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Dallas Cowboys: Here’s the Carolina Panthers’ biggest weakness

By Steven Mullenax

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 26: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers runs against Demarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys in the second half as Randy Gregory #94 of the Cowboys and Greg Olsen #88 of the Panthers look on at AT&T Stadium on November 26, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 26: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers runs against Demarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys in the second half as Randy Gregory #94 of the Cowboys and Greg Olsen #88 of the Panthers look on at AT&T Stadium on November 26, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images /

With the Dallas Cowboys set to take on the Carolina Panthers in their regular season debut, we go behind enemy lines with FanSided’s Cat Crave.

The Dallas Cowboys will kick start the 2018 NFL regular season on Sunday traveling to face the Carolina Panthers at home in Week One. As the matchup has been preview at nauseam, we wanted to get a different perspective of the game.

Therefore we went behind enemy lines and talked to our good friends over at Cat Crave, FanSided’s news and opinion site all things Carolina Panthers. Here’s our five questions with Cat Crave site expert Brandon Scott.

1. Can you share a bit about the struggles the Panthers have had along their offensive line recently?

BS: Entering training camp, the biggest question was who would replace All-Pro left guard Andrew Norwell. That quickly turned into replacing starting right tackle Daryl Williams following a knee injury, then Amini Silatolu, who also hurt his knee after being anointed the starter for Norwell.

After a few preseason games, left tackle Matt Kalil had an arthroscopic procedure completed on his knee and ultimately wound up on Injured Reserve along with back-up tackle Jeremiah Sirles. The Panthers used a variety of different combinations throughout the preseason and fortunately none showed any glaring weaknesses but they weren’t tested for a complete four quarters, yet.

That time comes Sunday as Carolina will rely heavily on second-year tackle Taylor Moton and potentially Corey Robinson, who they recently acquired via trade, but both Williams and Silatolu have been limited participants in each practice so far this week. If they return, the original offensive line – Silatolu (LG), Ryan Kalil (C) Trai Turner (RG) Williams (RT) would be in place minus M. Kalil who is being replaced by Moton.

2. Who is one relatively unknown player that will surprise Cowboy fans on Sunday?

BS: Taylor Moton has been pushing for an opportunity along the offensive line since being drafted in the second-round one year ago. Spending time at guard and tackle on both sides of the line, Moton finally has a home at left tackle in place of an injured Kalil.

This will be his first real test but all indications are he is ready. If able to protect Newton’s blind side and keep Randy Gregory, Tyrone Crawford, Taco Charlton or whoever the Cowboys line up opposite him, fans on both sides will take notice.

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