00:00K&C Masterpiece back here on 105.3 The Fan right now. NFL writer for The Athletic and the purveyor
00:07of truth for the All-22. It is Ted Wynn. Good afternoon, sir.
00:13Good afternoon. How are you guys doing?
00:15We're doing very well. Did you know that when we booked this interview that it was pretty much going to
00:19turn into the Joey Porter show?
00:22I figured. I mean, it was a late night news drop, so I'm ready to talk to Joey Porter.
00:30All right, so one of the things that we've discussed is people get really caught up in, oh, the Cowboys
00:36are running a zone scheme.
00:38He's a man-to-man guy.
00:39Can you kind of walk us through the idea that surely you can merge and obviously just have him run
00:45man-to-man and then integrate zone coverage for the rest of your defense?
00:50Yeah, I also think people underestimate how much zone coverage Pittsburgh played.
00:55But also, you know, when Parker was with the Eagles, they played more man coverage than people give him credit
01:03for.
01:04They disguised it a lot, so you weren't going to see a lot of press man coverage at the snap
01:08of the ball with the safety of the middle of the field.
01:11But there's a lot of times where they did shift their coverage into a cover one from their two-high
01:16shell.
01:16And that's part of what made them so good was that they were able to disguise.
01:21They weren't going to show you straight up front that they're playing man coverage.
01:24And also, in those quarter schemes and those cover six schemes, a lot of times they were playing man-to
01:31-man on the back side.
01:33They would have Quinion Mitchell play man-to-man, and the rest of the defense was playing zone.
01:38And they would have the safety kind of poach and help away from Quinion Mitchell because he was so good.
01:42So I think having Porter in that defense, in that scheme, you're going to be able to do some of
01:47those things where you're going to ask him to lock up a number one receiver
01:50while that safety on his side is going to help on the three-receiver side or help on the coverage
01:57away from him.
01:58So I think it just opens up a lot of flexibility for Christian Parker to do things that he wasn't
02:05able to do with the corner group without Joey Porter.
02:08And you know what? Opening those things up, one of the trickle-down effects we talked about is,
02:13would you think that seeing more of Deron Bland in the slot and then more Caleb Downs back at, like,
02:21just, like, natural safety would make sense?
02:25Yeah, I mean, I do think that they want to make the Caleb Downs that nickel work.
02:30I don't know if Deron Bland wants to play in the slot a lot.
02:34I believe he did express that he didn't want to play there.
02:36And with his health issues that he's experienced, I don't know if he wants to play that physical slot position,
02:44especially in this defense where they're asking the nickel to be part of the run fit a lot.
02:49So I don't really know if that's an option.
02:51I don't know if the Cowboys feel like they have any other of their corners.
02:57They feel like they could put in a slot and move Caleb Downs to safety.
03:01Or maybe that's something that you could do more on passing downs when the run isn't as big of a
03:08factor.
03:09When you've seen what the Cowboys have done so far this season,
03:13the secondary really is the backbone of what his defense is supposed to be.
03:19What's been the miscommunication?
03:21What's been the thing that's made them kind of look a little lopsided on what they're doing?
03:26Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the whole point of the defense is to stop explosive plays.
03:34And you work top down.
03:37And I think the safeties definitely play a big part of that as the last line defense
03:42and as big parts of the run fit, too.
03:45Like, you know, you need these safeties to come down and stop those runs from becoming 15-yard runs.
03:51And I think they've done a poor job of that.
03:54And I think also an underrated part of this is you need your front to be really stable
04:00as far as you're going to play all these light boxes.
04:03So you need your linebackers to fill and stop those runs from becoming 10-yard gains.
04:10And I think linebacker has been a weak spot for this Cowboys defense as well.
04:15So I think having a good corner helps, but I think the run defense issue is going to be one
04:21that has to be figured out, especially in the second level and at the safety level
04:25as far as just stopping those runs from becoming explosive.
04:29That's why it only took two plays for us to all catch Barham fever when he was able to stop
04:34Derrick Henry.
04:34I realize that is not necessarily reflective of the entire game, but that felt pretty awesome.
04:42Yeah, I like Barham a lot.
04:43But I think week one was rough, especially seeing some of the plays that looked low effort.
04:48But he's definitely bounced back, and I'm excited to see how he continues to develop in this defense.
04:53I want to flip it around to the offensive side, Ted, if I can for a second.
04:57A lot of questions about Tyler Guyton going into this season.
05:01What have you seen from him?
05:02Because we're starting to feel pretty impressed by what he's doing.
05:06Yeah, I mean, I didn't really have a microscope on him watching the weeks one and two.
05:12But then when I was watching the week three tape, he just jumped out.
05:16I mean, he looks like a franchise left tackle.
05:19And I don't want to take a small sample size and make too big of a thing out of it
05:24just yet.
05:24But when I was watching, he looked so much more confident.
05:27There's a play where he saw Kyle Hamilton kind of coming up towards the line of scrimmage,
05:33identifying the blitz.
05:34I don't know who made the protection change or protection call, whether it was him or Dak or the center.
05:42But they changed the protection.
05:44They blocked up that blitz perfectly.
05:46But it definitely looked like Tyler Guyton was the first one to identify the pressure because he pointed it out.
05:51And then you just see him against the run, run blocking.
05:56He just looks so physical.
05:57He wants to demolish the guys.
05:59He looks so much more comfortable as a pass blocker.
06:02So I'm really excited to see how Tyler Smith is going to look next to this version of Tyler Guyton.
06:07It looks like the Cowboys might have a really dominant left side.
06:10And both these players are really young.
06:12So it could be a thing that goes on for five, 60 years and maybe more than that.
06:18So I think left tackle was a question mark coming into the season.
06:22But if Tyler Guyton has really taken the next step,
06:26this Cowboys offense could be even better than we anticipated.
06:31We're definitely with you.
06:32We saw that play you were talking about where he picked up the nickel blitz.
06:35And we're like, oh, baby, here we go.
06:39So, yeah, no, we're definitely with you on that.
06:43What have you thought about, because we discuss this a lot as well,
06:46whenever the offensive line struggles,
06:48the pickup of blitz or helping in coverage of the Cowboys running backs,
06:54especially somebody like Javante Williams?
06:57Sorry, can you repeat that question?
06:59Yeah, yeah.
06:59What have you thought about the run, the chip help,
07:03and then the blitz pickup help from the running backs for the Cowboys,
07:07especially like Javante Williams?
07:10Yeah, I mean, from the – I don't have the overall numbers in front of me,
07:14but I think Dak Prescott's just generally one of the best guys
07:18at identifying these pressures and picking them up.
07:21But in the plays that I saw, I mean,
07:23I thought Javante Williams was pretty good at – really good at chip.
07:27I'm blanking on the backup running back name,
07:29but he had a really good chip in the refs I saw as well.
07:33So I think going against – I just think blitzing Prescott
07:38is probably not the best solution if you're an opposing defensive coordinator.
07:42This is not necessarily just about the Cowboys,
07:45but I wanted to give your breakdown about how the best NFL offenses
07:50are using their tight ends right now.
07:53Yeah, from a strategy or trend that I'm beginning to see is that
07:59what they're doing is they're – because a defensive trend is
08:03we're seeing a ton of zone coverages, and that comes from Vic Fangio,
08:06that comes from guys that are influenced by him.
08:09So these corners and running backs aren't following their guys around.
08:14So what some of the best offenses are doing is they're putting their tight ends
08:17on the outside and they're putting receivers on the inside
08:20because if you're playing zone, those corners are going to stay outside
08:23with those tight ends, and then you're going to have –
08:26then you're going to have some mismatches inside,
08:28especially if you're playing with a lot of tight ends
08:30and you're seeing a lot of base defense,
08:32meaning you're getting that extra linebacker on the field.
08:34And a good example of that is what happened in that Bears-Eagles game
08:39on Monday night where they put both of their tight ends,
08:41Loveland, Komet, on the outside, and they put Kalief Raymond in the slot,
08:45and he ended up getting matched up against Zach Bond
08:48because they were in base defense, and he just destroyed them on a route.
08:53Devontae Adams had something similar happen to him
08:56where the Rams were in 13 personnel, and they put Devontae Adams in the slot,
08:59and you have Patrick Sertain, the best corner in football,
09:03getting wasted on a tight end, and you have a linebacker covering Devontae Adams.
09:06So it's a trend to watch out for, especially with how much offenses are loving
09:11using multiple tight ends right now.
09:13That all being said, how much do you just absolutely love Brock Bowers?
09:19I mean, it's pretty incredible.
09:21I mean, I had a high opinion of Brock Bowers before that game,
09:24but then to see him line up out wide as much as he did
09:28and then to see him dominate corners that are actually pretty good was surprising.
09:34I mean, you know, it goes from Brock Bowers could be one of the best tight ends in the league
09:39to he just might be one of the best receivers in the league in general.
09:42Like, he looked like Kuka Nakua out there to me.
09:45That being said, is this Raiders team for real right now?
09:49Or is it the opponents and what's going on there?
09:53You are uniquely qualified to tell us that.
09:56I think they're ahead of schedule as far as where they are on a timeline
10:01and a team-building timeline.
10:04So I think the wins are a bonus and they're fun to see.
10:07But I think Raider fans should just be happy that it looks like this team
10:10is doing things like a competent franchise for once.
10:15And it's been, you know, decades since we've seen that.
10:19So, you know, it's good because the wins are coming as a result of doing things the right way.
10:24But I don't think that they are some instant playoff team just yet.
10:29If they do beat the Chiefs at home, maybe I'll get a little bit more.
10:34I'll buy that stock a little bit more.
10:36But right now I just think, you know, they're plucky and they got a couple wins
10:39or a few wins to start the season.
10:41But I don't know if they're going to be a team that really chances for the playoffs
10:45at the end of the year.
10:46But obviously, as we all predicted, Steelers-Browns and Chiefs-Ravens or Raiders
10:51are both consequential games since those teams have a combined 10-2 record already.
10:57Yeah.
10:58It's, you know, some early season madness right now.
11:03So we'll see how things play out with the bigger sample size.
11:06But it's always fun to see some unexpected teams win games.
11:10And you were talking about, like, maybe being ahead of schedule.
11:14What does continuing to win do for the starting timeline of Fernando Mendoza?
11:19Like, I'm not saying that the Raiders are going to win against the Chiefs.
11:22But if they did, it just feels like at some point you'd be like, well, we're probably not
11:26going to switch out our quarterback at this moment.
11:28Yeah, you can't.
11:30I mean, especially the way with Kirk Cunz is playing against nine touchdowns in three games.
11:34And if he keeps the – as long as he keeps the Raiders in that contention mode, then
11:40you have to keep playing him because, you know, you just can't look at a Max Crosby and
11:46look at your team and say, we're going to switch out the quarterback when things are
11:50going well.
11:50So Kirk Cunz is fighting for his life right now, and he's doing pretty good.
11:55The Texans this weekend for the Cowboys, they've – their run game's not good.
12:01They can't get fourth downs converted whenever they need them.
12:04That's got to be affecting also the pass game.
12:07But also, it seems like Stroud just can't find time to be able to throw the dimes that
12:13he can.
12:14Is this a big fear for the Cowboys that they can – that that offense might come alive
12:20against them?
12:21Or is that an offense that just really probably can't come alive?
12:25I mean, they need Nico Collins.
12:27And Jaden Higgins' injury in the offseason was big.
12:31This was a team that already did not have good wide receiver depth.
12:36And you can see it when they try – you know, when they are getting into these modes where
12:40they have to pass the ball, guys can't get open.
12:42And that's just a bad formula, especially when you can't run block.
12:47And I think that's the most disappointing part for this Texans offense is we thought that
12:51they'd be a much better run-blocking unit, especially when they added Kalen Rutledge to their
12:56first-round pick into the mix.
12:58They just can't get any space for the running backs.
13:02David Montgomery can't get going.
13:05Woody Marks is a little bit better, but that still doesn't say much.
13:07So you can't run the ball.
13:09You don't have receivers that can get open.
13:10It's a bad formula.
13:11I think CJ Stroud is actually playing some good ball.
13:13Like, he's playing confidently.
13:17He's putting the ball into spots where his receivers could make plays.
13:21But it's just a struggle right now.
13:23So I think if Nico Collins does come back this week and plays, there's a chance that his
13:28offense could look better because he's such a force multiplier.
13:31But if he's not there, I just don't have a lot of confidence that this offense could get
13:35anything going.
13:36If you love all this insight, and honestly, why would you not, you can catch more of Ted's
13:41stuff on The Athletic or FB underscore film analysis or the Just Win podcast on Apple and
13:49YouTube.
13:50Ted, you're always a wealth of information.
13:53Thank you very much.
13:55No problem.
13:55Appreciate you guys having me on.
