Will key injured Cowboys play vs. 49ers? | Free4All+

Hey guys, welcome to Free For All Plus. I'm your host, Sam Gannon. So listen, we have boots on the ground tonight. Our Mike Ducey is out at the American Airlines Center for Stars and Jets. You're going to hear from him a little bit later in the show, talking with one special guest, otherwise known as Daryl Razor Ray. But we also have our Jeff Kolb, who joins me now live from the Star in Frisco. And Jeff, the Cowboys look... to get back to .500 with a win against Sunday against the top team in the NFC in the San Francisco 49ers. And obviously, that's going to be no easy task for the Cowboys, who've had a losing streak against this team as well, Jeff. That's right. The history, not good. But, you know, I feel like... Brian Schottenheimer should be ecstatic to get this 7-1 San Francisco team to come in here, Sam, because he needs as big of a win as you could possibly script up. Obviously, there is the threat of, like, getting knocked out when you face the best, but, you know, given the fact that Jerry Jones, we heard him on the radio on Tuesday, literally publicly calling out Schottie's team for not playing well enough, This is really like probably the last big opportunity for... Shoddy to turn this season around, to prove that he can do that before it's really too late. You mentioned the history, Sam. Recently, not so good. Obviously, this is a storied rivalry, but San Francisco has won the last four meetings, beating the Cowboys twice in the playoffs as well to kick off that run. San Fran's defense in those games has given Dak Prescott fits, forced him to throw eight interceptions, while Dak has only connected on five touchdown passes. First priority Sunday has to be for Dak and the whole offense. Protect the football. We just saw the Niners take it away five times in the second half in their win last week over Las Vegas. In the process, they held the Raiders' running game to just 24 yards on 15 carries. The Cowboys hope Javante Williams, of course, without the help of Tyler Goodson, who's now injured, who had a tremendous game last week, hoping that he can lead. A much better running effort than Vegas did last week. Dallas also hopes George Pickens can return from injury. Pickens limited with the hamstring once again today at practice. As for Dak and the big picture here, there's no ignoring the history. It's just not the main motivation. I'm not naive to what's happened or my history against them. But to put that on the rest of these guys and put that on the locker room, I think that's stupid. This is about us going in and getting a win and us trying to, you know, Win this game and get some momentum going and get back-to-back wins for the first time this season and build off of that. This will be the toughest test yet for Dallas' defense. Niners quarterback Brock Purdy. 3-0 in his career against the Cowboys so far. He is the least sacked quarterback in football this season, just eight times. Of course, Dallas has been better getting to the quarterback in recent weeks. With the help from his longtime superstars, George Kittle at tight end and running back Christian McCaffrey, San Fran's offense is number one in the red zone and number two on third down. So Dallas could probably use top cornerback Joey Porter Jr., but of course he was a surprising scratch from the lineup last Sunday in Indy. He missed the game with an ankle injury, which he told us today, happened six games ago in Houston. Joey, once again, not able to practice today. We'll see what he can do tomorrow. He says not playing last week in Indy has nothing to do with not having that long-term contract or trying to protect individual statistics. I just got to a point where I was a liability I felt like out there and I never want to be that with my team especially if I feel like I can't go and I can't keep up with guys that I feel like I should be keeping up with and what am I doing out there on the field I'm just hurting the team so it was definitely a hard conversation to have with them because I feel like I'm a competitive person and I always want to be out there and do good so when I can't be out there it's definitely frustrating. So as we know, Sam, we've been talking about it for weeks, really this whole season. This Cowboys team has not had back-to-back wins. It's been 14 games now for Shady since they won consecutive games. Happened last November when they won three in a row, including the only two wins that he has so far as the head coach of this team over teams that had winning records going into the matchup. That was the Eagles and the Chiefs. So everybody knows that if you win this game, huge pressure reliever. For Shady. So that's the outlook right now for this team. Although I don't know. Can we use the word outlook or is that like a sore topic? Microsoft seems to be like, you know, defeated here. Yeah. Emails are still down, by the way, Jeff. So don't try to send anyone anything in your email. Yeah. You talk about Schottenheimer. He's 11, 14 and one and a win against the San Francisco team would obviously. Change the tune, right? Change the tune among the coaching staff. Change the tune among the players in the locker room. And change the tune among the fan base who you hear from following every Cowboys game on Cowboys Unfiltered, Jeff. Let's say they don't get a win on Sunday, right? Because if they did, this could be the type of win to save Schottenheimer's job. But let's say they come out and they fall flat on their face. Let's say they look undisciplined, unprepared. And all of those things have been true for this team for the majority of this season. Like, then what? How much longer of a leash does Schottenheimer have in your mind? Well, I don't see him getting fired after losing this game because I think the thing that Jerry would be able to lean on is, well, it's the 49ers. They're the best team in the league, so it could happen to anybody. San Francisco could blow anybody out. But. Again, like I said off the top, like I think it's a totally blown opportunity for Schotty to get the signature win that can really turn things around because whether or not we're talking about a potential midseason firing, I think a lot of people probably. I have the belief that the way things have gone, if it continues like this, it's another losing season, then Schottenheimer's job is very much so in jeopardy. Now, if you lose this game, Sam, and then you lose to Tennessee next week, now I could really see there being a higher probability of maybe Jerry bending on the rule he says he won't break, the Wade Phillips rule, that he never wants to have that required again. Maybe he would make an exception. I think... The reason they would fire Shottie midseason would be if they feel like it's just becoming an untenable situation for the locker room and some of the key young players they have. So again, I don't see him getting fired after this win. I don't know what you think about that. But I do think it would be like the last big opportunity because when you look down the road at like the Rams and the Seahawks games, by the time you get there, it might just be too late. Hmm. It's almost like you might as well. Just, just ride the train until the end there and then do a complete overhaul depending on how the end of the season finishes. All right, let's talk a little bit about the injury situation with some of the key players on this Cowboys team. You have cornerback Joey Porter jr. Has that ankle injury. Hopefully he'll play Sunday. He wants to, but that remains to be seen. Then you have George Pickens who was limited today with the hamstring injury. Both didn't play against the Colts. All right. So, so Jeff, the Cowboys didn't trade Pickens, right? Like that was a lot of the talk heading into the trade deadline. He is on this team right now. So maybe he can regain some of that big play magic on Sunday. And what a time for that to happen. But with the Porter, Joey Porter Jr. situation, he says his absence has to do with injury, not to do with the long-term contract extension. I'd like to take. His word, right? Because he's someone that does seem to be a fierce competitor. It just seems to be really bad timing though right now. Don't you think? Like the way this has unfolded. Yeah, it does, and I asked him in the locker room today, I said, you know, does the fact that it's this opponent, it's this type of signature win opportunity, does that factor into your decision this week to play? Because, you know, he mentioned earlier in the session with us today that, you know, the injury that he suffered in Houston had him down to, like, the number he used was 70%, and he said, you know, my 70%, like, I'm still confident against... Anybody at my 70%, so that's what made this so peculiar, Sam, is he's played the last three games before this Indy won. Didn't really seem to us, I mean, not that we need to know everything, or, you know, maybe kudos to the Cowboys and Shotty for maybe keeping that under wraps, that Porter wasn't trending well last week. So, you know, could it be a situation where, you know, just the continual playing on that injury has just made it to a point where where he can't play on it. Of course, and that's what he's saying, but again, I think it's going to be a tough sell, not just to the public, forget the public, that's not what matters, but to his teammates. We're going out here, we need this win. If you're saying that you could theoretically play, but you just don't feel like you're as good as you'd like to be to play. I don't know how that'll be received inside the locker room. Yeah, and the Cowboys defense could use a guy like Joey Porter Jr., especially against this San Francisco 49ers offense, because I do think that the defense is going to have to come up with a way to get some takeaways in this game, along with the offense, to your point, getting out to a fast start and capitalizing in the red zone. When you talk about the 49ers, Jeff, again, they come into Jerry World with just one loss on the season. Cowboys haven't beaten them since 2020. Two 49ers in particular have really done well against the Cowboys, have had their number in Brock Purdy and George Kittle. So do you have confidence in this Cowboys defense that they're going to be able to slow these two guys down? Wow. Confidence. Confidence is a dangerous word, I think, to use with this Cowboys defense this year. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jerry. I'm sorry. It's a tough word to use. Careful, the Super Bowl trophies are right behind you. Thank you. No, yeah, we do remember those. I Brock Purdy, 3-0, as I said, against the Cowboys. One thing that I'll throw in there, don't though, he hasn't had to play them here. The beginning of the four-game win streak San Francisco has right now over the Cowboys, Boys, it was that playoff game. End of the 21 season where they ran out know. of time at Jerry World, 23-17 loss. That was Jimmy Garoppolo. Yeah. So Purdy has won all three of the matchups there. He hasn't had to do it here. And when you look at San Francisco so far this season, we know the 7-1 record. They really only had two true road games. They started the season in Australia. That's a neutral site. They only won by three points at Seattle. Still a good win. Super Bowl champs. But then they lose 29-20 at Atlanta, so... That gives me a little bit of hope. Now, in that Atlanta loss, Sam, the Falcons forced the Niners into four turnovers. So that will be so key tomorrow. Again, you know what happened last week against the Raiders. San Francisco got five takeaways in that second half. And then George Kittle, you know, you mentioned him at tight end. Cowboys didn't do so well against Arizona's tremendous tight end a couple weeks ago. Trey McBride. A little bit better last week against Tyler Warren, although he's kind of struggling. George Kittle, 290 receiving yards, four touchdowns in the three games with Brock Purdy. I'm curious, like, who covers George Kittle? Is that a DeMarvin Overshown duty? I don't know that I feel, you used the word confidence, I'm not sure I have anyone I'm that confident in to stop George Kittle. Yeah, it's going to be a tall task for sure. And it was interesting today, Jeff. I heard a clip from 49ers linebacker Fred Warner. He's calling this matchup against the Cowboys, one that that feels like the Super Bowl, meaning this isn't like any other game week to week in the NFL, which which is something a lot of guys like to say. It's not necessarily about the opponent. It's about what we're doing. I think Dak said something similarly to that. CeeDee Lamb did as well, kind of downplaying the matchup. I like the fact that Fred Warner is like, no, no, no, no. Like we have a long standing history with this team going all the way back to the nineties and we want to come into their house and we want to beat them bad. You know, I like that attitude. The Cowboys obviously are in a different position because they haven't won a lot this season. But what do you make of the traveling fan base, the 49ers fans? You think it's going to be like a sea of red in there on Sunday? I won't be shocked. I mean, we saw that in that 2021 playoff game. And this isn't new for the Niners. I mean, back then, that was Debo Samuel with the boom box coming in, you know, saying, we're going to bully you guys. And they did it. They backed up the talk. So you're dead on, Sam. Like, there's no reason that on this side that the Cowboys at 4-5 should be talking like that. But at 7-1, like the Niners, they have some liberty to do that. Now, do I think it should be a Super Bowl for them? I don't know. I mean, Fred Warner can't knock him. Maybe the best linebacker in football, Dak Prescott, feels that way. But, yeah, I mean, we see it every week, though, Sam. You know, like teams and their fan bases love to come in here. They have this one circle. They want to come win at Jerry's Palace. All right, Jeff, let's get to our picks really quick. We have about a minute. So we're going to show the graphic on the screen here. It looks like three of us are going with San Francisco. Jeff, Mike is by himself on this graphic. He's picking the Cowboys 31 to 30. Again, the rest of us are going with San Francisco. We can't forget about Poppy, though. Who does our girl Poppy got? And there he is. And there you have it. Poppy, she's confident that the Cowboys are going to win come Sunday. Jeff, thanks so much for your work out there tonight. Get some grub. Don't check your email for a little bit. Still down and a great workout there. Thanks, Sam. All right. Much more to come on the other side of the break. We're talking stars next. Oh, and our poll. Excuse me. Let's go to that first. The poll is who will win come Sunday, Cowboys or the 49ers? Make sure you scan that QR code on your screen and we're back after this. Sam Gannon back with you here on Free For All Plus. Mike Ducey is normally here with me in studio, but instead tonight he is covering the Stars-Jets game over at the American Airlines Center as Dallas opens up a three-game homestand. That game already underway, and you can see it on Channel 27, Fox 4 Plus. A little bit earlier tonight, our Mike Ducey, he caught up with the one and only Daryl Razor-Red. Well, look who he's... That was good. You want to do another take? Take two. Landry, use that first part, too, if you want. Please, try to get all the words lined up in the sentence in the proper order. There's no word machine here. Oh, yeah, I know. I don't know what to do. Daryl Razor Ray will be on the Stars call here tonight for Stars in Winnipeg, along with Josh. Three weeks ago, we saw a pretty good game in this building on Fox 4. Clearly, it's the KDFW, KDFI, good luck charm. Stars have been off since Saturday. Is it tough when you're not in a rhythm of playing every other night to get right? Yeah, and you heard that from Glenn Gultson this morning. As much as coaches enjoy four days to drill down on all the details and that, they're petrified of how their team's going to come out. When they actually, you know, drop the puck for a game and get back to those competitive juices and that, because as you know, like practice is way different than a game. So his instruction this morning was, hey, boys, as quick as you can, let's get back into this thing, whether it, you know, physicality, shooting the puck, whatever you have to do, do that early and let's get rolling again. What kind of rhythm have they been able to find? You know, the record obviously has been good for the most part. They've had a couple of rough spots, but lately been playing pretty well. What's been good about their game? What's concerned you about their game? Well, defense first and foremost, and right from the beginning, that was the best part of their game in recent years. It's the best part of their game this season. They really clung to that in the month of October. And, you know, we would sit and push They've pooh-poohed their offense a little bit. They're missing some people, and I think because they've been thin and a bit of a stumbling start on the power play affected that. They started to score a little bit more here in the month of November. They're not really built to be a high-octane offense right now. They've been thinned out a little bit, especially at forward. No Miro Heiskanen in again tonight. I think that affects things a little bit too. So they're in a decent spot for... How sort of lurchy the schedule's been and how they've played, again, They're going to continue to try to lean on their checking game and on their defense more so than trying to outscore people, because I don't know that they can do that, at least not consistently. Ottinger had been so good early, statistically the best in the league, and that's slacked off just a bit. But I thought it was interesting that Gultson said this morning, that's not necessarily a goaltender's fault. And I know as a goalie, you buy that wholeheartedly. A lot of what's happening out front of him makes it the types of shots he's seeing, right? Definitely. Definitely. Every goaltender will say the same thing. If you can get predictable play in front of you so that you sort of know where the danger spots are going to be, the better your numbers are going to be. If you, you know... Pull up your end of the bargain. At times, though, you need your goaltending to really shine and get you points, win games for you. Casey DeSmith has certainly done that as the backup, stepping in and giving Jake a little rest from time to time. I mean, back in October, Jake was borderline perfect at times, like rattling off back-to-back shutouts. And they were getting a lot of help. They were suppressing shots and that. When you look at them getting a little loose, that's when you need your goaltending to maybe stretch itself a little bit and win some games for you. We saw that here the last time the Jets were in this building at the other end of the rink. You know, Stuart Skinner, they had no business being in the game, and he at least earned them a point. You know, he'd stopped almost everything until Robby Hans roared in and beat them five-hole. Hellebuck controversy's over now. Obviously, he's gone, so that seems to have settled that franchise down a little bit, huh? A little bit, yeah. You know, they've been dealing with a lot. You know, the last time they came in, all that was circling around a little bit. The deadline was upcoming. They had an outdoor game in Canada, you know, just after the game here in Dallas. Now they had the return of Hellebuck, who didn't play, in Winnipeg. And they had to live through all that. I'm wondering what their emotional level is going to be like. They're playing well again. You know, they lost nine in a row. Now they've won four in a row. There was a lot of, you know, a lot of people weighed in on the whole Hellebuck not playing in Winnipeg. And, yeah, I mean, from a sports entertainment standpoint, we all wanted to see that. I'll say this, though. This is the only way I'll ever support what they did in that. As a goaltender, it's way different than a player going back into an environment like that. As a goalie, you're standing there for 60 minutes. Right. 20 minutes. You don't leave. You stay out there. And you've got to take the barrage that you're going to get from fans and that. When you're a player, 45 seconds, you're back to the bench. You have all your buddies and that. You're probably going to play 15 to 20 minutes in the game. So it's a little bit different for a goaltender to go back in the lion's den like that. We talk about the Stars having a break. That means you had a bit of a break. What do you do to fill your days? I tried to nurse George Dunham back to health. I didn't quite get there. One of the morning musers' voice was a little rough this morning. A little rough, yes. You're on call, I think. Glad you completed that sentence, by the way. For tomorrow. I didn't do a lot. I'm telling you, it's the weirdest thing, though, Deuce, to have four straight days off very early in the season when you don't really need it. There's times when you get into January where you're like, man, I could use a week off or a bye week. Didn't really need this, but beautiful weather. Got a little golf in and caught up on some stuff around the house. All right. Well, you want to toss it back to Sam? She's back in the studio. Oh, is she? She's out of the pool? Go ahead. Sam, dry off. It's tough. It's tough. Then I will. Sam, back to you. All right. I thought that was a toss. That's how the kids do it. Thanks, Razor. You're welcome. Have a good call tonight. Oh, thank you. That is how the kids do it. Daryl Razor Ray, one of the best in the business. He always makes me laugh, too. The Stars have won the last five meetings against the Jets and four of the last five against them at the American Airlines Center. So we'll see if they can continue that streak tonight. And we're back after this. Back here on Free For All Plus and some breaking news in the world of soccer. U.S. men's national team manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly heading to Manchester United. To succeed Michael Carrick as the club's new manager, the contract is a two-and-a-half-year deal. United plans on buying out Pochettino's contract with the United States, which is worth about $10 million. Pochettino is expected to coach the U.S. men's national team for both CONCACAF quarterfinal matches against Haiti on Saturday and Tuesday. He will then be heading to Manchester for United's next game on November 22nd. An official announcement could come as early as... Tomorrow, I don't know about you guys out there, but I am bummed by this. Producer Landry, what does this mean for Team USA? I feel like this is a major blow because everyone seemed to be on the Pochettino train, especially after the World Cup. Yeah, I don't really know what direction they're going to go now because it seemed like. It seemed like they finally found their coach through the next cycle. I don't know if you go back to B.J. Callahan, who was the interim in 2023 and won the Nations League final that summer with him. He's done really well with Nashville, won the Supporter Shield this year for the team with the best record. So I don't know. I don't know what direction we're going to go. Flo Baligan. Again, um, Who has been linked to Man United in a transfer in January, even said that he'd like to see Poach stay. So, yeah, we'll see. Just he brought a different type of mindset to Team USA. So it'll be interesting to see what the United States does next in terms of their next manager. That is going to do it on my end here on Free For All Plus. We'll see you back here at 10:30. And Mike Ducey will join me live from the American Airlines Center to talk stars and jets. See you then.