Can the Dallas Cowboys line play improve to save the season?
By Matt Aaron
At the start of the season, it looked like all of the Dallas line woes had been solved. But lots of teams tend to look good against the worst teams in the league, which is who Dallas played early on: the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, and the Miami Dolphins, all of them winless at game time.
However, in weeks four and five, the Cowboys finally had some real competition in the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers. In both games, both of the Cowboys lines played poorly, and so did the linebackers.
Against the Saints, the Cowboys only ran for 45 yards. Against the Packers, Prescott was harried by defenders all game and Elliot was held to 62 yards rushing, while the Packers running back Aaron Jones ran for 107 yards and four touchdowns. It was downright ugly.
Why did this happen? Last week, I blamed much of the defensive struggles on the Cowboys’ linebackers. But I failed to mention that Antwaun Woods was out with a knee injury. Covington started in his place. The reserve tackle might be okay in reserve duty, but he obviously isn’t the answer the Cowboys needs in Woods’ absence.
On the offensive side, both Tyron Smith and La’el Collins were out with injuries as well. Since they’ll be coming back, the question is whether Frederick and Williams are strong enough. The short answer to that question seems to be maybe not. Against weak competition in the first few weeks, Dallas’ offensive line looked stout. Since then, not so much.