MURRELL COLUMN: What gives with the Cowboys? O-line? Distractions?

Published 6:53 pm Saturday, October 21, 2017

Coaches say it all the time: “It starts with the offensive line.”

Without the offensive line, playmakers can’t make plays.

The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of playmakers. Yet, they’re 2-3.

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Playing the winless San Francisco 49ers after a bye week might do them some good. So would having a more seasoned offensive line … if you ask a former cornerback.

“What we’ve seen so far, as far as the difference between last year and this year, our offensive line has younger players now,” Everson Walls said last Saturday after golfing for Tropical Storm Harvey relief at Beaumont’s Brentwood Country Club.

The starting front five of Tyron Smith, Chaz Green, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin and La’el Collins, from left to right, have a combined 22 years of experience, counting this season. Walls, a 1980s Cowboys standout who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in the 1990 season, said Dallas overcame many defensive mistakes last year because the offensive line, which had the now-retired Doug Free at tackle, controlled the game.

“Dak [Prescott] didn’t have nearly as much pressure last year as much as he has this year,” Walls said. “He hasn’t been hit as much.”

Prescott has a knack for escaping pressure with his athletic ability, but the second-year quarterback who was born just down Interstate 10 from here in Sulphur has been sacked 32 times in 21 career games. He already has been brought down seven times in five games, which actually is a little slower than last year’s pace.

A closer look at statistics shows with 11 more games to play this season, Prescott already has almost half the 23 touchdowns he tallied last year, and he’s gained 9.2 more yards per game passing than in 2016. Prescott also has rushed for more yards per game this year (25.2, up from 17.6).

That hasn’t always converted into victories, but for any doubters out there, Dak isn’t the problem.

Ezekiel Elliott isn’t as productive as he was as a rookie. Maybe the offensive line hasn’t given him the holes he needs, but the second-year player is sure dealing with a distraction no line can block on the field.

“There’s a lot of distractions right now, so it’s going to take some leadership for someone to corral everybody and get them on the same page and focus on football right now,” former Cowboys wide receiver Doug Donley said.

Well, that might have fit owner Jerry Jones’ job description, but he’s the main author of plenty of Dallas’ distractions.

As touchy as the controversy surrounding kneeling during the national anthem in the NFL, Jones’ hard line against it was his attempt to nip the issue in the bud. With all due respect to due respect for our country itself, in today’s social climate, the hard line backfired.

What does Jones need to do now?

“There’s never an easy answer,” Donley said. “Anything you say is going to be wrong. I don’t think Jerry is trying to do anything bad to slight anybody. It’s just a tough situation. You’ve got sponsors, fans and people all trying to bring them together and everybody’s coming from a different position. The players are doing something that’s important to them, and everyone needs to put themselves in the other person’s shoe.”

No one outside the Cowboys’ camp will entirely know to what extent off-field distractions are hindering their play. Their defense has been lackluster even when protests weren’t such a hot-button topic.

Opposing defenses, on the other hand, will always go after a quarterback who was the 2016 NFL Rookie of the Year, so Prescott may, in fact, feel a little more pressure.

“I would say the offensive line needs to have more consistency,” Walls said.
“Defensively, we are who we are. We’re a bend-and-sometimes-break defense, not bend-and-don’t-break. How you’re able to cover that up is keeping the opposing offense off the field.”

Elliott has had a suspension blocked twice this season, so he can do himself and the offensive line a favor and make the most of today’s game.

It would only help to quiet the talk about distractions.
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I.C. Murrell can be reached at 549-8541 or at ic.murrell@panews.com. On Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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