Time for Cowboys to fully embrace the tank after latest wave of OL injuries

With injuries mounting on the offensive line, it’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to abandon hopes of winning the NFC East and embrace the tank.

The Dallas Cowboys could’ve used their game against the Washington Football team to vaunt themselves into the pole position in the wide-open NFC East. However, a 41-16 throttling brought only big plays from Terry McLaurin, boneheaded decisions from Mike McCarthy, and more injuries along their once stalwart offensive line.

Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports both Zack Martin and Cam Erving will be out multiple weeks due to injury. Martin is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, which could end his season. Martin’s injury means that Connor Williams and Joe Looney are the only Week 1 starters on the line to remain healthy.

The Cowboys need to embrace the tank after latest rash of injuries

Erving’s injury isn’t ideal for Dallas given his ability to stick in multiple positions, but the big loss is Martin, a perennial All-Pro who might be on his way to Canton if he continues to pile up accolades at this pace.

The offensive line is now populated by undrafted free agents like Brandon Knight and Terence Steele, both of which are clearly several tiers below Erving and Martin. With no pulse on defense and an offense that thrives on the downfield passing game now limited due to a bad offensive line, things are looking grim for the Cowboys despite an easy schedule in the remainder of the season.

Dallas has the chance to land a game-changing player if they end up securing one of the top picks in the draft, and injuries to Martin and Erving will only help make them contenders for a top-five pick. Cowboys fans might not want to concede to their division rivals, but this might be the only way to get McCarthy canned and draft a new franchise cornerstone on defense.