Coming into the Week 9 matchup against the Cowboys on “Monday Night Football,” the Cardinals were not exactly the most fearsome of defensive fronts. They’d managed to sack the quarterback in every game they played, but had done so three times in a game twice, and two times in a game once. In four games they logged just one sack.
Against the Cowboys, though, they were people-eaters. The Cardinals got after Dak Prescott in a big way, sacking him five times and putting him under pressure more often–17 times by Pro Football Focus’s count–than in any game since Week 3.
Prescott said that the Cards did not surprise him in any way, but that the offense was inexplicably “heated up” but their pressure.
“I know that they had a plan but they didn’t do anything they haven’t done before this season,” he said. “Obviously, it heated us up more than other opponents but just plays into how they wanted to play us—junky coverages, making me wait another half a second. That was crucial, while they got to their spots.”
Cowboys Offensive Line Full of Youth
Of course, the Cowboys did quite a bit this week to fix the defense via trade, adding star lineman Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson. But Prescott points to a problem that is simmering with the Cowboys, too: The Cardinals did not do anything extraordinary in Week 9, but the offensive line could not hold them back.
Dallas has a young offensive line now, with second-year man Tyler Guyton and rookie Tyler Booker manning the left side. Second-year center Cooper Beebe also returned to the lineup on Monday after having been on IR with a foot injury.
While there has been much hand-wringing about the defense this season–with good reason–lost in the shuffle is the fact that the Cowboys have completely remade three-fifths of the offensive line, and what was long a strength of this team is now a question mark.
Cowboys Drop to 19th in Key Ranking
Pro Football Focus rates and ranks every team’s offensive line each week, and after Week 9, the Cowboys sit 19th. They were the No. 1 offensive line back in 2021, and went to 12th the following year. In 2023, it was back to No. 8 overall in the rankings, but in the last two years, as Guyton, Beebe and now Booker have been integrated, the struggles have been obvious.
The line ranked No. 25 in 2024. Now, 19th.
Guyton has been getting better, slowly, but rates as the No. 65 tackle out of 75 graded tackles in the NFL, per PFF.
Wrote PFF this week: “Dallas’ offensive line allowed 14 pressures, including four sacks, on 48 passing attempts against the Cardinals. The unit’s 81.2 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating ranked 21st in the league.”
Dak Prescott: ‘It’s Frustrating’
No doubt, as Prescott noted, he bears some responsibility for the Cowboys’ spike in sacks on Monday. The Cardinals converted 29% of their pressures into sacks, a season-worst for Prescott.
Still, the Cowboys are 3-5-1 and while the defense takes ample criticism, there’s reason to worry about the O-line, too.
Said Prescott, “It’s frustrating that we didn’t play to our standard and do what we’re capable of. Defense did well on first and second down and just wasn’t able to get off the field. For us, we had some good plays here and there, made some good plays but wasn’t anything consistent in the game. It’s frustrating.”
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