they held the 13 points going into the fourth quarter, I'd be, I'd be stoked. I'll pick the Cowboys. This and probably the curse, but I, I don't think it's going to be a pretty game at all. I think this is going to be a rock fight.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, you know what? I don't disagree with that generally. I think it's, this is going to be one of those that. You're right. Like, I, I don't know about 1313, but I would say, like, I, I, it's gonna be. All the scoring is gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if the score doubles in the fourth quarter, if that makes sense. Right. Like, whatever. It, like 21, it's like 2117 going into the fourth quarter and then suddenly ends up, you know, 42, you know, whatever. Because I do think that they're gonna, you know, fight it out early on and there's probably going to be a lot of penalties like we talked about, especially depending on who calls the game. But I, I think that, you know, ultimately in the fourth quarter, things will probably bust open because that's kind of what we've seen a lot of these last few games.

[Marcus Moer]

Yeah, I just, I think the thing that makes me the most nervous, it's honestly not the offensive line. Like, I trust, I trust the backups they have. And if you have Tyler Smith in the game with Terence Steele, with Hoffman, at least you've got some veterans combined with a couple young guys. Like, I think, I think they'll be okay. I think Ferguson will have a good game because of the, the linebacker situation. Their best linebacker, Quincy Williams, he's out this game. I, I think Pickens will make Enough plays where it kind of neutralizes sauce a little bit. It's just. Where did they get the other production from? Who's the other receiver that steps up? Who's the guy that creates a 30 yard chunk play to get you into field goal position? I just don't know. Last week it was Tolbert. Can he do it again? Certainly going to be relying on him.

[Landon McCool]

Can it be Brevin Span forward? Can it be someone new? Can it be Blue? You know, Blue's coming in and that's, you know, that's something that could be in the cards for a guy like that. Right? Is he can also fumble. Yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

Can you imagine, can you imagine if he fumbles in this first game? It's going to be. We're not going to see him until Thanksgiving again.

[Landon McCool]

Definitely don't watch the squad show after, after that episode. After that happens. If you guys are. No, but you should definitely watch the squad show.

[Marcus Moer]

Yeah, definitely. So. Yeah, I think that's the thing that makes me nervous. I actually think the Cowboys defense will be okay here. I don't.

[Landon McCool]

Oh man. This is the one game I think you're not. I understand. It's like you could throw up in your mouth even saying that that phrase of the Cowboys defense could be okay. I, I think this is the one game that if they have a solid, if they have a solid plan for how to handle Justin Fields scrambling, that they could be okay because.

[Marcus Moer]

And I do think Matt Eber flutes like he talked about. He knows him probably better than anybody else because he's had him. He also had Caleb Williams so that didn't work out super well. But this offense is very similar to what the Bears ran when they had Justin Fields.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. So I, I think, you know, this is something that they should, that he should be familiar with that he should have a play. I mean this. We've said that before though as well. And, and you know, we didn't get even some basic problems solved on this defense. But I think like I said, the Cowboys glaring weaknesses and the problems that they're having that are causing such terrible defense, they aren't going to stick out as much against this style of offense because this style of offense struggles against zone coverage. It's, you know, it thrives against. It thrives when it's blitzed. That kind of matches up with. With two of your problems that of your. Of what you're lacking.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, that is it for today's show. We want to thank you for making Locked on Cowboys your first listen every single day. Download the podcast wherever you get your podcast. We are free and available on all platforms. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB. I'm @Marcus Underscore Moser. Enjoy the game and we'll see you right back here on Sunday night. A Prime Members, you can listen to this Locked on podcast. Add some free on Amazon Music Download the Amazon Music app Today.

[Landon McCool]

This is Fire TV's College Football Kickoff.

[Marcus Moer]

I'm Drake Toll alongside North Carolina and.

[Landon McCool]

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jesse Holly and the hall of Famer Gary Patterson. We're previewing the biggest matchups in college football with unmatched insight.

[Marcus Moer]

And I know a little something something.

[Landon McCool]

That'S exactly right, Coach. Every Thursday right here on Fire tv.