Without Travis Frederick, the Cowboys offensive line can never be the same. He is the best player at his position, and clearly held together much of what made their offensive line so great.
Even without him, however, the Cowboys still have some of the best offensive line talent in the NFL. Against the Panthers, we did not see that, and one of the biggest reasons for that were the struggles of Smith.
Smith has been an elite left tackle for his entire career, and has continually been considered arguably the best at that position. Without Frederick, the Cowboys have no chance of surviving if Smith does not get back to his prime play.
The Cowboys need to be able to run behind Smith, and impose their running game on a defense. The Panthers are one of the toughest challenges they will face, but bad penalties and no continuity in the running game is unacceptable from a player of Smith’s caliber.
Smith needs to come out and play like one of the best left tackles in the NFL, because if he fails to do that the Cowboys offense may never be able to get back on track. Without Smith at his best, it holds back most of what the Cowboys want to do with the running and passing game.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
