00:00As we bring to you our Dallas Cowboys insider, Mickey Spagnuolo. Good morning, sir.
00:06Good morning, gentlemen. How's it going?
00:07It is. Yeah, see?
00:10Corey's still on his Italian high.
00:12Now, I realize, in theory, the schedule looks the same in terms of you had a 325 Sunday game,
00:21now you got a noon Sunday game, but because of all the travel, does this feel like a short week
00:26for the Cowboys?
00:29Well, it's a short week. They could have given them a 325 start, right?
00:34That's true.
00:35So the Sunday game at noon is probably the only shorter thing.
00:40They would have had Monday. Monday's kind of their day off anyway,
00:45and then I bet they don't do very much today because this is the normal what they've been doing on
00:52Monday.
00:53They now do on Tuesday because of the schedule, and they know that they'd be wasting two days
01:01if they did it the way they had been with the schedule.
01:04So, yeah, the short part is playing at noon could have gave them a couple more hours
01:10knowing that they also had to travel for this one.
01:13Now, when we talked with Stephen Jones yesterday, he told us that Jalen Thompson would likely be out for weeks.
01:21It seems like that IR announcement is probably coming any minute now.
01:26And we talked about the injuries yesterday, but, man, that one feels like it hurts quite a bit as well.
01:32Well, yeah, you're losing, you know, the experience you had at the safety position
01:38with Malik Hooker still out, and then you lose him, Thompson, and you lost P.J. Locke.
01:48You know, you're starting to get pretty thin there,
01:52and you're playing guys who hadn't played basically all season, right?
01:59And, you know, a little of that, I thought, you know, complicated what happened with the, you know,
02:0727-yard pass to set up the field goal.
02:10You got two guys out there.
02:12One of them hadn't played a snap all year, and the other one was playing, I think, defense for the
02:21first time.
02:22So, yeah, it matters.
02:24I know guys are supposed to know what they're supposed to do, but there is a reason they're backups, right?
02:32So, yeah, they're getting pretty thin in the secondary, also losing Savon Revell at the cornerback position.
02:42And you already lost Kobe Durant.
02:45So I don't know if you guys got a fix for that, but I'd call it in if you do.
02:50Wanya Thomas.
02:54He said he wants to come home.
02:56Yeah.
02:57But also, Jerry this morning said Bullard looks like he's going to be out three, five weeks.
03:02So that feels, I mean, I know we were just talking about the secondary, and this is different,
03:07but that's another loss right there, and it feels like just injuries stacked up like crazy for the Cowboys in
03:14that loss.
03:15Yeah, and that one, I don't know if you want to say, well, with Bullard not there,
03:22Banya actually played more, taking his place, and I thought he played well.
03:27He did.
03:28And they actually, you know, used Overton, not that much, but got them some work inside also.
03:37So, yeah, you know, there's a reason guys are starting, and a reason usually guys are rotation guys,
03:44or they're backup, or not even active for the game.
03:48So some of that matters.
03:51I know, you know, we had this argument on our podcast yesterday, Everson, saying, well, if you're on the team,
03:57you're supposed to know what to do, and you've got to step up and play well.
04:02And I go, yeah, I understand that.
04:04But the reason you're not playing is because you're probably not as good as the guy that's starting.
04:09And you'd love to have a team that was full of guys, like, that were all the same, you know,
04:13all Quinnons across the entire line, but it just doesn't build out that way.
04:18Like that dumb thing on the broadcast when they were like, I wish they had four Kyle Hamiltons.
04:22And I was like, yeah, no kidding.
04:24Mickey, I'm just going to, even when you have those injuries in the secondary, too,
04:29it's going to affect a lot of different things, and I think this part is affecting it.
04:34And how are they going to find pass rush right now?
04:38They have two sacks, and they're both off blitzes.
04:42Yeah, and that's a huge problem, right?
04:46Because, number one, when you're not putting pressure on the opposing quarterback,
04:52chances are if your pressure's not consistent, meaning everybody doing what they're supposed to doing,
04:59that's one reason why the quarterback, Lamar Jackson, runs for 50 yards on you, right?
05:06So, yeah, that you would think, you know, that they did some things to help.
05:13I don't know that Von Miller's in, you know, big-time playing status, you know,
05:21showing not going through training camp.
05:24And the darn thing was he was a half a step away from basically hitting Lamar Jackson on that last
05:32pass.
05:33I don't know if it would have been a sack, but if he had hit him,
05:36he wouldn't have thrown an absolute perfect throw.
05:43How much would that have changed the narrative on Von Miller right there?
05:48Because, I mean, it's only three weeks, but I'm sure you hear it as people are like,
05:51oh, that's a waste of money.
05:52How much would that one play have changed that entire discussion?
05:57Well, the way I look at it, he's a guy, you know, he's not going to play, you know, 40,
06:0450 snaps, right?
06:06He played 16 in the game, but you want those 16 to be difference makers, right?
06:14And make the play when it needs to be made.
06:17And, yeah, it would have, because that's what he's here for.
06:21It's not here to, you know, consistently put pressure on a quarterback.
06:25It's to come in at a key time and give me a play.
06:29And he nearly did it.
06:31He was, go back and look at it, it was a half a step away.
06:35And unfortunately, he didn't get there.
06:37And then the coverage broke down with a lot of young guys in the secondary on that play out of
06:44necessity
06:44because of the injuries you just brought up.
06:47One positive.
06:49Go ahead.
06:50I tried to ask this question yesterday, but I screwed around and asked a different question.
06:54Was that Quinnen's best game that you've seen him play in?
06:57Yeah, I thought it was the most active he was.
07:01Absolutely.
07:01And I know the results.
07:03I think it was only two tackles, three tackles, something like that.
07:07Maybe a quarterback pressure.
07:08But I thought he was really active.
07:12I thought he disrupted a lot of what they were doing.
07:17And by him holding his ground, I think that helped Barham to be able to, you know, shoot the gaps
07:29and make some of those plays that he made.
07:31So, yeah, I thought it absolutely was.
07:35Was, and because I agree with that.
07:37I was actually going to ask about that as well.
07:38Good call.
07:39But do you think Barham is, and you could probably say this for a lot of linebackers,
07:46was a little bit of a mess when he had to do pass coverage?
07:51Yeah, and I'm sure he's not used to doing that, right?
07:55And I don't know if it was a mess, but it was.
07:59I think it's a learning process.
08:01But, you know, which would you rather have?
08:04I'm with you.
08:05You know, a guy, yeah, not stopping the run when you're giving up, you know,
08:09as many rushing yards as they do or have a guy really good in pass coverage.
08:13So I think sometimes you've got to adjust what you're doing, what you're asking them to do
08:18when you're, you know, playing in that situation.
08:21And I'm not sure, you know, the times they are in base.
08:25And I don't think it's that much because they're usually in nickel.
08:30But, again, I don't know how productive being in a 3-4 is as opposed to a 4-3
08:37and having another linebacker on the field.
08:40And I know, Mickey, that Barham, that tackle on the goal line, everybody's, they loved it.
08:45And I get it.
08:46But there was another one, another point in the game, maybe a little later in the game,
08:51that he had busted through the line and took on another, maybe it was a tight end,
08:57just put his shoulder in his chest and threw him off of him, made the tackle on the backfield.
09:01That's just, he just looks like a guy that is in the run game, Kevin specifically,
09:06knows, or when it comes to pass rush, knows when to be a pass rusher,
09:10also knows when to be a linebacker and make plays as a linebacker and to end the run game as
09:15well.
09:17Yeah, and maybe they start using him and blitzing him even on rundowns, right?
09:22Because he just, I think he has this knack to find the ball, which sometimes guys don't.
09:30Their eyes aren't good.
09:32And they get fooled by some of the action in the backfield.
09:38I think he's pretty good at that.
09:40So, yeah, we got to remember, he's a rookie,
09:43and he really hadn't played middle linebacker since he was at Maryland.
09:47So, you know, there was always going to be a development period there.
09:52And I know, you know, you want to win games and you don't want to be one and two.
09:58But the thing that struck me looking at the standings this morning,
10:02if I remember this correctly, there were, there were, I want to say,
10:1310 teams, maybe 12 teams that were either 2-1 or 1-2.
10:18I believe there might be 11.
10:20In the NFC.
10:21Yeah, I was going to say, across the entire NFL, I think there are 11, 1-2 teams.
10:25So, you're probably right about that.
10:29Now, the thing I was going to just say is, you're one game out of first place.
10:35Right.
10:35Right?
10:36Right.
10:36So, all this deal about reading that the season's over,
10:41you can't win this or that when you're 1-2.
10:45Well, okay, but almost everybody else is 2-1.
10:49And the other teams, I think there's maybe 2-3-0s and 2-0-3s, something like that.
10:56In the NFC, I'm looking at it.
10:58Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:59Yeah.
11:00So, you know, things aren't decided in three weeks,
11:04especially when you've got so much newness on this defense.
11:08Now.
11:09And the fact that you should have scored 42 points with the offense
11:14if you don't get stopped twice inside the five-yard line.
11:18And then just totally not block a guy on a field goal attempt.
11:24It's just ridiculous for that to happen.
11:26Agreed, agreed, agreed.
11:28I want to talk about another one of those new players.
11:31He's not new to the NFL, but he is new to the Cowboys.
11:35Where, oh, where has Rashawn Gary been?
11:39Yeah, and I think that for a guy that's playing, you know, 75% of the stats,
11:47you would like to see a lot better production from him than I think we've seen.
11:55And I see him almost make plays, but they don't give, there's no,
12:02I'm looking at the defensive stats here, see a column that says, hey, oh, I'm sorry,
12:08that's assist, not almost.
12:10And, yeah, they certainly need more than one tackle from him a game
12:16and basically no quarterback pressures either.
12:20So, yeah, that's got to be a little bit disappointing at this time on how they're using him.
12:28The fact that, you know, at times they've been putting Malachi Lawrence out there on the outside, too,
12:36trying to get him, I think, more plays.
12:40He got 17, that's not great, but at least they're kind of trying to get him in there.
12:47You know, one other thing I was going to tell you guys, I was listening on the way in.
12:51You know, on Schoonmaker's false start, they were in two tight ends,
12:57and he and Ford were in the game at the same time.
13:02So it wasn't like they were playing him instead of Ford.
13:06And, actually, Schoonmaker had 12 more snaps than, I mean, Ford had 12 more snaps than Schoonmaker.
13:14He's the backup tight end.
13:16I'll keep taking that.
13:17If you look at the production and the snaps.
13:21Your best combination still, though, is Ferguson and him and Spann Ford.
13:26I think it's Ferguson and Ford, to tell you the truth.
13:29Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
13:30And that's the way they got him listed on the depth chart.
13:32Yeah, that's tough to have him in on that play, and that happened when he's the third guy there.
13:37But, yeah, you got a really good point there.
13:39That 12 personnel, the things they've been running out there, they've been effective whenever it's those two guys at the
13:44tight end spots.
13:46Yeah, and I don't know you would rather Ferguson lined up in line like he was,
13:53because they had Spann Ford in motion on that play.
13:58And, you know, if Ferguson's going to block, he's got to be kind of offline shielding guys,
14:04not when you're trying to power the ball up the middle for a touchdown.
14:08Excellent stuff, as always.
14:10Good, sir.
14:11We'll catch up with you again tomorrow and maybe start to move that focus on to the Texans.
14:16It'll be about time, right?
14:18Yeah, it's going to be a sweet matchup between two teams that are combined one and five, you know what
14:23I'm saying?
14:25Yeah, and who would have thought of that, right?
14:28No.
14:29Hey, Mickey, we were talking about that this morning.
14:31There's no way I thought that the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game would have been consequential.
14:36We all saw this coming.
14:37And this guy did not see that coming at all, so I'm with you.
14:41And you saw the Raiders at 3-0, right?
14:43Hell no, I did not.
14:46It's going to be kind of tough to get Crosby from the Raiders now, huh?
14:52Well, there's a reason why they play 17 games.
14:55There you go, Mick.
14:56That's what I'm talking about.
14:57It's a season, Kevin.
14:59Okay.
14:59Not a couple of games.
15:00All right.
15:01I mean, that's good, because we would be out.
15:02All right.
15:03We'll catch you tomorrow, good sir.
15:05All right.
15:05See you guys.
15:06Good talking with you.
