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Offensive Line is Key to Dallas Cowboys’ Wild-Card Matchup With Detroit Lions

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Every week, you can come up with a different star player who will be the key to a Dallas Cowboys victory and for the most part, no one would argue with you if you chose Tony Romo or Dez Bryant because they are integral parts of the team. But as it’s been week after the week, the real key to the Cowboys getting a win and earning just their second playoff victory since the 1996 season will be the play of the offensive line. And this is especially true this week since they are facing the NFL’s second-ranked defense in the Detroit Lions.

The Cowboys say that their focus is more on what they have and what they can do, but even they have to admit that they thought things would be a bit easier for them when it appeared as though Ndamukong Suh would be suspended for this game. As it turns out, though, the key cog in the Lions’ defensive line that led to them becoming the league’s No. 1-ranked unit against the run won his appeal and will be on the field this coming Sunday. Suh’s dominant presence and play causes teams to put more of a focus on him and as a result, it opens up everything else for their defense; linebackers and defensive ends have more lanes available to them to clog up the run or put pressure on the quarterback and this has led to them being ranked eighth in the league in sacks.

Normally, the news of Suh winning his appeal would deflate most teams, but to the Cowboys’ credit, it really is more about them than who is lining up against on any given week. The Lions have one Pro Bowler on their defensive line and that’s Suh, meanwhile the Cowboys have three Pro Bowlers on their offensive line, two of which are All-Pros in Tyron Smith and Zack Martin. Being named to the All-Pro team means you’re not only the best in your conference, but you are the best in the entire league.

Sure, the Cowboys, like everyone else, will pay attention to Suh, but they have the personnel to do that and not have to drastically change what they do on a normal week-to-week basis. They will continue to run the ball effectively on first and second down and as a result, force the Lions to commit their safeties to stop it. This is turn will lead to play-action passes down the field to a host of options in Bryant, Terrance Williams, Jason Witten or Cole Beasley. If the line shows up healthy and dominates the line of scrimmage like it has all year, the Cowboys will control the flow of the game and rule the time of possession battle which will help keep Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson on the sideline.

Everything the Cowboys do revolves around the play of their offensive line and I fully expect them to show up and shine again this Sunday. Their interior is stout with Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro Travis Frederick calling out the blocking assignments and Ronald Leary is no slouch himself as he plays the other guard spot opposite of the aforementioned Martin.

This unit wears on you as the game goes on and eventually crushes the will of its opponents as they live for physical play and want nothing more than to be able to run the ball 35-40 times a game. Look for this same punishing style to manifest itself this Sunday against the Lions.

Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.

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