Cowboys have some decisions to tackle

zekecowboy

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The injury news about the Dallas Cowboys has included some unwelcome developments. The concern is that left tackle Tyron Smith may need a bit longer to recover sufficiently from his neck injury, making him unavailable for the trip to play the Seattle Seahawks. It’s also looking like his counterpart at right tackle, La’el Collins, may not be ready to return from IR in Week 4 as was hoped. Meanwhile, their planned backup as swing tackle, Cameron Erving, is also on IR, and there has been no reports about how he is progressing. It is an absolutely disastrous situation.

Except, well, it wasn’t last game. You know, that miracle, record-setting comeback against the Atlanta Falcons? The Cowboys desperately needed some pass protection from second-year tackle Brandon Knight and rookie Terence Steele - both coming to the team as UDFA signings. And they provided it, with Dak Prescott only getting sacked once early in the game and facing relatively light pressure to the tune of only four QB hits. Obviously, the run game didn’t suffer much from their presence either, as Dallas racked up 125 yards in a game where they nearly abandoned running for much of the way. And lest you think this is entirely due to Prescott’s own maneuverability and ability to get rid of the ball, you might want to look at this.

Now, that is hardly evidence that Knight is the player a healthy Smith is, but it does speak to how he may not be nearly the dropoff we all thought. Steele had more struggles, as should only be expected from a rookie, including a couple of holding calls against him. But the end results still were incredibly pleasing. And Steele has been at RT in both games, gaining experience while still doing a decent job. In the first game of the season, Prescott was under more pressure, but that was largely to the sack and four QB hits from Aaron Donald, the best interior defensive lineman in the business.

Suddenly, the idea of Smith and Collins being a bit longer getting back on the field is not nearly as depressing. Frankly, in recent years, the team seemed to rush Smith back when he was hurt, because they had little faith in their swing tackle. After all, the burning of Chaz Green and Byron Bell in Atlanta was not that long ago.


https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...ith-lael-collins-erving-brandon-knight-steele
 

Floatyworm

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I still say we already have our future left tackle.....Conner Williams. But we continue to try and make him a guard. Hopefully McCarthy will figure this Garrett mistake out. :rolleyes:
 

xwalker

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The injury news about the Dallas Cowboys has included some unwelcome developments. The concern is that left tackle Tyron Smith may need a bit longer to recover sufficiently from his neck injury, making him unavailable for the trip to play the Seattle Seahawks. It’s also looking like his counterpart at right tackle, La’el Collins, may not be ready to return from IR in Week 4 as was hoped. Meanwhile, their planned backup as swing tackle, Cameron Erving, is also on IR, and there has been no reports about how he is progressing. It is an absolutely disastrous situation.

Except, well, it wasn’t last game. You know, that miracle, record-setting comeback against the Atlanta Falcons? The Cowboys desperately needed some pass protection from second-year tackle Brandon Knight and rookie Terence Steele - both coming to the team as UDFA signings. And they provided it, with Dak Prescott only getting sacked once early in the game and facing relatively light pressure to the tune of only four QB hits. Obviously, the run game didn’t suffer much from their presence either, as Dallas racked up 125 yards in a game where they nearly abandoned running for much of the way. And lest you think this is entirely due to Prescott’s own maneuverability and ability to get rid of the ball, you might want to look at this.

Now, that is hardly evidence that Knight is the player a healthy Smith is, but it does speak to how he may not be nearly the dropoff we all thought. Steele had more struggles, as should only be expected from a rookie, including a couple of holding calls against him. But the end results still were incredibly pleasing. And Steele has been at RT in both games, gaining experience while still doing a decent job. In the first game of the season, Prescott was under more pressure, but that was largely to the sack and four QB hits from Aaron Donald, the best interior defensive lineman in the business.

Suddenly, the idea of Smith and Collins being a bit longer getting back on the field is not nearly as depressing. Frankly, in recent years, the team seemed to rush Smith back when he was hurt, because they had little faith in their swing tackle. After all, the burning of Chaz Green and Byron Bell in Atlanta was not that long ago.


https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...ith-lael-collins-erving-brandon-knight-steele

They game planned around having the 2 inexperienced OTs starting.
- Significant help from the TEs and from Zeke.
- QB roll outs away from the OT that didn't get help.
- QB roll outs towards the OT that didn't get help and then a pass over the outside pass rushers head to a RB in the flat.
- Many 1st read passes. Dak passes as soon as he gets the shotgun snap or as soon as he finishes his drop back from under center.

That is going to be difficult against better defenses.
- It is much easier to game plan around 1 OT than 2 (unless Garrett is the Head Coach when they couldn't game plan around anything).

Next week the Cowboys play the Browns.
- The Browns are currently bottom 7 or worst in:
- Completions Allowed
- Points Allowed
- Passing TDs allowed (2nd worst)
- Passing Yards allowed
- INTs (1 of 6 teams with zero)
 
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