00:00We bring to you our Dallas Cowboys insider, Mickey Spagnola. Good morning, sir.
00:06Good morning, guys. How are you?
00:08We're doing fantastic, Mickey. How was practice yesterday for some of these injured fellows out there?
00:16Well, I think as for the two guys that I think you're probably asking about, obviously,
00:25um, uh, Porter didn't do much at all, so he was inactive or did not practice, and, uh, Pickens was
00:35limited,
00:36but when I saw them doing individual drills, like throwing passes or whatever, skeleton-type stuff,
00:43he was running along the side. He wasn't actively in the plays, but he was running, so we'll see if
00:51either one of the guys improved today, uh, this would be significant because today would be the
00:57padded practice. And then, uh, Kevante Turpin was running really hard. I know they listed him as
01:04limited, uh, but I think that he's got a pretty good chance of getting back out there.
01:09Mickey, we were talking earlier about the, the, the word I use is intensity and urgency regarding
01:16the way that the San Francisco 49ers play. And they, they just, for as long as I can remember,
01:23always played with this way. Yeah. Going back to whenever, you know, the Cowboys were battling
01:29with them for Super Bowls. Was there ever been a dip-off that you can remember where they didn't
01:33have this, your physical defense is going to, going to be there and they're going to play with
01:38this kind of intensity and urgency? Well, I mean, I don't know how far back you want to go,
01:45uh, because I know the last four games, the 49ers have won, right? And two of them
01:52have been in the playoffs. Uh, but if you go from 2001, uh, to 2020, the Cowboys won seven of
02:00nine
02:01games. So those things kind of get just, you know, uh, forgotten about because of the, you know,
02:15because if you go through history, uh, in NFC title games, uh, the Cowboys are four and two
02:22against San Francisco, but the problem is they won a Superbowl more recently. Yeah. And, and the two
02:29that they lost were, you know, big games, right? The 81 game, the catch, and then, uh, the 94 NFC
02:37title game, uh, played out there. Uh, so that interrupted the Cowboys opportunity to win
02:44three, maybe four straight Superbowls. So yeah, uh, recent history. Yeah. They've played well.
02:51Uh, but again, um, you know, those playoff games that, you know, they, they didn't exactly get
02:58wiped out. They got beat 23, 17 and 19 to 12. And you're right. Uh, it, uh, San Francisco was
03:07much
03:07more physical in those games, uh, than, than the Cowboys were. And I think that led to what one of
03:15the games was the one Dak tried to run and set up, uh, the final play 14 seconds and they
03:21ran out of
03:22time. Right. Yeah. So, uh, they, they weren't wiped out now the last time they are in 2023,
03:30the regular season game, they did get beat 42 to 10. Uh, but, uh, 2024 was 30, 24. So they
03:39were kind
03:40of in there. They just didn't win. Now, when you talk about that level of physicality, obviously Fred
03:46Warner exists and haunts my dreams and nightmares as a football player.
03:54Yes. And he probably should, right? Yes.
03:59So I, I mean, I don't know what you do with them. Uh, you know, it's going to take a,
04:05a pretty good
04:06game plan up front for, uh, the offensive line, um, you know, to get off, uh, I mean, get off
04:14their
04:14blocks and get to the next level to try to take care of him. Uh, yeah, he, he is pretty,
04:21uh, disruptive. Um, but you know, Atlanta scored 29 points on him. Um, Seattle scored 29 points on
04:30him. Arizona scored 30 points on him. So it can be done. Now, are you good enough to do it?
04:38And
04:38that's what it'll come down to. You know, and that, that is an interesting question because you talked
04:43about how close some of these matchups have been in your right, but for whatever reason,
04:48and partially, obviously just because they have a lot of good defensive personnel,
04:51Dak Prescott has struggled against the 49ers statistically a good bit more than he has
04:57against most teams he's faced in the NFL. Um, yeah. Although didn't he beat him the first time
05:05he played him? I think that is, I believe it was 2016. I think that is correct. Since then one
05:11in
05:11four and is all around stats, 10 passing touchdowns versus eight interceptions against the 49ers,
05:18which is, you know, as you've seen his career disproportionate to the usual turnover ratio he
05:24has across the rest of his career. Yeah. And it's not, is it the franchise or is it the team?
05:30Because those two playoff games, that was what 20, help me here. It was the 2021 season and the 2022
05:40season. So I would imagine that teams changed over. And so have the Cowboys, but you're right.
05:46You know, those seasons, the Cowboys were, uh, winning or winning or finishing second place in the,
05:53uh, NFC East. So yeah, they had good teams and they never scored more than 17 and then 12 points.
06:00In those two playoff losses. Although they did put up 24 in 2024, but I'm trying to remember if Dak
06:10was
06:10actually still playing at that point. Now I it's, it's been hard to kind of spotlight certain
06:16performances because overall the season has been rough for the Cowboys. Do you feel like it's gone
06:22underappreciated? The crazy numbers that CD lamb has been putting up thus far this year, whether it's
06:29most catches through eight games, now most catches through nine games, and he's already has eye
06:34popping numbers for this point in the season. Yeah. And if you just look at his career and all
06:41the things that, uh, he's been able to accomplish, you know, it's like somehow he gets left out of that
06:48conversation about, Oh, here are the top two, top three wide receivers in the league. And I'm not sure,
06:55uh, why, uh, and I, and I see where, uh, there's a stat in the Cowboys release. He's the first
07:04player
07:04in NFL history with at least 70 receptions and 900 receiving yards in each of his first seven career
07:13seasons. That's pretty darn good. Right. And the Cowboys have had some pretty good wide receivers in
07:20their day. Uh, so again, uh, yeah, what he does, uh, is, is, is rather remarkable, you know, and before
07:30then it was like last year and early this year. Well, it's because, you know, they got two pro bowl
07:35wide receivers. Well, there was no pickings last week, right? 10 catches, 195. Uh, and he got,
07:43I thought ripped off of two more catches for those offensive pass interference calls. Uh, so yeah,
07:51he's been, he's been awfully good. And, and, you know, the other guy that's been awfully good too is
07:58Quentin Williams. Uh, if you just look at what he's been doing the last four games, uh, and, and really,
08:05uh,
08:05if, if you look at what he's done over now, he's played 17 games, a full season, uh, with the
08:12Cowboys
08:13and, and, and, and for a defensive tackle over those 17 games, he's got, he's got like 56 tackles
08:20and defensive tackles. Usually our guys kind of in the middle, right? Unless your name's Aaron Donald
08:25and you, you, you're absorbing some blocks so the linebackers can do their job. Well, you know,
08:32he's setting records on tackles for losses, uh, which is rather remarkable for a defensive tackle.
08:40And, you know, when I started looking at, I know Jason Hatcher had a Pro Bowl season in 2013. Uh,
08:47but
08:47if you look at, uh, you know, from this century, Cowboys defensive tackles, you would have to go back
08:55to little Roy Glover when the Cowboys signed him as a free agent. And he had four straight years as
09:01a,
09:01uh, as a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, but the rest, this guy is playing at an awfully high level that
09:09we haven't seen from the Cowboys. And I know they had good in the nineties defensive tackles,
09:15the Casillas is, uh, Leon Lett, Russell Maryland, Chad Hennings. Yeah. But I don't know that they've
09:22had the impact he has had like in the last four or five games with the sacks, um, and the
09:30tackles for
09:31losses. Uh, you know, and I would hate to say, well, we got to go all the way back to
09:35Randy White
09:36to see a defensive tackle in Cowboys history play like this. Uh, but he's playing at a really high
09:43level. Uh, and it's, I think his reemergence has had something to do with this defense, you know,
09:52save a couple plays every game, seemingly having turned things around. If you look at just points
09:59scored. Does that, does that make the concept of the defense this year and how, and how they've
10:07improved so frustrating? Because at least last year, I could look at the defense and be like,
10:11no, they're just fundamentally not good. They're not good across the board. They're almost always
10:16not good. And I don't have hope. Whereas this year it feels like the defense gives me hope and
10:22then expertly takes it away at times with the plays you were just talking about.
10:27Yeah. That's the maddening thing. Cause it's like for two, a half, you go, okay, this is
10:32encouraging for most of a third quarter. You go, Oh, this is encouraging. When they beat
10:38Philadelphia, they shut them down in the fourth quarter and it's like, okay, this is getting
10:42better. And then you get the 55 yard swing pass and the 36 yard run and the 63 yard run
10:53and you're going, well, where did that come from? Uh, so it's kind of the inconsistency.
10:59I liked Christian Parker's, uh, last week when he did his deal, uh, somebody mentioned about
11:07communication and, and, and he kind of said sometime communication, uh, is a, uh, how did
11:16he put it? Like a word you use when guys aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing, right?
11:22Sometimes it's not communication, it's execution and not doing what you're supposed to do, or
11:28maybe you're not good enough to do what you need to do. Right. Uh, so yeah, I thought that
11:34was a really good example of not using that as an excuse, uh, for letting those big plays
11:42leak out the way they have. I just want to point out, Kevin, I feel like Mickey said that,
11:46uh, Quentin Williams is the next Randy White. So that was what I gathered from, uh, from that
11:52just a moment ago. The manster part two. Mickey, the, um, the, the, the, we were talking about
11:58George Kittle a little bit earlier and I'm kind of curious after seeing Caleb Downs and McBride,
12:04uh, how, how do you think that eliminating or slowing George Kittle can happen with this defense?
12:12Yeah. Um, and, and, and that, that's, that's going to be a problem. But again, to me, you
12:20take care of reception problems by getting to the quarterback and they've done a much better
12:25job of, uh, of getting to quarterbacks over the last, uh, few games. And so, uh, I don't,
12:33you know, do sacks mean, uh, that, you know, you're playing much better, uh, on defense, but I
12:41mean, if you look at it in the, uh, last, uh, last, what four, four or five games, uh, when
12:48it came to sacking quarterbacks. So they had two against, uh, uh, the Colts, five against
12:55Arizona, two against Philadelphia, three against, uh, Green Bay. So in, in those last four games,
13:05they were getting, they are getting to the quarterback. Now, can you continue to do that?
13:09Because San Francisco does a really good job of keeping Purdy clean in the pocket, right?
13:15Yeah. And they've got a really good offensive line. Uh, so again, uh, you know, when, when
13:21I see you're going up against a big time, uh, receiver or tight end, well, to me, it comes
13:27down to the easiest way to cover that guy is get to the quarterback, get pressure on
13:33him. And the Cowboys have been do, I think they've been, you know, it's appears, you know,
13:38I don't know what next gen stats says or whatever, but they seem to be doing a better job of,
13:45uh,
13:45maybe being more aggressive upfront defensively to try to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
13:52And, you know, sometimes, you know, you end up with a sack that lands in your lap just
13:58because you've got a concerted pass rush. And of late, um, gosh, I hate to say this, but
14:05they've seemingly kept quarterbacks more contained in the pocket, or maybe they just haven't
14:11played guys that are kind of running quarterbacks, but they've done a better job of keeping those
14:18guys contained and the quarterbacks not putting up 50, 70 yards rushing. Appreciate it. Good
14:24sir. We'll catch you again tomorrow. All right. It'll be Friday, right? That's right. Prediction
14:31time. I'm going to have to sleep on this one as you always should.
