The Dallas Cowboys barely escaped Week 14 with a victory over the Houston Texans, needing a 98-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and get the win. There are certainly a lot of things to clean up as the Cowboys are going to be on the road in three out of their final four games of the season and it is far from a cakewalk.
Dallas will kick things off by paying a visit to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15. The Jaguars are playing some solid football as they have an outside shot at chasing down the Tennessee Titans in the AFC South race. You know they will bring it and having Doug Pederson as head coach, who faced off with the Cowboys plenty during his days with the Philadelphia Eagles, will certainly help.
The Cowboys are going to look a lot different in the trenches this week on offense. The offensive line needs some adjustments as offensive tackle Terence Steele tore his ACL against the Texans and will miss the remainder of the season. Luckily for Dallas, they are getting a huge boost to their offensive line this week, as Tyron Smith is expected to return to the lineup.
Head coach Mike McCarthy said that he is hopeful to have the eight-time Pro Bowler back this week against the Jaguars as he has yet to play in a game this season. Ari Meirov shared the update on Twitter.
Inserting Smith back into the lineup will provide McCarthy with some options. Rookie Tyler Smith has been playing left tackle and more than holding his own. The original plan was for him to kick inside to guard and replace Connor McGovern, but with Steele sidelined, Tyl. Smith could flip to the other side of the line and play right tackle.
If the Cowboys want to stick to the plan of having Tyl. Smith at guard and moving McGovern to the bench, they could turn to either veteran Jason Peters or second-year player Josh Ball to fill the void. Dallas has plenty of depth, which is a good thing for McCarthy as he will be able to mix and match, finding the combination that works best for the stretch run of the season.