Nick Harris on how the Cowboys rebound from a disastrous loss to the Saints

KRLD-FM / 105.3 The Fan

We all collectively suffered watching the Cowboys get blown out on Sunday, so how does the team move on? Nick Harris from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram joined the Get Right to discuss how to flush this one, as well as what the offensive line has shown us through the first two weeks of the season.

Transcript

00:00Okay, here's another reason to be concerned and we just see how it plays out again.

00:18I think I've come to the conclusion that this team is built wrong.

00:25In other words, now that you've got a blueprint out there of how to beat the Cowboys, they

00:28cannot stop the run and they're built to stop passing.

00:33Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are a pass combo, so offensively they decided to not really

00:39run the ball as opposed to being complimentary running and passing.

00:42So with that being said, you know what's happening this weekend.

00:48Coming Sunday, you've got a Baltimore Ravens team that not only hasn't won a game and got

00:52a lot to prove to all their naysayers, but they are built to run.

00:56My buddy Saad Yusuf from The Athletic, he had a tweet that went out, I'm going to paraphrase

01:02it, that the Ravens, this century, since 2000, they are the most run-dominant team in the

01:09NFL.

01:10You know they've got Derrick Henry.

01:12What would you do if you were them, Nick?

01:15Yeah, I'm isolating that backfield and I'm trying to stop it there.

01:20And I think you have the personnel to do that.

01:22You have the scheme to do that.

01:25Where's the effort and where's the intention?

01:27I think that's probably where the problem lies within, if you look at what happened

01:30yesterday.

01:31Whenever you look at the middle of that defensive line and you see four guys in there, Mozzie

01:36Smith, Osa Igezua, Linval Joseph, and Jordan Phillips, the highest run defense grade per

01:41PFF from any of those guys was Mozzie Smith with a 30.2 out of 100.

01:47So you have to have better play in that interior defensive line.

01:51You got to have those guys getting off blocks.

01:53There were times where they were being isolated one-on-one with the center and the left guard

01:58from the Saints, Lucas Patrick, and it made the life for the linebackers so damn difficult

02:03because they are having to pick which, they're going to have to cover two gaps at one time.

02:08Meanwhile, another blocker is coming straight for them because they're getting into the

02:11second level already.

02:13So that defensive front has to play better and it starts with that interior defensive

02:17line.

02:18I think if those two positions in the middle can play better, then I think it's a domino

02:22effect to the rest of that front seven.

02:23But nevertheless, if they want to stop Baltimore, it has to start with stopping their running

02:28game.

02:29I think you'll see a lot more of DeMar being overshown in this game as well.

02:33But yeah, there's going to be a lot of intention and effort put into that this week.

02:35Put it like this, Alvin Kamara, who looked like vintage 2022 Alvin Kamara, that running

02:43game in the first half, they were averaging like 14 yards a touch.

02:47And then on top of all that, Kamara's longest run, I mean, it wasn't like he had some long

02:53run for 40 yards or no, he was, I think his longest run was like 14 or 15 yards.

02:58So they were just gashing them.

03:00And as you mentioned, they made the linebackers jobs hell because those guys up front, they

03:05weren't getting it done.

03:06And then they decided to go to the edges.

03:07It's like, okay, now that we've chopped up the middle, let's go to the edges.

03:11It's going to be hell.

03:12I talk too much, Fred, you got some questions?

03:15Yeah, I agree with you.

03:16They were brutalized at the point of attack.

03:18I mean, whenever you look at, go back and watch the all 22 film, these guys were getting

03:22off the ball in a hurry and they didn't need the big runs because they were getting the

03:27chunk seven, eight, nine yard runs on a consistent basis.

03:31They couldn't stop them.

03:32And it eventually led to Kamara having arguably the second biggest game of his career.

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