00:00KNC Masterpiece, we laugh to keep from crying.
00:04Right here on 105.3 The Fan, and I love that kind of beaten down call from Brad Sham,
00:10because I think it represents the feelings of so many Cowboys fans in that moment.
00:15All right.
00:16Aside from moving on from the Jones family, because otherwise I feel like
00:19Frankel and Frankel, Andrew, attorney, text line 877-881-1053 would be filled with nothing but that.
00:25What reasonable changes can the Cowboys actually make in hopes of getting better this season?
00:30And, Mr. Majors, I yammered long enough in the first segment.
00:33I would like to turn it over to you.
00:35Kevin, I have decided to make a change.
00:38Now, obviously, this does rely heavily on Joey Porter Jr. being able to play and not being sick.
00:44So this is going to be very heavy.
00:48Might I offer up a solution opposite Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback?
00:54Oh, tell me.
00:57Amir Speed.
00:59Oh!
01:00I've now watched every snap of Amir Speed, who has given up one catch on two targets.
01:06But this dude right here, Kevin, and obviously he's not covering Ibuka on every play,
01:12but he has some plays that he just blanketed Ibuka.
01:16In the end zone, as a matter of fact, there was a play where Daniels was trying to throw to
01:21him,
01:21and he just wasn't open.
01:24Ibuka, at the end of the play, got mad and slapped his hand away from him.
01:28I was like, that's kind of what I want to see.
01:30But he carries receivers very easily.
01:33He runs routes with the receivers.
01:35He understands the zone concepts that Christian Parker's trying to run right now,
01:40doing a very good job of passing off receivers to the safety,
01:45understanding where he's supposed to go next and where he's supposed to sit in the zone.
01:49He's very disciplined in sitting in the zone, not panicking, trying to figure out where he's supposed to go,
01:55like Deron Bland is.
01:56Deron Bland's getting just absolutely torched.
01:59Revel, Bland, Stewart, all of them having a problem in this,
02:04understanding the scheme that Christian Parker's trying to run.
02:07And I know a lot of people want Christian Parker out of here,
02:09but when the players don't know what they're doing because they aren't good enough to understand it
02:13or read it or see it when they're on the field, that's a problem right there.
02:17Can I ask you a Deron Bland question?
02:21Because one of the things I've noticed, too, is mentally I think he's uncertain,
02:26but it also feels like a couple of different times you've seen physically he's uncertain out there.
02:31Do you think it's just an understanding concept for him?
02:34The confidence in the scheme.
02:35Okay.
02:36His confidence in himself in the scheme.
02:39You don't have to do everything out there.
02:42And, I mean, you just watch how fluid speed is out there.
02:46And I know it's real weird to say it that way,
02:48but watch how fluid he is running alongside and blanketing receivers right now.
02:55Bland never looks like he knows where to be attached.
02:58As a matter of fact, the third and 21,
03:01it was Bland's responsibility not to be 10 or 15 yards off the receiver
03:06to let him at the sticks get the catch.
03:09Like, that was his guy to ensure in that match it was his guy to step up on
03:15and make sure that he did not get that.
03:18But he was so afraid that he was going to get run past, I guess, for 50 yards
03:21that he didn't even pay attention to what was going on in front of him
03:25where his eyes were looking.
03:26And so, yeah, Kevin, I don't think he fully grasps the concepts that they're trying to pull off
03:32for his responsibilities in it.
03:34And right now, quarterbacks are looking to him to expose him.
03:42In this offense, there are a lot of times, Kevin, that speed didn't even get looked at
03:46because they were like, we're just going to cook Bland here real quick.
03:49And so that is happening too much.
03:51I think that's something that Schottenheimer's discussed,
03:53is we're going to have to make some changes with personnel.
03:56So he's already discussed that.
03:58I think Bland's one of them.
03:59Obviously, they would love for Durant to come back and be the guy to push in there.
04:04But, Kevin, you were all over Amir Speed during training camp.
04:09You were all over him during all the preseason games.
04:11And now that I've watched every single snap of what this dude can do,
04:15and I have a lot of faith in not only his catch-up speed,
04:19but his footwork and how he practices within this discipline here.
04:25For Bland, because you see this text as well as I do.
04:29I've already seen it a couple different times.
04:31From the 817 and 972.
04:33No, no, not a bad text.
04:35In the slot or backup?
04:38Nope.
04:40I'd happily put Durant in the slot.
04:42Okay.
04:43And just put Joey Porter on the outside, put Speed on the other side,
04:47and then have Durant on the inside.
04:49Because I don't know for sure if Speed, like most everything I've seen him on
04:54is playing on the outside, having one guy that he just kind of pairs up
04:58on the outside with, not having to go both directions
05:01whenever you line up in the slot.
05:03If you're going to play nickel, I think Kobe Durant can do that.
05:06But at this point, Kevin, I need Bland to go refine himself.
05:13I don't know if he's not confident in the physical part of it.
05:17I just don't think that he understands what his job is in the zone.
05:21I think he thinks, I can go get the ball.
05:24Well, then you also drop the big one.
05:26So that's another part.
05:28So if Kobe Durant comes back, I'll have him, Kobe Durant,
05:32I'll have him play in that nickel.
05:34I'll be happy to have him do that too.
05:36Because I think he can play both directions.
05:38Now, obviously, health is going to be a thing for him
05:41because he's been out for just a little bit now.
05:43But I would feel very confident with Speed on the outside
05:46and Porter on the outside as well.
05:48Would you like to see more focused passing snaps
05:53and attempts to Brevin Spann forward at the expense of Jake Ferguson?
05:58I went back and watched three games of Jake Ferguson.
06:02Is he creating that open space?
06:04He is.
06:05There are also plays that he falls down.
06:08I'm like, what happened there, dude?
06:10But he is creating that open space.
06:13But here's the problem.
06:15If you're not catching it in those clutch situations when called upon,
06:20then that space is going to close up
06:22because people are not going to believe that you're the weapon you're supposed to be.
06:25Okay, yeah.
06:26So if I would like to see Spann forward get some more opportunities
06:30because I think he will catch those and he can be a weapon.
06:33This offense is designed to do what it's doing with Jake Ferguson.
06:40You're not lining him up and just saying block all the time at tight end.
06:43You're lining him up in the slot.
06:45You're lining him up in different areas to create that space
06:48and create those holes and clear out areas.
06:51And I think Spann forward can do it too.
06:52I understand why with Ferguson because they rely heavily on what he does.
06:59And I think here's the thing with Schottenheimer.
07:01He said it.
07:03I have absolute faith that the next time he gets a ball thrown his way,
07:07he's going to catch it.
07:09And it's brutal what happened.
07:12But I would like to see a little bit more opportunity.
07:16Now, the thing is, Spann forward just isn't the threat yet.
07:18So you're going to have to make him the threat at some point.
07:21And you need to have, Kevin, this is where you need to have a good enough lead
07:24to where you can start making him a threat.
07:27I have a theory about that, but I want to read this text from the 214.
07:31Where I appreciate that they're like, hey, I've thought about a couple different things.
07:35For the Cowboys to get better, you need to sit Hunter Lipke, activate Brown,
07:40and add at least two more cheerleaders.
07:42Now, I'm assuming they mean actual cheerleaders and not like it's a shot at other people on the roster.
07:48But I like that there was a couple of different levels to this.
07:51But when you talk about getting a lead, what would you think about the concept?
07:55And I've never quite understood why more teams don't do this, regardless of late game situations.
08:00More two-minute offense early in the game, regardless of the scenario.
08:04Tempo.
08:05Yeah.
08:05Because you see it like flashes.
08:07Dak's good in tempo.
08:09I think the concern there is, and maybe it's not the first drive.
08:15If it doesn't work, your defense has to go back out there.
08:18Yeah.
08:18Maybe it's not the first drive, but tempo, Dak's good in tempo.
08:21But, Kevin, Dak's good whenever there's an urgent situation, not just because of tempo.
08:26Which is odd.
08:27It seems like he's a teabag, if you will, as Roger Staubach used to say.
08:33You know, when the pressure gets on, Dak starts to get a little bit better.
08:36And that's like, it's not just because of the tempo.
08:41It's because of the urgency of the situation.
08:43Dak, it's like his sense is heightened just a little bit.
08:46And, unfortunately, not everybody around him had the same situation happen.
08:50Go ahead.
08:51One of the other things, we didn't dig in further with Jerry on this.
08:56And I wish we kept just asking names whenever he was like, nope, not those guys.
09:02But I'm wondering if rotation at the outside linebacker spots can be a little bit different.
09:08And what those names and rotations could be like.
09:11Will Malachi Lawrence see a little more play time than a couple of other guys?
09:16Or is there another...
09:17Like Sean Gary.
09:17Yeah.
09:18Yes.
09:19Or is there another person that might slide over to a spot?
09:25Not Michael Parsons.
09:26Would you consider...
09:28I think if you're going to say it, I think I would.
09:30Okay.
09:31Would you consider the combination of a little bit more Malachi Lawrence, maybe a lot more,
09:36less for Sean Gary, and then maybe you just don't activate Vaughn Miller for one game.
09:41You throw James Houston out there and see what happens.
09:43That's a personnel decision I would consider for sure.
09:47And I think I'm going to get high-motor James Houston in a game like that.
09:50And I'm not saying that's a long-term fix.
09:53It's like, I mean, I know there's a quote that's going to go against this, but that I've previously said.
09:58I'm not going to say that James Houston is going to solve all of your past-rushing issues,
10:03but that's an interesting answer.
10:06Who needs Micah?
10:07We have James Houston.
10:08Yeah.
10:09You said that out loud.
10:10That's going to work against me.
10:12Also, Kevin, look, man, if Barham is taking the job.
10:18Oh, I'm with you on this one.
10:20If you want to just see on certain situations what Overshown would look like outside running around free.
10:26I do.
10:27Like an unbridled horse.
10:28That's not what he does anyway.
10:29Yeah, just let him go and go see what happens out there.
10:32I think there's also making sure that edge is set in so many different ways,
10:37whether it's the spill or the force, whatever you're trying to do on that outside,
10:41you've got to make sure you're pushing the running backs into the right places.
10:45And right now, those guys on the outside just aren't doing that.
10:49Malachi Lawrence was actually pretty decent in this game.
10:52Yeah.
10:52I would say probably even better than that.
10:54He had a clutch-tipped pass.
10:54Yeah, and he had some other really good plays outside as well.
10:57He's growing into the role.
10:59So I think you're going to see a little bit of that,
11:01and maybe the James Houston thing is finally going to happen for you.
11:04Yeah, I see people jumping on from the 972.
11:06Yes, James Houston.
11:08From the 9-4-0, give James Houston a shot.
11:10It's not happening with the other edges.
11:12I would just like to see it for two games.
11:14And if it just goes nowhere, then you can be like,
11:16hey, you're going to be inactive until injuries again, and that's totally fine.
11:20And I honestly, I don't think that's the worst strategy in the world
11:23when we've talked in the past about is shoddy enough of a disciplinary?
11:27And I would sit down with James Houston, and I would be like,
11:29you get two games, all right?
11:31Two games.
11:32Let's see what you got.
11:33And if you don't got it, you're going right back to the inactive.
11:35Then the other thing that I threw out at you at the very beginning, Kevin,
11:40there's the guy that I said just leave him off the field right now is expensive.
11:46Yes, he is.
11:47Do you, when you're sitting in that room talking to the people that are like,
11:51but we're paying him this much, you just tell them,
11:53do you want wins or do you want to worry about what you pay the guy?
11:56And I've always hated that philosophy because that money is already spent.
12:01Already done.
12:01Yeah, you don't get a refund by using him more.
12:05Yeah, this is an opportunity with this extra few days to kind of refresh where you're heading.
12:10Ask that question.
12:11Where are we and where are we going?
12:13And if we're going in a certain direction and those guys can't help us get there,
12:17they don't need to be on the field.
