- 13 minutes ago
Bobby Belt broke down what the film revealed from the Cowboys 27-23 win in this edition of Post-Hut Clarity. They discussed improved tackling, Caleb Downs' impact, o-line improvements, and more.
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00:00i had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity you watch it you're super into it it's
00:05like really exciting the storyline's good and then you finish it i'm looking at the film and
00:08i'm just like i was watching it stop calling them films that is gross and those people are getting
00:13paid what's actually good about this victory from sunday let's talk about it here in post
00:19clarity which is uh it's a little bit of an odd thing to say just to look at a victory
00:25you pick
00:26up a win a road win you say you're never going to apologize in this league for winning the game
00:31and
00:31you're not going to do that but this really is full-on post hut clarity well calvin yesterday
00:37at the end of schottenheimer's presser was like you okay you okay all the questions in here are
00:42negative like this and i couldn't tell whether he was like talking about the rest of the media's
00:46tone of questions or just schottenheimer's delivery let me make a wild crazy
00:55unsubstantiated opinion i love it let's go all right this is what and i don't want it clipped
00:58aiden i was gonna say hit me walchuk i don't want i don't want josh clark to help me i
01:05don't want
01:06this out there i don't want it clipped it's just a random wild guess i only want to hear about
01:10it if
01:11it lands and you can call me brilliant it would not shock or stun me if brian schottenheimer resigned
01:17after the season um thanks buddy i you know what it's not it would not stun me i just want
01:24to put
01:24that out there because mccarthy was never this beaten down as early jason garrett still kind of the
01:30same chipper robot uh in year 10 or whatever it was however long he lasted when we were doing that
01:37interview as well i don't know how much longer schottenheimer can take this it doesn't it i don't
01:43think i don't unless the winning really starts picking up this can't be this isn't fun he's got
01:49to go home and be like this is not fun this is not fun for me that's listen he you're
01:54you're i think
01:55you are absolutely onto something actually right now i gotta admit kind of jealous didn't come up
01:59with the first um i would yeah i i think he would go back and and he would like internalize
02:11the journey to get here to like he waited he's waited 50 years for this job yeah there's so much
02:19about it that was when he talked at that opening press conference it was almost spoken about like
02:24this was a promise my father passed on to me and his father before it like i mean it felt
02:29very much
02:29like i i had to accomplish this and i had to i had to do this and i and so
02:35i think also it's like
02:37you know when you're you know when uh you and amanda first got together well like i would guess
02:44that the first few fights the the because every relationship has fights the first early the first
02:49few fights were probably more jarring than if you have a fight today absolutely where and like i think
02:55it's just he's learned she's learned how to adjust to my my way we've learned how to adjust mccarthy
03:00mccarthy was even when he was here was still 15 years into it it's just like all right like i
03:05mean
03:05okay you get kicked in the nuts sometimes like this happened whereas schottenheimer is still
03:10i think he was thinking it's oh it's just like if we if we believe then and have this positivity
03:16and
03:16he's realizing it's not always that simple and so i think it's just the jarring nature of this is what
03:20it's really like and are you built for this or not he's been he's been kicked there pretty hard
03:25before shoddy i mean he was he was running out of a couple but now i was the head coach
03:30but he was
03:30running out of some places yeah but i'm called as a joke of a are we of a play caller
03:35you got
03:36another person finding out the spotlight of the dallas cowboys and and the way we hold them
03:42accountable compared to new york um i just he was in the jets it's like it would not stun me
03:49it would
03:49not stun me if he walked into jerry's office and was like i i'm good i i maybe if you
03:56if i because i
03:57expected this press conference change of tone that last for a week and i don't think it's changing
04:04for the rest of the season he's he cannot go about this like he's so he's not being himself right
04:09his brian schottenheimer is chippy um chirpy and positive and engaging and very descriptive and upbeat
04:20and laughing this is not him i don't think it changes for the rest of the season but i expected
04:26him
04:26to go back to himself now again unless this is the new himself like he's just like this is the
04:33this is the hardening of the skin this is where you get a little bit more like yeah but then
04:37you're
04:37gonna go home you're gonna be miserable because it's not him yeah it's not him i don't think yeah
04:41and uh i mean i can't remember was it was i know marty was always a very optimistic type of
04:47coach and he
04:47was like a a raw raw type of coach yeah was he like as his career went on did he
04:52ever i'm trying to
04:54remember if he seemed that way in kansas city or the chargers and it just like worn down at any
04:57point or if he was snyder i feel like he was always just he was always winning though he was
05:01always winning 10 games a year it seemed like yeah yeah right cleveland kansas city even watch
05:06deal with it right after the playoffs right with all the marty ball too conservative you can't win
05:10the big one right but like even what was he nine and seven in washington yeah you know something
05:16like that's not a bad year no um you know and then he goes to san diego they go 14
05:21to 2
05:21the guy always won games he always won 10 games uh all right you want offensive or defensive side
05:26of the ball first defensive okay so let's go with the studs let's start with all right i think this
05:35is a week that shows how important malik hooker can be for them um in terms of just that is
05:43that's the
05:45key to me right now to their communication whatever it's it's so much worse when he's not
05:51on the football field it feels like um and i thought malik hooker played a good game in this
05:56one i saw a lot of people yesterday given uh john owning i know did given pj lock props for
06:02the tackling was obviously there were a couple moments there that were a little questionable but
06:06in coverage wise he was good yesterday i gotta be honest i didn't even know malik hooker was playing
06:12and that's honestly that's that is sort of what you want from a safety yeah um especially one who's
06:17going to be just more like the traffic director and the guy who's going to roam the deep middle you
06:22don't want to see them take shots down the field um i mean ed reed you'd like to see him
06:25bait one and
06:27get an interception every now and then but they can't all be ed reed and he's i think he's he's
06:32such
06:32a stabilizer for them in the secondary in terms of everybody knowing what they're supposed to do and
06:37being where they're supposed to be and they were throwing a little bit more like some some more
06:44exotic coverage concepts it felt like in this one and i don't know if it was just indy's that bad
06:49and so they felt like oh we can get some reps in doing this it's also probably a little bit
06:53of
06:53communication was on point i think it's a little bit of both of just secondary played really stable
06:59for the most part and you're against a bad quarterback you're against a bad offense and
07:02it it helped you probably build some of that confidence to be able to execute at what was a
07:07strong level they did not have a bunch of busts they were they were generally disciplined and where
07:11they needed to be i thought the secondary played well overall uh kobe durant was good i know bland had
07:18the big pass interference penalty overall i didn't think he was bad he had a big tackle in this game
07:23in the open field and stephen jones on with knc asked was this what you envision with the guy who
07:31probably had his best game of his rookie season caleb downs yeah i think you'll see more of that as
07:36our
07:36defense gets better um you know i i think uh you know as as as we start to play better
07:43defense which
07:44we are uh then the quarterbacks have to start making some tighter throws and tighter windows and
07:50we're certainly getting better pressure uh you know you felt that yesterday and uh you know good
07:57things start to happen and uh certainly the pick in the game was outstanding and then of course uh
08:03you know his big blitz and sack uh i don't think jones ever saw him coming and that could have
08:08easily
08:08been a sack fumble but uh teams are even going to show up even more uh as we play better
08:14defense
08:15and downs was fantastic downs was really really great in this game and he's that was his
08:22probably i mean you could make it i'm trying to think i think houston he roved around a decent
08:27amount if i'm remembering correctly but this was like the game where i felt like he was getting used
08:32with the most versatility he still played the majority of his snaps in the slot but they were
08:36using him in different ways they were having him with different coverage responsibilities he was
08:40roaming the deep middle occasionally he'd be in the slot picking somebody up he'd be playing down in
08:43the box he'd be blitz and so uh that was the swiss army knife vision i think when everything's going
08:49well and like we can settle into our defense that's the vision that they they hope and have
08:54for what caleb downs can do so secondary played pretty well tackling was really really great in
08:59this game that was a big difference from the arizona game that was a big difference from like
09:03the tampa game a few weeks back they were actually finishing plays finishing tackles there wasn't a
09:07whole lot of missed stuff their opportunities in the open field they were wrapping up and making
09:11those plays and they did it without jay sean barham who appears to oh be that's right sitting back a
09:18little bit uh three snaps wow three snaps in this game for jay sean barham and he is there's just
09:25so
09:26many problems right now with him in space and him in coverage who would have ever forecasted that after
09:30what the raven game yeah yeah yeah or just even even after the preseason whatever he's like oh my god
09:35we got one and he is great between the tackles playing with physicality getting off of blocks but
09:41man if he gets an open space that's that's jaylen-esque sometimes and i think it could just be again
09:48he's a guy who played edge rush basically last year um and getting a feel again for playing
09:53linebacker and what his responsibilities are he may get better at that but it's in the open field
09:58that looks really difficult for him to cut at it with the right angle and recover if somebody cuts
10:03back and so jay sean barham has essentially been reduced to a handful of snaps and they were able
10:11to do that in large part because shamar james played as well as he did um it was again we
10:15talked about
10:15it yesterday but he had a really good game i thought and the run defense is starting to settle
10:20in a little bit in terms of just kenny clark is still getting moved too much that's getting to be
10:27really frustrating but quinnon williams is playing all pro football like he is so dominant right now
10:32and i think you're starting to see the rest of the front seven settle in a little bit into their
10:37responsibilities you're not seeing them get bowled over nearly as much you're not seeing them step into
10:41the wrong gap they're playing things how long how long are you taking this back arizona philly
10:47like the last algier yeah algier like you ripped you crushed it just like baltimore ultimately derrick
10:54henry they picked up like 180 rushing yards but for the most part in that game dallas played the run
10:58solid dallas have played the run solid most of the day against arizona and then algier just destroyed
11:03you on two drives basically so it's not consistent yet but it's starting to you're starting to see them
11:08we're looking for hats fall you're starting to see them yeah you're basically just like possession
11:12let me sit let me see it flash if i can see it to where you're able to flash the
11:17ability every now
11:18and then now i'm just looking for consistency because originally last year with dallas's defense
11:22the problem was they wouldn't even flash sometimes it was just it was bad the whole year and you were
11:26just waiting for all right let me see they're capable of it occasionally you're starting to see
11:29dallas is at least capable of it occasionally so hopefully they can start making that a more
11:33consistent thing if they can get joey porter jr back do some of those things now you're looking
11:39at more attenable to be that just be a little average kind of defense hopefully that they could
11:45be down the stretch in december uh offensive side of the ball i thought that cd lamb had a good
11:51game
11:51i i don't think that either one of those penalties that he picked out i mean the false start was
11:55one but
11:56the the two pass interference calls i went back to look there's zero chance to me that those are
11:59pass interference i don't know why i don't know if that was a coach over there i don't know if
12:03steichen had said something to officials and just said watch him on this and so they were
12:07really keen in on it but there seemed to be an emphasis on how was he getting open um but
12:14he
12:14was i think good for the most part the fumble is obviously bad i mean he had but like whatever
12:19yesterday there was a lot of discussion brought us at it nicky where it was like it was a good
12:23and
12:23like it's equal parts i don't think it was equal parts i think he was pretty great in this game
12:27especially because he got without him you you you lose by double digits he got a lot of safety
12:32coverage rolled his way in this game the way they talk about with pickens and uh he still put up
12:3710
12:37for 195 so see uh rolling safety coverage does not mean that you just can't get open you have to
12:41actually try on your route though sometimes is what it is yeah if you just try on your route then
12:45maybe you can get open try um this was the most different their passing game has looked in weeks
12:52they were running a whole lot more down the field in the middle of the field they were running
12:56crossing routes scissor concepts there was a lot design wise it was different the passing game and i
13:00don't know if they just felt like did they feel forced to do that because they knew pickens wasn't
13:04going to be in there and so they're gonna have to get a little more creative with some things they
13:07couldn't just say line up and beat him when did they know he wasn't going to be in there i
13:11mean it
13:11sounded like on friday schottenheimer knew it was a distinct possibility it was a layered route and i was
13:15like whoa that's san fran yeah there's a crossing pattern and i think they threw it to the the deeper
13:20receiver but i was like oh okay the guys are running across the field and they had some misses like
13:25dac was not totally accurate in the first half um they weren't totally on the same page but
13:30it's encouraging to see oh okay they're doing some different stuff they're getting open here
13:34and they're able to like design some things to be able to get open it's not just beat the man
13:38across from you uh the offensive line was better than i thought uh the first time i viewed it this
13:42is post-hut clarity and you're supposed to talk about the things that maybe you feel differently about
13:46once you have the clear mind yeah and uh the offensive line was better like in both phases run
13:52blocking pass blocking the pass blocking really to me it felt like came down to tyler guyton didn't
13:57have a great game in this one that was he was he was having a little bit of a tough
14:01time he's been
14:02so solid for them this season i'm not gonna panic off of one game but it's not a great colts
14:07pass rush
14:08that you should have struggled with but he had some struggles in pass protection line overall that
14:12was pretty good tyler smith was dominant i felt like in on the interior in the past it was like
14:18they
14:18go into the meeting room every week and they go right behind him that's it just run run run run
14:25everything is going to be right behind it and the run blocking across the board i thought was really
14:29really good now this is a it's a bad colts run defense so how much of that again are you
14:33able to
14:34look at but they looked like they were disciplined and they were working well in their combo blocks it
14:37looked like a good day and i have to say this and i could be very wrong even though i
14:40doubt it i doubt it
14:41uh and i didn't notice as soon as i started thinking i saw him get beat on a play
14:46we have not been killing terrence steel lately no he's been he's been decent we have not he was
14:53the black sheep he was the number one target but we're sitting there talking about the interior of
14:59the offensive line not getting it done against arizona i noticed tyler booker struggle early on
15:03the other day early bobby just talked about guyton we have not sat here and ragged on terrence steel
15:10it feels like for almost a month he was your fourth highest graded starter period uh across the
15:18board uh according to probable focus uh and his overall grades you know he had in his last four
15:26games he's had a 76 and a 70 he had a couple of games where they graded him low which
15:33means he
15:33played played fantastic uh green bay they gave him a 57.8 and then arizona 48 part of that i
15:40mean
15:40he had some games in the 60s so that's about a little bit above average uh i i haven't noticed
15:44him being uh just this this this turn style play a little matador out there i haven't seen that at
15:49all yeah and a lot of their problems have been the twists and the stunts and being able to pick
15:53those up and communicate on those and a little bit better this week but teams have definitely been
15:57been trying to throw that at them a lot of the pressure that did come was indianapolis sending
16:02more guys than you had to block it up and things were rushed and they were better getting to the
16:06hot routes in this one than they were against arizona did watching josh allen against that blitz
16:11yesterday make you feel a little bit better about our problems against blitzing he had no answers he
16:16was under siege yeah under siege and i'm just like i know this is really dumbing it down and it
16:22wouldn't work but i'm like man just blitz 75 of the time just just just just do that uh and
16:28i know
16:28you would get torched if you can design it the way flores does you can like i mean because that's
16:33that's about how often i mean they rush 75 no one else in the league is over 43 yeah they
16:37rush 70
16:38something like that and it's because like flores just is he is a that is his obsession is figuring
16:43out how to disguise blitzes and play with the quarterback size on who's coming who's not who's
16:48going back and how much are we going to send and he's he's become a master it's the new
16:53i mean i don't he's probably better than jim johnson jim johnson just used to like to send
16:57pressure it wasn't always disguised the same sort of way as what you're getting here but
17:01overall good and then last note here it within the passing game they were better blocking than
17:05this game the tight ends were but man you're still not getting any much of anything from them in terms
17:11of just like nothing i try to tell everyone and it's so even against a bad colts team when you're
17:17able
17:17to get open and other concepts the tight ends just still they don't get open how did span ford
17:21pass block how was his pass book i think he i don't know that he had a ton of them
17:26going on
17:27your trade a blocker kick i think i think he had like i mean i only think it was like
17:31a hand i don't
17:32even remember how frequently it's a handful of pass block snaps okay yeah i was looking at it was only
17:36a 15 but he only had three they only said three pass block snaps there's no juice in the tight
17:40end
17:40room i try to tell everyone that terrible you know you told me it was gonna be okay in the
17:44preseason
17:44you you gave me their number three and then i talked about span ford's hands and people are like
17:49why are you even talking about that span ford's been decent the ferguson's just not
17:53zero juice ferguson's just not been good and now he's out for weeks i loved again the is there a
17:58tight end to go get well we got the one to go get luke schoonmaker you know that's the one
18:02the teams
18:03are going to come call him for i got some the the uh the i will say the ferguson thing
18:07when i heard
18:07the broadcast back on that a it was wrong about the whole look in the sun thing but then he's
18:11like
18:11their favorite tight or their favorite red zone threat i was like i don't think ferguson's got a red
18:16zone target in six weeks drew breeze did not read an up-to-date notes package on the cowboys
18:23as he was just saying some old stale generic stuff sounded like romo uh well romo was on last night
18:29with uh mcafee mcafee kissing his ass like he does everyone else tony oh my god we miss you oh
18:34god
18:34if it was romo it would have been he's one of the best red zone brian schottenheimer was not in
18:40the
18:40best of moods yesterday even after a win why because of the flags well we actually watched all
18:4614 of them uh tommy uh in the team meeting you know we pointed out sloppy not not good enough
18:52um i think there was uh you know two pre-snap which is a positive uh we've been averaging about
18:59seven penalties a game so we're twice the average um not good enough at all but uh we showed all
19:05the
19:05different penalties from the pis of the holdings and you know start with the holdings at the end of the
19:10day you know holdings about keeping your leverage and so when you set an angle to make a block you
19:15got to keep your leverage if you begin to lose your leverage the way you keep your leverage is by
19:19moving
19:19your feet and if a guy goes to pull away you have to let go you have to release and
19:24so sloppy hands on
19:26our part uh sloppy fundamentals and uh the individual this week will be really important to getting that
19:31stuff cleaned up averaging seven uh in this league it's about middle of the pack i think um again where
19:37we've been okay is you know pre-snap but uh yesterday was the outlier it wasn't good enough
19:43and that's why that game came down to the way it came down that game should have been where we
19:47win
19:47by you know a couple touchdowns maybe but uh we let them hang around we put ourselves behind the sticks
19:52on offense a bunch explain to the guys if we don't clean that up it's gonna hurt our ability to
19:56do what
19:56we want to do i would have lost a lot of money if you told me they were in the
20:01middle of the pack
20:02penalty wise they're not anymore a lot of money they're like fifth in the league i think now fifth
20:07worst after that game