00:00And this is Vicious from Nick Eatman. Headline, first opening sentence of the column,
00:06DallasCowboys.com. As someone who grew up a little brother, it's usually not fun.
00:11You're never the biggest, toughest, fastest, or smartest, so the wins are few and far between.
00:17And while there are always exceptions, Sunday was not one of them. The Texans,
00:22or whoever the other football teams are in Texas, will always be the little brother to the Cowboys.
00:29Sometimes they get the win. They usually give a good effort all the time, like on Sunday.
00:33But in the end, the Cowboys did what they should do to Houston, come out with the dub.
00:38Dang, Nick! I like it.
00:43I mean, honestly, I don't know if you got that far, and I'll blame you if you didn't,
00:47but the last line of it is probably the worst.
00:50The last line? All right, I didn't get that far down to it. I'm going to go down to it
00:54right now.
00:54I don't blame you. No one reads anymore.
00:56In the end, the Cowboys, well, you know, hosting an award-winning 4L show.
01:00In the end, the Cowboys were able to put the Texans in their place,
01:03which will always be second in the state.
01:06Oh, your mentions are going to be fun today.
01:08Disrespect to San Antonio.
01:12Well, they still have the gunslingers or whatever, like they have a team.
01:17Did it feel like deja vu all over again from Baltimore?
01:21Boy, you're so right.
01:23When they were driving down there, and I'm like, here we go again.
01:26Are you serious?
01:27Down by three.
01:28You got the field goal in your back pocket, which I actually hate that term,
01:33especially with the way the special teams is playing.
01:36Nothing's in your back pocket here.
01:37But, you know, and I just feel like it was like, okay, how do they handle this?
01:43A little different scenario, but from a timing standpoint.
01:47But, you know, I liked how aggressive they were with the pass.
01:52And it was different in the fact that, you know,
01:54C.D. could do whatever he wanted to, and he did.
01:58And the fact that if they would have not thrown him the ball in the end zone,
02:02that would have been, you know, just a travesty because it's like,
02:05they can't stop him.
02:06They can't stop him, and they never did.
02:08So, cool.
02:09Just keep double-teaming pickings.
02:10I mean, it's hurting his money, but, I mean, C.D. is over here just racking up,
02:16you know, the numbers.
02:18You think the Cowboys were the better team throughout the day?
02:24That's what you wrote in case you didn't read it.
02:26Yeah, I mean, yeah.
02:28Well, I think they're the better team.
02:30I mean, I definitely think they're the better team.
02:33Yes, I think they're definitely the better team because they have the better quarterback.
02:37They have the better quarterback.
02:39I think that the Dallas offense is elite.
02:44I think Houston's defense is up there as far as elite, too.
02:47So, it was just big on big, and it was good.
02:49Where Houston helped themselves, and you knew it was going to happen,
02:54was that it was their Super Bowl, you know?
02:56And it was their game, and they had to have it.
02:59And I said all week long, how do the Cowboys match their intensity?
03:04Because they are in a different spot.
03:06They're one and two.
03:07They don't have the hate that Houston has for them.
03:10So, somehow, some way, they've got to figure out how to match their intensity.
03:15And at first, they weren't doing it, but the kickoff return by Turpin was, to me,
03:21probably the biggest play of the game because nothing was going right.
03:25Everyone was looking at each other.
03:27Bobby and I talked to each other at halftime, and it was like, what's going on here?
03:33Like, how did they just mismanage that at the end of the half?
03:35Yep.
03:36And they're down 10 now, and they should be down four at best.
03:39And then before anyone could get their gourmet donut with bacon or whatever to their seat,
03:46it was already a three-point game.
03:50Now, Houston came back again, but still, like, it was like, oh, we have a different second
03:55half in front of us.
03:56And I thought that Turpin's kickoff return was really big.
04:00Yeah, that was the 46-yarder to open the third, and you're down 10.
04:04Bobby also saying that Houston has at least surpassed the Cowboys in terms of food spread
04:09and the press box.
04:10So, that's a little side note.
04:11Options, for sure.
04:13Quality, I still think Dallas might have them in quality, but the amount of options were incredible.
04:17Right.
04:18Like, best of show, like, if we're going to win best of show, yeah, yes.
04:22Yes, they were outstanding.
04:24And the Cowboys, I mean, they have some great, you know, spreads and all that good stuff.
04:30Halftime, they got different things.
04:32But, man, yeah, Houston went all out.
04:36Yeah.
04:36Nick, what changed offensively?
04:38What allowed Shadi, Dak, and CD to flip that third and fourth quarter compared to what we
04:45were seeing in that first half?
04:47Well, I think the offensive line, especially from blocking the edge, did a really good job.
04:54I mean, Tyler Guyton, I know he's getting a lot of praise, and he deservedly so.
04:59You know, I don't believe it.
05:01Bobby, you would know this more than me with the pressures.
05:03I mean, did he not get any pressures?
05:05Zero.
05:05Zero pressures.
05:06That's unbelievable, you know, because he's got two really good pass rushers over there.
05:10And I think that, you know, from a standpoint, they really leaned into the CD, you know, just
05:18to the coverage that Houston was doing on their side with picking.
05:22They just kind of leaned into it more with CD.
05:28You know, I thought Flannoy had a couple of nice plays in there, too.
05:31So, they've got this pick-your-poison type of situation going, and, you know, it's a credit
05:37to them.
05:37It really should be a credit to the way that they've built this because, yes, Pickens is
05:42not getting the numbers and stuff like that, but he still was a factor in that game.
05:47He had a couple of really big plays, had a couple of penalties that he drew, and then,
05:51of course, he had a big catch there at the final drive.
05:54So, I just thought they blocked it better on the edge.
05:57They ran it when they needed to, that, you know, it's just some of these subtle third
06:01and two plays that Javante picked up three.
06:04So, the numbers don't look great running the ball, but when they got down in the red zone
06:09this time and in this country, they went in there and they said, we're going to run the
06:13ball to Javante, and they did.
06:15Nick Eman from DallasCowboys.com joining us here on 105 Through the Fan.
06:19Nick, your thoughts on the debut of Joey Porter Jr., how you thought he impacted things with
06:25what they wanted to do?
06:25It looked like when he was out there, it allowed them to play some things a little differently
06:30the way that Christian Parker had talked about.
06:33Yeah, yeah.
06:33And I know that, you know, when he lined up, the times that he lined up with Nico Collins,
06:40you know, I don't even think Houston threw towards him.
06:43So, you know, that was good.
06:45And, you know, just getting his legs back from under him, everybody was kind of worried
06:48about throwing him out there too quickly.
06:52You know, I heard y'all this morning talking about it, and the Rebel, you know, Rebel was
06:58a very interesting situation because he was listed as full participant and he did not,
07:05he was not, you know, didn't even have a status.
07:08So, he was expected to play.
07:09But, yeah, if you talk to people in the building, and some people that talk to Rebel, it didn't
07:15sound like he was really that ready to play.
07:18Like, if there was anyone on a pitch count, it was probably Rebel more than it was Porter.
07:24And I think it was, that was evident in how they played out.
07:28And another thing, I don't have the, the, not hate isn't the word, but I am not as down
07:36on Bland as I think others might be.
07:39Sean, I kind of heard you kind of say that too.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Like, he did give up one, you know, deep on the left side.
07:46Some of the other, he just got out, out, athleted there by Nico Collins.
07:51I thought, you know, out fought for the ball.
07:54But, the issues with this team is still pass rush for me.
07:57It's still a consistent pass rush.
08:00And, until they fix that, I think it's going to be tough on whoever, and Porter included,
08:05they have got to find a way to be more consistent in the pass rush.
08:09And, Houston's offensive line, I thought, would give them, you know, a little bit more of that.
08:13But, no, no, they got a sack, and they got it, well, early, two sacks.
08:17But, and they got some pressure, but I still feel like some of those big plays down the
08:22field were the fact that they just couldn't get home.
08:25Nick, is this a defense now that has given you enough?
08:28Because it's still inconsistent, what we've seen the last two weeks.
08:31But, is this a defense that has flashed to you enough on these last two games that make
08:35you say, all right, now it's just a matter of time on task to be able to hone this and
08:40get this to be that league average defense that we want it to be?
08:44I think, I think it's there.
08:46You know, we talked about it last week about the numbers are still there.
08:50I mean, I just, someone just walked into the office, and the very first thing they said
08:54was that they still give up 30 points a game.
08:56Exactly.
08:58And, yeah, and that's, and that's, that's a big deal.
09:01Now, now, some of these games are that that is going to be, you know, that's, that's still
09:07going to be the back and forth nature of it, too.
09:09And, and that's what that game turned into.
09:11It was a slugfest that just turned into, and, you know, back and forth.
09:15And, yeah, the defense is still giving up points, but, but the offense is scoring some,
09:21and it's going to be, that's what this team is right now.
09:24And that's what I said in my final, I think, on my final video, I said this, this flight
09:30we're about to take is exactly what this Cowboys team is right now.
09:34It's up and down.
09:35And that's, that's what, it's going to be this way.
09:38And I think that that's how we're, these, these games are going to be.
09:42And, and Tampa Bay in three days, four days is probably going to be another one of those.
09:47You know, even though, I don't know what the line is.
09:50I don't know if Dallas should win.
09:52Nine and a half.
09:53Nah, nah, okay.
09:56All right.
09:57I don't think it stays that way.
09:59I just think, you know, it'll, Tampa and Tampa playing the back of quarterback.
10:04We'll talk about them later.
10:05But I, what my point is, is I think Dallas is going to be one of those teams and it
10:10starts
10:10with their defense.
10:11But it's going to be one of those teams that we're going to have a lot of these games like
10:15that.
10:15And this is what they are.
10:16They're two and two giants were controlled the game and they should have won.
10:20Dallas controlled that Washington game.
10:22They should have won.
10:22And this back and forth Houston, Baltimore games just went down to a coin flip and they
10:26won one.
10:27They've lost one.
10:28Nick, is there mounting pressure?
10:31I mean, you mentioned the Kevontae Turpin return and that was great, but is there mounting
10:34pressure on this special teams unit and Nick Sorensen to get this stuff figured out with
10:38the kicking game?
10:39There has to be.
10:41Right.
10:41I mean, I don't remember that many times where a block field goal, you know, just a straight
10:47block.
10:48They almost got, they almost got that last extra point block too.
10:51Yes.
10:52Yes.
10:53And so there, there are issues with, I think, whether it's the scheme or, and, or the personnel
11:00that's lining up there.
11:02I mean, you know, I, I just, I, I don't know much about how that, that worked and who their
11:08options are, but usually you don't see an offensive tackle there on the, on the middle
11:12of the line.
11:13And Broderick Jones, who got passed over by Will Anderson on that block was right there.
11:18He's going to kind of fall, but you know, he's a tackle.
11:21He's built to stop the, the Will Andersons of the world on the edge, not to stop Will
11:27Anderson.
11:28Well, I guess that's a bad example because Will Anderson was the one blocking it.
11:32He's kind of a freak, but, but right there in the middle of the line, I mean, that's
11:37not what those guys are supposed to usually be.
11:39So my point is, is one way or another, they've had a kick block two weeks in a row.
11:44And that, that's a, that's a huge red, red flag there.
11:48Um, but, and, and, and the, the field goals, I mean, listen, Aubrey is, is, is amazing.
11:58And I said this to someone earlier today, but Steph Curry can make any shot, right?
12:02But he's not shooting from half court just because, I mean, like we got to stop the 65
12:07yard field goals, unless it's the absolute last play of the half or the, you know, or
12:13the end of the game.
12:14But I don't think it's fair to just throw out a 65 yard field goal when, when then that
12:19you're just, you're just handing points to them if you don't make it.
12:22Yeah.
12:23And you make it a two score game when your defense getting some confidence and momentum, you're
12:27getting the ball coming out of the third.
12:29I thought that was gross mismanagement on Schottenheimer's part.
12:32I hated that.
12:33And it worries me.
12:33It worries me big time.
12:35And I asked Dak his question in the press conference.
12:37He basically laughed at me, you know, it was kind of, because I asked him, I asked him,
12:42and so it looked like you took that sack on purpose to get the 40 seconds off.
12:47And he kind of like, are you kidding me?
12:49Why would I take a sack on purpose?
12:50And then, of course, I'm like, well, then why didn't he throw it away?
12:53But I didn't say that, but I was just like, I thought that's what the plan was is to get
12:58the 40 seconds off the clock.
13:00And so, which, which, you know, and I'm just saying up in the press box before that, I
13:06was like, this, you have to run the football right here on third and seven.
13:10You have to run the football.
13:11You have to take 40 seconds off the clock.
13:13You cannot take a sack.
13:15And you've got to get a closer field goal and kick the field goal right now.
13:19It would be about a 50 yard or maybe, you know, 48 if you can run and get a few
13:24yards
13:24and kick the field goal.
13:25Instead, they take a nine yard loss, miss a 65 yard field goal and give up, you know,
13:32field goal on the other end.
13:33So, yeah, the end of the half has been an issue.
13:37Not only this year, it go back last year.
13:40There were some, there were some head scratching moments last year at the end of the half end
13:44game.
13:44We remember the end of the game, of course, but the end of the half, you know, they put
13:49a lot of, a lot of emphasis on this, trying to get double dip and stuff like that.
13:53And, and that's certainly been an issue, but you know what, if we're going to sit there
13:57and fault him for that and say, oh, he gets too cute and all that, his offense went out
14:02and scored 28 points in the second half of that game.
14:05And I don't know if you're going to find a team that has two good corners and two good
14:10pass rushers as good as like that group of four for Houston.
14:14And they went out and they, they light bulb, you know, went on, they made whatever adjustments
14:19you make and they scored 28 points in the four, you know, on the road there in the fourth
14:23or second half.
14:24Great stuff, brother.
14:25We appreciate it.
14:26We'll preview Wednesday.
14:27All right.
14:27Sounds good.
14:28See you.
14:28Bye.
