Going into week five against the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys are starting to feel the effects of the injury bug that hits every team in the NFL every year. For the last couple of weeks, it was the wide receiver group that was hit the hardest with Michael Gallup sitting out with a knee injury and Amari Cooper still dealing with a foot injury that has ailed him since training camp. Now as Gallup returns and Cooper continues to play despite the injury, it’s now the offensive line that’s feeling the pain.
In last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, Left Tackle Tyron Smith went down with a high ankle sprain and will be out in today’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers and could potentially be out next week as well. Travis Frederick doesn’t seem to be fully back to being Travis Frederick just yet. Right Tackle La’el Collins sat out of practice during the week five lead up but is ready to go in this pivotal NFC game.
Starting at left tackle for the Dallas Cowboys will be Cameron Fleming who’s started three games for the Cowboys in 2018. In those starts, the Cowboys went 3-0. The offense averaged 26.67 points per game. Fleming’s been an important insurance policy for the Dallas Cowboys as he brings a lot of experience off the bench and has had a lot of success.
The Green Bay Packers’ defense has had the fourth-best pass-rushing unit in the NFL per Pro Football Focus. Former Washington Redskins and current Packers’ EDGE Preston Smith, who gave the Dallas Cowboys trouble in the week seven loss in Washington in 2018 has had a really good start to the 2019 season for the Packers. He’s recorded 4.5 sacks on the season and 19 total quarterback pressures, good for 11th in the NFL among edge defenders. Preston Smith’s teammate on the other end of the defensive line, Za’Darius Smith has been equally impressive through the first four weeks of the season. Za’Darius has three sacks and 23 total pressures, which is good for eighth in the NFL among edge defenders.
This will be a difficult test for the Dallas Cowboys offensive line but with La’el Collins playing as well as he has in the first part of 2019, the Dallas Cowboys can afford to offer some protection help to Cameron Fleming on the left side of the offensive line. For the Dallas Cowboys offense to have the success they’ll need to have to get back into the win column, Fleming will need to have a good game today against the Packers. Here’s hoping he can remain undefeated as a starter for the Dallas Cowboys.
