00:00He was obviously at the stadium with Bobby Roberto Belt, our Cowboys insider, and he joins us every Monday, Hump
00:06Day, and Friday on Sean and RJ.
00:09Good morning, Nick. When did you have your big uh-oh moment like this? This is trouble.
00:17Attention press box. Cardinals have a new quarterback. Gardner Minshew is now in the game.
00:22And I looked over at Derek, and I was like, I don't like this. I don't like that at all.
00:30I like the reset in there. He's struggling. His receivers can't catch.
00:36I was like, yeah. But it wasn't that big a deal until two plays later when Jim Brown, I mean,
00:44Algier went like five, and then it was like, uh-oh.
00:48So, but, no, I mean, Rashawn Gary play was, I mean, by far the play of the game for me.
00:57That's the biggest one. And it was just the worst play, you know?
01:02So, um, that one, you know, you don't have that play, and I think you win the game.
01:08And so that, it sucks when you're talking about games where it comes down, like, just one play.
01:13Just, like, just that play right there, I think the game is over.
01:17But, um, you know, if it happens when you're really not that good of a team, then you, it comes
01:23down to one plays here and there and things like that.
01:26Is this far and away the worst loss? Like, how far away, within this season, is this, like, lapping the
01:33rest of the field?
01:34Or is there another one close to how bad this is?
01:38I do, I do put the Baltimore game worse than this one.
01:44Um, but that might be personal. Like, that might just be because it's of what was, you know, I got
01:50to drive home here.
01:51And, and, uh, that one, you know, just, just, you're on the doorstep of winning that one, too.
01:56They're all about equally bad. I mean, um, but this one, though, because it's still, it also, then there's, like,
02:03there's this curse attached to it.
02:06Or whatever you want to call it with the Cardinals. It's just like, it's just, I can't even explain it.
02:12I can't even explain why, uh, a team that you've been pretty much better than, you know, at least going
02:19into the game every single week.
02:21And you just find a way to lose in weird ways and weird things happen.
02:24I thought it was going to be like flipping the script when a guy that nobody even knew was on
02:30the team scored the first touchdown of the game.
02:32You're like, all right, it might be the Cowboys day, but it wasn't.
02:36Uh, Nick, how do you, if you were to break up this pie of blame from yesterday and we were
02:43to say, all right, you got three options here, coaching staff led by Schottenheimer, offensive performance, just offensive personnel, the
02:52way they played in defensive personnel, the way they played down the stretch.
02:55How are you breaking up yesterday? Is it just as simple as a third, a third, a third? Everybody's got
02:59a hand.
03:00No, not a third, a third, a third. No, I think at this point, I think, I think you really,
03:06um, I think you got to start looking at the coaching staff.
03:09Um, and, and, and I think from Schottenheimer standpoint, it bleeds over into the offense cause he's the play caller.
03:16So, um, that's why it's kind of hard to just say, well, third, a third, a third, but, you know,
03:21there's something about the fact of, of just, and it's what I tried to write in a, in, you know,
03:26I say, try.
03:27I mean, if Dak and shot, you don't have the answers after the game. I mean, I sure as hell
03:32don't either. You know what I mean? But it's what, what we do see is that they just have a
03:37hard time with the success with, and do you let your guard down? Are you relaxing? Are you taking a
03:44breath? Whatever it is, but whether it's in the week after a big win against Philly, you're not prepared the
03:51right way.
03:51Or even if it's in the middle of the game, um, when you're, when you're up by 14 or you're
03:56up by 10 late in the game, you just don't have that killer instinct to go and put things away
04:01or, or build off of success.
04:03And so that to me comes down to where the culture of, of what he's trying to build here, because
04:10it's more than just rah, rah speeches and everybody hanging out and going on trips together.
04:16It's about doing the right things throughout the week to get yourself ready to play the game and build off
04:22of success and build off of the momentum. And they just haven't, they haven't been able to do that.
04:27Nick Eman, Dallas Cowboys.com here on Sean and RJ. Did it feel like the offense got conservative and bogged
04:33down? One of my main criticisms of Schottenheimer is he thinks that like the 14 point lead is good to
04:41go with this defense.
04:42Not realizing what he has on the other side and he's content with what lead they have. Do you feel
04:48the same?
04:50Well, yeah. I mean, I, I, you know, it's funny. Didn't we talk about this on Friday? I mean, we,
04:56we talked about the fact of like, when do you balance of like stick with the run, stick with the
05:01run and you're running into a wall.
05:03Yeah. And it almost felt like, I mean, he ran into a damn wall. I mean, that Javante straight up
05:09the middle, that was banging your head into a damn wall.
05:12Yeah. Yeah. And it's kind of like, I, I wondered if shot shot, he was like, all right, this is
05:18what y'all wanted. Right. This is, and not only fans, but like within the building, the team, the front
05:24office.
05:24I mean, everyone was like, you know, we're going to run the ball. We're going to run the ball. And
05:27that's like, all right. He'd be like, all right, we're going to run the ball.
05:29I don't know if that's really the style that he wants to play, but this team, I'm going to say
05:36this, like I've, I've been saying that for a while, but like for Dak, especially like Dak, more than he
05:43needs Pickens and CD on the, on the outside.
05:45Dak needs one of those guys and a tight end. He needs a tight end to me more than he
05:50needs a two star wide receiver. And, and, and, and I believe that that, and again, I'm not, it sounds
05:56weird to say that.
05:58Like you just got a big juicy steak and you're like, well, where's the sauce? I mean, like, I mean,
06:02like I get it tight. He can't have everything, but I really think the tight end not having one is,
06:07is affecting Dak's game.
06:08And I think what Dak needs more than anything for the, for an offense, because you can't take away the
06:14run and the deep ball and take everything away.
06:17The middle is, is there. And, you know, Arizona obviously has a, has a good one there too, but trash
06:24talking one at that.
06:25But, but hasn't, hasn't Dak made a career of making tight ends?
06:32I would, I would argue that. Has he, like, who, who's he made?
06:37I mean, he's got, he's got Ferguson paid.
06:40Yeah. Ferguson. Okay. But it's Ferguson is the answer. Ferguson paid, but I mean, is, is, I don't think that,
06:46I don't think he's the answer.
06:47I mean, I, I mean, he got, he got paid, but I mean, he's, he's certainly not at a guy
06:52that he's averaging six, seven yards of reception, you know?
06:55I mean, Bobby's over here making jokes. You guys didn't even catch the other day about winning, but, but no,
07:02I mean, I just, I feel like more of a dynamic tight end.
07:05I mean, I mean, I think that's a bigger need than signing, signing two star wide receivers, honestly, especially when
07:11one of them's not, not going to be a part of the, the game plan all the time.
07:16Nicholas, what was the talk in the press box about kicking in overtime and not taking the ball first and
07:25getting the two possessions?
07:28The, the, the press box is, is cleared out, uh, at that point usually. So I'm, I'm kind of looking
07:34and talking to myself, uh, up there. Um, I, I, I always kind of think that it's not just one
07:43thing, you know, it's not just one rule because of, of, you know, like how your defense was, and, you
07:48know, play and all that.
07:49I think there was a little bit of a surprise for the people that were up there about your defense
07:54had just given up a big drive. Why are you putting back, putting them back out there again?
08:00Um, and so I think I was a little surprised myself, but it, it turned out to be the right
08:07call. Um, because of, because you got the ball back for your offense.
08:11Yeah. And I don't know if y'all have seen, but I was thinking, Oh my God, when the Cowboys
08:17got the ball back, I was like, well, I'm, they're going to win this game and I'm going to Vegas.
08:23Cause I had 33, 30 Cowboys in overtime. And I was like, I don't think I've ever called it that,
08:29that close. I was like, they're going to win this game. 33, 30 in overtime. Well, somebody won 33, 30
08:34in overtime, but it wasn't, it wasn't the right. And that was just baffling to think, all right, they just
08:39gave you a gift.
08:40I mean, the kicker just missed the extra point. Are you serious? Like they just gave you a gift, go
08:44down here, win the game. And, um, I, I think a play that, that bothered me, um, too, with it
08:50two Oh two to go in, in regulation.
08:53And I'm throwing to the end zone. I mean, I I'm throwing it. I'm throwing it to pick at their
08:57CD in the end zone at two Oh two to go, not some play action, not really trying to do
09:02anything, you know, you know, serious with it, but I'm two minute warning stopping the clock.
09:07Anyways, I'm, I'm taking, I'm going right at him here. Um, but you know, but the biggest thing for me
09:15is, is game management though. I think that's why I said, it's not a third, a third, a third.
09:19I hate the end of the half almost every single week, every week. I just hate it. I hate, I
09:26hate the thought of like, well, he can make a 61 yarder. So let's let him do it when he
09:31can, why don't you just make it 52 and he'll drill it and hit the net.
09:34And then like at the end of the game and I, and I'm screaming this to everyone that'll listen to
09:40me at the end of the game, when it's in the two 20 range, I'm putting six guys in the
09:46end zone.
09:46Like the biggest thing for me is if as long as they score on the other side of the two
09:51minute warning, you've won the game. So as long as they don't score before the two minute warning, to me,
09:57the game is over whatever they want to do.
09:59So do not let them score before the two minute warning. And they do, they, they just play regular defense,
10:04McBride, easy touchdown, whatever, two 12 to go. But if you can somehow get them to say, all right, throw
10:11it short, run it short, everything in front.
10:13And then they finally kick a field goal or do whatever at one 52, one 45 game's over at that
10:19point. But they don't, it's like, they don't even think that way, but I'm not saying I'm the right way
10:24to think it, but I just know the two minute warning should have been like the finish line type thing.
10:29That's how you win that game when you're up by 10, but they just play regular base defense and they
10:33let Rashawn Gary do what he did there. And, and I mean, there's four things you can't do when you're
10:40rushing the quarterback, right? You can't use your helmet as a weapon. You can't hit the quarterback in the head.
10:45You can't launch yourself and you can't hit late. And he checked every box on that play. And, and that,
10:52that was huge. I mean, that, that put them 15 yards down there and, and, you know, that, then they
10:56were able to score before the two minute warning.
10:58Nick Eatman here on the fan. Why does George Pickens have eight less snaps than Ryan Flannoy? Are they going
11:06to write that off to injury in the shoulder? Or is there something more? CD 56, Flannoy 50, Pickens 42.
11:13Is there something wrong with that?
11:16There, yeah, there's something wrong with that. Um, when you can take it to the next column, which is like
11:22their salary, you know? So when you, you start looking at, at, at what this guy is supposed to be
11:27able to do for you. And if it's because he isn't blocking as good as some of the others, well,
11:34I mean, okay, but I, I get it, but that's not what he's supposed to do either.
11:39I mean, like, like no one's blocking, you know what I mean? Like if it's because Pickens doesn't block very
11:45well, well, there's a couple of linemen that should have been pulled as well too. I mean, so, I mean,
11:49I mean, like I, I, I, I'm a fan of putting players in position of what they do well. And,
11:55and I, I just think the way that the officiating calls these games, I just don't understand why they don't
12:00take more shots down the field to Pickens.
12:02He's not somebody you can really check one-on-one. And, and I think that if you can draw penalties
12:08a lot quicker now, I just, I just don't think that they're using him the, the, the right way all
12:14the time. I mean, he can go make plays. He can go up. I just, I think it attacks your
12:18defense. It gets them off of them, off of you too, and pushes them back. I just, I don't like
12:23the way that they, I feel like they could be a lot more aggressive with Pickens because he's one of
12:28those players where he's always open if you throw it up.
12:31And, and I just don't know if they're using him the right way there, but I can't tell you exactly
12:35why he got less snaps than Flanon.
12:37Great stuff, Nick. We appreciate it. We'll talk on Wednesday.
12:40All right. See you guys.
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