FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys offensive line had one of their best performances of the season in Week 11 against the Las Vegas Raiders, allowing their second-lowest pressure rate of the year (20.6%).
Part of that equation is Tyler Smith at left guard, who is in the top six among all guards in forfeited pressure rate this season. As the Cowboys face three games in 12 days coming up, he know he'll have to take care of his body to continue the high level of performance.
"Just adhering to the routine is the most important part, at least for me," Smith said. "You've just got to do what you can with the time that you have. That's being wise with your time, just understanding that the workload is going to be really high in these couple of weeks so you've got to be careful with that. We play a very physical sport, we got a couple of physical teams coming through here these next couple of weeks."
That's not to say that the Cowboys didn't play a physical game on Monday night against the Raiders, especially from Smith's perspective.
On George Pickens' 37-yard touchdown in the second quarter, Smith made a diving effort to delay Maxx Crosby from getting to Dak Prescott, giving him the extra half second he needed to step up and complete the pass to Pickens. It's plays like those that remind Smith the importance of not only playing physically every snap, but finishing on every snap too.
"That's huge for me," Smith said of the play. "It really just, when I see it, I just think about finishing plays. You never know [if] that block that springs a half second or the running back picks up a blitzer or a guy getting his head across on a reach block, those are the small details that can be part of those huge plays. It's all 11 of us coming together to make that happen, so I think that definitely just keeps my head on a swivel and lets me know that I got to finish every play, you never know what can happen."
Now, Smith will take forth that effort into Dallas' home game on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles where he'll, presumably, face up with Jalen Carter for the first time this season. Carter would have played in Week 1 against the Cowboys, but was ejected before the first play from scrimmage for spitting on Dak Prescott.
Smith didn't see the interaction when it happened all the way back in early September, but knows the offensive line will have to account for Carter and the rest of the Eagles' defensive front.
"I think he's a great player for them," Smith said of Carter. "I think the tape speaks for himself. Obviously, he's a talented guy. A lot of the work that's done for that team is on the d-line, so I think they're a huge part of what they do there."
What's the best way to prepare to go up against an elite defensive tackle? Go up against one every day in practice, which is what Smith has been doing since the Cowboys traded for Quinnen Williams before the NFL trade deadline.
"He's a very talented interior rusher," Smith said. "I think the way that he plays is really tailored towards his body type and some of his strengths. He has decently long arms and he's a taller guy, so just going against him has definitely made me pick up a few things, be a little bit more savvy, I think it's great work."
The good thing for Smith, and the rest of Dallas' offensive line, is it's not just Williams that they face every day. It's Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa that help iron sharpen iron on the interior.
"I think we have one of the most, real talk, talented d-lines in the league right now. Definitely one of the most expensive," Smith said with a laugh. "I think it's just a lot of talent in the trenches, and I think it does nothing but make us get better each and every day being able to work with guys like that."
