FRISCO, Texas – The injuries to the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line have continued to stack up. Zack Martin missed his first game as a Dallas Cowboy yesterday, after 69 straight game starts since his first round selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, due to a knee injury. Tyron Smith has battled a neck stinger and an elbow injury. Connor Williams had surgery on his knee in November, and Xavier Su’a-Filo exited the game yesterday with a gruesome eye injury.
I spoke with Garrett on the o-line injuries piling up and he stated, “ It is a challenge for everybody. At this time of the year, you are not going to have the lineup you started with at the outset. A lot of different guys are going to play. That is why it is so critical to build your team the right way. To have some backup players who can go out and function. Communication is so critical there at the offensive line and I thought at times yesterday the guys did a good job. Adam Redmond stepped in there and battled hard and fought. Connor Williams got back in there. They did a good job in their interior with their guys making it difficult for us to have a clean pocket and to get the running game started, so that was a big piece of it on the offensive side and hopefully those guys will grow as a result of the experience. “
No one could have foreseen Joe Looney at center, Connor Williams at right guard, and Adam Redmond at left guard in the Cowboys’ interior offensive line during the offseason. The Colts’ defensive line did a great job taking advantage of Dallas’ banged up offensive line. Matt Eburflus, the former linebacker coach for the Cowboys, did a great job as defensive coordinator taking advantage of Dallas’ banged up o-line. He put more linebackers in the box, jamming the line of scrimmage. He also heavily used the blitz, causing added pressure on the line and forcing Dak Prescott out of the pocket.
The offensive line is the key ingredient to having success on offense and they have been without their centerpiece Travis Frederick since his diagnosis with Guillain-Barre Syndrome at the outset of the 2018 season. The four-time pro bowler called the plays along with Dak, but his words of wisdom from the sideline through the headset to his teammates along with new o-line coach Mark Colombo, has been invaluable to the line. He has helped Looney take command of the troops and the task of play calling. This offensive line is a close-knit group of guys that has weekly dinners on Thursday evenings, and their bond with one another is what will carry these guys through the remainder of this season and possibly to a playoff birth. The Cowboys have to win one of the remaining two games in the regular season to clench the title of the NFC East going into the postseason. Tampa Bay comes to Dallas on Sunday and the offensive issues will have to be ironed out.
