Blogging The Boys 3 hours ago
Through two games, the importance of Travis Frederick has become very clear
The Bearded One is great, but perhaps we’ve been sleeping on just how valuable he is to the team. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Cowboys offensive line is absolutely dominant. It’s been a common refrain in recent years, and the trio that have anchored this impressive unit consisted of Tyron Smith, arguably the best left tackle in the NFL, Zack Martin, arguably the best guard in the NFL, and Travis Frederick, arguably the best center in the NFL. For all the hype given to these three, it seems that Smith and Martin are usually the ones garnering the majority of the praise,...
Blogging The Boys Sep 14, 2018
Point/Counterpoint: Can these four Cowboys stars rebound from bad performances?
A little debate about how Dak, Zeke, Tyron and The General need to do better. With the Dallas Cowboys facing a suddenly very important game against the New York Giants, we are all wondering if they can bounce back from a very disappointing opener against the Carolina Panthers. In particular, the team saw some bad play from Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith, and Sean Lee, all of whom are going to be vital if the team is to overcome an 0-1 start. Can they play better this week? My co-author here at Blogging The Boys, Michael Strawn, and I sat down and had a little discussion about...
Blogging The Boys Sep 13, 2018
Cowboys Q&A: What’s going on with Sean Lee, Tyron Smith? Why won’t Dak Prescott throw deep?
You got questions, we got answers... The Dallas Cowboys dropped their season opener to the Carolina Panthers 16-8. As the team looks to regroup, there are a lot of questions heading into their Week 2 matchup against the New York Giants on Sunday night. What are those questions exactly? Let’s check in with the BTB community on twitter. What questions do you have about the Cowboys week 1 loss to the Panthers? What concerns do you have heading into Sunday night against the Giants. Hit us up on this week's Q&A session.— Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) September 11, 2018 Let’s...
SportsDay Sep 11, 2018
Tyron Smith on Cowboys' O-line play in season opener: 'We want to be a lot better than that'
FRISCO -- For the first time in seven games, Tyron Smith was called for multiple penalties in a single game. The Cowboys' All-Pro left tackle was called for an illegal block above the waist and offensive holding in Dallas' 16-8 loss at Carolina on Sunday.Is it reason for concern? Not really.Smith has been called for multiple penalties in six of the eight season openers he's played in during his Cowboys career. And he's went on to make the last five Pro Bowls."For us as a group, we got things to clean up from the game and to learn from," Smith said after watching the game film on Tuesday. "As...
Blogging The Boys Aug 27, 2018
Don’t let Lance Lenoir’s muffed punts prohibit him from making your 53-man roster
Relax. Special teams count. The preseason counts. The dress rehearsal is important. All of these are true. The Dallas Cowboys lost quite handily to the Arizona Cardinals in their dress rehearsal, but it was a contest that they knowingly played without guys like Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin. Absences by such key figures may help us rationalize what the game means in its total context, but they don’t necessarily excuse everyone else who had to play in it. The preseason may feel like a bore but the reality is that it’s still where roster...
Blogging The Boys Aug 27, 2018
Why the Cowboys offense failed miserably against the Cardinals
Let’s dig deep to see what happened. The Dallas Cowboys offense was pitiful on Sunday night against the Cardinals, only putting up three points on a last-second field goal. The question, then, is why was it so bad? The obvious answer is they played the game without Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Travis Frederick. That’s your five best players on offense, so we’re starting with a handicap already. Four of them should be on the field for the season-opener. Still, you would expect the Cowboys mix of backups and starters on offense to perform better than they...
SportsDay Aug 26, 2018
5 takeaways from the Cowboys' 27-3 preseason loss to Cardinals: Will Cooper Rush remain the backup quarterback?
ARLINGTON -- Thankfully that's over. Most were expecting this to be the Cowboys' most entertaining preseason game. That's usually the case with the third preseason game. It's supposed to be the dress rehearsal for the regular season!But Dak Prescott didn't play. Ezekiel Elliott, Sean Lee, Zack Martin and Tyron Smith didn't either.So this one actually looked more like the fourth and least watchable preseason game. Dallas turned the ball over eight times! Just imagine how bad it could get Thursday night in Houston.Anyway, here are my thoughts on Dallas' third consecutive preseason loss, 27-3 to...
Blogging The Boys Aug 25, 2018
Why the Cowboys star trio of offensive linemen will be facing increasing pressure to perform
It’s a new world for Cowboys’ fans. Entering the 2017 season, the unquestioned strength of the Dallas Cowboys was the team’s powerful running game driven in large part by an All-World offensive line. The core of that unit is the team’s three first-round draft picks, Tyron Smith (2011), Travis Frederick (2013) and Zack Martin (2014). Each of the three has been an elite performer since entering the NFL. This is true regardless of what metric you choose to measure them. Pro Football Reference uses “approximate value” as a simple, rudimentary grading metric. Approximate value (AV)...
SportsDay Aug 24, 2018
Matt Mosley: Earl Thomas would make Cowboys better at safety, but is he worth it?
Matt Mosley, contributor to SportsDayDFW.com and columnist for Texas Monthly, answered your questions during a live chat Friday. Here are some highlights. Who should be more concerned about the offensive line injuries, Dak or Zeke? Matt Mosley: I think it's probably about equal. Dak might need to be a little more concerned because he may be running for his life. But the Cowboys saw how deflating missing Tyron Smith vs the Falcons could be to a team. Surely they will have a much better plan in place without Frederick and any other player who misses time. It's one of the reasons it's hard to...
Blogging The Boys Aug 24, 2018
Why coaching could be the real key to the Cowboys 2018 season
Sudden health problems for the offensive line are just the latest challenge for Jason Garrett and his assistants. Well, that escalated quickly. A couple of weeks ago, hopes for the Dallas Cowboys this season were founded to a great degree on re-establishing the dominance of their offensive line, anchored of course by the three All-Pros, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin. Now, two of those three pillars face health issues. Martin is uncertain for the season opener against the Carolina Panthers after the (apparently minor) injury to his knee against the Cincinnati Bengals....
SportsDay Aug 23, 2018
Here's what the Cowboys' projected O-line rotation looks like without Travis Frederick
The Cowboys' offensive line is widely regarded as the best in the NFL. Dallas appeared ready to enter the season with a first-round talent at all five positions. But with All-Pro center Travis Frederick out indefinitely, the hope is that the other four spots can stay intact until he returns.Projected Week 1 startersTyron Smith, left tackle: Smith has battled multiple injuries the past two years, causing one of the game's best tackles to miss three games each of the past two seasons.Connor Williams, left guard: Williams has lined up with the first team every day since the Cowboys used their...
Blogging The Boys Aug 21, 2018
Why Travis Frederick’s back injury could be more than just a “stinger”
Serious back injuries have troubled the Cowboys in the past, could this be another one of them? A little over a year ago, in March 2017, we took a closer look at the epidemic of back injuries that had been plaguing the Cowboys heading into the 2017 season. We looked at the back injuries that had affected Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, DeMarcus Lawrence, Chaz Green, Dan Bailey, Tyron Smith, Charles Tapper, and Tyron Crawford. Along the way, we found out that the Cowboys had a very odd terminology when it came to back issues. Case in point, Tyron Smith missed two games for the first time in his...
Blogging The Boys Aug 20, 2018
Cowboys center Travis Frederick seeking additional medical opinions stinger issues
Hopefully all is well. The collective breath of Cowboys fans everywhere was held extremely tightly on Sunday until results of Zack Martin’s MRI came in. Thankfully the best guard in football is alright. His injury scare was the second of the week involving a premier Cowboys offensive linemen, coincidentally enough neither of them featured Tyron Smith. Yes, Travis Frederick had a “stinger” that worried people while the team was still in California. He saw a specialist in Los Angeles and it seemed like all was well, not saying that all isn’t well, but Fredbeard is going to get some...
