FRISCO, Texas – Maybe Anthony Brown has a future in coaching, or motivational speaking at the very least.
Whatever he told his teammates Sunday before their throttling of Atlanta clearly worked well. It worked so well that it actually worked its way into the Cowboys' midweek messaging for this matchup against Kansas City.
"I think everybody really felt him before we went on the field," said Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy on Wednesday. "He inspired me for the theme on what to use in the morning."
Brown was one of the Cowboys' designated captains for last week's game, and he said the message was simple enough.
"I just wanted to tell them, McCarthy always saying how we're going to get the team's best shot. I was like how about we give them our best shot," he said. "Let's see if they can handle us. Let's shoot first and then see how they respond."
The result speaks for itself. The Cowboys didn't just bludgeon the Falcons, they threw a flurry of quick punches and never allowed them to get off the mat. By the fourth time Atlanta touched the ball, less than halfway through the second quarter, the score was already out of control at 21-3.
"We came out pretty good and we kept it going the whole game," Brown said.
It was the type of fast started that has often eluded the Cowboys over the years. Even during this impressive first half of 2021, it has taken them time to crank things up. Sloppy mistakes ran rampant in the early going of wins against New York and New England, and the amount of disfunction in the loss to Denver goes without saying.
There's also the aspect of the Cowboys being an easy opponent to get up for. The Cowboys are one of the most visible, polarizing teams in the league, just as a general statement. Add in an impressive 7-2 record, and it isn't surprising if they're taking teams' best shots.
"America's Team. When you play in an organization like this, you're the most watched team on television," said Dak Prescott last week. "You know other teams look at it, other fans look at it. They circle it one their calendar."
No one's going to have an issue getting hyped for this one. It's a good bet everyone on both sides of this Chiefs-Cowboys matchup has had the date circled since the schedule was released.
Still, Brown's message can still come in handy, this week and beyond – and from the sounds of it, McCarthy doesn't plan to let them forget it. When he was told that his head coach thought so highly of his speech, Brown smiled and nodded his head.
"That was exactly what I said, we've got to shoot first," he said.
