Shan and Bobby went behind enemy lines to get an inside look at the Dallas Cowboys' next opponent - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tampa Bay Times' Buccaneers beat writer, Rick Stroud, joined the show to discuss the Bucs' explosive running game led by rookie tailback Bucky Irving, Baker Mayfield finding a home in Tampa, if Mike Evans is a Hall of Famer, a Bucs' defense that's missing several key players, and much more.
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00:00Does Tampa by four make sense in Vegas to you?
00:21You're asking me about gambling lines?
00:23I have no clue, man.
00:25I don't gamble and I don't participate in that stuff, but listen, they should be favored
00:30in this game.
00:31And I think, you know, simply put, they've been in sort of this playoff mode for a while
00:36now.
00:37And they also are running the ball as well as anybody in the National Football League
00:40right now.
00:41And that's an area that we know the Cowboys do not do very well in.
00:45So with the momentum they should have from their Chargers game, you know, every game
00:50is different, obviously, and for what they're playing for the one game lead in the South.
00:55Yeah, four points sounds about right, I guess.
00:57Yeah.
00:58Talk to us about Bucky Irving, his story and the evolution of this running game.
01:02We also thought that, I lost money on this, not that you would know, because you don't
01:06want to talk about Vegas, but Chuba Hubbard got shut down by Mike Zimmer and the Cowboys
01:10defense.
01:12So that'll give some Cowboy fans hope against Bucky Irving, but just talk about his evolution
01:16this year.
01:17Yeah.
01:18Well, you know, they've got three running backs.
01:21They've all done well at different times.
01:24And you know, Rashad White had been the starter, has been the starter.
01:28I think the story is Liam Cohen and, you know, sort of that offensive scheme, what they've
01:32done up front with the offensive line.
01:35But Bucky Irving is a guy that was, you know, probably underdrafted out of Oregon.
01:41You know, he's not the fastest guy.
01:43That might be one of the reasons why he wasn't picked higher.
01:47But he absolutely, almost in every instance, makes the first guy miss, even if it's in
01:52the backfield.
01:53He gets positive yards.
01:54He's averaged over five yards carry from the first tote.
01:58And he's explosive.
01:59He's going to have one or two runs a game that's going to go for 30 plus yards.
02:04And you know, when you have a back that's dynamic like that, can also catch the football,
02:08they use them both in a, you know, 21 personnel type situation that's been very effective
02:14for them.
02:15And, you know, Bucky Irving is going to be an all-rookie player and, you know, probably
02:19should get some rookie of the year votes.
02:21But he's been their home run hitter and a guy that can close out games for them.
02:28He's been terrific.