Jon Machota | Dallas Cowboys writer, The Athletic

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There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. We welcome John Machoda, who covers the Cowboys for the athletic. I know it was just a wildcard win.

I'm using my air quotations, just John. But it certainly seemed to me the way that the entire Cowboys organization was celebrating and exalting in this, that this was an example of a win being more than just a win. What did this victory in Tampa represent for the Cowboys?

Yeah, it's huge. I mean, the fact that they haven't won a road playoff game before this in 30 years, I mean, that's big. To get past that, beating Tom Brady, someone who they had never beaten before, in that situation, that's huge as well. And let's be honest, it just comes down to also the way they ended the season. I mean, if they don't end the season the way they did and lay the egg that they did in Washington with the worst game that they've played this year and probably the worst game they've played in the last two years, I think feelings would be a little bit different going into this game.

But we didn't know, and I'm sure the Jones family and other people in the organization didn't know for sure what team was going to show up. And it turned out that the team that showed up was similar to the team that showed up in Minnesota. And that's been the pinnacle of what this team is, its capabilities, that 42-3 win over the Vikings in Minnesota. And that game followed a poor performance when they lost at Green Bay. And over time, again, the game they had no business losing. So they've shown that they can rebound and play some of their best games after some poor losses.

Now it's about, can they put another one together? But the biggest thing for me is if you lose that game, I don't know what you sell to the fan base if you're Jerry Jones in the offseason. No one's going to want to hear about the draft. No one's going to want to hear about free agency. No one's going to even care during the regular season next year. They're going to be like, well, what are you going to win, 12 games? And then what happens? You lose again in the first round?

To get past that, it shows that there's some solid building there and that this team has the potential to be better than maybe some people thought. I was saying on my radio show last night that we were going to end up with one of two scenarios for the rest of the week until we got to the divisional games. Either Tom Brady is retiring or should retire. At least the question of what does he do next is going to dominate. Or it's going to be Mike McCarthy should be fired because the Cowboys lost this playoff game.

It was going to be one or the other. But John, for him personally, he hasn't had a playoff win since 2016. What did you see with him in the wake of this win? After the game, he's obviously in good spirits now, but the video that got out of Trayvon Diggs putting the Cowboys chain on him and Mike did a little dance in front of the team, you can just tell.

That spoke volumes of how much he was enjoying himself. He's not a coach that really put himself first. Especially the coaching organization that has such a big face and name and Jerry Jones.

It's not a job for everyone, that's for sure, but they would have had to play like they did in Washington last night for his job to be in jeopardy. Jerry Jones really likes everything that Mike McCarthy has built and understandably so. To win back-to-back 12 win season, that hasn't happened since those early 90s Cowboys. To go to the playoffs back-to-back years, that hasn't happened since the mid-2000s.

There's no question now. He's got 23 wins now in the last two seasons. My big thing in all of that was if you were going to move on from him, who were you going to get? I know everyone points to Sean Payton, but this is an organization that this roster has been built heavily through the draft. I really didn't see them giving up a first round pick and possibly more and then having to go make Sean Payton the highest paid coach, which isn't something Jerry Jones has necessarily done. This win is obviously huge for everyone, but as big for anyone, it's Mike McCarthy and what this does for him and continuing to build on what he's had here now in year three. Josh, I'm so happy for him considering his exit in Green Bay and the time that he took away before he started coaching at Dallas in the narrative, losing his quarterback multiple times for multiple game stretches.

Really cool to see him happy and kind of let loose like that, even if it was only for five seconds. For us on the side of covering the team, it'd be difficult for you to find someone that doesn't enjoy interacting with him on a day to day. It's one of those things that as a reporter and you're covering this team, let's be honest, the Cowboys 365. You don't mind when you have a coach and someone you're going to deal with all the time that you really enjoy being around all the time. And we are very fortunate in Dallas that Mike McCarthy as the coach, obviously Jerry Jones is very media friendly, but then also with the franchise quarterback and Dak Prescott, we're very fortunate.

And that's another thing that's set into if they lose that first round, it's like, who knows what the future holds exactly. You know, with winning that game, it kind of shows you, hey, this nucleus is probably going to stay together for a little bit. And so selfishly, even though we shouldn't care about those things at reporters, you enjoy that. It's funny that you say that because I heard the same exact thing from a reporter and insider with the Lions recently about how much more pleasant it is to cover the team when Dan Campbell is so kind and so generous with his time and so clearly enjoys what he's doing. John Michauda is with us from the athletic covering the Dallas Cowboys, and we're excited to talk to him in the wake of a big win since it's not been that way for a while in the postseason. We'll be back with after hours on CBS Sports Radio.

The word nucleus just sprang to mind. What about Dan Quinn? Because he was highly sought after last year. Any chance that he ends up getting other head coaching opportunities?

Absolutely. You know, Broncos for sure, they had interest last year and they have interest again. He's going to meet with them. I don't know if it's going to be in person, but sometime this week, obviously he has a very busy schedule this week with the Cowboys in general. I thought for sure he was going to get the Broncos job and things happen and he didn't end up getting it, but I would imagine he's got to be one of the front runners for that. And then other jobs as well are going to be, other teams are obviously going to have interest in him with all the head coaching openings, but for me, I do think there's a very good chance he gets one of these head coaching jobs. Right now I'm at about 75% chance.

I think he's gone. That bumps up to about 99% to me if he puts together some type of defensive game plan and they shut down the San Francisco offense and somehow get a win there and send the Cowboys to an NSC championship game for the first time since the mid nineties. It's one thing to have postseason success and as a coordinator, and obviously that's going to make you a very attractive candidate, but to do that with the Dallas Cowboys, to be the defensive coordinator, this defense has been such a huge part of the success of this team the last two years. If they were able to get over that hump, get back to an NSC championship game to beat that 49ers team and he has a game plan that's anywhere close to being as successful as that one was against the Bucks. I don't know how he would be back and not a head coach somewhere else. You wonder how different things might have been with the Broncos this year had it been Dan Quinn. Not sure if that would have changed anything with Russell Wilson, but it is an interesting question considering that Nathaniel Hackett's lack of experience was part of the problem with him. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. John Michauda with us back in Dallas following the Monday night win over the Buccaneers. Man, there have been compliments pouring in from all corners of the NFL universe for Dak Prescott and as you point out the week before, I mean he's the first one to say that he played a really crappy game.

He even mentioned it again following the victory in Tampa. How much pressure was on Dak in this game? As much as there could be because of the fact of this is year 7. It's one of those things. He had so much success early in his career and then things just, I don't know, maybe just covering the team, but also the fact that it's the Dallas Cowboys, things fly by so quickly it seems like. And before you know it, you're like, man, Zeke and Dak are in year 7. Where did that time go? And so when you are in year 7, you're just sitting there like, you're not the young guy anymore that everyone's like, well, he's still developing.

No, this is your time. You have to show up now, especially on this stage, especially for this organization. Whether it's fair or not, you're with an organization that, hey, they've had Roger Staubach, they've had Troy Aikman, they've had the ultimate success at that position. And it's a difficult position with the stress and all the scrutiny and all eyeballs are on you.

It might be the most difficult position in all of sports. One, you can make the case that that Washington game is the worst game of his career. And to have that year 7 going into the playoffs, I mean, there was still the chance that they could have won the division. It wasn't like there was nothing to play for in that game. It wasn't like he just played the first quarter or the first half. I mean, he played almost that entire game and just to struggle the way he did, to throw another pick 6, which was his third in their final four games the regular season, it was not headed in a good direction. And he threw interceptions in every one of their last seven games.

But to come into this game, obviously everyone's going to look at the touchdown passes, the rushing touchdown, the passer rating, whatever, having better numbers than Brady. But the key was the fact that he went through that entire game, never turned the ball over, really was never close to turning the ball over and just being as clean as he was in that game on the road, which the Cowboys haven't been that great at this year and obviously in the playoffs. Yeah, he needed a big game and I don't think anybody expected him to rebound quite like that.

I don't know that he could have had a better performance than he did last night. You mentioned Zeke. He didn't have the most rushing yards on the team this year, even though he played 15 games.

Tony Pollard had a fantastic season. How would you describe Zeke's role at this point in the season or this point in his career even? Yeah, this has been an interesting year for him for sure. So the first six years, the unquestioned, this is the bell cow back, this is the guy that the team's running game is going to go through.

I mean, won a rushing title his rookie year and could have won offensive rookie of the year if it wasn't for his teammate being Dak Prescott. And so that was always the case that the running game goes as Zeke goes and for a lot of those years, the team goes as Zeke goes. But you saw, I mean, this season has been a shift in power. I mean, this is Tony Pollard is their lead back now. Now they talk about it being a share that Mike McCarthy is big on that they don't call Tony Pollard run plays and then Zeke run plays. They just call their run plays and whatever back is out there, they go with it because both of them have been so excellent.

But you can just tell in the production, I mean, you don't even have to watch the entire season. Just watch last night's game. You can just see that just the explosiveness that Pollard has, has put him on another level. And so because of that, Zeke, there's supposed to be one A and one B, but it just, you can tell as the season's gone on that Pollard has leapt into that. He's that key role. He is, you know, in the biggest moment and you need a big play.

You have to get the ball to 20. I love the relationship and the chemistry that's developed between Dak and Dalton Schultz, because you look around the league and some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL have tight ends that they believe in and rely on and can go to in times where they absolutely have to have a play. Dalton had a fantastic game on Monday, but he's becoming that guy for Dak and I love it. Yeah, you know, going into this season, he got the franchise tag and so he's obviously being well compensated, but they really wanted him long term. And so that'll be an interesting thing this offseason again as he goes into free agency because it's very clear that he's very, very Dak friendly.

I mean, he is a guy that you can just tell their years together. They've really paid off. It's kind of crazy to see the transformation for Dalton Schultz as he came in and was thought of coming out of Stanford is really just more of a blocking back and a guy that was going to help you more in the run game.

And he has evolved into this. You've seen every year that he's taking bigger steps in the passing game to where I thought last night was a good example. The touchdown pass that Dak had to him to get things started down the seam. I mean, those are plays down the field that Dalton Schultz wasn't necessarily being looked at or making a few years ago.

And now he's just used in so many different ways. And the trust with Dak and him, I mean, they're completely on the same page. And that's been I mean, I don't know where they would be without him. They've had their young tight end step up. But there's no question that Dalton Schultz is taking this passing game to another level. And he's he's more valuable, I think, that than most people think. And the other part of it is that he started off the year and he had a knee injury that was pretty similar to the knee injury that limited Zeke all of last year.

So you're thinking, oh, this isn't going to be good for the offense. And within a two or three weeks, he was kind of right back to his old self, didn't have to wear the knee brace. And then you see him last night. I mean, he was one of the best players on the field.

Yeah, it's been great to see his development. John Michaud is with us from Dallas covers the Cowboys for the athletic. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio.

All right. The challenge that staring them in the face and it's a shorter workweek. How do they match up with the Niners? So the biggest thing for me that that's going to help them is that the Niners are the team that ended their season to go into training camp this year. One of the videos that Mike McCarthy showed the team was several players, Dak Prescott being one of them, Ezekiel. And he showed their postgame press conferences that they lost the 49ers in the playoffs.

You know, yeah, he really put into their head, like, don't ever forget that feeling. And it's been a constant throughout this season, a reminder of, hey, you know, they should have beat that 49ers team. I mean, they were the only wildcard team to lose at home. And frankly, they had moments, many moments in that second half where they should have they should have been able to put together some more scoring drives. I mean, Fred Warner got hurt, was out for that second half.

Nick Bosa, same thing. I mean, they had a chance. They're playing at home. They should have beaten that 49ers team. And now you get a chance to basically have to avenge that loss. Now, different players, obviously, it's not Garoppolo this time.

Brock Gurdy is on another level. This team obviously has Christian McCaffrey. So it's a better 49ers team this year. And it's not going to and obviously you're playing on the road.

But there's you know, this is most of that nucleus is still here. It's not like this has been some type of a rebuild. This is like shaping up to being almost like the perfect scenario for the Cowboys. There's going to be plenty motivation in all these games. I mean, the fact that they hadn't beat Brady and get past that. You have the 49ers who ended your season last year that you felt you should have beaten.

And then if you get past that, you're likely going to see Philadelphia, who you split with this year. And there's plenty of motivation for that game as well. So I mean, this 49er game is going to be tough.

There's there's no question. I mean, the 49ers are the better team on paper. But but I expect to see a very, very highly motivated Cowboys team. And let's be honest, just that any of those players in the locker room had the chance to be the first team to send the Cowboys the NFC Championship game since 95.

I mean, I don't know if you need any more motivation than that. What do you expect to be the biggest challenge for them in terms of matchups or maybe a particular unit? After watching that playoff game and what I've caught of San Francisco, especially recently. To me, if you just tell me which team tackles better, I really think it comes down to something that simple. And the reason I say that is because with McCaffrey and Debo, if you don't tackle well, they will make you pay. And there have been moments this season where the Cowboys didn't tackle well.

And that was an issue. And it was against players not as not as talented as a Debo Samuel, not as talented as the Christian McCaffrey. So if their tackling is on point, they should be OK. As long as they're not giving up those extra yards, that's going to be easier said than done against those guys.

And then vice versa. If on that defense, which the 49ers are so so outstanding in their tackling. But if they allow a Tony Pollard to break a couple of big runs or they allow C.D. Lamb to get going or a Michael Gallup, then there'll be problems for them. So it certainly plays into the 49ers strengths. But like I said, I expect this Cowboys team to be very, very, very highly motivated for this game. Brett Maher's situation from last night. Now, there are a lot of theories about what happened in Tampa.

Whether it was the Yips, whether it was mental, whether it was just a bad day. I didn't really expect the Cowboys to look for another kicker. That would seem like an overreaction. Knowing what you know of him, can he mentally recover?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, the thing about him is it's not like his journey in the NFL has been some smooth, like right out of college chop kicker. Like he's had some adversity. I mean, this is the second time with the Cowboys. I mean, there's been some ups and downs. And the craziest part about that is he's just been so good this whole year.

I think he was 50 of 53 extra points all season. And he's been I mean, his nickname is Money Maher. And that's what he called him at in the post game press conference. I mean, he's been so good for them. That's why, you know, there were some up and down moments in previous seasons with Greg Zuerlein. Where it's like, you know, obviously Greg Zuerlein has, you know, a good resume. And so you're like, yeah, he'll probably get it figured out.

He's been in this for a long time. And there hasn't really been those ups and downs with Maher this year. So to see that in the postseason, you know, that's the biggest thing for me. If it would have happened in one of these regular season games, I think it'd be easier to move past. But just to do it in the way that he did in a postseason game. I mean, it's just, it's interesting here, John Foss will talk about how from a coach's standpoint, you know, it's so rare a coach can be happy after these games because like he wants to be excited for the team, but then he feels bad for his guy. There's no way that Brett Maher is enjoying that post game locker room. He just had one of the worst games of his career.

You know, it's hard for him to move on, but that's the business. It is definitely. It's a good thing they had points to spare and didn't have to worry about it coming down to four missed extra points.

It's something we've never seen before. All right, you can find John on Twitter at John Machota, J-O-N-M-A-C-H-O-T-A, covering the Cowboys for the athletic. It's good to catch up with you. I know it's a busy week, but we are excited to feel the buzz around Dallas because it's just something different when Dallas is doing well. Oh, there's absolutely no question about that. It's funny because I talk about that with my editors, you know, at the athletic. I understand that for a lot of teams, you know, it's always crazy when it gets in playoff time, but by some chance, one of these years, the Cowboys catch fire.

Like, just wait till you see how crazy this thing gets. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Anytime.

I think I've told you this before, you know, Cowboys play so many late night games and things like that. There's so many times that I'm leaving the stadium driving, driving home, listening to your show. So always glad to be on. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams.

Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams.

Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today.