B (3:20)

100%, yes, absolutely. It felt different. I. It's hard to put a finger on it. Exactly. The crowd separation felt a little bit unique from the standpoint of, you know, a game in Las Vegas is always going to have a lot of tourist road fans. So I don't know what's normal and what's not from that standpoint, but, yeah, it was. It was a really cool experience. Kind of felt a little. It felt like a bigger game. I know Troy was on your radio show last week and said that that Monday night game, which I also, oddly enough, was. That felt like a playoff game, the Eagles, packers game. And. And, you know, this obviously doesn't feel like a playoff game, but there was enough pageantry and enough extra stuff going on that it didn't feel like a normal game that we're all used to. So, you know, from a standpoint of even seeing Marshawn Nealon's jersey just hanging there and knowing what it meant to these guys early on, both teams kind of with a, I don't know, distracted spirit about them because, you know, these things are bigger than football, but also regaining normalcy of playing football because that's our best way to move on in life. You know, there was just. There's a lot of feelings. Right. There was a lot of extra in the stadium, and that's why, honestly, you know, and I think you referenced this already, I felt really good about the leadership of this team. And that's the funny thing. We've been doing this show here for a couple months now, and I think if you went back to the very first episode I talked about, and I know you agreed with it, the two positions that can take this team wherever they can will be quarterback and head coach. And I wasn't. I wasn't anticipating a roster death, for crying out loud. Who would ever anticipate something that tragic and sad? But in that storm, you see the leadership skills of Dak Prescott and Brian Schottenheimer. And the Cowboys are in incredibly good hands there, for whatever that's worth. And I think it's worth a lot in the lives of the guys involved. And so I just knew Dak was going to be great last night. I just Knew it. And I just knew Brian Schottenheimer was going to be great last night. And, you know, being great in that situation is not just about scoring touchdowns. It's about, you know, knowing what to say, knowing what to do, and ushering a lot of young men through a weird, weird storm in their life. And I just felt really good about what Dak Prescott is as a human. And again, I know he's heavily compensated, and I know in the big scheme of things, people want Super Bowls and parades and everything like that, but doggone, Dak Prescott is just a dude that you want on your side. I. I think in situations like this. So he's. He's a dude I'm very proud of.

C (6:16)

Yeah, I'm with you on all of that. And before we talk about the play of Dak and his teammates for Schottenheimer, you're right. He's got to get a team ready for. Okay, somehow we've got to go with something that we've never dealt with before. Tragic. We all feel awful. We gotta pick ourselves up and somehow play a football game. There was talk that, okay, well, maybe sometimes doing your job can. Can take you away from the grief process. I understand that, but you still have to do it. And the. The way they did it last night and then for Schottenheimer to, at the same time think, okay, I'm still coaching a football team here. I'm still trying to establish a culture here. CD Lamb and George Pickens, you will sit out the first series.

B (7:10)

Right?

C (7:10)

That. Man. I know. I don't want to make too big a deal about this. We talked about this on our. On our morning show. I don't want to make too big a deal about it, but at the same time, it's kind of everything in coaching team. This is how we're operating, circumstances be damned.

B (7:31)

Right, Right.

C (7:32)

And I. I thought it was great what he did.

B (7:35)

Yeah. And. And, you know, if you have more clarity on what specifically we were dealing with, I just assumed they got to Vegas and somebody blew off a curfew, perhaps. Is there more to it than that? That I'm.

C (7:47)

That's what I'm. That's. No, that's what I'm going with. What Shadi said, they. They missed a couple of things. So is that two guys missing curfew? Is that two guys late to meetings? I don't know. But I love the fact that we've. We've seen this before with this organization. Yeah. Well, he was always like, the meetings, but he's. I'll Go ahead and say he's to. So it's fine. You know, just let him.

B (8:14)

Right.

C (8:15)

No, this is. This is how we're running the team.

B (8:18)

Yeah. And maybe there's lessons learned there, or maybe it's just you hired the right head coach. I don't know. I'd like to think there are lessons learned. I'd like to think that these guys understand that it's okay to. To have structure. It's okay to treat this almost like the military. And with that is going to come some massive, massive paychecks. But if we don't set the structure first, then we become very terrified of who we just paid. Paid, because we've created a monster. And I think they got into that a little bit in the Des Bryant era, and I think they were getting into that with the Micah Parsons thing. Like, do we pay Micah because he's like this now? What will he do?

C (9:01)

Yeah.

B (9:02)

And I'm not saying Micah was a bad guy. I'm just saying it was weird in this environment. And I kind of. In retrospect, you know, and. And who can't watch this game this Monday night and say, I see George Pickens perform, I see Quinn and Williams perform. Those are two unbelievable trades in the same year that you traded away Micah Parsons. And I don't know exactly how to link all those together, Georgie, but I do know they are linked together. And in somebody's head, it's, would you give this guy for these two and draft picks? And obviously it's more than that because you're probably losing Trayvon Diggs, and you already lost DeMarcus Lawrence, and you might even be losing Terrence Steele. So it's not. It's not necessarily this guy for these two, but it is. We are trying to soft rebuild our leadership council on the fly during Dak and CDs Prime. So who can we subtract and add to make this team look like a contender in 2026? Okay. Under that structure, I think George Pickens and Quinn and Williams are absolutely guys who are special players, and they showed it last night. Okay, but before we pay George Pickens, how does he respond to being part of a tribe, part of a team, part of, you know, a guy who understands that we're going to ask a lot of you if we pay you from now on. So I don't want to be a prisoner of the moment and just say they learned their lesson and they figured it out, and this is a. The new Cowboys going forward. But the early signs were there that Quinn and Williams has always been a guy that people say this is a guy you want as running your huddle or running your defense or anything like that. People swear by his leadership skills and they'll follow me and I'll lead by example. Pickens is not. Pickens came with a lot of man. This guy's a handful. Fine, as long as you can, A, produce at an elite level and B, agree to be part of our structure, which means you will abide by our rules. When you get out of line, you understand there will be discipline. And if you can handle that and not buck back too much, then we want to bring you into the family long term. So that I think that's what 2025 has to be a little bit. Right?

C (11:32)

Yeah. And I think that's even of the utmost importance moving forward. The playoffs are a distant glimmer that are out there. I mean, come on, it's going to be really tough. I don't know how they're going to do that, but you can establish like Brian Schottenheimer did in this game, this is how we operate. And okay, so we had this discussion this morning. Are you a believer in what you do the last. And in the Cowboys case now it's seven more games last night would have made eight. Are you a believer in what you do in the back half of the season matters for the next season?

B (12:12)

Usually not.

C (12:13)

Okay. Just to be, just to be fair, usually even for a first year head coach who's trying to establish, hey, this is how we go.

B (12:21)

I would say usually not, but in this case, yes. So, so that's, that's a very convoluted answer and I apologize for that. But I think this is a unique situation that, that, that I'm really quite excited about, to be honest. Which is. Which basically says there is so much newness to this team right now that I do. I'm willing to make an exception that the second half of 2025, to me in a weird way is kind of your preseason for 2026. And you are looking at structure defensively, you're looking at your personnel. You're saying, I have two picks in the top 20 or top 25 of this coming draft who I can also add to this defense. See, to me, I think this offense is ready to win and win big. I really do. I believe in just about every piece of it. Now, the offensive line is still a little clunky and I still need to secure George Pickens and Javante Williams future. And I think that should be a priority perhaps as early as today. But. But I think my offense is fine. And so right now my belief is starting last night in Las Vegas and through the, you know, really through next year's training camp, I've got to figure out how to make this defense somewhere at league average. I need every major metric on my defense to be 16th or higher. Right. And I prefer top 10 because I do think the way to win a Super bowl is to have a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense. And that's probably not that controversial thing to say. Well, they're a top five offense and they're a 32nd best defense. And so my priority and my belief that this half matters starting last night would be I've got to find the pieces on this defense. And really that's the theme of last night's game. If, you know, if we were to really break it down, and maybe we will in the next segment or so, but just the idea that all of these newcomers from last night and what we can do in the off season can. With Matt Eberfluss or without him, with the old scheme or without it, this can be the basis to build. And if they have a 10% chance at the 2025 playoffs, then fine, I'm willing to at least have the conversation. But I'm not, I'm not worried about that. What I'm worried about is we need, we need defensive performance. Got it last night, but the Raiders helped. And then we need maybe a signature win or two to sort of validate and confirm proof of concept which is available Sunday against the Eagles and you just start building. And if we get to Week 14 and that 10% chance of the playoffs is now a 45% chance, then let's have a playoff conversation. But I think right now it's just begin to lay the foundation for what I think is a couple years of really exciting Cowboys football because I have now secured my alpha dog on that defense. And say nothing about your overshone and your Ravel and your Logan Wilson. I mean, I really, I think you could squint last night and get excited.

C (15:47)

Yeah, I think so too. And let's start here. Let's. Let's go ahead and start with the defense and we'll carry it for a while. About Quinn and Williams, I know their offensive line is in shambles. The Raiders, they are. Yeah, not good. And they've been getting progressively worse as the season has gone on.

B (16:09)

Yes.

C (16:09)

Holy smokes, that was a career high quarterback hits for him last night with five. He had a sack and a half. You can see how he can take on an offensive lineman and make running lanes close down quickly. That was quite a debut. I don't care who they're playing. That was quite, quite a debut for Corden Williams.

B (16:34)

It really was. And, you know, again, just like Micah, we talk about, you know, your force multipliers, right? So the guy who, because of his presence, makes everything else so, you know, effective and. And you saw OSA Diggy Zuwa look better, you saw Kenny Clark look better. You saw a lot of these guys step up. Their performance is based on what Koinin can do, and he's just so strong. So. You're absolutely right. We gotta be really careful because that Raiders offensive line is probably amongst the worst in the entire NFL. But the pushback and the ability to kind of swim into the backfield and just make plays and to cause havoc and his motor is great. But, you know, again, if you. It's hard to find elite defense. Defensive tackles, like, we talk about Aaron Donald all the time because he is such an outlier, but Quinn and Williams is on that tier, you know, since Aaron Donald doesn't play in this league anymore, he's one of the best defensive tackles in the sport. And when he starts to eat, guys around him get more opportunities and then they can take advantage of it. So I, you know, to me, that was the type of pick I wanted or the type of acquisition with the mica assets. If you can find a Quinn and Williams or you can find a defensive tackle, you know, Max Crosby would have been sweet, too, but in edge. Here's a weird thing, and we talked about this a little bit last week, but an elite edge is what you're looking for, but they don't necessarily make everybody better like an elite defensive team. Tackle, Ken. And it's weird because, you know, we've been looking at this Cowboys defense for decades, and the last time they had a Quinn and Williams at defensive tackle might be forever ago. Leon and Leon let. Leroy Glover was great for. For a few blinks on some bad Cowboys teams, but, you know, you start going back and Randy White and, you know, you start going. It's.

C (18:46)

It's.

B (18:47)

It's a, It's. It's a different animal that the Cowboys have right now. And, and we'll be interested in seeing what these next several weeks look like. Can they duplicate that against some actual playoff offensive lines? And that. That would be the question.

C (19:02)

All right, let's talk more about the defense, because there's more than just Quinn and Williams. Kenneth Murray made a play last night against the Raiders. Let's talk about that and let's talk about the offense. And let's do it on the Musers the Podcast Cowboys Edition.

D (19:21)

November is heating up for U.S. soccer.

E (19:24)

United States need to be a little more nasty.

D (19:27)

Make international friendlies for the men, right?

F (19:33)

Well Callum, that was nasty and a.

D (19:34)

Black Friday friendly for the women.

C (19:36)

Expectations of always been here for this team. We understand that.

D (19:39)

Listen anywhere on the go with the Westwood One sports app and for behind the scenes stories, catch the U.S. soccer Podcast.

C (19:46)

Boy, do we have an episode for you.

D (19:48)

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G (19:51)

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C (20:59)

It's the muse the Podcast Cowboys Edition George Dunham Bob Sturm Cowboys get a big win in Vegas over the Raiders Talking about the defense in the new look, let's just look at all the new pieces. You talk about turning over personnel and you can say, wow, they can't fix that defense. Okay, maybe not all the way, but to a degree. You got Quinn and Williams. We saw out on the corner Kaylin Carson played every defensive snap for the Cowboys at corner. I saw him fight off a ball going to Brock Bowers at one point. He seemed to have a good game. He had a bunch of tackles on the other side. Revel had his first appearance. Third round choice seemed to hold up pretty well. Wilson at linebacker. The safeties are back. Malik Hooker. You know, we talked about Malik Hooker earlier this year, Bob. I didn't think he was 100% when he was playing earlier in the season. He just didn't look like himself. Okay, again, I'm qualifying, but that, that offense for Vegas is absolutely awful. Yeah, but eyeball test. How was your eyeball test on the Cowboys defense?

B (22:22)

Very exciting. I mean, they're playing, they're making plays behind the line of scrimmage, they're flying to the ball. I don't. I mean, that's the weird thing. Like you said earlier, do you believe in a second half finish affecting the future and things like that? I just don't know how to compare this to anything we've seen because the amount of new talent and really good new talent being thrown onto the field at the exact same time is extremely rare in the middle of November. You just don't see it. And so, you know, there are times in a football season where we're like, hey, we're getting Demarvey and Overshone back, or we're getting Quinn and Williams, or we're getting a new linebacker or a new, you know, a top draft pick at cornerback. All these things to get them all at the same time and then to get Malik Hooker back. And golly, I don't know, you know, it's hard to quantify it. And that's why I do think I'm so excited about the Eagles game and the Chiefs game is I want to see more. I want more of this. I want 500 snaps instead of just 60. But right now there are so many guys that look like really special pieces being added to the mix simultaneously. Man, Ravel, for instance, if you would have told me, and I know this is hyperbole, but let's go for it. If you would have told me I can go pick a big corner whose moves like that, who is long like that and all these things, and I can add them from like the college game to the pro game. I can just plug him in. I would say that's probably what I want to do with one of my first round picks this coming spring. Instead, he was here all along. They just didn't get him on the field. And I'm like, wow, that feels like a first round corner right there. Which, by the way, is what I said when they drafted him because I loved his tape out of East Carolina and I know I'm not alone. And he slid to the third round because of this kind of Red shirt year. He was going to play in 20, 20, 25. And then we know Overshone has given us elite, elite snaps when he's been healthy. Now again, we have to qualify all this of when they're available because by definition they weren't available for the first 10 weeks of this NFL season. But how could you not be extremely excited about not only adding five or six pieces to this defense, but every one of them seems to be a clear NFL starter? And so when you're saying, how do I turn around a 32nd ranked defense? Well, let's, let's switch out half the starters in the blink of an eye and see what it looks like. And you're like, okay, I want to see a lot more. I'm not going to say everything's fixed because everything's not fixed. But that's where those two first round picks come in really handy. And, and you know, you got a chance to do something pretty special, especially, especially if you now find a way with the rotation. Let's say you have 60 snaps, so you have two defensive tackles, 60 snaps, that's 120 snaps. What if I chop up that 123 ways because I have three starting defensive tackles and each of them play four 40 snaps and they're more fresh and they're more dynamic. And so, you know, again, I don't know if they're running a 34 or a 43 defense and I'm not even sure it matters because Nickel is based, but the, the possibilities are becoming more clear for us to see what their plan sort of is. Right?

C (26:12)

Yeah. And not only the influx of, of new players, but. Okay, is it just me or is Donovan as Rocco getting better by the week?

B (26:24)

There's no question. And that's another one. And that's a, you know, another pick from this draft, man, I'm telling you. And we've given them their, their verbal spankings for the 20, 23 draft. They absolutely tanked the 23 draft. And the 24 draft is, is looking a little creaky. But that 25 draft, and again, we said this when it happened, I'm like, you know, I only have so many guys who I think are first round picks and Tyler Booker, of course, was one of them. Although it felt like they might have reached a little bit at number 12 for me because I kind of thought, you know, there were other options. There, there was Walter Nolan, there was Matthew golden, there were some other possibilities they might have looked at, but they didn't do it. And then, you know, When I say Matthew golden, you didn't tell me I could trade for George Pickens. So I'm good with Matt. No Matthew Golden. So now we move to what do you do in the second round? And they're like, I didn't think they were going to do and go get edge rusher. They've spent so much on edge rusher. And they have Micah Parsons, but they took Ezraku. And now that Micah Parsons is gone, you're like, whoa, this is, this is really nice. This looks like a first round edge. And then Ravel in the third round. I kind of thought he had first round tape. And if I can get a corner. So so much is riding on Booker, Ezraku and Ravel. And if they get three guys who are not only starters, but better than average NFL starters at premium positions like Ezraku and Ravel are, you know, that can really transform things in a hurry. That is super exciting. You're right. Ezraku has been dynamic. You can argue he's the best rookie edge rusher in the NFL right now. And they took him like at 42 or 44, I forget which pick it was. Yeah, but it was in the 40s. And you know, that safety last night was, was just another splash play that, that guy makes okay to the offense.

C (28:37)

A quick three and out without Lamb and Pickens to start the game. And then second possession, you're backed up and you get a first down. And then on first down, Dak is pressured and he ends up getting started. Strip sacked by Max Crosby. If you told me that before the game. And I thought, oh man, I bet he just blew right by Terence Steele for the rest of the game. They did a pretty good job on Crosby. And this was a, this was Crosby looping inside and they had a tight end on that side of steel ready to help out. But he looped away from it, found an alley, and then, man, is he fast. He chases down Dag, knocks the ball loose. And special, really special play by Crosby. And after that, the Cowboy offense scored four straight times, but the start was really shaky. And how big a key was it that it's only three nothing, not seven nothing? Because that's the Raiders offense.

B (29:43)

Yeah. And honestly, George, I'm sitting there thinking, man, these two third down stops in the Cowboys red zone on the Raiders second and third drives, I mean, it could be 143 and it's only 63 because of those two defensive stops that you got there. And now the offense has to start coming alive. And I thought that's where Schottenheimer And Dakota probably talked about we need. Because Dak was, I want to say early he was trying to hold the ball a little longer to give his receivers more of a chance. And, and I thought there was a very clear line. Maybe that strip sack was the line. But after that I think he made an, an objective of let's get the ball out, let's get the ball out fast, let's stay on time. And then what that does of course is means your passes out quicker which sets up for more yards after catch. If you have dynamic guys who can turn an 8 yard catch into a 37 yard touchdown or something of that nature. And that's, you know, again, that's Pickens and Lamb. You have special receivers. They're going to make a total ton of money. And why, why are they going to make a ton of money? Because you can't catch them in the open field. And, and what George Pickens did last night and what CD Lamb has done for his entire career is they've taken those eight yard hooks or comebacks and turn them into giant plays like the special guys do. And, and that's, that's how you know you have an elite player is my quarterback is going to get it out fast, but much like Tom Brady, I'm going to get it out really quick and then I'm going to let Wes Welker or Gronkowski or whoever make a play with their feet. Amendola, all the guys that Brady made famous was because of Yak and I think the Cowboys switched to that very quickly. They're good at that. They've got a design for that. That, and that's, that really opened up the game and like you said, four straight touchdown drives were phenomenal. And then thankfully the defense got some stops and, and I just wanted to go back to one other thing, George, about the defense because I think I owe Kenneth Murray a shout out when he makes a play. I think one of the things about depth and you mentioned, I forget you mentioned your actual number, but I, I think I had like 18 guys had at least 10 snaps on the defense last night or I don't know how many it was, but what was your number?

C (32:32)

Yeah, I don't have it in front of me now, but they had a lot of guys that got. Yeah, it was a good rotation last night. Yeah.

B (32:39)

Yeah. And so the, the point I've had with Kenneth Murray is somehow he plays every snap of everything.

C (32:45)

Oh, gotcha.

B (32:45)

Yeah.

C (32:46)

And that was way down last night. Yes.

B (32:48)

And he's so overexposed. Well, in this game, I think he played 24 snaps out of 60.

C (32:53)

Yeah.

B (32:54)

And he, he looked way better. Right. And, and you know, it's like, it's like they. Ideally you want the same 11 and you want the same green dot out there. But, but I don't know that the Cowboys have Ray Lewis on this roster. And so you can play, you can play a bunch of guys 25 snaps and they each get better, they're more fresh, they're in proper situations. And that, that play that Kenneth Murray made that led to not only a stop but also an interception takeaway. That's a great example of putting a guy in a position to succeed and then credit the guy for going out there and making a play. And Marquis Bell ended up with an interception and a huge interception late in the second quarter. That was part of that four touchdown. Basically the Cowboys put their foot on the gas and just left the Raiders in the dust almost by halftime.

C (33:45)

Yeah, so many times this year I've. It has been the nicest thing in the world and we all need to be a little kinder to our fellow man, but Kenneth Murray to me was like the little plastic guy in electric football, just kind of buzzing in space and.

B (34:01)

Right, right. Last night Denver game was awful.

C (34:04)

Oh, and how many times have you seen it in zone coverage where the shell is over the top but the, the guy in front making the drop does not make it difficult on the quarterback. And that's Kenneth Murray. And last night he did it on that play, got his hand up in the air. Marquis Bell gets his first interception. And that was a huge play in the game. That, that, that turns him away. And also for the defense on after the Dak fumble, it was a Clark sack on the first play that was -7. Later it was James Houston who makes a sack. And then the corner Williams sack shot the wheels off of the Raiders next possession where they needed to answer when they're down 10, 6. And then they had the punted away defensive plays being made that for the most part this year had, have not been made.

B (35:02)

Yeah, and they, they played primarily zone again last night which, which we have no problem with if, if they have the personnel to do it. And it's actually a much safer scene. And, and you're right, you could see the Raiders, the Raiders have a very limited offense. They just traded their best wide receiver, Jacoby Myers and, and, and so they're, they're kind of putting it together with just Brock, Brock Bowers and, and young genty trying to find any space at all to Run through. And it's a tough scene for them, but they were going to keep what you said, keep attacking underneath the shell. So the safeties drop and there's this umbrella. And with the poor linebacker play, the Cowboys have really been attacked over and over and over again. And so it was important last night. And, you know, Bauer's got some things done. He was far and away their best offensive player, but you limited him to like 72 yards instead of 140, which it could have been. And, and, and that takeaway was huge. And you know, you made them one dimensional and you made Gino Smith try to beat you. And, and, and he's not good enough to do that sort of thing. I will say Kelly kind of made.

C (36:13)

Them one dimensional too, didn't he? With, hey, let's throw it every flipping down, even before they were down by a couple of scores in the game.

B (36:23)

Yeah, no, you're right. And maybe they should have stayed with it. But I think again, I might go back to what I saw from what Quinn and Williams instantly does to your team. Okay, is he. He wins you games on Wednesday and Thursday with Kenny Clark and with Oso Diggie Zuwa, where these teams are putting their game plans together. This is why I want to see the Eagles game so bad and the Chiefs game so bad is, I think now the Cowboys. And we don't know what this looks like because again, it's been a long time since Leroy Glover and Leon Lett were here. Teams don't want to run between the tackles against Quinn and Williams and Kenny Clark. And you, you instantly, like on Wednesday of game week, are getting respect from your opponents. Hypothetically. Let's see what the Eagles do. But, but I just think for me, I loved the respect that the Raiders were. I don't know if we want to try to run inside on these guys. And so that's exciting. That's exciting. And, and, and all you got to do is get off the bus and the other team is like, let's try something else. And so you're right. Maybe, maybe Chip Kelly should have been more stubborn. But we're not used to what respect looks like in the trenches for the last several years. And now teams are going to think twice a little bit more.

C (37:44)

Yeah, no, good point. And we started the conversation about this team with CD Lamb, George Pickens on the bench for that first series. But man, as that game went on. What I don't. I think it was the third in 14. I think it was the third and 14 that Pickens made that Ridiculous catch and run across the field and bowled over a couple of guys. That was really cool. And so was his touchdown, man. He.

B (38:21)

Yeah.

C (38:22)

There was part of me last night that, the first part of the game, I'm thinking in the back of my mind, I mean, really, Pickens and Lamb, you're going to choose this week with everything this team is doing, whatever they did wasn't a capital offense, but really this week. But that's why it was only for a series because, man, they're both really special.

B (38:46)

Yeah. Yeah. And they again, they play off each other and they terrify opponents. And so it shouldn't be this complicated. And this is why, this is why team building is so important, is if you put everything on CD Lam, it's taxing, but if you give him a running buddy who is special, they make each other's jobs so easy. And it becomes this situation where you basically make your opponent make the decisions that they can't have the right answer on because if they, if they put a safety over Pickens, I'm going to go to Lamb. If you try to take Lamb away, we're going to take Pickens. You try to take both of them away, we're going to run into a light box all day and we're going to kill you that way. And that is what a good offense looks like. That's what a good roster looks like. So I'm, you know, I'm trying to control my excitement because you don't get to play the Raiders every week. Week. Boy, that would be fun. But, but I'm just telling you, the Cowboys went into this season, in my opinion, sort of self sabotaged that they were not even trying in 2025 when they traded Micah Parsons away. And now they have added a difference maker on offense and a difference maker on defense. That tells you they're still probably not going to make the playoffs this year. But I think you can get excited again with the draft surplus and with these young kids that look like they're starting to figure it out. And now these two difference makers, one on each side of the ball, to join Dak and CD to say, okay, this, we're not about to go through a wilderness of despair for the next five years. They're actually sort of making the window bigger for Dak and the rest of Dax prime, which, which I think is very exciting. And I think Cowboy fans desperately hope that there was some plan. Let's be honest, this has been bad since the packers playoff game and at the end of 2023 and, and we're only right now seeing a flickering of light with that Quinn and Williams trade. And, and so to any fans who have thrown their hands up in disgust, I at least want to pump the tires on what I'm seeing right now. It's not all about just beating the Raiders. It's about common sense, roster building and, and the fact that I, I think that trade was a heavy price, but I, but, but I, I think it's starting to come together now and, and, you know, maybe. Maybe there's an exciting off season yet ahead. Georgie.

C (41:37)

Well, and I crossed myself up the Pickens catch and run, put him up 24 to 6. That was, that was a great play. I said third and 14. It was actually a third and four Cowboys first possession of the third quarter, but that took him down the sideline and put him in position to go up 31.9. And that was, yes, if it wasn't already ball game, it was at that point. But, man, you can. You see what plays like that can do to a team. He's caught it for the first down, then he backtracks a little bit, breaks a tackle, then breaks about three tackles down the sideline. Man, that Jack, that whole sideline up.

B (42:16)

Yeah, he looks like a high school kid playing with middle school kids in that secondary and going back to the. That touchdown in the second quarter, that cutback where the free safeties coming at him and he just cuts back again, looking like a senior in high school against an eighth grader. It was not fair. And these are elite NFL athletes and George Pickens is making them look silly, you know, and, you know, even the CD touchdown, I know I'm jumping around a little bit, but they, that CD touchdown was a scheme touchdown where that little fake pitch out to the. It widened out that zone defender to a point where he has to respect the pitch, and that allows CD to kind of go right past him. So good stuff. We're seeing good football and we needed it because the Broncos Cardinals stretch was bad football. And then of course, the bad news off the field. And so, you know, it's. It's the highs and lows of a roller coaster of the season, but I just. They were carrying a burden into this game. And so to see them leave the field, it was like a little sunshine after a storm. And I hope they, I hope they can ride that forward a little bit and play some good football because they've got a home stand where they get to play the two super bowl teams in. In five days. And so, you know, can they Get a signature win? Can they get two signature wins, Georgie? Now that's probably crazy, but that's why we watch, right?

C (43:52)

That's why you follow your team.

B (43:53)

You hope, you know, let's play the games. Let's see.

C (43:57)

Yeah, that throw to Lamb Dak should have looked up at the suite where Tom Brady was and said, how's that for ripping the seam, Mother Hubbard?

B (44:07)

Rip the seam.

C (44:10)

That was awesome. Okay. Yes, that was the Raiders. And they had a mountain of a burden on them last in this game against the Raiders and they passed that test. Now, the gauntlet of Eagles, Chiefs and Lions, three games in 14 days or 11 days, something crazy like that. It's, it comes fast and furious for the Cowboys in these next three games. Let's talk about that next on the Musers, the podcast Cowboys Edition Football Friends. Okay, so here are the Philadelphia Eagles. It looks like they've got a cakewalk. They've only lost twice. They've got this big lead in the NFC East. They are playing now for the rest of the season to defend their super bowl championship of a year ago. But isn't it funny how things have changed from the opener? This is how this whole journey started for the Cowboys was back in early September when they traveled to Philly and put up a good fight before falling to the Eagles. Because now with the trades the Eagles have made and some of their, the guys, they have signed some off the waiver wire, all of a sudden I look at them, Bob, and I think, I don't know if that's the best team in the nfc, but I think they have the best defense in the nfc.

B (45:41)

Yeah. I mean, how can you think anything else, right? The way they manhandled Green Bay and Detroit and back to back prime time games there. Then Vic Fangio, you know, it's, it's, it's great stuff. It's, it's just, it's an annoying franchise with an annoying fan base, if I'm allowed to say all that. But I will say, I will say I respect the ball. I, I respect the way that their organization is not worried about next year or their cap or anything. They are worried about making history and, and making a dynasty. And, and you talk about signature wins and feeling good about what you're doing. From a Cowboys perspective, I can't think of any better possibilities than 325 on Sunday taking those Eagles down a peg because they're a confident team. And what makes the Eagles so menacing. And you said it, they went and added a few more pieces to their defense. And that should be mentioned. But man, they walk into any stadium in this league and they've done it this year. They, they walked into Kansas City, they walked into Green Bay. They are not afraid of anybody anywhere. This is a parking lot team, right? That said we'll meet you, we'll meet you anywhere and we will go and we will go in the trenches because we like our trenches more than anybody. And you got to rise to that challenge. And I know the Cowboys, I think this is a perfect spot in the schedule to see the Eagles. I really do. I know it's a short week, but I think the proceeds of Las Vegas and the bye week and the way they won, I think Brian Schottenheimer is going to be, you know, running around like Pete Carroll on the practice field all week long and he's going to have these guys so hyped for Sunday afternoon and an opportunity to kind of lay down a marker to the league that hey guys, we're back up, we're back open for business. And so, you know, I think the Cowboys had to fix their trenches to be able to compete with these guys. And I realize the Cowboys are not on the Eagles level for a four month regular season journey. We've seen that this year. The Cowboys are too inconsistent. But this new Cowboys team, I think this is a perfect time for a measuring stick. And I also think the stadium will probably be rocking. And, and I, you know, I, and I think the Eagles are vulnerable. Lane Johnson is down. Their offense doesn't have confidence. No, I, I, I think this is a great opportunity to, to, to kind of say we're, we're back, we're, we're back here. And, and we're not ready right now probably to, to take you out. But we are here to get your attention that, that we're, you know, we're, we're, look, we're looking for you and, and enjoy 2025 because come 2026, we.

C (48:53)

Think we're ready to.

G (48:55)

You know, I.

C (48:56)

Put the Eagles on watch after they got beat by the Broncos, and then the next week they turn around and get beat by the Giants. And I thought, boy, you called that one. But now they turn around, they survive against the Vikings, then they drill the Giants, and as you mentioned, they've gone back to back weeks now against the Lions and Packers offenses and, and they've held them collectively to 16 points. Man, their defense is playing so well right now. But I again go back to week one and I think the Cowboys are operating. They've had 10 games of this now they know themselves a lot better. They know what they have in Williams. The offensive line is more complete now. Strength against strength. Cowboys offense, Philadelphia defense. It may not look real pretty all the time, but I, I bet Philly's going into this game thinking, okay, this is these guys about Goddess in the opener. And you're right, they're not afraid of anyone. But when they look at the Cowboy offense, they may think, man, we got a, we got a full afternoon here.

B (50:09)

Yeah, yeah, there's, there's no doubt about that. And I, I'm very, very interested interested in, in the way the Cowboys try to attack because I do think the packers and the Lions were so respectful of that line, that Eagles defense that, that they kept it pretty basic and not super aggressive, especially the Packers. The packers were, were just feeding Josh Jacobs and kind of kicking it back to them and hoping that the defense could, could, could generate a big takeaway or something. And I didn't get as good a chance to watch the full Lions game and I'm not sure when my schedule will allow that, but it looked like a lot of the same. It looked like once they made Jared Goff uncomfortable, he was unable to rise up. So, you know, again, Dak Prescott, George Pickens, CD La Flaming let's, let's attack these guys. Let's make them prove they can cover. Let's make them prove, you know, now don't test their pass rush as much. Get the ball out and let your guys eat in space. But this is a good opportunity to sort of try to hit them in the mouth and see how they respond. And then defensively, again, the Eagles offense is way off schedule all the time. They're not running the ball well. They'll be playing without Lane Johnson, I expect, I expect the Eagles offense to be pretty, pretty cautious. And the good news is they probably won't leave that plan because they still are winning these games. So they kind of think that this is their DNA. We just win. We're not even sure how we do it all the time, but confident we're going to outlast you over 60 minutes. So that's why this game is so fun is I do think the Cowboys trenches now are more equipped to deal with them. And like I said, with all the players contributing, you said in 18, 19, 20 guys on this defense, it looks like energy's high flying to the ball. Go get that ball out. Go generate splash plays. We love Eagles Cowboys in, in any season, but the fact that it falls right here, right in the start of this Thanksgiving gauntlet. Man, I am hyped as can be for this one.

C (52:34)

Boy, the first game was really good. Philly wins at 24 20. There was a big Juvante Williams fumble.

B (52:42)

There was a lot of CD drops.

C (52:45)

There's the CD drops. There were a lot of good Jalen hurts runs. But if you go back to that game, that was the best part of the Philly offense was him just taking off and getting big hitters against that Cowboys defense. And this is going to sound really dumb, but I'll say this. I think in that game, they know it was after the. Had the crazy rain delay. I think that that game, after the rain delay, the Cowboys played maybe some. Some of the best defense they've played all year. It's the way I remember it. Am I wrong?

B (53:22)

No, no. I mean, it was. The question is, you know, what kind of offense are there?

C (53:29)

It's.

B (53:30)

It's incredible how basic their offense is. And, and, you know, people say you're. You're a big Jalen Hurts hater. I'm not. I'm actually confused at how that team can win games without ever asking their quarterback to play quarterback. It's such a weird offense. And Saquon can't run. And, and A.J. brown is disgusted that they never thrown the ball. And, and, and you know, the way they win is that doggone tush push, which is an eyesore and a half, but also like these third and longs where they go empty and, And Jalen hurts pretty much. If they go empty on third down, you've got to know he's looking for quarterback run because he's, he's so slippery and he makes the linebackers kind of drop into zones and then he'll beat them to the sticks. And he's really good at that as a quarterback. He's like the best running back in the league. But, but, but I would, I would say you still want to get. Make him play quarterback. And look, they got their rings, they got their parades. Bob's a hater. You know, whatever. You know, it's fine. But make that guy play quarterback, because ring or no, I think that's how you beat the Eagles offense. And I'm. I'm not buying a ton of Eagle stock in the playoffs. George. I know they win games, but. But that's a very beatable heavyweight. The NFC is wide open. I don't know who's going to emerge. But, but, you know, this Eagles team bleeds. And, And I think they know that they're on borrowed time if they can't get things cleaned up. And I just. I. I think this is a winnable game for the Cowboys. I really do. And I see.

C (55:25)

I don't think you're crazy.

B (55:26)

Another bad pick.

C (55:27)

Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't think you're crazy at all. And then, you know, this is another thing the Cowboys are fighting against. They've always had the advantage of the little Thanksgiving two step. We're a lot of times home on Sunday and then home again Thursday for Thanksgiving. But this schedule is not that friendly. When you go Monday night, Sunday, Thursday. Is my math right, is that three games in 11 days or 10 days?

B (55:56)

I believe three and 11, I think, is exactly what we're looking at there.

C (56:00)

The words of Bum Phillips ain't funny.

B (56:06)

That's right.

C (56:06)

That's three games, 11 days. That's kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

B (56:11)

There's no doubt it's a lot. And I don't know what you have left, but luckily your third game is against the Lions, who are doing the exact same thing, right? Yeah. So what's weird about it is they give the Cowboys a short week to start that stretch with a Monday night game, but then they gave him a buy before it. So I don't want to. I don't want to turn into our old friend Computer here and complain the league is trying to screw the Cowboys at every turn, but.

C (56:38)

All right, let me give you one more, though. And my buddy Craig Miller brought this up on our show. So then the next game for Dallas, the Lions game, another tough opponent. Opponent. That's a Thursday game. So let me get my math right here. That's four games in 18 days. That doesn't seem right.

B (57:00)

No, it doesn't. It doesn't. I mean, I don't know. I don't know what we're doing to our product. We don't need an 18th game. We don't need. You know, it's. It's teams with injuries, and there's a lot of them right now. The Cowboys, thankfully, at least had a late bye week, and it looks like they're getting their guys back. But this league, man, they have to decide about the quality of that they're looking for because they ask so much, especially of the marquee teams. And the Cowboys are clearly a team they love to put on in these situations. You get used to it, sort of, but there's the recovery time. And so, you know, it's a bigger conversation. But. But yeah, they're asking a lot of the Cowboys, and luckily, that's why you start to feel good about. Maybe we got a little depth now. Maybe. Maybe there's enough in the rotation that you can survive this sort of thing.

C (57:54)

Well, and after Philly, you see a Kansas City team. Just real quick, what do you think of the Chiefs? The division almost seems gone for them now, and with five losses, they've got to fight their way into the postseason. Something tells me they'll be there, and something tells me that makes them even a more difficult game on Thanksgiving. Just because they're almost a desperate team.

B (58:22)

Yeah. Yeah, that's. That's a completely different situation because unlike trying to make Hertz play quarterback, you want to try to take Patrick Mahomes out of that same situation, because I think you're seeing two wildly different players and situations, but their offensive line and, you know, just it. Honestly, George, when I looked at the standings yesterday, I'm like, wait a minute, if the playoffs started today. No Kansas City, no Detroit.

C (58:51)

Nope.

B (58:52)

No Baltimore.

C (58:53)

No.

B (58:54)

Obviously no Cowboys, but, you know, it's an upside down league and, you know, it's opportunity. I. I felt like the Chiefs did not do enough in the off season. I felt that way in August, and a lot of people were ripping me when the Chiefs went on an early stretch. But now is attrition. Right now is a time where you start to see, do you have enough pieces? Do you have. Can you keep them together? And so I don't know. I don't. I don't. I don't know what to make of this league. And that's the thing is, you know, everyone's like, oh, well, you don't like the Eagles. Well, who do you like in the NFL? I don't know. I don't know.

C (59:30)

I don't either.

B (59:32)

If you said, make a new super.

C (59:34)

Bowl pick right now, I think I like the Rams.

B (59:38)

I do, too. And I like the Bills the whole season, even though they're not going to win their division, probably. So. This is a freaking crazy league, and I love the heck out of it, and I can't wait for more football, you know, in a day or two. Well, we're gonna give me all the football, Georgie.

C (59:58)

Yeah. We're gonna drink it from a fire hose here in the next week and a half or so.

B (60:03)

All right.

C (60:03)

It's gonna be really interesting. Bob's got a feeling about Sunday. Bob's got a feeling. Bob's got a feeling.

B (60:13)

Bob's also trying to stay out of last place at pick, so I don't know.

C (60:16)

Okay, that's all right. I'm kind of with you there. I think it, if nothing else, it's a really interesting matchup for the Cowboys on Sunday, Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. All right, Bob, you travel safe back from Las Vegas and let's do this again next week. What do you think?

B (60:33)

Can't wait. Let's make it all happen and tell our families we miss them with all this football.

C (60:38)

Yeah, no joke. All right. Thanks to our producer this week, Ty Webker. Thank you, Ty, for putting up with all this. And that's Bob Sturm. I'm George Dunham. We'll talk to you again next time. Time on the Musers, the podcast Cowboys Edition.

B (60:56)

All right, boys.

F (61:40)

What's up, guys? David Pollack here, former Georgia Bulldog, former analyst with College Game Day and host of my new show, C Ball. I'm a defensive lineman. That's why that's the name. You see the ball, you go get it. We're going to dive deep into college football. We're going to break down film. We'll have bold takes, real conversations with the biggest names in the sport every single week. If you eat, sleep and breathe college football like I do, man, I promise you, C Ball, get ball is for you. So do me a favor, follow and listen on your favorite platform.