They'll be in every game, maybe even beat some really good teams this year, but unless something changes, they are bad enough defensively that they could get beat by just about anybody.

Yeah.

You know, they're a lot like the Detroit Lions right now, right? They're, they can score 40 points on, in any game, but they can give up 45 any week.

Uh, it's a difficult way to play, uh, very hard to succeed long-term that way.

You know, since Brian Schottenheimer took over as the Cowboys head coach, the Cowboys are the only team in the NFL that ranks in the top five offensively in points and yards and in the bottom five defensively in points and yards.

So despite their massive investment in hiring, you know, new coaches, and creating a new system, and making trades to acquire five defensive starters, using their, you know, most valuable draft picks and, uh, to, uh, uh, for collateral to, to draft defensive players, still seems like the same problems exist.

Now, maybe it'll get better, uh, as they play and as some of these guys in the secondary start to get healthy, but it just seems to be, me, that, you know, nothing's gonna change if you can't rush the quarterback.

[laughs]

who,

you know, used all his timeouts very effectively and put Schottenheimer in a situation where, you know, it's, what is it, 13 to six, and you either have to punt or try a long field goal, and all of a sudden, Brandon Aubrey's not automatic from there, and he's had to kick block two weeks in a row.

I think in that situation, you have to recognize that, hey, points are hard to come by in this game, and I can't give three away and create momentum for them at home in this situation.

And I clearly thought it was an opportunity or a moment where Schottenheimer should have punted.

I thought he blew that decision strategically.

And I get when you have a unique weapon like Brandon Aubrey and you have the defensive issues that they have.

that you might be inclined to try to score on every possession and maybe do so to your own detriment.

And isn't this – this was talked about a little bit yesterday in Schottenheimer's press conference – This is the NFL's definition, the very definition of parity, that you're playing an 0-4 team that everyone looks at as, yeah, they're not your typical 0-4 team, albeit they are missing their starting quarterback.

but really maybe more than any other time he's under fire for time management, play calling in the red zone, a number of just bad incidents on Sunday night in a game the Cowboys could have won.

Should have won.

And, you know, I think people had a lot of problems, and understandably so, with the way he managed the game and the way his coordinators managed the game.

Like, there were only seven seconds left.

How could all three phases of your football team, and presumably all three of your play callers, make such poor decisions that when you are playing to get the game to overtime, you fail to do so? And you lose in regulation.

They shouldn't have been playing for overtime to begin with, in my opinion.

Given the state of their secondary, given the reliance on their offense, the veteran status of their quarterback and their receivers, they should have been playing to win the game, even if it took four downs.

What do you think about this opponent they see this week?

But really, maybe more than any other time, he's under fire for time management, play calling in the red zone, a number of just bad incidents on Sunday night in a game the Cowboys could have won.

Should have won.

And, you know, I think people had a lot of problems, and understandably so, with the way he managed the game and the way his coordinators played.

manage the game.

Like there were only seven seconds left.

How could all three phases of your football team and presumably all three of your play callers make such poor decisions that when you are playing to get the game to overtime, you fail to do so.

And you lose in regulation.

In Chicago, it is a – September may be the craziest part of the season, isn't it, as teams are just trying to figure out what they are.

He has developed into a really, really good quarterback, and I know the playoff thing is still out there for him, but you can't really ask much more out of a guy in terms of regular season production and his leadership.

Yeah, and he's just in total command out there.

He is fully invested in preparing players.

the way you would want as a quarterback.

He knows what he's seeing.

He knows how to react and get in a favorable play.

I mean, there's really nothing he can't do.

I mean, it's headed the way that we all think, right? This is not going anywhere, is it?

He has developed into a really, really good quarterback, and I know the playoff thing is still out there for him, but you can't really ask much more out of a guy in terms of regular season production and his leadership.

Yeah, and he's just in total command out there.

He is fully invested in preparing players.

the way you would want as a quarterback.

He knows what he's seeing.

He knows how to react and get in a favorable play.

I mean, there's really nothing he can't do.

every year.

What do you think of these Giants? Is this repeatable for them, or did they just look good because they were playing the Dallas offense? It could be

either one of those things, but I do think – The approach John Harbaugh takes and the play style that he's created, the identity his teams have always had, is a very sustainable way to play.

Whether home, road, weather is less significant.

I mean, they just want to physically punish and dominate you.

And that's exactly what that offense did to the Cowboys repeatedly the other night in the game.

I mean, I don't know.

There were too many snaps.

We can do some things this week.

It's just – I mean, it's shocking that it was that bad.

And it was worse somehow than the Carolina Panthers giving up 59 points and eight touchdowns to the Chicago Bears in week one.

You know, I think a lot of it on both sides of the ball, quite honestly – is the fact that the Cowboys choose, for reasons we all understand, not to play, not to risk the injury.

They're most prominent players in the preseason.

And they might never admit that, but Dak Prescott is 2-5 now in season openers when he doesn't play in the preseason.

And another team that got upset suffered arguably a far worse upset than Dallas where the chargers went to the playoffs last year and lost to Arizona, which is regarded as one of the worst teams in football.

And Jim Harbaugh said yesterday that he regrets not using the preseason differently and getting his players that they're depending on to win games, some reps in some of these games.

What do you think of these Giants? Is this repeatable for them, or did they just look good because they were playing the Dallas offense? Yeah, it could be

Ed, pretty much same result and if anything, it was even more embarrassing.

Yeah, I think, uh, one of these teams looked like a last-place team, and it wasn't the Giants, who have finished in last place in the NFC East the last two seasons.

You know, I think, I think under John Harbaugh in his first game, the Giants were the better team.

They were more disciplined, more physical, uh, better coached.

And, you know, I think once again, just like last year, the Cowboys defense seemed a combination of poor coverage and no pressure on the quarterback, and it produced, uh, predictably disastrous results.

Cowboys, you could argue, actually had better performances in Mike Zimmer's only season as a defensive coordinator in his week one debut, and in Matt Eberflus's, uh, debut last season, even though they allowed the most points in NFL history over those, uh, two seasons.

I mean, Christian Parker's first game as the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history was not at all what we expected.

And then there's that look, you know, Ed, of just kind of, like, that glassy look like, "What just happened? How could that have happened to me? I, I don't know what I did." But Ed, let's, let's make sure we get that headline out there, a great QBR, a tremendous QBR for Dak in week one.

Tyler Smith's teammates were pretty blindsided about it whenever they found out about it, either yesterday or over the weekend, that our best player up front is out for maybe as much as six games.

Yeah, it was a bit of a shock, I think, at the start.

I went out there yesterday, and Brian Schottheimer, during his news conference, obviously made this revelation, which was completely unexpected, that Here they are a week before the start of their season with a division opponent in week one.

And just similar to last year, they unexpectedly lose their best defensive player forever when they trade Micah Parsons.

And now, six nights before they open against the Giants, they have the unexpected change of plans regarding Tyler Smith and have to bring in T.J. Bass to make the start.

And I thought... schottenheimer didn't really reveal he said that he had been having an issue with his thumb for some time and they decided to be proactive and get ahead of it and do it now which i think he was trying to say you know we didn't want to have to deal with this throughout the season and wonder when he was going to miss four to six weeks let's just miss these four to six weeks to start the season when we have better control over it but understandably the fan base is reacting with outrage as if the Cowboys had committed some egregious sin themselves in not getting this done during the offseason or during training camp and having him ready closer to the start of the season.

And my understanding about that is that it's sort of a tough thing in that, you know, given the rules, the way they are for the offseason, the number of practices you're allowed to have, they really didn't have but two – padded practices after they came back from Arizona and resume workouts at the star.

How do you think they are entering week one at those two spots?

We'll be right back.

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[laughs]

I mean, when you weigh those two things, I mean, what do you make of the speculation on both sides of that game a- and what we might see going forward?

I think in, in terms of the two coaches, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh, who are meeting for, what, a historic number of times, uh, 40th meeting between the two.

Um, I, I think both of them, uh, you know, having won Super Bowls and, and being with the franchises as long as they have, and having the success they've created for each, I think each of them is gonna have a strong voice in whenever they leave the organization and under whatever circumstances that may be.

I mean, the Steel- Mike Tomlin's the third coach the Steelers have had since 1969, so I find it hard to believe that they would fire Mike Tomlin.

I think Tomlin would only leave if that's what he wanted to do.

Um, obviously the organization could urge him in that direction, but they owe him...

I think both of the coaches are signed through ni- through 2027.

If you, if you have to handicap it, I mean, no one-- you're not wishing these guys are gonna get fired, but if you had to be sort of speculating on who's the most likely to be, uh, on the outs on Black Monday, who'd be on your list?

I mean, when you weigh those two things, I mean, what do you make of the speculation on both sides of that game a- and what we might see going forward?

I think in, in terms of the two coaches, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh, who are meeting for what, a historic number of times, [laughs] uh, 40th meeting between the two.

Um, I, I think both of them, uh, you know, having won Super Bowls and, and being with the franchises as long as they have and having the success they've created for each, I think each of them is gonna have a strong voice in whenever they leave the organization and under whatever circumstances that may be.

I mean, the Steel- Mike Tomlin's the third coach the Steelers have had since 1969.

So I find it hard to believe that they would fire Mike Tomlin.

I think Tomlin would only leave if that's what he wanted to do.

Um, obviously the organization would urge him in that direction, but they owe him...

You're not wishing these guys are gonna get fired, but if you had to be sort of speculating on who's the most likely to be, uh, on the outs on Black Monday, who'd be on your list?

(laughs)

...

in the organization and might lose all of the re- remaining votes.

I think the media would like to have, keep Jerry around.

He's, uh, he's obviously good for what we do, always has been good for our business.

But yeah, I mean, I thought that was one of the interesting things about this documentary and the timing, and one of the things that struck me while watching it was...When Jerry came here in 1989, he was vilified, he was hated.

Uh, very, you know, strong dislike for him for, you know, firing Tom Landry, uh, franchise icon, even though he had been losing and many people, including his bosses within the organization, Tex Schramm, thought the end was, had come or was near for Tom Landry.

It comes down to how threatening is this team? If everybody is on the field, how good are the Cowboys?

M- and, and did you learn anything new? And I know you're, you're, uh, interviewed in this, but why now for a Cowboy documentary?

Uh, I think it's kind of a, a legacy s- you know, piece for Jerry.

He's 82 years old.

They've been irrelevant in terms of competing for championships for 30 years.

Uh, I think Jerry wanted, you know, something that sort of documented his place in the NFL and, and how it all began and what he accomplished during, uh, his career.

And he wanted to take credit for certain things for which he has not yet been given credit.

Um, and, I mean, there's just always, there's always a- the soap opera.

Comes down to how threatening is this team? If everybody's on the field, how good are the Cowboys?