Cowboys Unsung Heroes: Zack Martin Leads O-Line as Best in NFL?

A Dallas Cowboys question mark entering the season was the offensive line. But 11 games into the season, the unit is one of Mike McCarthy's shining lights.

One of the most prominent question marks surrounding the Dallas Cowboys at the start of the season was about the offensive line. With Tyron Smith tearing his hamstring off the bone during the preseason, many thought Dak Prescott would be in trouble.

Rookie Tyler Smith was thrust into the starting left tackle position. He joined Zack Martin, Terence Steele, Connor McGovern and Tyler Biadasz as the ones charged with protecting Dak Prescott. 

None aside from Martin - again a leader in this year’s Pro Bowler voting - are household names.

Fast-forward 11 games and the once-perceived weakness of the Cowboys is now one of the biggest strengths. 

The offensive line has only given up 14 sacks (a league-best). Prescott has also only been pressured on 16.1 percent of his dropbacks, ranking him sixth in the league, and has only been hit 13 times when passing.

This isn’t “The Great Wall” of the Super Bowl 1990s teams. But … That'll work.

Dallas COO Stephen Jones spoke on 105.3 The Fan on why the offensive line is playing at such a high level.

"It’s the full body of work," Jones said. "At the end of the day, it comes down to the players. They have done a really good job of, I think, some really good continuity in there. …”

“Continuity”? Well, kind of.

Every offensive line needs continuity, and since Prescott's return, the scoring has ballooned due to the improved cohesion. Through five games, Dallas has scored 40 or more points twice along with totals of 31, 28, and 24. That has resulted in the team winning four of its last five to improve to 8-3 as the NFC East tightens up.

But there have also been moving pieces and injuries, meaning ….

Depth is also crucial, and the scary part for other teams as we enter the final stretch of games is that Dallas' offensive line might just get better.

"The great news is I think it's a strength of our team," Jones said. "We got a guy who is a future Hall of Famer in [Jason] Peters back there ready to jump in and at times has helped. [Matt] Farniok should be back before the season's out and finally; we got Tyron Smith coming [back]. 

“How many teams get a Hall of Fame left tackle when they are already playing at a pretty high level?"

Just 14 sacks given up and none in the last two games is quite remarkable when entering the season, the offensive line was seen as a significant issue. 

As our own Mike Fisher says, "Let the cake bake," and with line coach Joe Philbin - oddly maligned by some in the media - guiding his unit to doing some of its best work throughout 11 games, that cake is turning out rather well.

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