- 10 hours ago
Shan and Bobby reopened their Cowboys report card focusing on the negatives from the win. They discussed special teams breakdowns, game management, DaRon Bland's coverage struggles, and more.
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00:0034-30 thriller.
00:01Yeah, it's still very much like last week in that coming out of that game,
00:05it's like they lost and you feel like, man,
00:07there were so many good things that I'm having to put aside to talk about.
00:11They won, but then in the back area, like,
00:13there's still some really bad things in this game that I'm going to have to put
00:16aside so that we can focus on what actually happened,
00:19but it's going to have to be discussed.
00:20Star down Nick Sorensen, and you think his seat may be hot, Bobby.
00:25He is the special teams coach.
00:28That field goal block was Will Anderson with a free lane.
00:32These lanes that open up are what you want to drive right now on 635
00:38in order to get to work.
00:40There was a wide open one against Baltimore off the left side last week.
00:44This one was off the right side,
00:46and there it is with the Texans getting the ball at midfield.
00:51And I was like, is Nick Sorensen the reason for Kevontae Turpin's regression
00:56the last two years?
00:57And then, boom, Turpin ends up ripping off a nice return.
01:01But Jalen Knoll with a 53-yarder right after Kevontae Williams' touchdown,
01:07but the momentum that got killed right there with that field goal block,
01:11Nick Sorensen, his unit, and then the bigger picture,
01:16Brian Schottenheimer for the field goal attempt.
01:18But let's focus on Sorensen first.
01:20Yeah, there's a lot here.
01:22So first, I think, similar to last week with the defense,
01:27there were some moments for the special teams that were actually really good.
01:30And then there were some moments for the special teams that were like,
01:32this is about as bad as it can get.
01:34I mean, the first two kickoffs they had, they kick the dirty ball down there,
01:40they get good coverage on it, they get a penalty both times,
01:43and like Houston starting at the 10 the first two times.
01:46And you feel good about that.
01:47Well, Houston had three penalties with kickoff teams.
01:53Three.
01:53Hooking you up big time in terms of starting field position.
01:56A gift.
01:57Multiple gifts.
01:58Yeah, now they do, to Dallas' credit, even without those penalties,
02:01they're putting them inside like the 25, or like inside the 20.
02:04So they're like winning 10 to 15 yards of field position off of the dirty ball kicks,
02:09which is what you want.
02:10That's what you hope you're getting out of this.
02:12And so I do think that there were some good things in that respect.
02:16But man, giving up the kick immediately after you score and putting them in position
02:21and how deflating that can be.
02:24You've got the blocked field goal two in a row.
02:27And then, I'm sorry, but when your last two kicks of significant distance have been blocked,
02:34it is, to me, a little negligent to then run out there and say,
02:39we're going to kick a 65-yarder near the end of the half and put them in position.
02:42Because even though it didn't get blocked, that's been the result the last two times.
02:45It's too reckless.
02:45It's too far a kick if you miss.
02:47And you've shown you can't block this up lately.
02:49It's a problem.
02:50Here's the second one.
02:5265.
02:53Right hash.
02:54This kicks away.
02:5665.
02:57This kick.
02:59No good.
03:01Missed 65 to the left.
03:04This would have been my lead story if Dak Prescott and C.D. Lamb and George Pickens don't save them
03:10and they end up losing this game by three points.
03:13Brian Schottenheimer and coaching malpractice would have been my lead story.
03:19I tweeted out when they sent the field goal team out there.
03:22I said, this could really backfire.
03:23I don't have a good feeling about this.
03:2665-yard attempt before the half.
03:29You obviously miss it.
03:30So the ball is now on the Cowboys' 45-yard line with 26 seconds left.
03:39They hit the 54-yarder as time expired.
03:43From a game management standpoint, you get a fat F for failure, coach.
03:52You hand them three.
03:55You make it a two-score game, and you're getting the ball coming out of the third quarter.
04:03Now look, maybe Houston goes right down the field anyway with 26 seconds left.
04:06The Cowboys' defense, they always allow that to happen.
04:08But I was feeling pretty decent about the defense.
04:11So give them that feeling going into the half and say, we're going to come out in the third quarter
04:17and we are going to tie the game versus no way for you to tie it because you're down two
04:22scores
04:23because you're in love with Brandon Aubrey's leg.
04:26That was awful.
04:28And it's scary.
04:30It is scary that Brian Schottenheimer chose to do that.
04:35Yeah, and there's got to be an answer this week.
04:38Let's hear from him.
04:40Let's hear Brian Schottenheimer issues with the field goal unit.
04:45Yeah, inside gap integrity is the key.
04:47You'll see that.
04:48Again, Will Anderson is an incredible player.
04:50We were a little bit in the one against Baltimore.
04:54We blocked out and didn't stay strong in our inside gap.
04:58You want to make the guys beat you around the edges, not up inside,
05:02but the elite power and stuff of Will Anderson.
05:07He made a great play.
05:08It's a long kick, so it's going to be a little bit flatter, but we'll get it shored up.
05:12And then he doesn't cover his own bad decision.
05:15That's the scary one.
05:16Well, see, and that's the thing.
05:19There needs to be an answer, and we'll, I don't know, maybe we'll do it today,
05:23maybe we'll do it tomorrow during Below the Belt since Jerry Jones will not be on tomorrow.
05:27Wednesday, 8.30.
05:28I got to look and see.
05:31The article that was written in The Athletic in December last year when Ryan Feeder talks,
05:35it sounds almost like he believes.
05:37He's the game manager.
05:37It sounds like he, the way he talks is as if he is making the decision,
05:42not just advising them on it.
05:45And the Cowboys have not been clear about that, if he advises or if he makes the decision.
05:49It's collaborative.
05:50And yeah.
05:51They'll say it's collaborative.
05:51They'll say it.
05:52I'm sure they don't want to say.
05:53Right.
05:54It's part of the thing.
05:55But there's got to be an answer because I got to find out, all right,
05:57who's making that call when it's a 65-yarder?
06:00Is that Sorensen?
06:00Is it ultimately shoddy?
06:02Is it feeder?
06:03Like, how do they break that up?
06:05Because whoever it is needs to, that felt like a reckless decision.
06:08Both of them, by the way.
06:09The block and then the missed 65-yarder.
06:12Houston kicks a field goal.
06:13That's 12 points.
06:14Did he cook?
06:15Did he cook?
06:15He did not cook.
06:16He burned it.
06:17And if they lose, then that's the moment that we're talking about.
06:22It's those last 30 seconds, again, of a half.
06:25It's just the first half this time.
06:27Yeah, I'm officially worried about Brian Schottenheimer.
06:32In terms of these coaching decisions, is he in over his head?
06:37And there's one possible.
06:39It's like when you don't want to fully blame your kid.
06:40It was that other kid.
06:42I know it was that other kid.
06:43I want to talk to the teacher and find out, oh, the little runt who's poisoning my baby.
06:49There's one final possible out.
06:53If I hear that it's Ryan Featon.
06:56Now, Schottenheimer still gets the blame because he ultimately has to make that call.
07:00But the only possible final excuse left is that Ryan Feeder is telling him, kick.
07:06Schottenheimer doesn't want to do it.
07:08And Feeder is making these decisions to overrule what Brian is thinking in his mind.
07:13That's the only little final thing in my mind to say, okay, it's not really.
07:17Brian didn't want to do that.
07:18Because right now, if that is the case, and Schottenheimer's in full agreement, and I think he is in love
07:27with Aubrey's leg just as much as Mike McCarthy, and you've been talking about it for a full year now.
07:33Brian Schottenheimer is not going to make me feel better about his game management stuff throughout the rest of this
07:39year and moving forward.
07:40I'm like, we are at a coaching disadvantage in terms of these small little details.
07:45I'll tell you.
07:46That was bad.
07:47There's one in that athletic article from Jordan Rodrigue.
07:52Ryan Feeder, for sure, it sounds like, is in charge of deciding if they challenge.
07:57That sounds like it's up to him.
07:59When it comes down to some of the other decisions, though, this was a quote he gave.
08:02I was wrong on that Nico catch yesterday.
08:03I was like, ah, that ball thing hit the ground a little bit, but that was a burn timeout.
08:07A lot of totals are like, no, that's going to be a catch.
08:08Yeah, because if they don't convert the fourth and four on the final drive, they have two timeouts left to
08:14try.
08:14They're looking close at being able to bleed the clock because you used that challenge.
08:19But Ryan Feeder in this gave a quote where he said, how you build this rapport with the coaches is
08:26not done on game day.
08:27It's done in preparation through nighttime talks and practice reps.
08:30The personal relationship drives this whole thing, and this was interesting to me.
08:34If they don't have trust in me as a person, as a decision maker in my skill set, then whatever
08:40I say doesn't matter.
08:41And it's like, okay, so when you're talking about you are a decision maker, is that just the way you
08:46work through things and how they take your counsel?
08:49Or has something been set up within the structure of the staff that says he makes the decision in those
08:56instances?
08:57And if that's the case, Ryan Feeder's making those decisions, that may be what the Joneses were referencing last week
09:02when they said, we're evaluating the process of how these decisions are made.
09:05It's because either the input is too heavy, or he's making the decision and it should be somewhere else, or
09:12maybe it's not being, maybe the opposite is true.
09:16Maybe Shadi's not taking enough of the advice.
09:17Maybe he's not, all these could be possibilities.
09:19They haven't been totally clear on it.
09:22877-881-1053.
09:24Stardown brought to you by Wild Fork Foods, your elite game day grilling.
09:30You and Choppy are at one and one on your text message scoreboard.
09:34As yesterday, you were telling RJ, don't ever tell me that George Pickens is better than CeeDee Lamb ever again.
09:39That's right, son.
09:40I had to intervene a little bit and say, well, to be fair, Bobby, you are losing to Choppy when
09:46it comes to Duran Bland.
09:48He was just guessing.
09:49Who is the number one, probably current Cowboy whipping boy, and yesterday did not help, as at one point in
09:56time you tweeted this out.
09:58Joey Porter Jr., nine coverage snaps, zero targets.
10:01Duran Bland, 15 coverage snaps, four targets, four receptions, 83 yards, and a touchdown.
10:09Duran Bland is awful right now.
10:13And he needs to go when they can get out of this, if things obviously stay the same.
10:20This is bad.
10:21They were hunting him.
10:22They were hunting him all throughout the game.
10:25Then they shifted their attention to focus to Reddy Stewart.
10:28So they went from 26 to 27.
10:30But Duran Bland was the mark.
10:32Yeah, he was a legitimate problem yesterday.
10:35And the biggest problem with him right now is, although it's hilarious to me, thank you, Duran Bland, for one
10:43thing.
10:43You tricked Choppy into thinking Marvin Harrison was awesome, because that's all Choppy had ever seen of Marvin Harrison was
10:49the game against Dallas last year.
10:51He's like, he beat Duran Bland.
10:52He's great.
10:53And he drafted him and thought he had great receivers in fantasy this year.
10:56Then he benched him yesterday when Marvin actually got a touchdown.
10:58And that's the way it works.
11:00But the Jalen Knoll, 52-yarder.
11:02This is the second drive.
11:0352-yarder on Bland.
11:06That first drive, obviously we know what happened.
11:10Nico versus Duran, and that was 7-0.
11:13And it's like, I don't know whether there's a Caleb Downs miscommunication, but Duran, I know he turned the other
11:20way,
11:20but it seemed like he really slowed down and slowed up in terms of staying upfield with Nico.
11:25I do think Caleb Downs, this is going to grade out as his worst game, I think.
11:31It's a little hard to tell, because sometimes, and we won't know for sure because of the way responsibilities are
11:36passed off
11:36and how we can't get the answer on some things, but Bland is, the biggest problem with Bland to me
11:42is not that he's just bad all the time.
11:44Because he's not bad all the time.
11:46The problem is that he has just become a completely inconsistent player.
11:51There were like a few games last year where we watched, and he was locked in where he's making like
11:57four plays at the line of scrimmage,
11:58and he's knocking away two passes, and it's like, oh, okay, is he back?
12:02And then you see him the next week against a lesser opponent, and he's getting worked.
12:06And it's like, all right, is the foot injury, is he going to fall victim like some guys do,
12:12that when the foot injuries start, it's like, that's it.
12:14As soon as that starts, whatever age you are, that's it.
12:18That's going to rob you of the ability to do the things you need to do.
12:20It is amazing that two all-time pick six seasons have ultimately burned the Dallas Cowboys' financial future.
12:28The Trayvon Diggs season, he gets paid.
12:32We know that didn't last very long.
12:34The Deron Bland pick six season, he gets paid.
12:37And now, thank God they traded for Joey Porter.
12:41I was wrong.
12:41I was wrong about getting that pass rush first.
12:44Because if Deron Bland is out there as your one with no Joey Porter Jr. to scare a quarterback, you're
12:51cooked.
12:51The season's already done and cooked.
12:53Did he cook?
12:54Did he cook?
12:54Because he's getting cooked.
12:56Yeah, and I will say this.
12:58I think financially not as bad of a contract as Diggs was.
13:02Did they restructure him to make it painful to move on and steal?
13:06No, it's not painful.
13:08It's just it shifts some more money.
13:09But they can still get out of it.
13:13Not as painful a financial decision as Diggs was.
13:15And the other aspect is I think he's still not been as brutal as Diggs.
13:20Diggs at the end could not cover at all.
13:23And Bland will still handle it every now and then.
13:26Even like yesterday, some of the times he got beat, he's there.
13:30He's not running, trying to catch up five yards behind.
13:34It's just he's not, it's that little margin of just not being the same player that he once was that's
13:41costing them.
13:41And so, I don't know, it's just it's not consistent enough.
13:45They're hoping moving him to the field side will make him a more effective player in zone.
13:49Yesterday didn't do it.
13:51But I'll tell you definitely who lost snaps in this was Revel.
13:55Revel's the one who ended up losing snaps.
13:57And they're clearly committed, at least for the season two, Bland is the guy out there.
14:00Revel's back, like knee and ankle, like not listed with the injury designation.
14:05And someone tweeted me, they're like, it's amazing how fast you can recover after you trade for Joey Porter Jr.
14:10You want to go ahead and, well, Atolo said this has to be Kobe Durant, Porter, Downs, or even Ready.
14:21I started off giving Ready Stewart.
14:22Seven snaps yesterday, by the way, for Revel.
14:25Seven?
14:25Seven.
14:26I mean, Durant, Bland, benched, when Kobe Durant is good to go?
14:31No.
14:32I don't think they will.
14:33I mean, even if he's the better player, there is a bit of, hey, we've made you this guy.
14:38I think you'll see Durant out there more and they'll find ways to move him around and he'll be out
14:44there.
14:44But I don't think they're just pulling Bland off the field.
14:48The local viral star down, because of our guy Jesse Holley, goes to G-Bag Nation guest Jake Ferguson.
14:58As Jesse has put Ferg's blocking absolutely on blast.
15:03Up and down.
15:05He definitely has star down for some of the blocking, which is not good.
15:10Also, I just...
15:12Effortless?
15:13No, he's just, he's not good at it.
15:15What are these, like, whiffing?
15:16That's got it.
15:16Like, he's doing, like, a shoulder duck.
15:19And it looks like he's, like, trying to avoid it.
15:22I think that's the thing.
15:22He, like, he's bad at chipping.
15:24He's bad technique.
15:25I just don't think it's something he's good at.
15:28And so, that's it.
15:30Now, that's on him still, but also, I'm like...
15:32What's the first star up?
15:33Fourth and four?
15:34That's it?
15:34The fourth and four.
15:35That's huge.
15:35That saved the game.
15:36If they don't convert...
15:37He made a fourth down, wide open kick.
15:39If they don't...
15:39It wasn't wide open, but it's...
15:41It was wide open.
15:42I'm saying, I'm saying, he makes the catch.
15:44He converts the fourth down.
15:45They lose the game if he doesn't catch the ball.
15:46So, he got open.
15:47He caught the ball.
15:47That still is a start, because they don't win the game without that.
15:50But, he was not good enough.
15:55I'm guessing that when PFF comes out with their blocking grades, he's going to be, like,
15:58a 12 or something.
15:59You noticed it a lot of not only just, man, he got beat.
16:03You noticed, like, oh, he's super off balance and somebody just ran by him.
16:07He's just, he's not good at it at all.
16:09And, at some point, the Cowboys just have to stop putting him in that position to do
16:13that.
16:14But, that's probably, honestly, what saves Luke Schoonmaker's job on the roster at this
16:18point, is in certain situations, they want somebody in there to block.
16:21Star up, star down.
16:23Brought to you by Wild Fork Foods.
16:24I texted Bobby because he's got the overhead press box view at the stadium.
16:28Way overhead.
16:29Way up there.
16:30Really?
16:31Probably the highest press box in the entire league.
16:34And, I said, what is going on with Pickens?
16:39Are they putting the safety over top of him?
16:41Is he running hard?
16:43How is there zero targets for this man in the entire first half?
16:48Now, I know the CD lay, I mean, how much are they going to get on the, what's that noise?
16:54It's your computer.
16:55Oh.
16:57Hang on a sec.
16:58I got a rogue computer somewhere.
17:01All right, I'm working off this other station one.
17:02I don't know what I hit over here.
17:04Thank God there was no cursing on that.
17:06I forgot what I was saying.
17:08You're talking about George Pickens.
17:09I was like, what is going on with him?
17:12Where are the first half targets?
17:14You forgot he's on the football team.
17:15Is he checking out?
17:16Is he bailing out?
17:17What was it?
17:19Blanket.
17:19I mean, he was getting blanketed.
17:20They were covering him really well.
17:21Stingley for the majority of the time was on?
17:25So it was a little bit of both, but I mean, it was Pickens mainly.
17:28Because why are they just putting Stingley on CD?
17:31Because CD moves around and CD's in the slot a lot.
17:33It's just harder to stick with him.
17:35Same reason, like, you can't, they've got Joey Porter as the boundary guy, and it's just
17:39harder to just, like, keep him on Nico.
17:42But it's, he was pretty heavily blanketed.
17:45There were a couple times I didn't love the effort.
17:48And, again, part of it is also just his body language.
17:51He, like, he basically, like, projects a certain way, kind of his just, you know,
17:57blasé attitude, that it looks like, I think sometimes it looks like there's no effort
18:02when it's just, it's the way he looks, like his body language.
18:05But, like, the first smoke route they tried to throw to CD, that screen, just the quick
18:09step back, throw to him, and GP was supposed to block it.
18:11That looked like he had no interest in blocking it up.
18:14He had, like, one little shove, and then he's like, all right, here you go, and it didn't
18:17get the first down.
18:18And then, this happens.
18:20And there's play action.
18:22Prescott on first down.
18:23Wants a bundle.
18:24He wants Pickens.
18:25Pickens up and grabs it at the five.
18:30His first catch of the day.
18:34Wow.
18:35There's your wow.
18:36But Greg Olsen slapped the play-by-play guy up in the TV booth because he went that crazy
18:43over the magic that George Pickens can produce.
18:46First catch in the third quarter is the 53-yarder.
18:50Yeah.
18:51That was a, I mean, I just, I didn't know what else to tweet at the time.
18:54So, I think I just tweeted, like, oh, my God, George Pickens.
18:57Because it was a ridiculous catch that shows how good he's.
19:00I do think lost in that a little bit is, that's a perfect throw.
19:05Like, putting it where it was.
19:07And that's, that's also, the perfect throw is also usually a reckless throw because it's
19:12like, the margins are that tight where.
19:14Like the CD out.
19:15Little, yeah, a little bit of luck involved in it probably.
19:18But Pickens, because of what he's shown and his ability with his hands to go, like, be
19:23able to track deep balls and attack things in tight coverage, that was phenomenal for
19:28both of them.
19:29GP on the big catch.
19:30And if he is fine, just be impatient while CD eats.
19:33I feel like at that time we needed that too, you know, now a little bit.
19:37So, definitely making a play for the team.
19:39Are you in a patient period now where you're like, hey, I know eventually I'm going to
19:43get an opportunity like that.
19:44And if I make plays, it's okay if balls are going to CD 21 times a day.
19:47Yeah, most definitely.
19:48Like I said earlier in the week, it's engineering victory.
19:50So, when you're doing that and it's part of the plan and then you never know what
19:54the defense will do.
19:54They'll probably switch it up.
19:55Then with him, didn't you say what I mean?
19:56So, it's definitely engineering victory.
19:59All right.
19:59He benefited from it.
20:01CD benefited.
20:01Um, but again, it's also the way that if CD's in the slot, it's much harder to double
20:07him, period.
20:09And so, if he's going to be in the slot, well, then naturally you're going to go, all
20:11right, let's double Pickens and not Flannoy.
20:14So, there's a little bit there that's like, yeah, it's not just like defenses are totally
20:18like, we want to take Pickens away and let CD put up 200 yards.
20:21It's much harder to play CD that way.
20:23Any other star-ups, star-downs that you want to throw in?
20:25Tyler Guyton is a star-up.
20:26Tyler Guyton is officially, like, we're four weeks into this.
20:28Tyler Guyton is officially a really good starting left tackle.
20:31Zero pressures allowed in this game by tracking from Sumer Sports.
20:35There may be others that track it differently, but he had zero pressures allowed in this
20:38one.
20:38He was fantastic.
20:39John Owning said, I thought Guyton had an outstanding game.
20:42He just keeps checking boxes.
20:4336 snaps against Will Anderson and Hunter, the NFL's best edge duo.
20:48He gave up zero pressures.
20:50The best part is he's succeeding in both facets, run and pass.
20:54Yeah, he is playing really well.
20:55Him and Tyler Booker yesterday were really, really good.
20:59Not as much on Bass, BB, and Steele, which is what we keep coming back to a little bit.
21:05I think that when I look back at it, I think I'm probably going to say that this was Steele
21:10and Bass gave me the most trouble in terms of, like, we're the most troubling to watch.
21:14But it sounds like from the Cowboys and their optimism that Tyler Smith will, has a really
21:19good shot to be back this week.
21:20So that'll be huge for him and hopefully settle things down for BB.
21:23And now you're looking at better cohesion.
21:25And now you're looking at better cohesion.