Talkin’ Cowboys: Lines of Communication

Summary

Talkin' Cowboys: Lines of Communication

Dallas Cowboys Podcast | October 16, 2025

Hosts: Kyle Yeomans, Patrick "No C" Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah Stanback
Location: The Star, Frisco, TX

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Episode Overview

This Thursday episode of “Talkin’ Cowboys” dives deep into the mid-season state of the Dallas Cowboys, focusing on the defense’s struggles, the impact of injuries and possible player returns, leadership concerns, and a thorough preview of Week 7 against the Washington Commanders. The hosts break down why the Cowboys are underperforming defensively and discuss scheme vs. personnel, communication issues, and the upcoming challenge posed by Washington’s offense.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Injury Report & Roster Moves

• Full Participation in Practice: For the first time in recent memory, every active roster player practiced Wednesday—no DNPs.

  • "[03:05] Zero. Every single person who's on the active roster practiced some capacity yesterday." —Patrick

• Notable Returns & Limits:

  • CeeDee Lamb, KaVontae Turpin, and Tyler Booker are trending toward returning.
  • "[06:41] So those three guys all are trending toward returning to the field against the Washington Commanders. The lead horse in that is obviously CD Lamb." —Patrick
  • Trayvon Diggs was a full participant (still listed, but healthy).
  • Jonathan Mingo’s activation may have to wait another week due to knee soreness.
  • Kalyn Carson is expected to be added to the 53-man roster, possibly making Khyri Elam inactive.

• Upcoming Returns:

  • DeMarvion Overshown is ahead of schedule coming off injury, possibly opening his practice window before November.
    • "[09:09] ...I fully expect that Demarvion Overshones window will be open before the calendar flips to November." —Patrick

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2. Defensive Struggles and Leadership

• Current State:

  • The defense is ranked last in the league (32nd).
  • "Cowboys are the sixth team in NFL history to give up 175 points and had two or fewer wins in their first six games." —Kyle [29:56]
  • Defensive players lack on-field leadership; recent leaders are either new arrivals or absent (due to injury or trades).
    • "[13:52] There’s maybe a lack of leadership from a player standpoint on the defense, which we've talked about before. Yeah, we've had that conversation. Who are your leaders on your defensive side of the ball? I'm waiting." —Kyle
    • "[14:16] Kenny Clark is brand new." —Isaiah

• Accountability and Attitude:

  • The group discusses getting “punked,” being out-physicaled, lacking accountability, and the need for someone to step up both vocally and by example.
    • "[15:49] ...you're getting punked is a great way to put it. They didn't say that specifically, but they were saying we're being out physical. We're being pushed around. This is not our brand of football. This is not the standard." —Kyle

3. Scheme Issues: Zone vs. Man Coverage

• Zone Overload:
  • The Cowboys have played zone coverage on 96.3% of early down dropbacks—the highest in the NFL.
    • "[38:29] The Cowboys defense has deployed zone coverage on 158 of 164 dropbacks faced on early downs this season, resulting in the highest rate in the NFL, 96.3%." —Josh
    • Zone on early downs, more man on third (but still only 27.4%, fourth lowest rate).
• Mismatch with Personnel:
  • Many of the defenders are Dan Quinn-style—best in aggressive man coverage.
    • "[34:32] Majority of the contributors on defense were Dan Quinn. Guys ... Their skill set is man. That's not to say that they can't play zone. That'd be dumb for me to sit up here and say they can't play zone. They—you can. But there's many ways that you can get to zones while selling man." —Isaiah
• Calling for Change:
  • Hosts call for coordinator Matt Eberflus to adapt: let the players play to their strengths, trust them in man-to-man, and stop being rigid with scheme.
    • "[37:54] I'm really hopeful that Matt Eberfluz is like, you know what? They're tired of what I'm doing. Bet. Here we go. Let's try it your way." —Isaiah

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4. Lab Coat: Do You Need Both an Elite Offense and Defense to Win?

• Science Lab Segment ([25:15])
  • Patrick investigates if Super Bowl winners actually have both elite offense and defense.
  • Only three of the last 25 Super Bowl champs were top 5 in both offense and defense.
    • "[26:54] Of the past 25 Super bowl champions, only three ... have had an elite defense and an elite offense." —Patrick
    • Most winners excelled on one side and were “mid” (average) on the other.
    • Cowboys’ issue in 2025: their defense isn’t even average—“Man, I wish this defense was mid.” —Kyle [29:31]

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5. Washington Commanders Preview

• Washington’s Strengths:

  • Offense features heavy pre-snap motion, misdirection, and zone-read (especially with Jaden Daniels back).
    • "[43:21] They are varied in their looks, in terms of motions, pre snaps, shifts.... they do a lot of misdirection with their personnel.... That is a running game is the zone read.... With Jaden Daniels, they are running screens off of that as well." —Isaiah
  • Daniels’ passer rating is up since returning from injury; Cowboys allow a league-worst 117 rating.
    • "[44:47] Daniels110 passer rating since returning from injury ... the Dallas defense has allowed a 117 passer rating to every quarterback they've faced so far, which is the worst stat since they started keeping passer rating as an official stat in the NFL." —Kyle

• Defensive Challenge:

  • Dallas must improve communication and gap discipline to counter the Commanders’ motion-heavy attack.
    • "[47:39] You just have to have good communication buddy." —Josh

• Matchup Worries:

  • TE Zach Ertz is a known Cowboys killer and could exploit struggling linebackers.
    • "[46:48] This could very well be a game where everybody's eyeing, you know, Crosky Merit and everybody's eyeing Jaden Daniels and Everybody's eyeing Terry McLaren and Zach Ertz sneaks behind you and gets two, three touchdowns on you." —Patrick
  • "This is probably the most challenging communication wise matchup that Dallas has." —Isaiah [48:46]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Defensive Woes:
  • “This team can’t communicate on the defensive side of the football.” —Kyle [47:49]
• On Needed Defensive Attitude:
  • “Call a spade a spade. When you’re getting your butt kicked... So when you're having that happen. Because it does happen... There has to be somebody who vocally steps up. Physically, you know, executing wise... you got to do that for your guys. Can't just talk about it.” —Isaiah [15:54–16:18]
• On Playing to Player Strengths:
  • “If we're going to lose on defense, lose doing what you're doing ... Not sitting back, back seven yards off... take that element out.” —Isaiah [37:22]
• On Season’s Direction:
  • “There has to be a movement in the right direction because you aren’t going any direction except for backwards right now.” —Kyle [19:06]
• On Science Lab Stats:
  • “Only three Super Bowl champions in the last quarter century have had an elite defense and an elite offense.” —Patrick [26:54]
  • “Man, I wish this defense was mid.” —Kyle [29:31]
• On Key to Beating Washington:
  • “You have to be able to control the ball all game long ... Take up as much time as humanly possible—delay of game every play, control time of possession, win second runoff in the takeaway margin by at least plus one. At least plus two would be ideal.” —Josh [48:24–48:29]
• On CD and Turpin Returns:
  • "It's that much more meaningful that CD Lamb and Kevonte Turpin are backing them." —Patrick [31:31]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Injury Report & News: [02:53–06:55]
• Leadership & Defensive Accountability: [13:43–17:15]
• Zone vs. Man Coverage Debate: [34:32–38:29]
• Lab Coat/Science Lab Segment: [25:15–29:35]
• Washington Commanders Offensive Preview: [42:56–49:56]
• Closing Summary of Defensive Matchup: [49:56–50:05]

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Episode Takeaways

• The Cowboys’ defense is at a crisis point, both in execution and attitude.
• Communication, leadership, and scheme rigidity are clear issues—leaders must emerge for any mid-season turnaround.
• The defense is being misused for its talent; a shift toward letting players play to their strengths is overdue.
• The tough, motion-heavy Washington offense will test every weakness Dallas has shown—especially in communication and discipline.
• Science says Cowboys don’t need a top 5 defense/offense together to win big, but they can’t afford to be historically bad on D.
• The host panel is lively, concerned, and hungry for necessary changes, and fans are encouraged to bring the energy for the upcoming showdown.

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For the next episode: “Say it With Your Chest Friday”—expect bold predictions, stat of the week, and Josh’s signature segment.

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Summary by Talkin’ Cowboys Podcast Summarizer.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football club. How about this? Cowboys go Cowboys. This is Talking Cowboys streaming live from the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters at the Star in Frisco CD Lamb.

[B]

It's on. Jake Ferguson.

[A]

Prescott keeps it and he bangs it.

[B]

In for the touchdown.

[A]

And now your hosts, Isaiah Standback, Patrick.

[C]

Walker, Josh Rodriguez and Kyle Yeomans.

[A]

It's a terrific Thursday edition of Talking Cowboys presented by Black Rifle coffee Company live from the Star in Frisco, Texas and the SWBC studios. Welcome in, everybody. We've got Patrick no see Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah Stamback, Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeoman. So glad you're with us. Welcome in, everyone. It is week seven.

[B]

It is.

[A]

We are closing in on the halfway point of this NFL season.

[D]

Kyle, you guys have quick energy.

[B]

What was that?

[D]

You guys have koi energy today.

[A]

You think it's koi?

[D]

Patrick. Ko, Kyle.

[A]

Koi, Josh.

[D]

I feel. I feel like the. The koiness going on. I'm not sure I like it. Why is that?

[A]

Why would you say that?

[D]

I'm just telling you what I feel.

[B]

Referring to very coy.

[D]

Very coy.

[B]

I don't.

[D]

What the heck's going on? I don't know.

[B]

Don't worry about it.

[A]

You tell me.

[B]

We got something for that.

[A]

Oh, that was crisp. That was a good one.

[E]

Black rifle coffee.

[A]

Black rifle coffee supplying us with all sorts of energy this month.

[D]

Are we canceling out the koi today?

[A]

Cancel the koi. Cancel. Cancel the koi.

[D]

You're ready. Since you already popped top early and.

[E]

We get a call for all cowboys.

[D]

We doing all three.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[D]

Yeah. I'm sip this one today.

[A]

Yeah, I'm sipping this one called 200 milligrams of caffeine.

[D]

I'm gonna match all his energy.

[E]

What you sipping on? I do not know.

[B]

I was gonna go back further than this yesterday.

[D]

That's what I was at.

[E]

We did it yesterday and someone commented, Kyle has no idea what that song is.

[A]

No, no, I didn't. But he did show it to me.

[D]

So you always know what Kyle doesn't know. Kyle does this?

[E]

Yeah, he's kind of looking around.

[A]

I make the same face every time that I don't get a reference. And so everybody that's ever watched the show previously is like, yep, he doesn't get it.

[E]

I don't even know. I do not know that reference.

[D]

We're gonna cheers to canceling Nikoi.

[A]

Cheers.

[D]

You know why?

[E]

I would love to, but I disagree entirely.

[D]

No, no, no.

[E]

No, I'm gonna be coy today.

[D]

No, no, you know what?

[E]

You a defensive preview.

[D]

Oh. You know how I can get you out of your coyness.

[A]

Why is that?

[D]

You know how I can get you out of that.

[A]

Josh making some adjustments.

[D]

Some of these news and noise notes are going to get you out of your coyness.

[B]

He pulled a cow.

[A]

That was good.

[B]

He pulled a cow. All right, news and notes. First of all, let's start with the good News. Literally no DNPs from Wednesday's practice.

[D]

What was that? None.

[B]

Zero. Every single person who's on the active roster practiced some capacity yesterday.

[E]

Guys, let's do a collective thumbnail for Zach.

[D]

All right? What?

[B]

Absolutely. It's a thing. It's a thing. Wow.

[D]

First time in. I don't even. All right.

[A]

You can't even say, like week one.

[B]

Just. Just last week. Couple weeks ago. Last two weeks, I should say. I mean, this thing looked like a mass unit, so. Yeah.

[A]

Believable.

[B]

Everyone who is on the active roster.

[A]

Tyler Booker.

[B]

Tyler Booker, Ltd.

[A]

Yesterday with his CD Lamb.

[B]

Yep. CD Lamb. Ltd. Yesterday.

[A]

Kevonte Turpin.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

A Johnny Cornelius.

[B]

That is correct.

[A]

Marshawn Nealon.

[D]

Yes, sir.

[A]

What about. There's no way Donovan Wilson practiced.

[D]

He did.

[B]

What about Kaylin Carson and did Houston?

[A]

That's James Houston.

[B]

That's James Houston.

[D]

Yep. Full.

[B]

Oh, who else she got? I'll do you one better. Duron Bland isn't even on the injury report anymore.

[A]

Is Trayvon Diggs on the injury?

[B]

Trayvon Diggs? Yes, but he was a full participant.

[D]

Oh, okay.

[B]

He's fine.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Jonathan Mango. He was a participant. Limited capacity. Curious to see which one of those guys because I know that earlier in the week the front office said that they were looking to activate both of them from the 21 day practice window as early as this week. They made one move yesterday in waving Jalen or the day before waving Jalen Cropper, who by the way, is back on the practice squad. He cleared waivers. Got him. That being said, you still only have one spot and if you're going to bring back spot where on the 53. And that being said, with Kalen Carson being full for the past several practices, I feel like that's going to be the most certain activation. Does make me wonder about Jonathan Mangle, because initially he started out as full. He was downgraded to limited because he has some soreness in his knee. As told by Brian Schottenheimer, he's still not back at full yet. He's practicing, but he's not Back at full capacity just yet. So I feel like Kaylin Carson will be activated to the 53 man roster and maybe, maybe another week for Jonathan Mingle. But they got to make a decision Wednesday. It has to be made by Wednesday of next week.

[E]

Can I make a bold prediction on the status of Kalyn Carson, say with.

[B]

The chest on a Thursday?

[E]

I am almost positive. Just personally from. I don't know anything. So this is just, this is just an opinion, a gut feeling, if you will. I bet you Kyrie Elam is inactive in place of Kaylin Carson this week.

[D]

Wow.

[E]

When you look at Kaylin Carson's. I'm sorry, Kyrie Gillum snaps have significantly increased over the last three weeks.

[B]

You know, I don't know if that's bold, though.

[E]

I agree.

[B]

But I don't know if it's bold.

[E]

That Kyrie Elam is inactive because somebody's.

[B]

Going to be inactive for Kaylin Carson to get some run on the game day roster. And Kyrie Elam makes the most sense, really, because it's not going to be ready Stewart, you know, it's not going to be Duran or.

[E]

It's bold for me.

[A]

Okay, well, remember, there is like a, it's italicized there. There will need to be a MOV at some point in order to get Carson and Mingo on the roster. You've got one spot open right now, so you can. Yeah. And with two guys on their way back from their practice window. So one guy can be active this week and so that might be Caitlin Carson and then the other guy and Jonathan Mingo might be a next week thing. And then you wait a week just to see if there's any sort of conversation with injuries. God forbid somebody goes down Sunday with another injury. Somebody has an IR stint on the way and then you put them to IR and then there's that open roster.

[D]

Two guys in one spot.

[A]

Spot.

[D]

It's not good.

[B]

It's not good. But I tell you what the big news is, is like you mentioned, is CD Back. Yes. Fonte Turpin back? Yes. Is Tyler Booker back?

[D]

Is he? Yes.

[B]

Wow. So those three guys all are trending toward returning to the field against the Washington Commanders. The lead horse in that is obviously CD Lamb. Shoddy said yesterday, if CD Lamb is breathing in yesterday's practice, he's playing.

[A]

I loved it. That was just the best because I, I believe. What was it? Todd Archer's question. I, I don't want to.

[B]

He said, what does he have to do?

[A]

Yeah, what does. And he said, as long as he's breathing.

[B]

As long as he's breathing. He's like, I'm good as long as he's breathing.

[A]

And he did clarify. He said, I'm making light of it because we are so confident that he is going to get back in the fold. And sure enough, he was out there. His real answer to that question was, run around. Run a couple routes, look solid, and catch a couple footballs, and you're good. And he looked like that yesterday. He even showed it in the media portion. He was running routes. And I'm guaranteed it was on purpose.

[E]

They said, rafo, run around and find out.

[A]

And he certainly did. He ran around than we found out.

[D]

That was good right there.

[B]

We got a. We got.

[A]

Isaiah.

[D]

I have a question.

[A]

Yes, Isaiah.

[D]

Kyle, I know you didn't grow up in the hood, but. In the hood?

[B]

Oh, he'd be in the hood.

[D]

We had these. These guys that were usually on drugs called crackheads.

[B]

And you would know because.

[E]

For reference.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

They call them crackhead and crack.

[D]

Crackheads.

[B]

So crack users are called crackheads.

[A]

Where are we going?

[D]

Listen, I'm getting there. The crackheads saw opportunities. Whenever there was a window that was open.

[B]

Poop.

[D]

Right. But when it was open, if you guys haven't seen Friday. Yeah. Right. So he's also. He sees a window open, he's going in. It's an opportunity to go. To go get something. Okay. That you really want. Speaking of windows being open, I'm hearing murmurs, okay? Murmurs of a certain individual that there may or may not in the coming weeks. Might. There might be a window that's opened.

[B]

Speak on it.

[D]

I would like for you to speak on it.

[B]

And you're the one saying you're hearing the murmurs.

[D]

You're the expert. You know what I'm talking about.

[B]

We're all the experts, Agent Zero.

[D]

You know what I'm talking about.

[B]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, you could have easily been talking about Perry on Winfrey. You really could have him, too.

[D]

His video was awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

TBD on Perry on Winfrey. I know a lot of fans are asking about Perry on Winfrey, but no update.

[D]

He was out there.

[E]

Hey, what's happening? Perry on Winfrey.

[B]

He's making progress, but we don't have a timeline for him.

[E]

Okay, thank you.

[B]

Same for Savone Revel. I know fans are asking about him as well. The Marvian overshone. He is headed back so he could see his practice window opened as early as next week. So Shoddy said one. He said either next week or the next couple of weeks or so. So I fully expect that demarvion Overshones window will be open before. Before the calendar flips to November.

[D]

And his original date that he had circled to come back was.

[E]

Thanks Thanksgiving.

[D]

Right.

[B]

He's ahead of schedule by a little bit.

[D]

But even.

[A]

Even if it's open next week, you think about next week, you got 21 days there. So it's getting right up to that week before things.

[D]

So it's looking like he's on track for things.

[A]

On track is.

[B]

Is probably to take. They're going to factor in the bye week and everything into like everything is going to go into that decision. But soon arrives or returns to Mario Nova show.

[E]

And to be fair and I had a discussion with Big Nate about this Large Nathaniel, if you will. Large Nathaniel. We're talking in the lunch room and the worst man talking about Overshone and basically, you know, just kind of a devil's advocate way to look at it. You know, it's a kind of a negative aspect on it where it's like you can't expect tomorrow to be the same dude. To be the same dude. One coming back from an injury like that again. And then to fix this defense. Oh, you can't expect.

[A]

But it's a step in the right direction.

[E]

It's a step in the right direction. But I want to collectively say for talking Cowboys, we're not saying to Marvin Overshone in this offense the worst or in this defense, the worst defense in the league currently is not going to make matters a whole lot better than you currently.

[B]

Do I need to sign? Do I need to make a sign?

[E]

Go make a sign.

[B]

I'll make a sign for. For when demo comes.

[A]

This does not imply.

[D]

This does not imply 32nd to first right. We'll go.

[B]

Don't take it to top one one.

[E]

But you certainly want him on the field.

[D]

I am excited for his journey.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

For somebody who has. Has had their seasons taken from them numerous times, I'm excited for his journey. Like I genuinely want to see. He's a good dude with great energy, great work ethic, huge impact when he's on the field. Looking forward to seeing him get back in the fold and adding to this defense. As we talk about the defense. Getting ready to talk about defense versus their offense.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

This defense has. It has to change.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

And I can't imagine that you go into a game against the Washington commanders and execute the same game plan that you've been going into every game with. I can't foresee that.

[B]

I'm also going to go ahead and see. I'm going to see you that I'm going to raise you one even if we and we will grant grace to the Marvi and over shown to when he returns. As far as getting ramped up, significant. Absolutely. But the Marvio Nova shown in a ramp up period on the field is still your best linebacker probably. Which means that when I, when we say things like help is on the way, we're not implying that he's the end all be all to get you from 32nd to 1st. We're simply saying that objectively speaking he makes your defense better and the fact that he plays in the heart of the defense that matters that much more.

[A]

I, I want to stick with the lineb because as we're previewing the Dallas defense against the Washington offense, I kind of want to go level by level here. Defensive line, linebackers, secondary, what would be your A through F grade for each one of those units to date. To date six weeks into the year? Because I'll start. Let's start with the linebackers. Since we were just talking about the Marvin Overshoam. Okay, linebackers. We've, we've of course had the criticism of Jack Sanborn and the way that he's played. I've defended Kenneth Murray a couple times on this show. He had an awful game against Carolina.

[B]

He looked awful.

[A]

He was bad against Carolina. And that's not to say he's a bad linebacker. I really don't think he is. But he had a bad game, plain and simple. Just like Maris, Lee Fowler has had a couple of bad games in a row.

[D]

Misdirection got him.

[E]

The defense was out physical in every aspect.

[A]

Yes, in every aspect, on every level, plain and simple.

[D]

This week as we heard talk about their offense. If misdirection got you last week, it's.

[A]

Going to get you this.

[D]

Oh my Lord.

[A]

Cliff Kingsbury's coming.

[D]

Oh my Lord.

[E]

And then speaking of the defensive line, Kenny Clark probably had his worst game as definitely his worst game and a game that you do not expect out of a guy like Kenny Clark because of how well he's played up until this point.

[A]

But like I said, Solomon didn't play.

[E]

Well out physical on every level.

[D]

But six weeks, was it not playing well or was it they just, they just got beat up.

[A]

They just got beat up.

[D]

I think that, you know, I'm saying like there's this.

[B]

Both things happen. The reason you didn't play well is because you got beat up. You had a conversation and you got pushed around.

[A]

I had a Conversation with a staff member yesterday about some of the conversations on the sideline. That was the message being shown by the defensive staff throughout was we are not playing our brand of football. We are not having.

[D]

You get punks.

[A]

You're getting punked is a great way to put it. They didn't say that specifically, but they were saying, we're being out physical.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

We're being pushed around. This is not our brand of football. This is not the standard.

[E]

No.

[A]

And that was what the staff as a whole on the defensive side was saying. They were the ones that were trying to bring accountability. There's also, in the eyes of who I was talking to, there's maybe a lack of leadership from a player standpoint on the defense, which we've talked about before. Yeah, we've had that conversation. Who are your leaders on your defensive side of the ball? I'm waiting.

[B]

I'll give you OSA maybe, but he's.

[A]

Not a vocal leader.

[D]

Kenny Clark.

[E]

Kenny Clark.

[A]

Kenny Clark is brand new.

[B]

So vocal leaders. And Kenny also doesn't do a lot.

[D]

Demo's your guy.

[A]

Demo might be your guy. And he's not available right now. But that's the point is when the. When the staff is saying. But did you have things across the board? No.

[D]

Even prior to the trade, you didn't have one.

[A]

No, probably not.

[E]

You had two of them last year.

[A]

Well, you expected Micah to be that, but he never was going.

[E]

And those were gone.

[B]

Yeah, Michael was in a vocal.

[D]

No, he was never going.

[B]

Oh, it was.

[D]

Yeah. Jay.

[A]

Jay DeMarcus, Lawrence, D. Law could be even. D. Law wasn't available for the majority of last year anyways.

[E]

But you've had leaders on the defense before. And now that you have a basically new look defense, I'll give you one.

[B]

Who'S trying to be one year.

[A]

One year, Thomas.

[B]

One year. Yeah. One year is most certainly able. I don't know that he's.

[A]

He doesn't have the snaps on the wall.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

He doesn't have that.

[B]

That would be the only reason that you kind of hesitate putting the.

[D]

The.

[B]

That leadership thing on him. But however he's vocal, he's getting the starts now. He's. He's playing well in his starts. I could see him stepping into that role.

[A]

And no matter what the status of leadership is on the defensive side of the football, having guys like that, that are accountable and that are at least trying to keep the other guys within grasp accountable as well, that's what you need to start building in the right direction.

[D]

And what we're referring to before we hop onto the other stuff is when you're getting beat up, when you're getting punked. Call it what it is, right? I'm a black and white dude. Like, tell me straight up. Don't you know, well, you know, we're not playing our brand. No, you're getting punked. Okay. That man phone.

[B]

Check.

[D]

Taking your chain and running you off the ball.

[B]

Check.

[D]

Like that.

[E]

Grandmama gave me that.

[D]

It's a physical game, right. This is a man. Man versus man game. Like, you have individual battles, and nobody wants to hear that you're losing your battle to another man. Like, is it. So you call a spade a spade when you're getting your butt kicked. So they were getting their butt kicked. So when you're having that happen. Because it does happen.

[E]

Yep.

[D]

There has to be somebody who vocally steps up physically, you know, executing wise.

[A]

Yeah, you need to step.

[D]

You got to do that for you guys can't just talk about it. Right. I get on my daughter about that all the time where things aren't going well.

[A]

She's like, yeah, yeah, you guys gotta pick it up.

[D]

I'm like, hey, you pick it up first before you say anything.

[B]

Right.

[E]

Lead by example.

[D]

Exactly by example. And then you. Then you can speak on it. Right. So you can't just do one or the other, but you need somebody to. To call a spade a spade in that moment outside of coaches and be like, yeah, nah, this is not about to go down like this. Right. And you have to change it. You have. You have to change it, bro. And there's going to be times. There was times back in the day when I. When I not here in Dallas, but when I was playing quarterback and I had that leadership role where we were getting our butts kicked, I'm like, hey, if y' all ain't gonna do it, bet I'll do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

He just straight up like, all right, you want. You want to keep getting beat up, you go ahead and get beat up. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it.

[B]

You know what I'm saying?

[D]

You take over.

[B]

But doesn't it do it myself?

[D]

Yeah, absolutely.

[E]

Doesn't it feel low in a lot of instances? That's what's also getting us into trouble, too, where it's like, you have guys that are trying to step up in those things that are getting out of position and trying to make the play.

[D]

It happens.

[E]

You're right, you know, like getting out of their own assignment.

[D]

Absolutely.

[E]

Especially defensively and overplay and Honestly, man, a performance like that against the Panthers, you can't blame that on Matt Eberflus. Like, I really don't think so. I don't think what he was doing as far as zone defense and everything to put those players into position to make plays. I don't think that was necessarily the fault. It was guys trying to clean up and make the play and trying to lead by example by making the big.

[D]

This was not a scheme thing. This past game was not scheme. You didn't get beat by your scheme in weeks prior to that. I would definitely say yeah, Ev. Yes. Not even just a scheme, but like the players within the scheme were. I don't know what the heck they were doing sometimes.

[B]

Right.

[D]

So I don't even know if it was just. That's why I've been hesitant to say that it's Eber flu's fault.

[B]

Right.

[D]

I've been like, these are basic things that these guys are being asked to do or some of these guys in.

[E]

There, 32nd ranked defense. There's fault across the board. It's not one source.

[D]

Absolutely, absolutely. Everybody has to take responsibility. But like we're talking about pro athletes ask being asked to play basic coverages and they start seeing ghosts and running around with their head cut off. So like there's certain things that are just going. That are inexplicable, which is why those individuals are no longer playing.

[E]

And when you think about it, okay, and look at the, the issues that you had last season with Mike Zimmer's defense when they're trying to acclimate to that. One of the things that Jordan Lewis, former Cowboy, said going into, I think it was like week eight or nine when we're just struggling on defense. The details, it's all about the details.

[B]

He said they're like five weeks in a row because it was an issue.

[E]

And, and it's. The personnel hasn't necessarily changed in the secondary. I mean aside from a few guys. So you're just having those issues yet again.

[D]

It's.

[E]

It's frustrating.

[A]

It is frustrating. And I thought Robert in the comments said he said still feeling coy across the board. Defense has to change. Plus players must buckle up and stop being punked before and during the game. Which is absolutely true. To do it buckle up, but it's absolutely true.

[D]

I agree with Robert.

[A]

It has to change. There has to be a movement in the right direction because you aren't going any direction except for backwards right now. And I've got a stat to prove that when we come back. We're also going to have a little, little bit of lab coat this week. What you got working?

[B]

You know what's so perfect about this week's lab coat is it's focused completely on the Cowboys defense and, and for the talking Cowboys fandom that have tuned in each day this week and a little bit last week, you. It'll sound familiar to you because there was a topic, a hot topic that we debated here that I parlayed into.

[A]

My science lab, hot stats and lab coat when we come back with more talking cowboys right after this.

[C]

Hey, you know, there's so many reasons to love Liberty Mutual Insurance. For instance, there's Limu, Emu and Doug. You gotta love those guys. And then there's the jingle. It's so catchy.

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I'm home. Hey, Mom. Before you ask, I've done my homework and the dishwasher's unloaded.

[D]

Nice. Hey, can you. Hey, hon. Yes?

[A]

I've got the finale ready to play.

[B]

Here's your wine.

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Wow.

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Challenge you're facing, we're with you.

[B]

We're united. How's it going? You see that Cowboys game?

[A]

Oh, I watched.

[B]

Been seeing some good things. Totally. They have some talent.

[D]

Yup.

[C]

Some great talent.

[B]

And they got some fight.

[A]

Hoping this is the year.

[D]

Me too.

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Oh, I'm Cody, by the way.

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I'm Travis.

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Nice to meet you, Travis. Go Cowboys.

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Go Cowboys.

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[A]

Back to Talking Cowboys. Back here on Talking Cowboys. This segment is brought to you by Invisalign, the official smile of the Dallas Cowboys. Back with Patrick Nosy Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah Stanley.

[D]

We're all jacked up on black Rifle.

[A]

Yes, we are. Black Rifle, by the way, calling all Cowboys fans, 10% off your total purchase. Your entire purchase. On game days, when you wear Cowboys gear, doesn't have to be anything special. It could be a Cowboys hat, it could be a Cowboys shirt, could be a jersey. You could go full fandom and wear like the wrestler outfit and the shoulder pads.

[E]

Heck yeah.

[A]

Go full super cowboy on that thing.

[E]

Doesn't matter.

[D]

What about one of those talking Cowboys cowboy shirts that somebody made for us?

[B]

No, no.

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Yeah, you wear that, you might get 20 off.

[E]

55 off. Now box travel.

[A]

We need to talk to them about giving Talking Cowboys listeners 25 off. Like we need to talk to that. It's not a thing yet. So don't go demand your black rifle.

[D]

Definitely get your 10 off the black rifle by wearing your gear. But like, who's going to be the one in our fan, our family? Who's gonna, who's gonna provide us some apparel this year? Last year we had. Yeah, I know a couple people provide us some hoodie.

[A]

I don't like asking.

[B]

Well, first you need.

[D]

No, no, no, no, no. Because we have some very creative people and now this AI thing is in place and like, I would imagine that the creativity level is probably taking up to the 10th power.

[E]

What I need is a hoodie for talking Cowboys. Just Something simple.

[B]

Just.

[E]

Just the logo right here.

[A]

Still not cold yet. So it's three. What's three we're talking about.

[E]

Okay. God, I need the hoodie.

[B]

A close.

[E]

Or hat or hoodie. Got myself sunglasses. The logo on.

[B]

I had to get used to the hoodie with the long hair because I was like, how do you. Because you know you can't pull it over.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You can't wear the locks inside the hoodie because that's uncomfortable.

[A]

I have the same problem. You're a hoodie guy. I am such a hoodie guy. I got in trouble for wearing too many hoodies.

[D]

You did? Building.

[B]

I got called to the principal's office.

[A]

Wearing too many hoodies.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It said, stop wearing hoodies.

[E]

There are too many hoodies. He's doing.

[A]

And then I now I keep it at my desk and I put the hoodie on while I'm at my desk. And then if I have to go to the bathroom or go grab food or go grab whatever, I take it off and keep walking.

[E]

I do that with hoodie.

[B]

We got an HR reminder because of K1.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It was all because of me.

[C]

Really.

[A]

Was Ky in his hoodie.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Black rifle, coffee. Appreciate you, as always. It's time for a little bit of lab coat.

[B]

Bring me in. Beamer.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Science.

[B]

All right. So last week, or might have been earlier this week, my days are starting to run together because we're in the middle of the season, and that's how it goes. Just leave. Just leave them be, man. Just leave them. All right. There was a. A great conversation hotly debated between myself, Kyle, and one Tommy Yarish. Do NFL teams now? This was Tommy's point. Tommy's point was that NFL teams require both an elite offense and elite defense.

[A]

Which is a fair point.

[B]

To become a Super bowl champion. That is a fair point. And my counter argument was that while that is ideal and that is the goal of. Of every one of the 32 NFL teams, history doesn't bear that out to be true.

[D]

What?

[B]

Okay, so I went back cured, curiously. And this is going to be in Science Lab. I break it down fully on Curious.

[A]

Spelled with a K, by the way.

[B]

I like that. Right here. You can't see me. So Josh Rodriguez and all of his greatness see me.

[E]

That's really good.

[B]

Exactly. We'll have Science Lab up on Dallas Cowboys.com this morning, so make sure you check this out. That being said, I went back and looked at at every single super bowl winner since the turn of the century. Okay. The last 25 Super bowl winners.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

And I looked at their offensive rankings and defensive rankings based on points per game.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

I was curious to see how many of those 25 teams were able to brag about having an elite defense and an elite offense. Now, how do I define elite?

[D]

Elite. Middle of the road, man.

[B]

Okay. I define elite as top five life.

[A]

That's fair.

[B]

Okay. If you're top 10, you're good. You're really good.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Top five is. You're in a different air, different company.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Of the past 25 Super bowl champions, only three, only three Super bowl champions in the past quarter century, who are those have had an elite defense and an elite offense. One comes by way of. I got my list in front of me. We got the Eagles. When they won Super Bowl 52, they had the third, third best offense and the fourth best defense. Okay, okay, back to back here. Because Super Bowl 51, the one previous were the New England Patriots. Their offense was ranked third, defense was ranked first in the league. Okay. And we have only one more which will be. Come on with it. Don't hide. Don't hide. The Patriots again, Super Bowl 39, fourth best offense, second best defense. Other than that, you're seeing a healthy.

[E]

Mix if you need it.

[B]

Oh, oh yeah, because you see me scrolling. See webmaster. Webmaster. So you have three, only three. Everyone else you're seeing things like the first ranked offense, the 16th ranked defense that was the Super Bowl 57 winners, the Kansas City Chiefs. And then I know some people are going to say, well, no, see, what about the Eagles? They had the seventh best. First of all I said top five is elite. But I'll play this game with you. Seventh best offense. Last year when they run, but they won, but they had the second best defense. But then when you put it, they were close, close. When you put it in the microcosm of what happened in the game though, of the 40 points that the Eagle score, because you could look at it and say, oh yeah, because they dropped 40 on the Chiefs. Okay, well a pick six from Cooper de Jean. You had 12 of those 40 points put up by Jake Elliott, your kicker, and the three touchdowns that Jalen Hurts were responsible for a one yard rushing touchdown, a 12 yard passing touchdown, and the only chunk play for the offense as far as touchdowns are concerned was a 46 yard touchdown to Devonte Smith. They were not world beaters in that particular game. However, they controlled the CL 38 minutes. 38 minutes that they kept Patrick Mahomes off the field. And when he was on the field six sacks and 26 pressures.

[A]

So they were elite when they needed to be.

[B]

That is correct.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So my point being, would you love to have an elite offense and an elite defense at the same time? Absolutely. That goes without saying. Shouldn't have to say it, but sure, I'll say it.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

But realistically speaking, far more often than not, especially in the salary cap era, you need one to be elite and the other to be better than average. Average.

[E]

Ish.

[B]

That's what you need if you can do that. There are so many teams in this championship list that's on Science Lab, that drops on Dallas Cowboys.com that you'll be able to say, well, the offense was mid. The defense was elite. The offense was elite. The defense was mid.

[D]

That's.

[B]

You just need somebody to be one of those sides of the ball to be better than worst.

[A]

Man, I wish this defense was mid.

[E]

Yeah, I would love.

[A]

I would love if they were just.

[B]

Science Lab come in this morning.

[A]

That would be great. The unfortunate part of it is that they are not mid right now. And that's where this defensive preview comes into full ultra, ultra.

[B]

Cowboy said Patrick does his research in Spider man game. Spider man gear can neither confirm nor deny. What's the rocks? Oh no. Shaft. He was like, no comment. But yes.

[A]

Cowboys are the sixth team in NFL history to give up 175 points and had two or fewer wins in their first six games.

[B]

NGB.

[E]

That is not good.

[A]

You want to know what happened to the rest of those teams that happened along the way? The five previous teams that did?

[B]

You're going to make us. You're going to make us coy again.

[A]

Yeah, it's going to happen. It happened twice in 1961. The Oilers and the Patriots. Patriots missed the playoffs. The Oilers actually won the AFL championship. Yeah, back in 1961. Everybody remembers.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Houston Oiler teams.

[B]

What about those? Jefferson?

[A]

Not so fast.

[E]

What about the Rochester Jefferson?

[A]

No, they didn't. They didn't.

[D]

Never.

[A]

They never achieved this. This. The 2016 Saints, the 2012 Saints and the 1985 Bengals were the three previous teams to achieve this feat. They all finished with the same record. Seven wins, nine losses. And they all missed the playoffs.

[B]

I. I'll leave you. I'll add to this and I'll leave you.

[D]

Going to raise them, huh?

[B]

If you want to know why The Cowboys are below.500. Cowboys offense is scoring an average of 29.7 points per game. Their defense is allowing an average of 30.7 points per game.

[E]

That doesn't seem good.

[D]

Math Is math is the math. Math is not math.

[B]

Math is the math. So, yeah, unfortunately, the offense has to play perfect. And is that fair? No, it's not fair to them to not be able to make a single mistake. But until the defense at least ratchets it up two or three more notches, then the Cowboys offense will have to do so. And that's why it's that much more meaningful that CD Lamb and Kevonte Turpin are backing them.

[D]

What's that?

[E]

Is you can't bank on a stop on defense. Just a single one, period. You just hope the clock runs.

[B]

So you got it. You got to score a touchdown almost every time you go down the field.

[A]

So let's talk about how they match up against this Washington offense. Washington gets Jaden Daniels back last week. They fall against the Bears 3 and 3. This is a hungry Commanders team. It was a crazy game.

[D]

Can we get an update on their health?

[A]

Terry McLaurin was back in practice. He was limited with a quad. They're pretty healthy for the most part. I mean, they've got. Let me see.

[D]

McLaurin, Noah Brown, all those guys have been injured as a way.

[B]

While you guys are looking at a real quick answer for who asked this question.

[A]

None of them are on the injury report.

[E]

So unless they're on ir, they only have our injury report on their. On their website.

[A]

Oh, that we. Their injury report is. I've got it right here.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

Dorrance was DMP with a hamstring. Dorance Armstrong, Zach Ertz, there was a lot of rested guys. Drake Jackson was there with a knee. Chris Rodriguez running back was out with a calf. Terry McLaurin was limited with a quad. Sam Cosney was full with a knee. Jaden Daniels full with a knee. And then Jonathan Jones full with a hamstring. Debo didn't practice yesterday, but he's not on the practice report. Just letting you know that he has a heel injury.

[D]

He's been beat up.

[A]

Is he on the IR list? No, he's not. Then why was he not on the practice?

[B]

That's a good question there, Kyle.

[D]

Report on snitch.

[A]

Yeah, like I'm sorry, that's my question. If he's not on a list, why is he not on the app we had. We had a reporter for the Washington Commanders on. He said he did not yesterday.

[D]

We'll see what he say if I don't get my cut before today.

[A]

I'm telling.

[B]

I guarantee he's on there today though. Someone had had a science lab lab coat question. They asked when was the last team that won or which of those teams in the last 25 years have had a defense ranked 30th or below zero. And that's to my point. You need to have a defense that ranks at least averages. But I will say more specifically the Giants who won Super Bowl 46 had the 9th ranked offense. They have a had a 25th ranked defense.

[E]

Hold on really quick. I I just a side tangent really quickly. Side yes or no. Do the Cowboys have the personnel to be a mid ranked defense when healthy?

[B]

When healthy? Yes, they can they as is. I think they can be mid when healthy.

[D]

I could be.

[A]

I could see them like low twenties. But that not that might not any low twenties.

[B]

Was low twenties. With some takeaways I'd be fine.

[A]

Might get you but you haven't been able to get.

[D]

I am going to say got one.

[A]

Player with an interception and his name is Donovan Wilson and he's the first safety since 2016 to have multiple.

[B]

You're making my point.

[A]

Interceptions in the first six games. The last guy to do that was Barry Church and he's on our freaking podcast.

[B]

You're making my point.

[A]

You need more interceptions, you need more takeaways.

[B]

Be bad at everything. You got to be good at something.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Isa, this is a man defense and they're playing.

[D]

So I'm going to run it back.

[B]

I'm just going to say please, please rewind.

[D]

Majority of the contributors on defense were Dan Quinn. Guys, as we now know and we're about to find out. For those who do not know Dan Quinn plays, man, primarily these guys want to play, man. They want to get in your face, they want to jam you up, they want to put hands on you, they want to stay in your hip pocket and be lint in your pocket. Duron, Bland, Trayvon Diggs, when these guys were doing the things that got them the contracts that they now have off, what coverage were they playing? It was a man man.

[B]

They were taking the ball away a lot too.

[D]

That's what I mean. Did you have quarterback pressure?

[B]

Absolutely.

[D]

He had quarterback pressure. But this is a. And that's what I'm hoping to see. Coach Eber, flutes change. Because right now he's saying, okay, this is my system. Fit in my system.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Through the first six weeks, you. You're realizing that's not working so great.

[E]

No.

[D]

Regardless of the fact that it is a good scheme, schematically it should work. It's not working for these guys. Yes. So are you malleable in the sense that you can now change and say, okay, this is what I want to do, but it's not working. Okay. How else can we get to this? Occasionally while doing the things that they exceed at.

[A]

I just had a flashback to 2020. I just had a flashback to Isaiah having the same conversation about a guy named Mike Nolan in 2020on this very show.

[B]

And then you got Dan Quinn in Pepperidge form, remember?

[D]

But seriously, that. That is what guys who are no longer here.

[B]

I like. I like the Isaiah that takes breaths between.

[D]

Seriously, this guy. Guys who are no longer here are exceeding elsewhere. Why they're being asked to do the things that they were doing well here.

[A]

Correct.

[D]

J. Lou.

[B]

Correct.

[D]

Is playing man down in Jacksonville. Naysha Wright.

[A]

Correct.

[D]

Is playing man in Chicago and he has multiple interceptions and recoveries. This is a man got the personnel. Their skill set is man. That's not to say that they can't play zone. That'd be dumb for me to sit up here and say they can't play zone. They. You can. But there's many ways that you can get to zones while selling, man. And you can get pressures and get more turnovers when you allow your dogs to go eat. And these receivers can't just run for the first eight yards without being touched.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Because after five yards, I don't know if you guys know this. After five guard yards, it's illegal.

[A]

You can't touch them.

[D]

It's illegal to bump these guys off their mark. So if I'm giving you five yards to run your route, then I can't touch you. I can't touch you.

[A]

For the fans until you get the ball.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

For the fans at home. Isaiah is. What Isaiah is saying is he desperately wants man.

[A]

Man.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Keep the man buns coming, he said.

[A]

Very true.

[B]

Listen.

[A]

Very true.

[D]

I would much rather see us like dead serious. I would much rather us if we're going to lose on defense. Lose doing what you're doing like and be able to look at this guy, be like, you got beat.

[B]

Yeah, I agree with that. 100.

[D]

That guy across from you beat you. What are you gonna do about it?

[E]

You can't leave it up to the scheme.

[D]

Not sitting back, back seven yards off. And then, oh, no. I had two guys that ran into my zone. I chose the wrong one. No, take that element out.

[B]

I'm with you.

[D]

I'm serious. I'm really.

[E]

I'm with you.

[D]

Hopeful that Matt Eberfluz is like, you know what? They're tired of what I'm doing. Bet. Here we go. Let's try it your way.

[B]

Yeah, it's slowly.

[E]

If only the players are vocal about their desire to play man.

[D]

Like a.

[B]

Are they like a Trayvon Diggs, for example? I will say since Trayvon made that statement about, you know, bringing that up to Matt Eber fl, they've increased the amount of man that they play.

[A]

Have they?

[B]

They did. It's, it's gone up over the past couple weeks.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

Now is it where it wants it to be? Which is where I would also like to see it be. No.

[E]

I have a stat for you. The Cowboys defense has deployed zone coverage on 158 of 164 dropbacks faced on early downs this season, resulting in the highest rate in the NFL, 96.3%.

[B]

Just basically daring in to daring other teams to create third and short.

[E]

They have been more.

[B]

Just daring you to.

[E]

They've been more willing to use man coverage on third down though their rate at 27.4% still ranks the fourth lowest in the NFL.

[A]

And how good have they been on third down throughout the year?

[E]

Not good, Bob.

[D]

Not great.

[A]

All right, we got to take our second break. When we come back, we continue our defensive preview against the Washington offense. Jaden Daniels has been playing a high brand of football since he returned. How much can he have an impact going into this matchup? When we come back with more right after this.

[B]

Get yourself.

[C]

Hey, you know, there's so many reasons to love Liberty Mutual Insurance. For instance, there's Limu, Emu and Doug. You gotta love those guys. And then there's the jingle. It's so catchy.

[D]

Liberty, Liberty. Liberty, Liberty.

[C]

But the best thing about Liberty Mutual is that they bundle your car and home insurance to save you money. And who doesn't like to save money? Everybody does. I mean everybody. But how they save you money is just so smart. They look at your specific situation and figure out what works for you. Liberty Mutual customize your car and home insurance so you can save money. So think of it this way. When you got a dual threat qb, a smart offensive coordinator, they'll customize their play calling to fit your talents. Well, that's what Liberty Mutual does. It builds a playbook just for you. They're really going above and beyond to save you money. There's no reason to wait. Start your quote@liberty mutual.com.

[B]

How'S it going? You see that Cowboys game? Oh, I watched. Been seeing some good things. Totally. They have some talent.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Some great talent.

[B]

And they got some fight.

[A]

Hoping this is the year.

[B]

Me too. Oh, I'm Cody by the way, I'm Travis. Nice to meet you, Travis. Go Cowboys.

[A]

Go Cowboys.

[B]

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[G]

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[A]

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[B]

Hey, mom. Before you ask, I've done my homework and the dishwasher's unloading. Nice.

[D]

Hey, can you. Hey, hon.

[A]

Yes, I've got the finale ready to play.

[C]

Here's your wine.

[A]

Wow.

[F]

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[A]

Back to Talking Cowboys.

[D]

Back here on.

[A]

Talking Cowboys presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official coffee of the Dallas Cowboys. Cheers to our family. Patrick. No. See Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah, stand back.

[B]

Always do that.

[A]

Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeomans. I just go through it and I point before I actually say the name. And then I work through it. But it always confuses me.

[D]

I always think I'm Josh. I didn't.

[A]

I'm just pointing Rodriguez.

[D]

That's all.

[A]

That's.

[E]

No, we're twins.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You are twinsies.

[A]

I'm just alike.

[D]

When is he making a comeback back?

[A]

Tomorrow.

[E]

Tomorrow. Every Friday.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

We need to get you a crystal ball.

[A]

We got. Get your popcorn.

[D]

We need to get you a crystal ball.

[E]

Yeah, I'm down.

[A]

Those are expensive.

[D]

I don't know.

[E]

I didn't have a good pick system.

[D]

I didn't either, bro. I had. I think I lost almost everyone. All right.

[B]

I don't even want to look at, man.

[A]

Cowboys defense versus the Washington offense. What does Washington do best on the offensive side of the football?

[E]

What does Washington do best?

[D]

Keep your guesses.

[A]

What's that?

[D]

They. They are varied in their looks, in terms of motions, pre snaps, shifts. The. You can't even just track. A lot of times, linebackers, as we're talking about these linebackers, you. You identify what the offensive linemen are doing, right? So you track lineman, even if you can't see the ball. A lot of times as linebackers, which Kenneth Murray ran into this last week, you track linemen. Right. So if I'm looking at the running back and I see the left guard pulling well, naturally I'm going to go to the right in the direction of the left guard. That doesn't work necessarily against the commanders because they will literally send the play the opposite direction. They do a lot of misdirection with their personnel in terms of receivers, in terms of running backs. Quarterback runs a lot of zone read in terms of this. That is a running game is the zone read. And if those that don't know what the zone read is, it's an option where I can hand the ball off to the running back and he can go to his own or I can keep it and I can now go outside of the defensive end if the DN pinches and I can now run the ball a I, E with Jaden Daniels, they are running screens off of that as well. So they have a lot of different options on every play. They have a run option, they have a screen option, and then the option for Jaden Daniels to run in their passing game. They do a lot of things where he's holding the ball this year. That's why I don't think he's been as effective. He's holding the ball a lot more than he was last year.

[B]

See?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

When.

[A]

When I teased going into break, I said he's played well since coming back from injury. And you went, yeah, give me the koi Isaiah.

[D]

Yeah, I did.

[A]

I do have some stats to back up what I'm saying. Daniels110 passer rating since returning from INJ, he missed weeks three and four. He's been back for five and six. Prior to the injury, it was only 91. And you're going up against the Cowboys defense that has allowed a 117 passer rating to every quarterback they've faced so far, which is the worst stat since they started keeping passer rating as an official stat in the NFL. The Dallas defense has been the worst at it, all of them.

[E]

And if we're still on topic of what Washington does best, I think it's like the exotic route trees that they're running. They're running a lot of crossers. They're getting guys out in space. They, they're very Kellen Moore esque with the way that they tried to spread the ball around and spread their receivers around the field. If, if. And if you're the Dallas Cowboys, the one thing that you want to be able to do is rush the passer.

[B]

Yeah, another thing. You're going to run into another issue. You're going to run into pressure. Yeah, that's the thing. Yeah, that's the thing.

[E]

Do you want to be able to do that?

[B]

Yeah. Laughing face emoji. So, so there, I mean, there are things, many things that the commanders do well but can be neutralized if you have a sufficient defense. But as we have this conversation, this defense has only proven to be sufficient once. No, twice. I'll give him that against the Eagles as well. Sure, twice. Two times through the first six games. And the math is math that means more often than not, you're not playing good football. So what you need to keep in mind is not only Terry McLaurin, not only Crosby Merit, because they're still running the ball effectively without Austin Eckler. Okay. You know, Jayn Daniels can extend plays. You know, he would love to break contained. You know, he would love to wreck up some rushing yards and, you know, just keep you guessing. Is he going to cross the line of scrimmage or is he going to keep his eyes downfield and find a guy like McLaren? I say all that to say keep an eye on Zach Erz in this game. Your linebackers are struggling in coverage, and this could very well be a game where everybody's eyeing, you know, Crosky Merit and everybody's eyeing Jaden Daniels and Everybody's eyeing Terry McLaren and Zach er sneaks behind you and gets two, three touchdowns on you.

[A]

No.

[B]

So keep an eye on Zach. Hurts. Because when you're talking about wily veterans who are still capable of playing at a high level, he is. He is. And then of course, you know, he's kind of made a career of making things difficult for the Dallas Cowboys. So he has that added motivation whenever he sees the star lining up against him. So keep an eye on that Zach guy. And I don't mean. I don't mean Lisa Turtle's best friend.

[A]

So you're telling me that their tight end has had success against the Cowboys, no matter who is the defensive coordinator.

[E]

No matter what age, no matter what is.

[A]

Yeah, whatever. They have wide receivers that are running crisp and clean and elaborate routes and.

[E]

Exotic, if you will, prior to the snap.

[A]

There are a lot of misdirection and a lot of motions that are going to really challenge your team to be gap disciplined and be able to know where they're going.

[E]

You just have to have good communication, buddy.

[A]

So ultimately, it's all playing back to communication that's going to do it for us here on fucking Calculus.

[B]

Can you hear me now?

[A]

No, no. That's the thing is because this team can't communicate on the defensive side of the football.

[D]

Oh, they've proven a C word.

[A]

All of those things. It's not that C word. If all of those things can't happen, then, boom, you're. You've got a bad matchup. It's ultimately what you guys are doing.

[D]

Use that C word, Kyle.

[E]

And what we've talked about yesterday in our offensive preview is the one thing that you can't do is give the ball back to the commanders. You have to be able to control the ball all game long.

[A]

I'm the 38 minutes.

[E]

Take up as much time as humanly possible.

[B]

38 minutes.

[E]

Delay of game every play, control time.

[B]

Of possession, win second runoff in the takeaway margin by at least plus one. At least plus two would be ideal.

[A]

Even. Even Shoddy said he was like, man, I was disappointed that we won the turnover battle on Sunday, but we lost the game. It's like, yeah, that's kind of how bad the team play.

[D]

You can't be bad at it because. Because of what Kingsbury does offensively, we're about to get out of here. I think this is probably the most challenging communication wise matchup that Dallas has.

[A]

100% not personnel wise.

[D]

A scheme standpoint from a scheme standpoint because they don't have to push the ball down the field. They don't have to just turn around and hand the ball off. They have a quarterback who can run and who is. They literally scheme him to run. They have a running back who is explosive and. And was it Jacoby Winter, Crosby Merit. Yeah, he's explosive. I like him a lot. The ball can get out to Debo Samuels at the line of scrimmage.

[B]

Scary.

[D]

Terry. I don't think he's going to be fully healthy. I truly don't.

[B]

Still a threat.

[A]

Trying to work.

[D]

Still a threat.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

But they can they. This is a team that is perfectly. You can go back to last year. This is a team who was perfectly okay taking these high precision passes, these little closer line of scrimmage plays and working their way down the field. Yep. Like they are. They're good with that. They're patient with that and they have a quarterback who doesn't make a lot of mistakes. This is it's going to be challenging.

[B]

What we're saying is it's a good thing. CD is is likely back because got a shootout. Offense might need to score.

[D]

47 shootout.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Maybe 48 maybe.

[A]

Depending on the game.

[B]

Maybe.

[A]

All right, that does actually do it for us here on Talking Cowboys.

[D]

Do it now.

[A]

Enjoyed our last 45 minutes or so. We'll be back tomorrow with a say it with your chest Friday. Yes, certainly.

[D]

Oh yes.

[A]

Be doing that. You should be here. Get your popcorn ready. Josh's segment is tomorrow. We'll also have our stat of the week as well for Patrick no see Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah Stambass, Chris Beam in the back back. I'm Kyle Yit saying so long from Talking Cowboys. We'll see you tomorrow for a say it with your chest Friday.

[B]

A new era.

[A]

This has been a production of Dallas.

[C]

Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football club.

[A]

How about this Cowboy.

[D]

Sam.