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Babe Laufenberg joined The K&C Masterpiece to discuss the Cowboys/Cardinals upcoming matchup. Laufenberg discussed the threat of Trey McBride, the defensive line, Dak's deep-ball accuracy, establishing a run game, and more.
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00:00Let's talk with Dallas Cowboys broadcaster, former Cowboys QB, master teller of stories.
00:07It is one Babe Laufenberg. Good afternoon, sir.
00:11Good afternoon, gentlemen.
00:13Babe, you got to do something fun last night.
00:16My kid came to, my oldest goes to North Texas,
00:23and he came back to Plano so we could go to Coppell to watch my middle son play
00:28against Coppell last night in a freshman game.
00:30So I didn't get to see all the UNT game, but there were so many touchdowns
00:34and so much passing yards last night.
00:36How much fun was that?
00:39Oh, it was great.
00:40I mean, if you like offense, which I think most fans do,
00:43there was, I think, 1,170 yards of total offense.
00:48You know, Jackson, the UNT quarterback threw for 400,
00:51and it was just up and down, and it was close the whole way, too.
00:56It was 24-24 at half, so very exciting game.
00:59And actually, a good crowd turned out in Denton.
01:02They were pretty boisterous up there.
01:04So, yeah, it was a lot of fun to go to the game.
01:06Obviously, you don't get a chance to go to them because Saturday I'm prepping
01:09or you're traveling.
01:11So the Thursday night game worked out great for me.
01:14I had a great time.
01:15I even got to spend a little time, went in the booth with Dave Barnett
01:18and Hank Dickinson, who was celebrating his 62nd birthday, by the way.
01:22Oh, happy birthday, Hank.
01:23What about a birthday present than for Babe Loffenberg to show up in your booth?
01:27I mean, does it get any better?
01:29I don't think so, quite honestly.
01:31It actually does.
01:32If that's really your high-water mark, your life isn't going very well.
01:36Oh, man.
01:37I get very excited when I get to see Babe.
01:41Sobering life advice from one Babe Loffenberg.
01:44I think what's crazy, Babe, is a lot of people expected UNT, the entire team takes off,
01:51the coach takes off, they fall off, and they somehow have been able to put this thing back
01:55together, and it's a fun product right now.
01:58I'm really happy for them.
01:59Yeah, what a job they did with losing your coach, your quarterback, your whole team,
02:03as you said.
02:04I think there's 70 new players there, and to be able to get together, and I know that's
02:09the way of the world now in college football, but to play as well as they have, it's a testament
02:14to the coaching staff, and obviously the players as well.
02:17You know, that's just a snapshot into the glamorous life of one Babe Loffenberg, who went to a
02:24football game, then had a photo shoot, now he's on the radio with us.
02:29Thanks for making the time, Babe.
02:32Hey, of all the things that I would have had to eliminate, this would have been last on
02:36the list, okay?
02:37Oh, that's awesome.
02:38Yes.
02:38That's awesome.
02:39Hold on, last on the list to do?
02:41Is that what you meant?
02:41To eliminate.
02:42Oh, okay.
02:42He said the things to eliminate.
02:44I was just joking.
02:45Hey, Babe, this game Sunday, I mean, a lot of people are kind of like, okay, what do
02:51I believe about what happened against the Eagles?
02:53What can we know about them?
02:54They're still, you know, not taking Arizona seriously, but we're like, we don't know what
02:59to take this Cowboys team with.
03:01Trey McBride is the biggest weapon that we know of, that we've been paying attention to.
03:07What is it about him that makes him, is he a special player, or is there just no other
03:13option in Arizona?
03:17Well, I guess the answer to your question is yes and yes.
03:20Okay.
03:21He is a special player, and with Jeremiah Love having been out the last couple games, it
03:26looks like he will play this week.
03:27I mean, he's a dynamic running back, but he hasn't been at full strength, hurt his ankle
03:32in training camp, hobbled him, hurt the other ankle then, again, been out a couple weeks.
03:38But Michael Wilson now, wide receiver, he's a good player.
03:42He's a good, solid player, but he's not really a threat.
03:45And one thing Arizona has not been able to do is push the ball down the field.
03:50Yeah.
03:51They are just devoid of big plays.
03:53And that includes, you know, Trey McBride, his long receptions, 27 yards.
03:58Michael Wilson, long reception, 24.
04:01Kendrick Byrne, your other receiver, slot receiver, 23 yards.
04:05It's a long reception.
04:06So, as you guys know, it becomes hard if you don't get those big chunk plays.
04:10Doesn't mean you have to go for 75 and a touchdown, but, you know, they just have not been able
04:14to, you know, push the ball down the field.
04:16And whether that's by hook or crook or design or Jacoby Brissett or whatever, you know,
04:22if you don't have big plays, you're not going to score a lot of points.
04:25You know, kind of with the thought of Trey McBride in mind, we always talk about a quarterback
04:30having that security blanket they can depend on.
04:33Can you walk us through, like, just how important is that in the life and career of a quarterback?
04:39Well, you always like that security blanket, right?
04:43In football and in life, you like a security blanket.
04:47But, you know, the tight end is always going to be that guy because the throw is typically
04:51you're not throwing across the field, right?
04:53They're shorter throws.
04:54They're over the middle.
04:55You're not throwing sideline routes where if you're six inches behind on an out route,
05:00it could be a pick six.
05:02So, those guys are always the same.
05:04But, see, typically, you never see a tight end doubled, right?
05:08You never see double coverage go to a tight end.
05:11It's always going to the wide receiver because they're the bigger threat.
05:14But, with Trey McBride, I mean, caught 126 balls last year, right?
05:2011 touchdowns.
05:21He's on pace for 143 receptions this year.
05:24And that's not a two-game sample size.
05:26I mean, you're almost halfway into the season and the guy is on pace for 143 receptions.
05:33But Jeremiah Love, to me, is going to be the key for them Sunday.
05:36You know, how healthy he is, again, it appears he will play, but how healthy will he be?
05:43And when you look at that Philadelphia game, I truly believe that Saquon Barkley had been
05:49healthy and they've been able to sustain what he was doing early on.
05:53I'm not saying the Cowboys lose, but that is a totally different ballgame because they
05:58had no answer for him early on.
06:00And I don't think they were going to have an answer for the rest of the game.
06:03And I know it goes beyond just this one part of the defense, but what have been your thoughts
06:08about the defensive line?
06:09Because we talked with Jerry again this morning, and he just really continues to be effusive
06:14in his praise of this defensive line for the Cowboys.
06:19Well, I think individually they've been good.
06:21I know people have been kind of, I don't want to say down on Quinton Williams, but I think
06:25he's played a lot better than people are kind of giving him credit for.
06:29And maybe when you sign that big deal and everybody thinks you're going to make every
06:33play, every tackle on every play, and that's just not going to happen.
06:36But, you know, he's been good.
06:37Abonia has been great, as you guys have pointed out.
06:40I mean, he, I mean, now let me just say, I never studied him coming into this season,
06:44but just watching him, I'm thinking, well, how did they get this guy?
06:49How did they land this guy?
06:50Quinton Williams is supposed to be good, right?
06:51He's supposed to be what he has been.
06:55But Abonia has just, to me, been really their best find defensively.
07:00And, you know, you look at the defense and you can make excuses, you can have reasons,
07:05whatever you want to call them, but they should be getting better.
07:08You know, Joey Porter, obviously big addition, and, you know, he hasn't hit his stride.
07:15You know, Christian Parker getting a feel, not only for the, I don't want to say the defensive
07:19play calling, because I think that's sometimes overrated.
07:23When you have good players, either side of the ball, you tend to be a better play caller.
07:28But he's getting a feel for his players, and they're getting a feel.
07:30We see some of the adjustments they've made in terms of playing time, right?
07:34We saw more of Elijah Clark.
07:36We've seen more of Malachi Lawrence.
07:38So as the season's going on, they're fitting these pieces in.
07:42And then, as we know, they're getting people back defensively.
07:45The Overshone came back.
07:46They're going to get some of the, you know, they've got some of the safety, and Kobe Durant's
07:50going to be back.
07:51And so they should be better.
07:53You know, some of these teams are losing their people, and they're losing them for the season.
07:58That hasn't happened to the Cowboys, and they're actually, again, going to be getting some of
08:02these guys back, which should only help.
08:05You know, Kevin asked me a question earlier that I now will ask to you.
08:09And Kevin's asked this question a couple different times, because there have been some
08:14Dak throws that just haven't looked right.
08:16And I've seen him throw off his tippy-toes a couple times, and I'm not quite sure if that
08:21was always in his mechanics.
08:22Does he look like he's throwing a little bit differently to you, babe?
08:27No, I don't see that.
08:30You know, the bottom line is, you're not going to hit every throw.
08:32I work with some quarterbacks, and they get upset if they miss a throw, you know, when
08:37we're just worried.
08:38I said, hey, let it go.
08:40Tom Brady missed throws, believe it or not.
08:42Tom Brady missed guys.
08:43You're kidding me.
08:45He did.
08:46He did.
08:48And so I do not see that.
08:51I think he's playing very well.
08:54We all well-documented the blitz and how many times he was getting hit and beat up and
08:59throwing in those games against Tampa Bay and Green Bay, and they didn't do a great job
09:04protecting him.
09:05But again, he threw half the number of passes against, he threw 27 balls.
09:10He threw 54 in Green Bay.
09:13And obviously, that's not a winning form for any quarterback.
09:16You know, the running game is such a big part of it.
09:19All of it.
09:19And we know that.
09:20It all plays into it.
09:22You know, you talk about complementary football, and people usually talk about that, offense,
09:27defense, special teams.
09:28But there's complementary offensive football.
09:31You know, you're able to run the ball.
09:32Then here comes the play action.
09:34And your quarterback isn't having to drop back.
09:36And not only that, running the ball better, like they did last week, your offensive line
09:42isn't in the position of pass blocking all day long.
09:45Which is, you know, as Clayton Adams said the other day, the Cowboys offensive coordinator,
09:49he said, that may be one of the toughest things in sports.
09:53And I agree with him.
09:55Some of these pass rushers are dealing with, you know, they're tough.
09:58And if they know, they can just pin their ears back, and you're going to throw it 30
10:02straight times.
10:03You're going to have a long day.
10:05And so are they.
10:07And I'm definitely with you about pretty much all of that.
10:12And I'm with you about Dak playing well.
10:16I think the concern that I have continued to have is you see a lot, a lot of underthrows
10:22on these deep balls, which just make me wonder about, like, is that just a miscommunication?
10:29Is he struggling?
10:30Is it because of some of the hits to the ribs?
10:33Because my concerns have been about the consistent underthrows on these deep passes.
10:39Yeah, you know, they had the sluggo to CD, the slant and go, where CD broke open.
10:44And it was funny, because I was saying the last thing you want to do on that throw is
10:48overshoot the guy, right?
10:50You know he's open.
10:51What happens is you tend to guide the ball a little bit, because you know, okay, he's
10:56so open in your mind.
10:58You know, it just happens like that.
11:01But you say, don't overshoot him.
11:03Don't overthrow him.
11:04Make sure we get the completion, which they got.
11:07So you can have that really pretty ball that's six inches over his head, and everything looks
11:13great, but you don't get the completion.
11:14So I'm not really concerned about the deep balls, and he threw two beautiful fades in
11:20the corner for touchdowns.
11:22So I don't look at it like, wow, he's struggling with the deep ball.
11:25Let's face it, when the ball's in the air, 40, 50, 60 yards downfield, you're just not
11:31going to hit all those, right?
11:32Sure.
11:33So I haven't looked at it and said, boy, he's struggling with the deep ball.
11:38A quick note, Darren Urban covered the Cardinals for 27 years.
11:45Kevin says that Milla Fleur said Jeremiah Love will play Sunday against the Cowboys.
11:51So that does kind of help a little bit in that conversation.
11:53I wanted to stick with what Dave just said, though.
11:55So Kevin pointed out that the improbability of the George Pickens catch was like .01.
12:02It was 14.9%, which was the lowest probability of a catch of George Pickens' career.
12:09That was insane, babe.
12:11You know, I'll be honest with you.
12:13I do not get wrapped up in catch probability.
12:15I really don't.
12:17But did you, but when you saw the. . .
12:20Did anybody. . .
12:21So what was the percentage?
12:2314.9%?
12:24Correct.
12:25Did anybody say, you know, look more like 16.7% to me?
12:30It looked more like 1% to me.
12:33Like him getting his foot and not rolling it over into the sideline was just like. . .
12:47People, fans, coaches, they will call for the uncatchable ball, right?
12:53If their defender gets flagged for pass interference, we all see, you know, that hand go over the head.
12:58Yeah.
12:58Hey, that was uncatchable.
12:59There's no such thing as uncatchable in the NFL anymore.
13:03Because these guys are uncatchable.
13:04I'm not kidding.
13:05I mean, is there?
13:07They're making catches that. . .
13:11Years ago, yeah, you might have said, hey, that's uncatchable.
13:13Well, but he just actually caught it.
13:16Yeah, it's insane.
13:17It's insane.
13:18And so that's why, honestly, the officials are instructed or whatnot.
13:23I mean, it has to be 15 feet over the guy's head.
13:27It's not the official's job to say, boy, I don't think. . .
13:30Yeah, I think it was uncatchable.
13:32You know, it's got to be in the stands, practically, before they deem it an uncatchable ball.
13:37Right.
13:37Now, going back to the defense for Arizona, they have really struggled with getting pressure on the quarterback, except for
13:50Buda Baker.
13:51And, like, I know we have ideas.
13:54I'm only laughing.
13:55Your safety is leading your team in sacks.
13:57In everything.
13:58He's leading in everything.
13:59Exactly.
14:00And so, like, Buda Baker is a good player, but it does feel like, in most scenarios, if your safety
14:07is leading the team in sacks, that's probably not where you want to be.
14:12Well, let me just say, Buda Baker, in my mind, he is a great player.
14:17I love Buda Baker, and if he played for a more prominent team, we'd be talking about Buda Baker for
14:25the Hall of Fame, and he still, I think, is going to be in the discussion.
14:28I mean, he's made seven straight Pro Bowls.
14:31Seven straight Pro Bowls.
14:33You know, Arizona will not have a primetime game this year, so no one will see him.
14:38I mean, you'll see him if your team plays them, but you won't sit down for Sunday night football or
14:44Monday night football and get to watch Buda Baker.
14:46But, I mean, he is one of those, you know, the Kyle Hamiltons.
14:51Obviously, Troy Polamalu is not playing anymore, but those guys where you just don't know where they'll line up and
14:58what they'll do.
14:59And I do see Caleb Downs being that type of player in the future where, you know, Buda Baker is
15:07one of those guys, again, like Caleb Downs, like a few of these guys.
15:10The closer to the ball they are, the better player they become because it just gives them an opportunity to
15:15make more plays.
15:17He's a great tackler.
15:19Obviously, we talked about he's got three and a half sacks from the safety position.
15:23I mean, I just, I love Buda Baker.
15:25He seems to make it.
15:26If he played on a better team, he would make a game-changing play like every game.
15:33Right.
15:33Somewhere in there he's going to make a game-changing play.
15:35But when you're down three touchdowns, there aren't a lot of game-changing plays for your defense to make.
15:41So you're saying pair him and Jalen Thompson up again.
15:44Okay, I see where you're going with this, babe.
15:46I see.
15:47If we just get Jalen Thompson healthy first, how about that?
15:50I would absolutely be happy with that.
15:52Babe, we did probably the deepest dive we've done on the offensive line all season, which we've done a number
15:58of them.
15:58But this looked like what you expected, this past game looked like what you kind of expected.
16:04Is that kind of feeling like they're about to hit their stride now?
16:08Well, you would hope so, right?
16:09And they individually played great last week.
16:15And collectively, they played great.
16:17They played as a unit.
16:19I mean, we saw holes.
16:20You know, I said to Brad, second effort for Javante Williams was getting back to the line of scrimmage.
16:25Second effort this time was, you know, making 8, 10, 12 yards.
16:30And now, you know, can they keep it up, right?
16:33I mean, one game, you don't say, okay, we've solved that issue.
16:36But I do think, you know, Brian Schottenheimer calling those plays.
16:41All of a sudden, you get rolling in the running game and you say, okay, I kind of like this.
16:45I kind of like this.
16:46So, you know, we'll see if that continues.
16:48I would think it would.
16:50And Arizona, as you pointed out, you know, they've struggled against the run this year.
16:55Arizona struggles against everything, don't they?
16:57They struggle as an organization.
16:59Until they roll up against the Cowboys.
17:02Well, yeah, that's crazy.
17:04Now, that is the streak they have against the Cowboys and what seems to happen.
17:09You know, half these guys tomorrow, they weren't even here last year, right?
17:13So, the notion that, hey, these guys remember that game seven years ago when Arizona came in.
17:18You know, that doesn't happen.
17:20But, you know, Arizona, they just, you know, to me, I always look at the number one picks, their first
17:26round picks.
17:27And, you know, that's where you've really got to hit in the draft.
17:30I love everybody talks about, hey, your day three picks, you've got to find contributors.
17:34But it's really the guys at the top of the draft.
17:36And you look at, you know, they've been trying to find a quarterback.
17:39Josh Rosen was taken at number 10.
17:41The very next year, they take Tyler Murray at number one.
17:43Marvin Harrison, two years ago, they take him at number four.
17:48Those guys are supposed to be certainly pro bowlers and brushing up against Hall of Fame players.
17:55And they're not even on the football team now.
17:57And, you know, that'll just kill you.
17:59You can even go back to 2006.
18:02They took Matt Leiner at number 10, right?
18:04So, they have not solved their quarterback issue in 20 years.
18:08Does it all date back to that Troy Aikman game, Kevin?
18:11Is that what you're trying to say?
18:14I remember it well.
18:15Well, 1997, Jake Plummer came in, and it was like, pass the torch.
18:19The Arizona Cardinals are the new kids in town.
18:21And that never really fanned out, did it?
18:25Well, guess what, babe?
18:26If you didn't remember it, Corey would be here to remind you of it all the freaking time.
18:33I was a kid.
18:33I mean, I guess I was in high school.
18:35But even still, it was just so brutal.
18:37But, you know, we're going to get past it this weekend.
18:39This weekend is where we exercise those demons, Kevin.
18:42Oh, good time for it.
18:43I was going to say, you know, you've got four games in front of you that, I don't want to
18:49say you should.
18:50Should has nothing to do with it.
18:51But you should really.
18:53If you think you are a good football team, you should win three of those four and then take your
18:59chances with San Francisco.
19:00You know, it's really interesting that you say that, babe, because I don't disagree with you whatsoever.
19:06But the key word you used there was good.
19:09And I sit here and I watch this team and I'm still like, I don't know.
19:14Maybe, maybe not.
19:15And again, I'm not saying they are or they are not.
19:18But if they think they are a good football team, then you beat Arizona at home.
19:24You beat Indianapolis next week, who has had their fire sale of good players.
19:29They weren't a good team to start with.
19:30And then they just jettisoned off their three best players, right?
19:34Then you have San Francisco.
19:35And then Tennessee comes here at home.
19:38And Tennessee is, they may be the worst team in the NFL, with apologies to the New York Jets and
19:43the Miami Dolphins.
19:45I'm glad you included the right teams there.
19:48He speaks true.
19:49Babe, thank you.
19:51If you think you're a good team and if you have playoff aspirations, you better win three of the next
19:55four.
19:56Absolutely.
19:56I'm with you on that.
19:58We look forward to you on the call.
19:59And thank you always for taking the time with us.
20:02We'll catch up with you next week.
20:03I appreciate it.
20:04And go Mean Green, Corey.
20:05Go Mean Green, baby.
20:07Light the power.
20:08GMG, baby.
20:09Let's go.