Dallas Offensive Line Again, Jelling...
By Tom Orsborn - Express-News
IRVING — Tight-knit doesn’t begin to describe the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line.
“That whole offensive line’s real close,” coach Wade Phillips said. “On most teams, those guys are pretty close, but I think this team is exceptionally close that way. The five offensive linemen are half your offense, and they’re really the teamwork of your offense. The other guys run individual routes or it’s individuals running with the football. But these guys are working as the teamwork part of your team, so it’s really nice that they are close.”
That unity was never more apparent than Sunday night, when the line gave its best performance in more than two months after welcoming back left guard Kyle Kosier to the lineup.
With all its starters in place for the first time since Week 3, the unit helped push the Cowboys to a season-saving 14-10 victory over Washington. In addition to paving the way for Marion Barber’s third 100-yard rushing game of the season, the line didn’t allow a sack, a significant
accomplishment considering Tony Romo’s broken right pinkie isn’t fully healed.
The last time the line didn’t allow a sack was Sept. 28, when the Redskins beat the Cowboys 26-24 at Texas Stadium.
“I tell you what, they played a great football game,” said Romo, who passed for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown in his first game since breaking his finger Oct. 12. “The O-line did awesome. I’m very proud of those guys to put forth the effort they did and to perform at the level they did.”
A lot of it had to do with getting Kosier back. The seven-year veteran missed the previous six games with a foot injury.
Without him, the line had cohesion issues.
“It felt great to finally get back out there and get the job done,” Kosier said. “I wasn’t thinking about (the injury). I was just going out there and playing.”
After watching a tape of the game Monday morning, Phillips singled out Kosier and guard Leonard Davis for praise. But, as Davis pointed out, it was a team effort by a group determined to return to the form it displayed when the Cowboys (6-4) started 3-0.
“We just proved that when we play like we know we can play, nobody can stop us,” Davis said.
It also helped that fullback Deon Anderson and tight ends Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett recorded a superior collective blocking effort.
“It’s something I take pride in,” said Bennett, a rookie from Texas A&M. “I had 700 pancake (blocks) in three seasons (in college). I’m like the Orlando Pace of Texas A&M.”
Said Phillips of Witten, who played with a broken rib: “Witten did block a lot in the game, and did very well blocking. Outstanding, really. And that certainly helped our running game. And he protected a little bit more than he normally does.”
But it was the linemen— tackles Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo, Kosier and Davis and center Andre Gurode — who did the heavy lifting. And that was especially true when Dallas held the ball the final 6 minutes, 40 seconds, a period in which Barber had 10 carries. He finished with 114 yards after picking up 66 in the final quarter.
“That last drive was just a matter of will,” Davis said. “We knew exactly what we needed to do — just move the ball. We kind of figured we were going to move the ball and run the clock out, or we were going to move the ball and score points. We did the first part.”
Midway through the drive, Davis noticed all of his fellow linemen were smiling in the huddle, something that hasn’t happened for quite some time.
“It’s been a while, but what can you really say?” Davis said. “What’s happened has happened. You can’t really look back on it all. All you can really do is move forward.”
IRVING — Tight-knit doesn’t begin to describe the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line.
“That whole offensive line’s real close,” coach Wade Phillips said. “On most teams, those guys are pretty close, but I think this team is exceptionally close that way. The five offensive linemen are half your offense, and they’re really the teamwork of your offense. The other guys run individual routes or it’s individuals running with the football. But these guys are working as the teamwork part of your team, so it’s really nice that they are close.”
That unity was never more apparent than Sunday night, when the line gave its best performance in more than two months after welcoming back left guard Kyle Kosier to the lineup.
With all its starters in place for the first time since Week 3, the unit helped push the Cowboys to a season-saving 14-10 victory over Washington. In addition to paving the way for Marion Barber’s third 100-yard rushing game of the season, the line didn’t allow a sack, a significant
accomplishment considering Tony Romo’s broken right pinkie isn’t fully healed.
The last time the line didn’t allow a sack was Sept. 28, when the Redskins beat the Cowboys 26-24 at Texas Stadium.
“I tell you what, they played a great football game,” said Romo, who passed for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown in his first game since breaking his finger Oct. 12. “The O-line did awesome. I’m very proud of those guys to put forth the effort they did and to perform at the level they did.”
A lot of it had to do with getting Kosier back. The seven-year veteran missed the previous six games with a foot injury.
Without him, the line had cohesion issues.
“It felt great to finally get back out there and get the job done,” Kosier said. “I wasn’t thinking about (the injury). I was just going out there and playing.”
After watching a tape of the game Monday morning, Phillips singled out Kosier and guard Leonard Davis for praise. But, as Davis pointed out, it was a team effort by a group determined to return to the form it displayed when the Cowboys (6-4) started 3-0.
“We just proved that when we play like we know we can play, nobody can stop us,” Davis said.
It also helped that fullback Deon Anderson and tight ends Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett recorded a superior collective blocking effort.
“It’s something I take pride in,” said Bennett, a rookie from Texas A&M. “I had 700 pancake (blocks) in three seasons (in college). I’m like the Orlando Pace of Texas A&M.”
Said Phillips of Witten, who played with a broken rib: “Witten did block a lot in the game, and did very well blocking. Outstanding, really. And that certainly helped our running game. And he protected a little bit more than he normally does.”
But it was the linemen— tackles Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo, Kosier and Davis and center Andre Gurode — who did the heavy lifting. And that was especially true when Dallas held the ball the final 6 minutes, 40 seconds, a period in which Barber had 10 carries. He finished with 114 yards after picking up 66 in the final quarter.
“That last drive was just a matter of will,” Davis said. “We knew exactly what we needed to do — just move the ball. We kind of figured we were going to move the ball and run the clock out, or we were going to move the ball and score points. We did the first part.”
Midway through the drive, Davis noticed all of his fellow linemen were smiling in the huddle, something that hasn’t happened for quite some time.
“It’s been a while, but what can you really say?” Davis said. “What’s happened has happened. You can’t really look back on it all. All you can really do is move forward.”
posted by The Gryphon at 4:00 PM
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