In this episode, Taylor reacts To the Dallas Cowboys finally beating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When he talks about the Cowboys, he praises the balanced playcalling of Kellen Moore, the solid play of Dak Prescott and the offensive line, the rejuvenated defense & then worries about Brett Maher after 4 missed extra points. When he focuses on the Buccaneers, he talks about the out of sync offense and it’s contribution to the loss, the firing of Byron Leftwich, and what’s next for Tom Brady and the franchise.
In this episode, Taylor reacts To the Dallas Cowboys finally beating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When he talks about the Cowboys, he praises the balanced playcalling of Kellen Moore, the solid play of Dak Prescott and the offensive line, the rejuvenated defense & then worries about Brett Maher after 4 missed extra points. When he focuses on the Buccaneers, he talks about the out of sync offense and it’s contribution to the loss, the firing of Byron Leftwich, and what’s next for Tom Brady and the franchise.
Taylor: What's up, everybody? It's the round table sports podcast. My name is Taylor McLean coming to you after an exciting weekend of NFL playoff football, and we're get into our second game of the week, the Dallas Cowboys win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Real quick, let's give a shout out to the sponsor, Evergreen Power Solutions. They're concierge power company for our Texas listeners only. You give them a call, they go in there, take a look at your current power situation or what you have available to you in your area, get you the lowest rate possible at that time. And then if you're like me and you don't go in and check on these things as time goes on, they'll go back in there, renegotiate for you and either get you a lower rate or keep your rate the same. That way you don't have to take part in higher energy prices or you're getting a lower rate. One way or the other, you're getting some help there. Give them a call, 886-6586, use prompt number two and let them know that the Roundtable Sports Podcast sent you. Now let's get on to the Cowboys win over the Buccaneers. I think a lot of Cowboys fans, especially anybody who's followed the team in the last 30 years or so, had some mixed feelings and some troubled emotions when it was leading up to this game versus Tom Brady. And having never beaten him before was one thing. But then you talk about the streak with the playoff games going into this game. They had lost eight straight playoff games on the road, and they hadn't won since the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco in 1991. And then throw in the fact that I was ten the last time that we won and it felt like the winning would last forever. And then it's been that long since that we've been able to win a road playoff game or do anything really significant in the playoffs. And then throw in the fact that it's Tom Brady and he's capable of turning on the juice at any given time, and you've got a mix of events that has Cowboys fans really worried going into the game and maybe mistrusting what they had seen all season. In my heart of hearts, I knew that the Cowboys were the better team and that they should win the game. But after so many different playoff gaffes and different weird coaching decisions that the Cowboys have made throughout the season, and it definitely left me with a little bit more trempidation than it probably should have. And then, of course, you trade a couple of drives right up front with them and don't look good on offense for that first small little bit, and you've got your host here feeling some type of way about what's going on. Luckily, the Cowboys were able to turn it on and get the offense going. That first successful drive had some nice elements to it even though a roughing the passer was in the middle of it. You kind of saw some things that were going to permeate throughout the game with Gallop making a really nice catch for the first down to get him going, and then also the Tony Pollard run that got them down there. And then, of course, they lose Dalton Schultz in the mix and get the touchdown. Throw in that drive and then throw in Dak, finishing off the second touchdown drive with a naked bootleg. That was really beautiful. And you've got a confident Cowboys team that seemed to have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their heels the rest of the game. Have to give credit to Kellen Moore and the way that they ran the offense today. He did a really good job of mixing up the plays, going on first down, running play action and giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a lot to look at and it led to a good amount of confusion on their side of the ball that the Cowboys were able to take advantage of. And I think that getting up even though it was just twelve to nothing let's not talk about the extra points quite yet. But getting up the two scores kind of took the pressure off the Cowboys and they were able to do their thing the rest of the night. But give credit where it's too. KellyMORE called a nice game and it really did feel like they got the bucks to that point where they didn't know on any given play whether they were going to run or pass. And that's where you get the defense on a string a little bit and you're able to pull them along instead of them being able to dictate where the game takes place like the Cowboys defense was able to. Part of what made Kellen successful with his play calls and in this game was the DAC looked really comfortable and was throwing a nice ball throughout 25 for 33, 305 yards. And for the first time in eight games, he played a turnover free game as well. Those are the things you want to see from DAC. And with the protection he was getting last night, and with the play action fakes they were making, and the timing of everything, you saw DAC in his most confident state. And when he was able to get back in his drop, make a step, and then step into a throw with confidence. He's extremely dangerous. And when he's seeing the field that well, so are the Cowboys. And it wasn't like he was just making super wide open throws that were in the flow of the offense. He was making off schedule throws and he was being accurate and staying on platform a lot of the time to really drive the ball down the field and pass the Buccaneers defenders, and it was highly successful. Gallup was making strong catches, CD. Lamb was making strong catches and like I said it wasn't just wide open. DAC was putting it where they could go get it and they were getting up there and getting it for their quarterback. It was a beautiful thing to watch. And the downfield passing especially is based on feel and timing and has very thin margins. So when you're able to get enough of them off and make enough of those plays, you know that your offense is aligned and everybody's really hitting on all cylinders. And that was definitely the case for the Cowboys and that was definitely the case for DAC in this game, which was great to see after he'd taken a lot of flack in the last couple of weeks, and rightfully so. They hadn't looked all that good, especially in the previous game. But then again, you have to take into account that the Cowboys decided not to really show anybody anything in that last week running. Very little play action compared to what they did tonight in all season, as well as the motion that was also prevalent throughout the game plan. So it was a little bit of a mislead to base DAX actual ability to perform and madden rating, if you will, on those last couple of weeks when the Cowboys were doing a lot of coasting at that time. But still, it's good to see them come out against a heavyweight quarterback at least. And they have won a Super Bowl within the last two years, so it's not like there isn't a skeleton of a contending team here at the very least. So see the Cowboys come out and fire and come out and seem like they had their s together on offense was extremely encouraging when it hasn't always looked like that this season, even though you know they're capable. They had to work in Gallop and get him up to speed after coming off the injury, and then Dalton Schultz was hurt for a good part of the season. DAC missed a good part of the season up front. You had to get him working and up to speed and that takes time and that takes effort. And the Cowboys have been putting in that effort and it definitely paid off today. The other thing about DAC that was different in this game, that you can't overlook that he increased his willingness to take the ball and run with it himself. I knew when I saw the first run where he kind of mixed it up a little bit to just get like three or four yards instead of going down for the sack, I knew that that was a good sign when I saw it. And then the naked bootleg just kind of kicked things off into overdrive. And you saw DAC looking good, running the ball, looking healthy while doing so and getting not only that fourth down for the touchdown that really got everything kicked off, but also converting for a first down in a key situation when he had green grass in front of him. He was willing to take it and he kind of went into like a playoff mode confidence with that part of his game. And I've always said for quarterbacks, it's a very thin line. It's a tightrope that you have to walk when it comes to running the ball. As a quarterback. You don't want to put yourself too out there and risk injury on one side of it so that it can be a little extreme if you have to run the ball as a quarterback to sustain offense, but at the same time you can't not run at all and be a stationary target at the very least. And it makes a lot of sense to make the defense think about you running the ball by dashing them a couple of times when they don't have somebody covering you or when you have green grass in front of you. DAC did that. Plus, honestly, it doesn't hurt to call a run or two to let the other team know that you will. It's just something to make the team worry about, to open up everything else down the field if they have somebody spying the quarterback, which didn't seem that was necessary, but if they do, then that means that that's one less guy to double a receiver or to be out in zone coverage or whatever it is. So that's another way that running quarterbacks can win. It's just can. Those running quarterbacks take advantage of the pocket passing elements when they do spy them and they do contain them and force them to beat them within the pocket. Where DAC separates himself from some of the other quarterbacks that have the ability to run is that he has a little bit more ability in the pocket as well. He's kind of a nice balance between the two when everything is going right. And just like Tom Brady, he kind of turned it on a little bit and got into playoff mode and was a little bit more willing to mix it up with the defenders while running the ball. While he was still careful, don't get me wrong, but he just looked a little bit more like vintage DAC when he was at his best. And that's a really encouraging thing to see when it's probably going to be equal parts on. The defense and offense for the Cowboys to win these games if they want to advance in the playoffs before we get to said defense, who also looked rejuvenated in this game as well. I did want to talk a little bit about the offensive line. They did a really good job of working against what should be a pretty good front for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It's not ideal that Vitave leads them in Sachs. They lost Jack Barrett and didn't resign. Jason pierre Paul from last year. So that took a little cream off the coffee as far as their edge rushing goes, but they're still forbidtable with the next guys up that they have and then also having a Keem Hicks up the middle to go. With Vita Vea and then throw in Levante, david fill in Carl Nassib, Antoine Winfield, Devon White, and you have what should be a pretty good defense overall. Not to leave out Carlton Davis and the rest of the secondary, but they didn't seem to have it going on quite as well to make that list. But regardless of all that that I just kind of ran down their lineup, the Cowboys did a good job of keeping them off of Deck Prescott, only giving up the one sack and then really only giving up twelve pressures overall. Deck did get hit five times, but still it was it was impressive to see the line play the way that it did, especially losing Jason Peters midway through the game. The good thing is that Tyler Beatish was healthy. Even though he didn't have a great game from a past blocking standpoint, he had a lot to deal with and so did Conor McGovern. Luckily, he was able to step in there and move Tyler out to left tackle. I think Jason Peters in a vacuum is probably better than Conor McGovern, but I think that Tyler Smith makes up for that difference. I think he's a lot more effective at left tackle and I just seem to like that configuration a little bit more because it's had a little bit more time. Jason is a little older and does get tired. And then like I said, I think Tyler Smith, with his mobility, strength and just the way he plays the game, is just better at left tackle. So there's that. Peter hurt his hip and he is 40 years old, so he might need a couple of weeks to get everything under control. We'll see. They haven't really come out and said quite yet, but it does seem to be a multi week thing, which at this point in the playoffs, you don't handle your business, there won't be multiple weeks. So Cowboys did earn that in this game, so there will be for them for one more week at the very least. But nothing is a given and it's hard to see Peters coming back at his age and with what happened. But the good thing is I like Connor and I like Tyler where they're at, as long as Bautist is there and we don't have to worry about whoever the next person is, because that does make us a little thin. We're kind of on our last guy. Even though McGovern and Tyler Beatish are just kind of guys, we don't want to really deal with the next string of personnel when it comes to the offensive line. That would be really bad. This win was a lot about the offense for the Cowboys, for sure, no doubt. But it's also about the defense as well. I said before the season that if the Dallas cowboys were to do anything in this upcoming year that Micah Parsons would have to build on top of his already great rookie season and become the next coming of Lawrence Taylor. And in the beginning of the season, I believed that to be true. He kind of slowed down a little bit towards the middle of the end of the season, seemed like he was kind of working through some stuff injury wise and illness wise and got through it just fine and played right, but he didn't seem like he was causing the same amount of havoc he had in the past. And while the numbers don't necessarily jump off the page as far as what he did, you could tell when you were watching the film that he was feeling good and that he was getting after it. The Cowboys were able to get a total of 24 pressures on Tom Brady. Micah had six of them, and for a lot of the other guys, pressures and for them getting in there, part of it was Micah flushing Tom to their side and getting him off point, which allows everybody else to eat. And it wasn't just a one person show either. Dorin, Samsung, O, Diggy Zoo, hell Late Banderesh was mixing it up in there, so there was a lot going on. Hankins didn't have as great a game, but it was good to have his size back in there. And then, of course, DeMarcus Lawrence, who didn't seem to have as big an impact, but also had Tristan worfs to deal with most of the time. I felt like Micah was coming off the left side and testing Donovan Smith more in this game because worfs is really good, and honestly, it should probably be their left tackle and it's only their right tackle because I think it would throw Donovan Smith off too much to switch sides. He has enough problems as it is. He's okay, but he seems to have some problem with his hands or there's just something lacking when it comes to his play overall. And even with getting Jensen back, they were still vulnerable up the middle as well. So the Cowboys did a great job of taking advantage of that. They haven't been great at their second cornerback position since losing Anthony. Getting Xavier Rhodes in there for some snaps certainly kind of made things look a little different. He wasn't just great or anything, but he does at least know where to be. And that had been an issue for the Cowboys with Kelvin Joseph, aka Boss Man Fat, and then, of course, the three safeties were out there prowling as well. I really love Donovan Wilson and Jay Ron Kirsten. I like Malik Hooker, okay, but really it's the other two that really get me going. And Malik allows both of them to be out there with a third safety out there who is competent and makes tackles, too. So those three guys are a big part of what makes the Cowboys defense work as well as Layton and Anthony Barr playing well on the second level. It's been a group effort and they were certainly able to get Brady off his mark and tee up off of him. Having Brady be so stationary in the pocket was a big part of it. And they were able to tee up and really penetrate whether it was run or pass and then deal with whatever was happening with the play afterwards. Because they knew that Brady couldn't beat them down the field with his legs when he squirted out of the side or anything like your jalen hurts and whatnot can you have to be a little bit more disciplined and a little bit more run. Lane and rush. Lane. Cognizant when you're playing someone like that versus someone like Tom Brady, who you kind of have a pretty good idea that he's going to be within a certain five yard radius at any given time and you just have to rush towards that. It's a big reason that you're seeing teams go towards the model of having a running quarterback because it's a lot harder to deal with these past rushes that these teams are able to put out on the field. Otherwise. Final thing on the Cowboys was pretty disturbing. Despite having the win and all the Tom Brady stuff that we got over in this game, brett Maher missing four extra points, becoming the first player to ever miss four extra points in a game was pretty disturbing. He pushed the first two to the right. He was kicking from the left side. Seemed like that was his preferred way to kind of kick into it in that way. Then after the first two he stepped in there and over corrected and nearly hit the left upright with the kick and then he pushed it again to the left on the fourth one. It was not great. And the thing is he had been really good going into the game. He'd been hitting long field goals with regularity and had actually been a weapon for the Cowboys going into this. So it seems like there's going to be a lot of soul searching for Cowboys fans and ownership and management alike going into this week against the San Francisco 49. Ers. You need to have confidence in your kicker, especially when you're an organization like the Cowboys that have been let down so many different times by different things and San Francisco is really good. Their defense, I believe, is better than what Tampa Bay is putting out there and offers different problems. Offers an obvious mismatch for anybody. With Nick Bosa on the outside and Eric Armstead on the inside, they're able to attack a lot of different ways. And they've got really good coverage in the linebackers. They've got playmakers in the secondary. So going to need everything all hands on deck and to have your kicker develop the yips in a playoff game is truly terrifying, and it's something the Cowboys and everybody should be watching going forward. And that doesn't help him at all because he's got to know that the pressure is even more on at this point. And Jerry hasn't said that they're going to get somebody else. I've got to think they're thinking about it. But initially he said that he's done enough in the season to trust him even with this. And then they said they're going to take it day by day, kind of watch him and whatnot. So not the biggest votes of confidence necessarily, but a vote of some type of confidence. So we'll have to watch that part of the Cowboys going into this next game on the other side of the ball. I'm not sure that I would say this is a tough loss exactly. This is kind of what I think. Despite the trepidation and the Cowboys scars, this is what I expected from Tampa Bay despite Mike Evans having the big game against Carolina and whatnot, they have really looked out of sync throughout the year. And then you throw in Godwin coming off the injury and looking like not quite his full self, like, call it 95%. And even if he was 100%, the chemistry with Tom still took a little time and whatnot. So that was something developing. And then until getting Janssen back in this game, they had had kind of a hole up the middle because their guards are just okay. I mean, they're fine, but they're not raising the level like worfs can. And when you only have one truly dominant lineman and then Jensen comes back and he's not quite as full self, I don't know what you would be expecting for them to be able to block the Cowboys effectively. And they got to DeMarcus. Lawrence fine with worse. But outside of that, Tom was in trouble and was made uncomfortable with that inside type of pressure in addition to the outside that is really tough to deal with. And Brady was able to avoid it for the most part, especially early. He looked like he was feeling comfortable. He did a nice little Patrick style flip while he was running out from outside the pocket and everything was fine. And then all of a sudden, bam, he throws that really bad interception after the Cowboys had scored and missed an extra point, sure, but had scored, and then they went down and scored again. That was a really big turning point in the game and a very uncharacteristic pass from what we've seen from Tom Brady. To be frank. It was a pass that I would see James make back when he was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Funny enough, Tom Brady not only broke his own completion records this year, but he also became the all time touchdown leader for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this game. Kind of weird stats that kind of sum up this year in a perfect way. There were bright spots and Tom Brady is still the goat and everything and raised this team to whatever level it was possible, but I think this team has had it. And I also don't think that Tom Brady is going to be back next year. We know for a fact that Byron left, which is not going to be back, and let me say that I think that his play calling and the way that he schemed everything was a big part of the non success of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. So to see him be gone is not at all surprising. I think that him and Brady were pretty tight though, so that's another thing kind of leading me to say that Tom Brady is probably not going to be back next year. If he listened to his press conferences, it definitely sounded like a bye to the organization, to everybody around. He had that tone where he's either going to retire, he's going to be with another organization next year. Not great for your Tampa Bay dynasty players in fantasy, obviously, but it seems like they're also ready to pivot and try and figure out what their next step is at this point too. They did keep Todd Bowles, which is a part of why I think they'll try and reset next year. I don't know what quarterback they would bring in if it is Tom Brady that leaves and whatnot. Hopefully they don't take the Derek Car route or a retread like that and try to win. Now, you kind of need to reset after a Super Bowl if you're not going to be able to compete. You've got a lot of contracts on the books, you made deals to try and push yourself in a position to win, and you got a Super Bowl, which means you never have to say sorry about any of the moves you made to get to that Super Bowl. But at some point you do have to kind of reset things and get things right for your future. And if Tom is going to leave, then leaving in Todd Bowles makes a lot of sense. Let him kind of coach out this year where you tank a little bit, you get everything kind of moving in the right direction. Maybe you trade a couple of your veterans in the offseason that are kind of long in the tooth, get your draft compensation right, and try to get everything moving in the right direction again, because we've kind of been going backwards with Tom Brady to this point, and he can still win. He still has fastball. He just has to have a good line in front of him that's able to protect him and weapons to throw to. He's not going to uplift the team quite the way that he could in his prime, but that's not surprising at all. But I also don't think that I would be surprised either way if he retired or came back because, like I said, I don't think that the physical tools have left him necessarily. And he still has the know how. He just has to have the want to. He didn't have that want to anymore when it came to this Tampa Bay situation. He wanted to leave beforehand. And then the way things unfolded with the scheme, with the personnel and everything, he just didn't seem to have it in the end either. And that was a big part of why they didn't play as well in the regular season, because he wasn't standing in there and taking as many hits or showing a willingness to stand in there and take those hits to create extra time to make big plays. That happens when quarterbacks get older. And like Big Ben, he was getting rid of the ball so quickly. And it used to be a situation where he could afford to hold on to the ball a bit because it was so hard to bring him down and he was willing to take those hits. And when you lose that ability or you lose that want to, that's a big situation in Brady. One of the things that scared me about him for this game, for the Cowboys, is that that is a mental switch that you can sometimes flip. But it didn't seem like it got all the way flipped today despite him hanging in there for sure. They just didn't have the powers to overwhelm the Cowboys and what they were bringing, especially not without Shaquille Barrett and the Edge rush, not getting to DAC with DAC being comfortable and throwing off his back foot in rhythm and everything that stuff. And when the Buccaneers aren't able to create that same rhythm with the running game, with the short passing game, because it's all out of sync and it doesn't seem like anybody's really got that same chemistry they used to have, then it's a problem. And they talk about Mike. Oh, he had 1000 yards this season. Again, he was not good this season. Mike Evans had one big game, maybe two, and had moments. But three of those six touchdowns came in one game and might have won some people, some fantasy championships, but I don't know how many made it there with his lackluster play before that. And to be clear, I love Mike Evans. I do. He's been great. And he's a preeminent guy when it comes to going up and get it. And he's what made those Texas A and M teams good. Not Johnny, Manzel, johnny was good, but Mike was the great one in that equation. And it was unfortunate to see the way things were going. They run a lot of option routes and it seemed like they just weren't seeing things the same way a lot of time, and it affected the game. And I keep saying the deep passing game, the margins are razor thin. So if you're off by any measure, it's going. To be a problem, and it was a big problem for Tampa Bay, and now they have the problem of where is Tom Brady going forward? And could be the Raiders, could be a number of teams he's kind of flirted with. Maybe the 49 Ers have found their guy and brought Purdy, but could you turn down Tom Brady? Miami's flirted with them. Tua has had concussions, although they've said that Tua is going to come back and should be fine. That's not always a one to one situation between the doctors saying it and everything being true either. So I don't know. A lot up in the air for the Buccaneers, unfortunately, and we're just going to have to have some offseason time to see how it plays out and what they're going to look like, because I don't think that Kyle Trask is the option that is going to uplift this team, even though they have some young stuff. And I don't think that the GM is bad necessarily. So maybe they give him another chance to pick the coach and restart this situation. And I do have one idea for him to end the pod here. Bring back James Winston. Talk about the ultimate tank move that gives your fans the feels that maybe he's figured some things out while he's in New Orleans. He hasn't, but why not? And then let's raise some blood pressure again. Let's get jamis out there. Throwing it 15 yards down the field all the time, not 100% sure where it's going, but raising some pulses and hitting Mike Evans deep, getting those garbage time yards and leading me to a fantasy championship. All of those things have happened, and he's still the interception leader for a season. So why not try and redeem yourself from that season? It's crazy and it's not going to happen, but I think it'd be a lot of fun, and that's how wide open everything is for the Bucks, especially if Tom Brady leaves. If they don't, you know what, they can try and retrofit this again. They still have some of the weapons around him, but it was just kind of a lack of continuity when it came to the whole thing, and Julio and Russell, Gage and Brake just all never came together. Otten is fine, but none of them are gronk, and that was a big part of what held the offense together and gave them an advantage in the running game and he couldn't come back. So not just to make every excuse in the world for the Buccaneers, but there are big time reasons they lost this game and we just laid them out for you. If you've gotten to this point and haven't done so, download the podcast. Let me know that you're here and listening. Downloads are the big thing for a lot of the platforms. Likes and Subscribes are also nice if you're listening on YouTube, so definitely throw that my way. If you're a supporter look for more videos. I've already put out some, but there's going to be more throughout the week, so look forward to that and have a great rest of your day.