Dallas’ injury woes were bad enough before losing Connor McGovern on the opening drive of the game after only featuring in eight snaps. He was replaced by Matt Farniok.
Terrance Steele struggled throughout the game, particularly on pass protection, and got the lowest grade on the offensive line. He was getting pushed back beyond the line of scrimmage and forcing Dak Prescott to leave the pocket on multiple occasions. He also jumped offside multiple times and got flagged for offensive holding.
Zack Martin, proving once more why he is one of the top right guards in the NFL, looked comfortable and solid both in the run blocking and pass protection, but it feels like now Martin is having to do double the effort in support of Tyler Biadasz.
With the very limited time practicing at left tackle, Tyler Smith impressed, but the mistakes he made, in conjunction with Farniok, cost the Cowboys as they ended up seeing Dak injured.
Overall the run blocking was working and Zeke was getting 5.2 yards per carry average on 10 attempts. Why the team stepped away from the run game only Kellen Moore knows. The whole game in pass protection was good for the majority of the game, but the continuity among the offensive line and basic mistakes appeared and resulted in the Buccaneers getting four sacks and three tackles for loss in the backfield. But overall, it wasn’t the disaster on the offensive line that many predicted.
