Babe Laufenberg | Dallas Cowboys Radio Broadcaster, Former NFL QB

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Visit FelixCatInsurance.com slash terms for all terms and limitations. He's a former NFL QB, a former Dallas QB himself. Babe Laufenberg is one half of the Dallas Cowboys radio network, along with Brad Sham. I really enjoy listening to them coming off the game against the Eagles, where they have a couple of opportunities to change the outcome.

And you know what? They've started out with some really impressive wins, babe. But the Cowboys have also tripped up in some of the more critical matchups. How would you describe where they are at this point in the season? Well, Bill Purcell's former Cowboys coach used to always say, you are what your record says you are.

So they are five and three. And it has been a crazy year in terms of I mean, they have blown teams out, starting with the Giants in the opener. They went 40 to nothing there. They get Bill Belichick his worst loss of his career. And then they get beat by Arizona. So it's Arizona's only win, but it's just the way of the NFL, you know. And they played Philadelphia.

I don't want to say tough. And there are no moral victories. We all understand all that. But if you had told me at the beginning of that game, they're going to go up to Philadelphia and they're going to have the ball first and five at the six yard line, 27 seconds, and they got four shots into the end zone from the six yard line, I would have said, oh, I think they'll take that. Yeah, any Cowboy fan would take that. And the problem was they ended up first and first and five at the six. And they ended up thrown into trying to throw it in the end zone from the twenty seven because they had two penalties in the sack.

So they didn't get it done. But I'll be honest with you, Amy, I'm already looking forward to the rematch. December 10th, Philly comes to AT&T Stadium and it's just going to be a heck of a game. And after that game on Sunday with Philly, I said to Brad Sham, my broadcast partner, I said, you know, if you didn't have a dog in the fight and you just sat down to watch a football game, you'd say, boy, that was that was a fun, entertaining physical football game.

Obviously, I live in Dallas and all the people here had a dog in the fight, so they're not real happy. Going back to the loss in San Francisco, so the 42 to 10, how much would you say they improved or how much would you say they're a different team now than that one that got blown out? I wouldn't say they're a different team, but I think there's there's no question they've improved. And I think that probably goes to every team in the NFL. Obviously, injuries are going to take their toll.

So you may not be as good because you've lost people. But I think with every successive week, you get more comfortable in what you're doing. Mike McCarthy, obviously the play caller here now, Kellen Moore has been the play caller for the three years before that with McCarthy here. So there's there's a little learning process on the offense.

It hasn't changed dramatically, but it's definitely changed. So I think they're all still getting their feet wet with their you obviously have new players every year. Brandon cooks at it and he hasn't really assimilated him into the offense to the extent that I thought he would be. So the season, as you well know, it's a long season. My good friend, Jason Garrett, former Cowboys head coach, used to always say and probably still does the history of the NFL is written week to week. And it's just so true because the Cowboys, as you mentioned, they get blown out by San Francisco 42 to 10. And then San Francisco clearly the cream of the NFC until they lose three straight games. Right. So, you know, at the end of the season, we're going to say, OK, how many do win?

How many do lose? OK, you, you, you, you and you are in and you're the other guys are out. So we'll see what happens when the playoffs roll around. Well, if it makes Cowboys fans feel any better, Josh Dobbs led a comeback against the Falcons on the road after he'd been with the Vikings for all of 10 minutes. So at least they lost respectably to Josh Dobbs in Arizona. I love that.

I love these stories where guys get in. Now, the one thing that has changed and allows these guys to come in and play two, three days later. Trust me, I'm not saying it's easy, but the speaker in the helmet coach is sitting there giving you the play, telling you what to look for.

Check this if you don't get this look. So that that's just such a huge advantage to what it was. I think 1994 was the first year they brought in the speaker in the quarterback's helmet where the coach could communicate directly with them. But half the problem is just getting the play called, literally called. And if you've watched any and I know you have any of the behind the scenes, the hard knocks of the quarterback thing they did on Netflix, the play calls are so complicated. That's almost like the hardest part for these quarterbacks that are assimilating into a new offense. You know, guys that just got there for a week is literally getting the play called. So having that coach with the walkie talkie and into your headset is you just can't you cannot imagine how much easier that's making it for these guys.

Again, not to say it's easy, but easier. Babe Lofenberg is part of the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network, along with Brad Sham. I always enjoy listening to them and did that for Cowboys Eagles.

So we're glad to have him with us here after our CBS Sports Radio. Have they always been this complicated, the play calls? I would have a hard time remembering the various iterations. Forget actually spitting it out in a huddle. I think they have gotten more complicated and the quarterback is doing more at the line of scrimmage now, I think, than ever before. I remember, shoot, I mean, we're going way back, but my rookie year, I felt like I had achieved something. If I was able to just get into the huddle in training camp and call the play with the shifts and the motion, I started in Washington and Washington with Joe Gibbs. You always had two shifts and then a motion, so it'd be shift to this formation, shift to that formation, then you'd motion the guy and then you'd have to call the play. And again, it was like if you broke the huddle and called the play, I felt like, OK, you know, first down and you had to actually run the play. But yeah, they put a lot more on the quarterback today, that's for sure. Thinking of the new wrinkle in the relationship between Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott, you mentioned they're still working that out, but how do you like it? How do you like a head coach and a quarterback working directly when it comes to what we see on the field offensively?

You know, I think it can be good and bad. It certainly takes away from the head coach being the head coach, right, of managing the game and the decisions and things of that nature. But I'll say this, if you're going to get fired, I'm not saying that Mike McCarthy is going to get fired, but you want to go down. Don't start rumors, babe. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not.

I'm not. I'm just saying you don't want to get fired because your offensive coordinator or your defensive coordinator didn't do what you wanted them to do. And and hey, everybody's been successful different ways. Bill Walsh called the plays in San Francisco. You know, Nick Ceriani does not call the plays in Philadelphia and he's had two different offensive coordinators come in now. So there are different ways to do it.

And I think it's really just how you feel most comfortable. I will say with Mike McCarthy calling the plays this year, even though probably 70 to 80 percent of the terminology is the same as what Kellen Moore used, I always feel that that play caller in the quarterback is like a pitcher and a catcher, right? Where that catcher flashes a sign and the pitcher says, well, I mean, he's thinking the exact same thing. And there's that simpatico, right, of this real rhythm gets going because, boy, that catcher and that pitcher, nothing disturbs me more than watching that pitcher shake off four signs. Yes, you're like, oh, this I don't know.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I just feel it's not going to be good. So I think it takes a while to develop that to where you're saying that that call comes in and you're saying, boom, just what I was thinking, just the play I wanted. I love the connection between Dak and C.D.

Lamb. How have you seen that turn into a real dynamic duo? Well, they've been, you know, exceptionally good over these last couple of games, that's for sure. And Philadelphia is so if Philadelphia has a weakness today, it's the secondary. And obviously they traded for Kevin Bayard. There was a reason for that.

They wanted to show up their safeties, which had been problematic for them. But, yeah, C.D. Lamb's been really, really good. And he and Dak are whatever you want to call it, finding in a rhythm or teams come out. They know where C.D.

Lamb is, right? It's not like, oh, where'd this guy come from? But and they still can't stop them. And that to me, that's the most difficult thing when all of a sudden you're getting all the attention from the defense and they know they need to stop you and they still haven't done it. It's been really good between those two.

No question. The last two games, he's had 10 catches and 150 yards or whatever or more. He had 11 this past week in terms of catches. But he'll be the first. This is shocking to me.

I would have thought, oh, Jerry Rice probably did it like 10 straight games to be the first receiver if he gets 10 catches and 150 yards to do it in three consecutive games. Whoa. And all of. Yeah. And all the football they played, I would have thought somebody had to have done that.

But. The stats don't lie. And he's only 24 years old, do you forget, because it feels like he's been around for a long time. We're excited to have Babe Lofenberg back on the show, former Cowboys quarterback himself, part of the dynamic duo with Brad Sham for the Cowboys Radio Network. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. The defense for the Cowboys, it's brash, it's bold, it's aggressive. The consistency they have with Dan Quinn sticking around and some of their stars. What impresses you the most about the defense? Well, they haven't been as good over the last four games or so.

They started out completely on fire. But it's an interesting defense from the standpoint of they really have only one play, only one linebacker. Now, Marquis Spell plays linebacker, but he was a safety and they moved him up. So it's a very fast defense. And I do think and not real big. And I do think if you look at the numbers, they are. I have them and I apologize that I may be off a game or two here, but they are 16 and one now since the start of last season on turf. But they're two and seven on grass. Now we put a lot of things into that, but I think it's a team that plays better on turf. We all remember, of course, the greatest show on turf, right?

St. Louis Rams. And that team played better on turf. And I just think this defense, again, predicated on speed. Turf is obviously faster. There are different team on turf than they are when they get on the road and play on grass. Are you ever surprised by the way Cowboys Nation travels? Because, yes, you point out the home field advantage, but gosh, when they go on the road, the legions are arriving with them. Yeah, I mean, it's obviously it's a national team, kind of the way Green Bay is the way Notre Dame is if you're in the college football world. But, you know, Pittsburgh travels great Green Bay travels.

But no, no question. Shoot, the Cowboys played the Chargers this year. There were more Cowboy fans out there than Charger fans. It felt like a home game. It's pretty rare when the home team has to use the silent count because the fans are making so much noise. But there are that there are more Cowboy fans out there than Charger fans.

And that'll happen. Arizona was it wasn't wasn't half and half, but probably 60-40. Arizona fans were the 60 and Cowboys 40. So they do travel well.

And that makes a difference. What's their Achilles heel, babe? What's their weakness? Well, the running game right now. They have not run the ball well all season long. You can't even really point to a game. I guess Arizona Pollard had over 100.

It's the only game I think he's been over 60. So they have not run the ball well, didn't run it well against Philly, although Philly has a, as we know, very, very good run defense. But I think until they shore up that running game and I don't know if that will happen, it's going to hurt them. And Bill Parcell, again, I'll quote him because he had so many great quotes.

But he would always say, just because you can identify the problem doesn't mean you can solve it. So it's like, OK, hey, they're not they're not running the ball. It's like, OK, yeah, yeah, we know they're not running the ball well.

How are we going to solve it? And so we'll see what happens. But they to me, no, no doubt they have to be able to run the ball a little better than they have. Is that offensive line? Is it Tony Pollard?

Is it something else? Well, Pollard is coming off a pretty horrific leg injury from last year in that playoff game at San Francisco. I don't I can't imagine that he's back to 100 percent. He doesn't look quite the same.

The offensive line, tear and steal the right tackle. He's coming off an ACL from last year. Tyron Smith getting older, although let me just say this. He played great against Philly. He's got about as good a game. But, you know, Zach Martin, great, great player. Hall of Fame player. You know, he's thirty two, thirty three years old. He's had 10 years of NFL wear and tear. Still really, really good. But you just no player is going to be the same at 32 that they were at 25. Right after getting beat up for, again, 10 or 11 NFL seasons. But he's still been good. Don't get me wrong. OK, so I want to drop a stat on you or a piece of information.

We call them nerd alerts on my show. When Tommy DeVito starts, he will be the 10th rookie quarterback to start this season. The 10th. It's the most ever in any season. And we're barely halfway through. What's your reaction to the number of rookie QBs we've seen so far through just one half of the season, babe? Well, probably two part injuries, but also there was a time when. You didn't even think about playing your rookie. You know, Bryce Young wouldn't have played. Will Evans wouldn't have played.

C.J. Stroud wouldn't have played. Aaron Rodgers waited four years to get his starting, you know, and that was due to injury at that time. You know, Brett Favre didn't start a game as a rookie. He threw five passes.

He was in Atlanta. But so now they draft him and they throw him out there. Ready or not, here we come. So that's part of it. And but but as to why these backups are these rookies, I mean, are coming in and playing as backups. That's a little puzzling because you know, now you can keep three quarterbacks. And typically that number two is going to be a veteran guy. Now, in the Giants case, obviously, they lost Daniel Jones and they lost Tyrod Taylor. So they're down to their third quarterback. But yeah, a lot of a lot of young guys playing.

And it's not easy even preparing last week for the Philadelphia game. Nick Ceriani said, look, I know Jalen Hurts is in his third year and you think he's a veteran. But he said he's still learning.

And they really are. I love it when a guy has like two starts under his belt and they're like, well, now he's ready. It takes years.

Oh, good. I'm glad you said that because I was going to ask you from a quarterback standpoint, how long does it take for a young guy to be comfortable with everything that's happening around him? Oh, again, years.

It's not just I get through six games or 10 games. I mean, I guarantee you that Prescott is still improving and seeing things that are different that you put into the men of Rolodex, if you will. And he's eight years in the league. But I love Ceriani's comment that, hey, I know you guys think and Jalen Hurts was runner up last year for the NFL MVP. So we had it. It's not like, oh, he's learning and making taking his lumps along the way. He played great. But I guarantee you Jalen Hurts will be the first to tell you, hey, I'm learning every day I come into the office.

The old saying is true knowledge comes after, you know, after you think you know everything. And I think that's that's true at the quarterback position. How do you explain C.J. Stroud? Yeah, he's been phenomenal. I will say I really like C.J. Stroud best coming out of this year's class.

Now, having no idea he'd play the way he has. And, you know, the bad thing for those guys, too, the Bryce Youngs and the C.J. Strouds and even Richardson, you know, you're getting drafted by bad teams. There's a reason why they took you up at the top of the draft because they earned it.

They were they are not good football teams. So to be able to go into those environments and succeed like C.J. Stroud has is pretty remarkable.

Yeah. And last week, you know, four seventy and five touchdowns. He certainly looks like he's playing like a veteran. Yeah, we'll see. Cowboys will see Bryce Young in two weeks. They go to Carolina. So I think it's interesting that the quarterbacks, you know, you come back five years later and you say or three years later and you say, gosh, OK, now who would we have taken? And I always think of the Bears right trading up to number three to get Trubisky and passing on Mahomes.

That's going to just kind of haunt you. You know, every day you wake up, I remember when Kansas City played the Bears, I think it was last year. I thought, oh, if you're a Bears fan, this is just really adding insult to injury here. You know, not only did we have a guy that isn't even on our team anymore, they have a guy that can be NFL MVP candidate virtually every year for the next 10 years.

Yes. But yet when the position is played the way that he does, it's not just revolutionary for your franchise. But gosh, is it fun to watch? It reminds you why you love football in the first place. Uncanny. It's uncanny. His instincts.

It's amazing. Yeah, and he started that very last game of the year. Chiefs had already, I think, locked up their playoff seating at that point. Alex Smith was a quarterback and he played very well in that last game.

But when Andy Reid was in Philly, you know, they took Donovan McNabb with the second pick in the draft and Doug Peterson started the first 10 games of that season. So I do think there's a lot to be said for holding those rookies back, letting them really learn the ways of the NFL. You can learn from being on the sideline. I know everybody says, oh, you're going to get out there. But as many guys get ruined by going out too early as our success stories, you know, like C.J. Stroud has been at least through the first eight or nine weeks here. Sometimes you got it figured out and you think you got the right guy and then you just don't.

And the Packer situation, too, is a great example. All right. You can find Babe Lofenberg on Twitter and you can hear him on the Cowboys Radio Network. Brad Sham.

Oh, at Babe Lofenberg is how you can find him. It's always a treat to be able to catch up with you. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes. It's fun to listen to.

OK, thank you, Amy. And I listen to you, just so you know, Cowboys play a lot of night games, right? They play Monday night, Monday night. And I'm on the charter. And when we get back to the F.W.

report at about four in the morning, I listen to you so I can catch up on what happened that day. It's great. Selling a little or a lot. Shopify helps you do your thing.

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