'Look Inward!' Cowboys Lineman Tyler Smith Motivated by Loss

The Dallas Cowboys took a punch to get when the Buffalo Bills beat them 31-10 in Week 15. How did young offensive lineman Tyler Smith react?

The only positive from Sunday’s game is that it’s finally over. The Dallas Cowboys fell to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, 31-10, likely ending their hopes of an NFC East title.

The defeat was a breakdown on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Dak Prescott had his worst game in two months, made worse by receivers that failed to separate and an offensive line that decidedly lost its battle in the trenches. On the other side of the ball, Bills running back James Cook ran for 179 yards.

Buffalo got ahead early and was able to dare Dallas to stop the run. Unequivocally, they couldn’t.

© Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Obviously, Sunday’s proceedings left Dallas disappointed but left guard Tyler Smith was eager to flush the loss and express his faith in the locker room.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Smith said. “Every week you go out, you want to win, the guys – myself included – put so much work into this thing, and when you don’t get the results you want it can be crushing at times. We’re not going to let ourselves get down, we’re not going to let this game define us. We just got to come back, put together another great week of work, and then come in and answer next Sunday.”

The Cowboys’ loss, their fourth on the road this season, has become a notable trend. They just can’t seem to find consistency away from Jerry World.

It can be hard to pin those struggles on a lack of home-field advantage, some bad luck, or a medley of other factors, but until Dallas wins away from home, those struggles will continue to make headlines—especially if they enter the playoffs as a Wild Card.

“We gotta play the way we know we can play,” Smith said. “We know we're a great team and it’s up to us to prove that week in and week out regardless if we’re in Dallas or away from Dallas.”

Fortunately for Smith, the Cowboys will have an opportunity to add a win to its road record. In Week 16, they’ll visit the AFC East-leading Miami Dolphins. Of course, that comes with its own set of difficulties—namely receiver Tyreek Hill and the fastest offense in football.

They present less of a “punch you in the face” challenge that the Bills so promptly showcased, but can just as easily jump ahead with explosive plays and run away with a game before the offense gets hot. How Dallas responds could foreshadow its fate come January.

Cowboys Report Card: Failing Grades in Bills Humiliation

“It’s going to definitely answer those questions,” Smith said. “We’re really going to look inward on who we are, the expectations that we set for ourselves, how we should play for each other, how we should play every week.

“At the end of the day we got our eyes on a big prize but we got to take it week by week … It starts with the Dolphins.”