00:01The Cowboys with a first down at the Indianapolis 44 and a half.
00:06Prescott back, good block from Steele.
00:08Deep ball down to the right side, man all alone.
00:10Lamb at the 10. Lamb to the goal line. Lamb for the touchdown.
00:15Finally something broke.
00:17And it was the dam in the Colts secondary.
00:22Needed that at the end of the first half to go up 17-7.
00:27It's a Cowboys Monday on Sean, RJ, and Bobby back from Indianapolis.
00:31So is Nick Eamon, DallasCowboys.com.
00:33Brought to you by the Windstar World Casino and Resort.
00:36Proud to be the casino of the Dallas Cowboys.
00:38Please game responsibly.
00:40I am judging by your headline that you agree with us.
00:42It's just a perfect type of Cowboy game and win, fortunately, this time.
00:48Yeah, I mean, the result was good for them.
00:52But, you know, it was one of those where you know that there's issues.
00:57It wasn't pretty.
00:59But they did what they didn't do last week, and that's find a way to come back.
01:05You know, it's got me thinking that maybe if the Cardinals had made that extra point,
01:09that then the Cowboys make the catch at midfield, kick the 60-something-yard field goal,
01:15and win the game.
01:16Like, they've got to go down to, like, you know, they don't handle success very well.
01:20But if you get them down, then, you know, then, oh, they wake up.
01:24The offense is like, oh, okay, Dak throws a great pass to Planoi once they get down.
01:29So, I don't know.
01:30It's a crazy team.
01:32But they're, I mean, they're entertaining.
01:33It's just, it's stressful, I guess.
01:37And isn't the reality of the whole situation the Cowboys are in a very similar,
01:42if not same, category as Indianapolis, who's selling off?
01:47Well, I don't think that they're going to sell players off.
01:50No, no.
01:51They're in the same.
01:51Indy's selling off, and you're in the same category as them.
01:55Yeah.
01:55But, I mean, I don't think that they're going to go that route.
02:00I mean, I think talent-wise, sure.
02:01I mean, before the game, if you would have said the Cowboys win 27-23,
02:05I was like, yeah, I'll take that.
02:07Because, you know, I mean, I think once that game kicked off and started,
02:11yeah, you were about the same.
02:12If you break that roster down and that Cowboys roster down,
02:15it's about the same.
02:17But as the game went on, there's no way that it should have been that close.
02:22The Cowboys made it closer than they needed to,
02:24because it's the way they didn't, you know, finish the job in the third quarter,
02:29just like last week.
02:31But, you know, they got away with it this time.
02:34Nick, when you look at the defensive performance yesterday,
02:37obviously it's not a good offensive unit,
02:39but are some of these things things that you think can be applicable
02:42into the future weeks, like, okay, Jonathan Taylor,
02:44you slowed down the run game there.
02:46You didn't let Josh Downs go off like people were thinking maybe he could hurt you.
02:49Is there some of this stuff that can be extrapolated out more than just a,
02:53hey, that's a team that's worse than you and you handle business?
02:56Yeah, I think the fact that, like, if Quinton Williams is unblockable,
03:01that, you know, that's going to be a problem.
03:03Now, Quinton Nelson wasn't there, you know, in the middle, which he had been.
03:07And so when that trade happened, I was like, well, that's good for the Cowboys.
03:11And it turned out to be because they couldn't block Quinton Williams.
03:15But if he's going to be, he's playing great.
03:17I mean, he really is.
03:18And if he's going to play like that, then, yes,
03:21I think that it's very disruptive for any offense.
03:24And, you know, I think that there's something to hang your hat on.
03:28I've done guessing on what Joey Porter's ankle is going to do.
03:32So I don't know, you know, what you're going to get from that.
03:36But, yeah, I mean, you would only be better if he's out there doing his thing
03:39and, you know, and overshone, you know, on the field in uniform,
03:44you know, then that'll help you.
03:47Which absence was more surprising to you, Pickens or Porter?
03:54Pickens was more surprising to me.
03:56And I'm not saying – and maybe I wasn't as informed as I should have been.
04:01I did have some conversations with some people earlier at the end of the week
04:06about Porter and just how unusual this injury is.
04:10It's a little – it's not a high ankle sprain.
04:12It's a little different, but – and then he was 50-50.
04:17But once I saw Jordan Hudson on the plane, then I realized, hmm, maybe –
04:24no, seriously, I mean, like, okay, he's – well, not only on the plane,
04:27but they made him – they elevated him.
04:29So I was like, well, this is – yeah, this is a thing.
04:33I mean, this could be a thing for Pickens.
04:35And it turned out to be – I guess I was a little more surprised about overshone,
04:38really, and I don't know why.
04:39I don't know why I was, but I just figured he would be back out there, too.
04:46Is the overshone thing in its own category a boneheadedness, like,
04:50towards other, like, incidents you can remember or you've seen?
04:53That's up there, man.
04:55That's up there.
04:56That's – and it wouldn't be as bad – I mean, it was bad.
05:01Okay, it's bad.
05:02It wouldn't be as bad if it's just a personal foul, enforcement-like conduct,
05:09player left the bench area – or left, you know, on the field.
05:12But just to describe him like it was a crime scene, like, that was just so weird.
05:18It was weird the way the ref just detailed him.
05:21Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com, here on The Fan.
05:24You know, we have to talk about things that fans are talking about and thinking.
05:29And one more thing on the Pickens-Porter thing.
05:32This is a side-eye-type behind-the-scenes conversation, like,
05:35is something happening?
05:37Are there antics here with the history and the agent?
05:40Yeah.
05:40What are your thoughts on that?
05:44Which – Porter?
05:45Both.
05:46Both.
05:50I think it's fair to question that.
05:53You have to question that.
05:55I don't feel good about it.
05:56Like, honestly, that's one of the reasons I went and got some conversations.
06:00Because I don't feel good about talking about a player's injury when I really don't know.
06:04But the fact that you walked in the door laughing about a back injury and,
06:08ah-ha-ha, air quotes, and the whole history with the agent and Micah and all that,
06:13you have to think about it, you know.
06:15And look at what's happened since he's been here.
06:17He got sick.
06:18He went home before a game.
06:20He's missed games for different reasons.
06:21He stood on the sideline, didn't go back in.
06:24I mean, it's just – it doesn't look great.
06:26But then at the same time, I – you know, what I was told is it is an unusual ankle
06:32injury
06:32that is – it's just something to kind of manage.
06:37So, as for Pickens, he's not getting – I don't think he's getting traded.
06:42I really don't.
06:43I don't think Jerry's going to trade him.
06:46And I don't think – I think if someone called for a first, but why would they?
06:51Because they didn't do that in the offseason after he was coming off a career year.
06:56So, I don't think that's going to happen.
06:58And I think that would probably be the only thing Jerry would probably even consider there for him.
07:03Would he not trade him because of the giving up the hope or because of, you know,
07:10like he still believes –
07:11They want to resign him.
07:12Or, yeah, he believes that this team wants to resign him.
07:14I think Jerry – I mean, I think Jerry would want to resign him, honestly.
07:20That's kind of the vibe that I got.
07:23Now, I don't know.
07:24It's not just, you know, making the decisions there.
07:27They've talked this thing through.
07:28And if it's smart for the team to do something differently.
07:31But I don't know about, like, hope for this year and all that.
07:36You know, after a game like that, it is what it is.
07:40I mean, like, I don't feel bad for the Cowboys winning the game or being embarrassed or anything like that.
07:46They're not, by the way.
07:47They're not embarrassed by that.
07:49We saw that clip.
07:51But they, you know, this is what it is.
07:55I mean, they deserved to win the game because they were a better team.
07:59They certainly didn't – they should have played better and cleaner there in the second half
08:04and won this game by 10, 14 points or whatever.
08:08But, you know, they had the key players out, and it was noticeable.
08:12You know, just like the Cardinals, the Colts just never got away,
08:16and they just couldn't get away from them.
08:18So, but, you know, I don't apologize for winning.
08:22It is what it is.
08:23This team is – like you said, Sean, I mean, this team is about the same level right now as
08:28the Colts.
08:29Oh, yeah.
08:29They win.
08:30I mean, like, expectations are just what it is.
08:33This isn't a team that's playing down to the competition.
08:36That is the competition.
08:38Yep.
08:38And they should have won by two touchdowns.
08:41They didn't.
08:42They're having a hard time handling that success, especially on offense.
08:46You got a 10-point lead.
08:47You got to, you know – and I've never seen a player have an average game with 195 yards and
08:5210 catches.
08:53I mean, it wasn't – it wasn't a great game for CD, but he made some great plays, you know.
09:00But then he also gave up a few and –
09:04Did you know instantly that that ruling was going to work against with now we're talking about a forearm and
09:09a wrist?
09:09No, I thought that was not a fumble.
09:12I thought that – I thought that was the rule.
09:15I thought the back of the hand.
09:17Maybe it's a college thing, but I've – you know, stiff-arming the ground is one thing.
09:22But the back of the hand, I thought, was – I've seen – I know I've seen a college game,
09:27and that's what I was, I guess, going off of.
09:28Because I know my team has lost a fumble with the back of the hand.
09:32So I was thinking, you know – and as I tweet it out, we say it all the time, you
09:36know, ground can't cause a fumble.
09:37It can, because that ground obviously caused that fumble.
09:41But the way that the hand was – and if that's the rule, that's the rule.
09:45But it's just – what a Cowboys play.
09:49You know, what a play that is for this Cowboys team.
09:52That, you know, and once again, maybe that needs to be the first thing that's taught in OTAs on rookie
09:59minicamps.
10:00So we are – they're sitting around.
10:02The first thing is, guys, we touch players when they're down.
10:05Yeah.
10:05I know that you used to not in high school and college, but that's what we do now.
10:09Yeah.
10:09Like, that's ridiculous.
10:10The Cowboys have done it once.
10:11The Colts guy did it.
10:12I don't understand that.
10:15Nicky, mandalascowboys.com, here on 105.3 The Fan.
10:18Was that Caleb Downs' best game this season?
10:20Yeah.
10:21Yeah.
10:22So, motivation there for sure.
10:25You know, I'm a younger brother.
10:26I get it.
10:27You want to play.
10:28You want to beat your big brother.
10:29I get it.
10:30And he did not – boy, that wasn't the best game for Josh Downs, I guess.
10:35I mean, he just was not himself, I guess.
10:39But, yeah, I still don't know how Daniel Jones held on to that ball.
10:43I thought it was a great play by Caleb for that sack.
10:49And, you know, I saw the stat where he's the first rookie since the scab year in 87 to have
10:55a sack at an interception in a game.
10:57But that's – yeah, I mean, and all those guys are rookies.
11:00So, that really doesn't even count back in 1987.
11:02But I love the fact that as a safety – I think it's a cool stat because I'm – about
11:1015 years ago, I was convinced that Troy Palamalu was the best player in the NFL.
11:15I just – I thought he was so good when he was really – Ed Reed, all that.
11:19You never know.
11:20Are they going to be at the line of scrimmage or are they going to be back?
11:22They're going to be both.
11:22They're everywhere.
11:23And I love the fact that Caleb Downs can maybe be that kind of guy where, yes, he's blitzing and,
11:29yes, he's back getting interceptions and everything in between.
11:32And so, you know, yeah, it was a good game for him.
11:35And, you know, that's the kind of dynamic player that this defense needs.
11:40Trade deadline tomorrow.
11:41Do you think Jerry buys, sells, or holds?
11:43I think it's a hold.
11:44I really do.
11:45I don't know if it makes sense really either way.
11:48If something great pops up to get, but I don't think it's going to be that guy that's like, oh,
11:53championship, I don't think it's going to be that guy.
11:55If they added someone, I don't think – I just – I feel like it makes sense to not do
11:59anything.
12:00Really quickly here, Nick, Brandon Aubrey, is there or should there be a change in the trust level to default
12:07to him with some of his struggles from deep lately?
12:11Well, I mean, you're going to kick a 50-yarder, but in the 60 range, yeah, maybe, maybe.
12:21And also, like, as great as it is when you dribble that kick into the end zone, if you can't
12:28get it to the 20, then it's really hurting the team.
12:32I mean, like, so it's the kickoffs, too.
12:34It's not – it's just the whole operation.
12:36But, you know, I wouldn't have even kicked that kick at 50-yard with three minutes to go in the
12:42game.
12:42I mean, I'm going for it two times there.
12:44But that's just me.
12:46And it's not just because of a lack of him, you know, trust.
12:49It's just that, you know, the whole operation, I don't really understand that about all the holds.
12:56With bad hold, well, or bad snap, it seemed – you still kicked it 55, 60 yards.
13:02You just didn't kick it straight.
13:03But then again, I don't know what it does to the psyche of it when you see the ball on
13:07the carpet like that.
13:08But either way, it's not the automatic Aubrey that we've seen.
13:12And I think that's something that has to be, you know, in Shottie's head when he's called in these games.
13:17I mean, he can still make it and he still trusts them.
13:20But maybe he shouldn't all of the time.
13:24But when your defense is playing the way, you know, it has been all year,
13:27then you feel like you've got to get points.
13:30And, you know, just pinning them back to the 10-yard line on a punt doesn't mean they're not going
13:34to score.
13:35But the defense is playing better and there was more trust in the defense.
13:39So I think maybe it should balance out a little bit more in terms of do we have to kick
13:44these long field goals
13:45just because he can make it.
13:47Good stuff, Nick.
13:48We'll talk Wednesday.
13:49Okay.
13:50See you guys.
