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Locked On Cowboys - Daily Podcast On The Dallas Cowboys
SLOW STARTS: Brian Schottenheimer MUST Improve Early In Games For Cowboys To Make Postseason Run!
00:27:30
The Dallas Cowboys search for answers as slow offensive starts threaten playoff hopes. Can Brian Schottenheimer elevate his game management and game-planning to keep the team's postseason dreams alive? Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool examine Schottenheimer’s rookie head coaching challenges, emphasizing the need for stronger opening scripts and adaptability on both sides of the ball.
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- [00:00]
Marcus Moer
Foreign.
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Landon McCool
Your team every day.
- [00:11]
Marcus Moer
Guys.
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Mrs. Claus (Younger Sister)
Thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.
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Zoe
Zoe. This thing weighs a ton.
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Marcus Moer
Drew Ski lift with your legs man.
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Santa
Santa.
- [00:17]
Marcus Moer
Santa, did you get my letter?
- [00:18]
Zoe
He's talking to you Bridges.
- [00:19]
Marcus Moer
I'm not.
- [00:20]
Mrs. Claus (Younger Sister)
Of course he did.
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Marcus Moer
Right Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list.
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Zoe
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Marcus Moer
It as a gift.
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Landon McCool
Nice.
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My side of the tree is slipping.
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Landon McCool
Kimber the holidays are better. AT T Mobile switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed.
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Marcus Moer
And now TV.
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Landon McCool
T mobile is available in US cellular.
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Marcus Moer
If you pay off earlier.
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- [01:45]
Marcus Moer
Brian Schottenheimer has had a pretty good rookie season, all things considered. But how can you take that next step as a coach? We'll dive into that next.
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Locked On Cowboys Network Announcer
You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day.
- [02:11]
Marcus Moer
Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys Podcast. Part of the Lockedon Podcast Network is your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network and today's episode is brought to you by fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com to place your live bets all year long. Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Moer. He is Landon McCool and on today's show, we are answering your Twitter questions, including an updated look at the NFL playoffs. Thanks, Eagles. We'll talk about Cooper BB's development and the rest of the offensive line, but we had a really good question from Jake about Brian Schottenheimer, who again six, six and one in his first 13 games as an NFL head coach. He's had to deal with a lot of adversity between every player on the offensive line missing at least one start. CD Lamb has now missed multiple games. They traded Micah Parsons four days before the season. But Laynan, how does he take that next step as a head coach and be a real difference maker on game days?
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Landon McCool
All right, I am not going to take the cheating way and talk about game management because here's the thing. I think you can complain about almost every single head coach in the NFL. Correction. So I, I think that at some point or another they all fall into. I'm a conservative old ball coach who's going to do things my way. No, ain't no analytics going to tell me nothing. So everybody defaults to that at some point. So he has some of that certainly that I think he could be better at a certain points. So, but let's put that to the side a little bit. I think the thing that I would like to see him kind of improve as he kind of, you know, takes the next step is to just, you know, he seemingly has such a great understanding of his team all, both offense and defense, as players, as human beings, as like in ways to motivate these people into ways to kind of get them to perform form. I think that that's one area where he's been good at. But I do think that the area of maybe knowing your team better, I, I would like to see him, you know, have a better grasp of where the opposite side of the ball is in relation to the offense. Specifically when the defense is overhead is underneath water, he needs to know to be more aggressive on offense. Right. And, and, and, and be able to compensate and help his defense out. I think I feel like for a guy that I really do believe has a good sense of what his football team is like, he doesn't always know when it needs to be, hey, pedal to the metal on offense because defense is just not doing it today. There's just been too many times when it feels like game day. He's a little too out of touch with the way his defense is playing.
- [04:57]
Marcus Moer
I agree with that. I do think knowing your team better will help you make more informed decisions. The other part is, I think.
- [05:07]
I think it comes down to like in week preparation. And one of the ways that you see that is how well do you start these games? And there's now a kind of a disturbing pattern of them getting way behind in these games and go through like 210 against Philadelphia. Was it 70 against Kansas City after a first drive turnover. They got way behind against the Lions. I'm thinking back to the Packer game. Where was it? 13 0. They got behind early in that game, the Chicago game, they got way behind. The only game that I thought they came out and played really well was week one, the Philadelphia game. Yeah. The Cowboys, this year, they have the third highest scoring offense in the NFL at 29 points per game. But do you want to guess how many points are averaging in the first quarter this year? Just take a guess.
- [05:55]
Landon McCool
Wait, you're averaging per game? Is that what the question is?
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Marcus Moer
How many points are they averaging in the first quarter this season?
- [06:04]
Landon McCool
I would say three points. It's really got to be low. Seven points, 3.8.
- [06:08]
Marcus Moer
3.8 points. That's 23rd of the NFL. They are too good of an offense to start out this slow. And I think this is where I think my. Actually Mike McCarthy did a pretty good job is you getting that kind of that initial drive out of the way where you score some points, get some momentum, because when you're always having to play catch up at some point, it just gets to be too exhausting to do that.
- [06:31]
Landon McCool
Well. And I think, you know, the kind of damning evidence to your point is, is just how many points the Cowboys are capable of scoring in the second half quarter, which I, I'm pretty sure if I remember, at least it was the case two weeks ago. I'm pretty sure they were the highest scoring team in the NFL in the second quarter, quarter or, or at least in the top three. And I think, yeah, it's. It's sort of an indictment that this team is so highly ranked in offense across the board and they, you know, obviously don't have problems with, with scoring in general, that they just can't seem to get things started going in the first quarter. And this is not. You're right, McCarthy has been better about this, but this has not just been a, A Schottenheimer issue. This. It feels like this has been an issue with DAC offenses for a while. Right, Right. So whether that, whether whatever the impetus of that issue is they need to find a way to resolve it quickly because they can't constantly be putting themselves into bad script modes because they aren't getting up off the couch on time in the, early in the game to kind of be part of the, be present. And it's one thing to be down seven, nothing, you know, and, and after the maybe three drives or something, but it's another thing like, like you said, like to come out of the entire first quarter with the offense that you've got averaging less than four points a quarter. Like, you know, that's an indictment on just not being ready early in the game or potentially not having a great opening game script.
- [07:54]
Marcus Moer
So how do you fix that? Is that just something that comes with experience that, you know, the more games you call. Is it, is it a, is it an offensive issue? Is it a run game issue? What is it?
- [08:04]
Landon McCool
I think first of all we need to recognize that it's still a pretty small sample size to kind of extrapolate exactly what the issues are because each one of these games is week to week. There's injuries, all that stuff. So it's tough to kind of like necessarily pinpoint one thing. But I would say that if, if it's, if you're going to try to just kind of guesstimate based on the information that you've got, I think it has to do with just be having a better opening game script. Right. It just feels like there's too many times when the offense struggles to kind of get going and, and I think be efficient and, and you know, look, you should practice your, your game script plays pretty thoroughly through the week. So the idea that you're coming out and, and, and struggling just because, you know, it's not, look, the defense isn't looking the exact same way as your defense did when they were going against the cards. Like you should be able to overcome that, you know. So I, I would have to point to the game script just because it's so consistently early in the game and it doesn't feel. There have been times when it felt like that the energy has been a problem for this team. But I don't think that that's been the issue as much this season as previous seasons. I think it's more of just like not being efficient, not being precise early in these games until as things go a little bit and you play a little bit more loosey goosey and you're creating. At that point they find ways to kind of slip guys open a little bit more.
- [09:31]
Marcus Moer
They're also very predict predictable early in these games. I mean, you guys know it by now. First down is going to be some kind of play action, rollout or running, you know, run right up the middle. Second down and 10 going to be a run to get into third. Manageable. And it just, it seems like it follows the same script over and over again and it's, it doesn't. The offense doesn't pick up until they get behind by a score. Then they start to play with a little bit of pace, and that's when this offense really starts to get going. I, I know everybody just says, well, why don't they just use the no huddle or why don't they just use pace earlier in the game? I understand why you don't do that, but I do think this team plays better when they're playing faster. I don't think a slow, methodical game is necessarily their best attribute.
- [10:18]
Landon McCool
Well, and I also think that they were running the ball more efficiently earlier in ball games early in the season. I know there's a lot of earlies that I just threw at you, but early in the season, they did a better job of being efficient in the running game in the early portion of the game so that they could continue to, you know, have a more balanced attack. And it wasn't just about Dak having to be a superhero to kind of convert some of these, you know, third long situations. Because, you know, ultimately what we've seen this last few years, these last few weeks, and I've seen you talk about it a lot too, is they run, they, they have an incomplete pass on first down or they run the ball with, with no gain. And now they're in second and 10, which is a very difficult down distance to call a appropriate play for. And if you're lucky that you get, you know, a successful play, then maybe you're at third and four, which, you know, that's just not where you want to be. You want to be getting first down on second down, like, and if you're not, you want to be close enough on third down that it's a short, you know, a run to kind of, to gain. That's the, the, the tenor and the pace that you begin. You should be going through these down and distances. And it feels like the Cowboys are constantly getting themselves into third downs that are putting, putting more pressure on Dak to kind of have to be superhuman.
- [11:28]
Marcus Moer
To convert these situations. And maybe this is a thing of a first year head coach, a first year offensive coordinator, and Clayton Adams, like they still they if there, there's these growing pains that they're going to have as a staff. They're going to have to get a lot better over the next four games if they want to have any chance of making the postseason. We'll get to that a little bit later in the show, but let's talk about Cooper bb, who is in Year two, who's returned from his high ankle injury. Where is he at in his development? We'll get to that next.
- [11:59]
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- [13:18]
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- [13:55]
Marcus Moer
Welcome back to the Lot on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making Lot on Cowboys your first listen of the day. We'd also like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. And if you are a true die hard cowboy fan, the everyday or all access tier is built for you. You'll get one on One text access with Landon and I. All access episodes, an exclusive newsletter and a 15 discount to the Locked on merch store. Head over to lockon cowboys.supercast.com to join the everyday club and unlock all access and you can also find the link in the show notes. All right, let's talk about Cooper BB we had a couple questions about kind of where is he at in his development? Is he a big upgrade over Brock Hoffman, who played at some points during the year? Where are we at right now with Cooper Bibi in year two?
- [14:45]
Landon McCool
I. I think he's still an upgrade on. On Brock Kaufman. I mean, I think, you know, the physicality and the. The size that he brings to that. That spot, I think, is. Is a huge advantage. I. I do think that he, you know, kind of leveled off a little bit after the high ankle sprain, and I think that that's, you know, he's been kind of playing through it, but. But it hasn't necessarily been thriving the way that I expected him to thrive this year. But I. I think, you know, part of it, part of, you know, being an NFL offensive lineman is learning how to battle through those injuries and play through all that, and I think he's done well there. I just don't know that he's kind of taken the step that I wanted him to see him take this year because, you know, because of the injury and the timing of everything and the way it went down, I think he's.
- [15:30]
Marcus Moer
Been better than he was as a rookie. I think he's been way more consistent now. He had a bad game against the Lions. A lot of the offensive line just didn't have a good game on that one. So overall, I'm encouraged, but I was hoping for a bigger leap, and maybe the injuries have really slowed him down. I do think he's a good fit in this Clayton Adams, Brian Schottenheimer offense. We're just waiting for it to happen.
- [15:53]
Landon McCool
Yeah, I. I'm not discouraged. I just think, you know, right now I'm. I'm willing to kind of give it a year because it does feel like, hey, like, you know, I think with a lot of this stuff in the offensive line, we. We got some, you know, positive early returns early in the season, and I think that that kind of, you know, wedded our appetite for, you know, leaps and bounds at the position when I think sometimes this stuff takes a little bit of time, you know, for the guys to get completely comfortable in new systems like this. So I. Yeah, I think we're gonna give him. We should give him another offseason to kind of get an opportunity to really take that, that leap next year. And I do think that next year you're going to see a guy that is going to be taking the kind of leap that we talked about. And I think that you saw like you, like you mentioned, I think the, the floor had already been quite raised on last season, just beginning with things, with the beginning of the season, he, he kind of had stabilized a lot of things, a lot of the inconsistency to his game. I mean, I think that one of the best examples you can get is we haven't had any bad snap issues lately. That, that, I think that that had been an earlier problem for him, knocking.
- [17:00]
Marcus Moer
On wood so hard right now.
- [17:01]
Landon McCool
That's, yes, as well. So I, I, I, I, I, that's just an example. But I think overall you're just seeing, you know, kind of a higher floor, but now. But we still haven't quite seen that extended ceiling to his game that we had hoped for coming into the season well.
- [17:16]
Marcus Moer
And I remember when Tyler Bish became a starting center, was it 2021? It was up and down. But by the time he got to the end of his rookie contract, 2023, he was playing some of the best football of his career. It, it usually takes these guys two or three years. And because BB's missed so much time with different injuries, missed time last year with injuries, he's missed time this year with the, the high ankle sprain. He's also making the adjustment from, you know, college tackle, SLG guard to center. I, I think the real leap you're going to see is in year three. But it, I don't think he's taken a step back by any means. No.
- [17:53]
Landon McCool
And again, like, you got to look at a position like that where it's, it's a heady position. Like he's, he's bringing a level of physicality that, that's kind of his calling card to the position. But he still has to learn the, the, the, the cerebral part of playing center, which is an extremely cerebral position. So it may take him just a little bit longer to kind of know all the ins and outs and be completely comfortable with understanding the assignment, making all the calls and, and then going out there after doing all of those things and then executing. It's a lot to ask for someone who's changing positions. So I think it makes sense to kind of give him a little bit more grace because I do think as a physical player, when he gets his hands on you he's moving you when he's, when his assignment is correct and when he's working timing with, with on a double team, it's dangerous. He's, he's powerful and can move guys the way that other sinners, a lot of other centers can't. But I think it's, it's right now it's still about kind of learning, refining the, the techniques that are happening after the snap to kind of make sure that he, the timing of everything's correct, that he's getting on his double teams the same time that the, the communication between him and the two guards is good. I think that's all kind of still in motion right now.
- [19:06]
Marcus Moer
I wanted to ask you about Tyler Smith because we had a couple listeners that are not worried, but maybe a little concerned about Smith because, you know, rookie year, played left tackle, played pretty well. Year two, he was a second team all Pro selection and honestly I thought he was better than Zach Martin that year. I, I thought he should have been a first team all pro selection. Last year, not quite as good. And then this year has been again, very up and down, some really rough games sprinkled in. We know he's dealing with some knee tendonitis, but is there any kind of long term concern with Tyler Smith? The Cowboys did make him one of the league's highest paid offensive linemen right before the year started.
- [19:46]
Landon McCool
I don't think so. I mean, I think he clearly is dealing with some knee tendonitis and he's going to need to figure out something to do in the off season to kind of get control of that a little bit better, to try to manage it throughout the season. But as it is right now, I mean, he's kind of have, he's just going to have to suffer through until the end of the season and then deal with it in the off season. I, I still think he's, you know, a big, powerful man who can move bodies. When he does, when things look right. I just think it's. Right now he's in a lot of pain and he's playing and it's not comfortable and I think, you know, we're seeing the results of that.
- [20:17]
Marcus Moer
I, I think the only thing that I would say is I think you were hoping to see him really build off that 2023 season and in 2024. I know he was banged up in that season as well.
- [20:28]
It, he just hasn't quite taken that next step. But it's really hard when you're a Pro bowl guard. It's really hard to get to that Zach Martin level of like perennial all Pro. And it's why Zach Martin's going to be a first ballot hall of Famer. Like, they just don't make them like that very often. He's been a good guard, he just hasn't quite got to that level yet.
- [20:48]
Landon McCool
Well, and they also have faced a murderous row of defensive tackles. And not that that isn't going to be the case a lot of years in the NFL, but specifically this year, it's been really, really tough. So, yeah, I still have faith in Tyler Smith and I still think he's gonna get back to that all pro level as a guard.
- [21:05]
Marcus Moer
And to Tyler Smith's credit, not only is he playing through injuries, but look at the all the offensive line injuries they've had. Tyler Guyton, what, missed all of training camp basically with a knee injury. He came back in week one and then he's been in and out of the lineup with several different injuries. And then Cooper BB's missed time with a high ankle injury. Even Tyler Booker missed time with a high ankle injury. There's just been a lot of guys in and out of the lineup. So there hasn't been any kind of stability on that offensive line at all.
- [21:33]
Landon McCool
Yeah, continuity is really important at that spot. And unfortunately, he hasn't had a ton.
- [21:37]
Marcus Moer
Nope. All right, let's talk about the Cowboys updated playoff odds thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles and Jalen hurts on Monday Night Football. Thank you. What are the chances that they get in? We'll dive into it next.
- [21:53]
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- [22:56]
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- [23:26]
Marcus Moer
Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. All right, land. Let's dive into the Cowboys playoff odds. It was looking pretty bleak there for a little bit, but thanks to Jalen Hurts, Cowboys are back in it.
- [23:41]
Landon McCool
Yeah, the only thing that looks more bleak than the playoff odds was the quarterback play from the Philadelphia Eagles. So, yeah, thank you, Jalen, for the four fumbles and the. The foam. Wait, no. Four interceptions and then the fumble as well.
- [23:54]
Marcus Moer
That was great.
- [23:55]
Landon McCool
Two of which were on one play, which was pretty amazing.
- [23:57]
Marcus Moer
All right, so let's get into the updated odds. So right now, the Cowboys, according to the athletic, have about a 12 chance to make the playoffs. That's where that number has kind of been hanging out, right? Excuse me. It's about 10. If they were to beat Minnesota, that number only goes up to 13. Basically, what has to happen is the Cowboys have to win their final four games, and they need the Eagles to lose two of the their final four. If the Eagles lose three of their final four, the Cowboys only need to go three and one over the final four games. But the easiest way to do this, Cowboys win out. And again, they have a fairly easy schedule with home games against the Vikings, the Chargers, and then at Commanders, at Giants. Whereas the Eagles play the Raiders this week, and they play at Washington at Buffalo. Home Washington. Their schedule's fairly easy, but this sure seems like a team that's in disarray.
- [24:53]
Landon McCool
Oh, yeah, like in full tailspin. And each week, it seemingly is a bigger emotional blow. You know, it's like. It's like they build a little hope and a little momentum in this. In this last game, and then to just completely crush themselves with another interception at the end of that game as they're marching in to win the game in overtime. I mean, that's brutal. You know, and. And. And I, I think no amount of. Of emotional support bunnies or Nick Serrani, Nick Sirani magic is gonna, like, you know, kind of turn things around. They just have to start playing Better. And if they aren't, if they don't against, you know, especially against Vegas this, this week, I mean, it's not gonna happen. Right. So I, I, yeah, the Eagles are a very talented team, but right now they just aren't playing like it at all. And they have done.
- [25:44]
Few years. The question is whether they pull themselves out of it. It always feels like a 50, 50 proposition.
- [25:51]
Marcus Moer
So that's the most straightforward way for the Cowboys to, to make the playoffs is you just win out. Well, what about the wild card? Let's run through some scenarios. Right. The, the easiest one is actually Chicago going on a little bit of a losing streak, and it's very possible given their schedule. So they play the Browns this week, that's probably a win. But if Cleveland were to win that game. Okay. And again, let's assume the Cowboys win their final four. That gives the Cowboys about a 75 chance to make the postseason. And the reason why is because the Bears play the packers and then it is the 49ers and then the Lions to finish the season.
- [26:36]
I know the Bears are pretty good, but man, there's a real possibility that they could lose all of those games.
- [26:42]
Landon McCool
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you know, look this, there's a real possibility that any of these teams could lose any of these games. I mean, at the end of the year, you know, the, the angles all start to change. You know, for some of these teams, they're playing in cold weather. That changes things on the field. The way that these teams are playing, all changes. Like, you know, I, I think that there's a real chance that the Bears could, you know, get, get. Have some hangover from the last game against the Packers. Right. Get off to a slow start, find a way to lose that next game. And then you looked at it like, it's like the rest of the way is a really difficult schedule for them. So is it, you know, and we've seen this kind of thing play out multiple times over the years where teams get to the end of the, I mean, the Cowboys have been this team before. Yeah. Where they were ahead and they get in December and then just collapse. So, yeah, it's, it's absolutely possible. And some of some team is going to do it. Like some team is going to get into December. One of these teams that has a winning record is going to get into December and, and start to collapse a little bit. The Eagles, you know, kind of already seem to be on their way. So that's why it's, it's not too hard to Just squint and think, it could be them, but it could easily be Chicago, too.
- [27:52]
Marcus Moer
Let's run through a different scenario. Okay. This is the Lions. Now, the Lions are a team that the Cowboys just lost to, obviously, but they've got a pretty tough schedule. So let's say they lose the Rams in Los Angeles this week, okay. And then they, the next week, in week 17, excuse me, week 16, they play the Steelers, who the Steelers are playing some better football right now. Let's say the Steelers end up winning that game. The following week, the Lions end up beating the Vikings, and then the Bears beat the lions in week 18. There you go. The Cowboys are in the playoffs based on, you know, a couple of those games. So there are, there are some scenarios here, you know, assuming Chicago lose to, like, loses to Green bay in Week 17, that the Cowboys can get it. So I know the wild card feels really bleak right now, but Chicago and Detroit having really tough schedules the rest of the way does help out.
- [28:43]
Landon McCool
Yeah, you need a little bit of NFC north kind of cannibalization going on, but it is still possible to get in through the wild card card.
- [28:50]
Marcus Moer
So I, we'll see. It's. It's not over. And here's the thing. I, I've been telling Cowboy fans, when the Cowboys were was it 3, 5 and 1 coming out of the Arizona game, it felt like the season was going to be meaningless. We're gonna have to watch two months of just awful football. We're going into mid December here on Sunday Night Football and the Cowboys have a meaningful game. Regardless of what happens this weekend, like regardless of what happens during these Sunday slated games, this is a big game for the Cowboys. They take care of business. They survive going into week 16 and weird things happen every single year. So we'll, we'll see how it plays out. That is it for today's show. We want to thank you for making Laton Cowboys your first listen of the day. Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast wherever you get your podcast. Did Laton Cowboys make your Spotify wrapped? Prove it to us on social media to secure a free month of our brand new Everyday or club. Just tag our national Locked on podcast network account on any social platform and we'll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everyday or club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to the members only Discord channel. And for your second listen, check out that lot on NFL podcast. Two shows every single day. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB I'm @Marcus Underscore Moser and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
- [30:18]
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- [30:48]
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