Latest Cowboys injury news presents Nightmare Before Christmas
The Dallas Cowboys have officially ruled out left tackle Tyron Smith for their Week 16 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. The news is unsurprising given Smith was listed as doubtful on Friday's injury report and head coach Mike McCarthy had indicated earlier in the week that he was behind Zack Martin in his rehab. Martin, […]
The Dallas Cowboys have officially ruled out left tackle Tyron Smith for their Week 16 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The news is unsurprising given Smith was listed as doubtful on Friday's injury report and head coach Mike McCarthy had indicated earlier in the week that he was behind Zack Martin in his rehab. Martin, by the way, remains questionable for Sunday's game.
This will be Smith's fourth missed game of the season (which is bound to cost him some money at the end of the year) and it presents a Nightmare Before Christmas scenario when Dallas visits Miami on the 24th of December.
Only it won't be Jack Skellington throwing a wrench in the Cowboys' plans for the game, instead it'll be Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb, who might be playing the best football of his career. Entering Week 16, he has nine sacks, 62 pressures (11th in the NFL), and ranks 15th in pass rush win rate, per PFF.
Against Tyron Smith, we would've been in for a glorious clash in the trenches. Instead, expect Chubb to be lined up against backup left tackle Chuma Edoga, who will be making his sixth start of the season and fourth at left tackle.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio doesn't move his edge rushers around a whole lot, so it means Chubb will be teeing off on him the majority of the game. However, don't get it twisted: Mike McCarthy won't find an easy solution by sending help Edoga's way down after down.
Why? Terence Steele versus Andrew Van Ginkel on the other side isn't exactly a favorable matchup, either. Both tackles will need help on this one as the Cowboys take on the Dolphins. In the past few weeks, there's been a clear emphasis on helping out Steele against top pass rushers.
On Sunday, it'll have to be a balanced approach and it's going to take a lot of quick passing from Dak Prescott to avoid costly sacks. The good news is that fits with the likely approach the Cowboys were going to have anyways against the Dolphins defense.
Fangio is expected to do what he usually does: Call two-high coverages to put a cap on the offense and force Prescott to be patient and sustain long drives over getting explosive gains.
Even still, it's going to take a big effort to pull off the win on the road against a 10-4 Dolphins squad that is peaking at the right time.
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