Dallas Cowboys: Reading between the lines (offense)

Every week, we’re digging into the trenches, offense and defense, because that’s where the real action happens. In this installment, we’re shining a spotlight on the offensive line, who’s holding it down, who’s opening holes for the running backs, and who’s keeping Dak Prescott clean. Let’s get to it.

Left Tackle

(2025 Stats: 199 Total Snaps, 129 Pass Blocks, 11 Pressures, 2 QB Hits, 1 Sacks, 2 Penalties)

Thomas steps into Lions week with a clear brief, fill in for Tyler Guyton and keep the left edge boring each snap at a time. Dallas owns a 66% team Pass Block Win Rate (12th) and 72% Run Block Win Rate (12th), that’s a steady platform for a young tackle having to fill in for injury. Detroit, meanwhile, sits 28th in Pass Rush Win Rate (31%) and 30th in Run Stop Win Rate (28%), which says they’re a pressure-without-the-finish defense. In fact, the Lions’ own defensive coordinator has pushed for more closing power lately with a top-five pressure rate in recent weeks (38.7%) but has just four sacks over the four games, with offenses getting the ball out around 2.99 seconds on average. That volume of pressure versus late finishes is exactly where Thomas can tilt snaps.

Individually, Thomas has looked like a credible swing tackle who’s earning trust. Across the season he’s logged 199 offensive snaps, 176 at left tackle and 23 on the right. In that time he’s registered two penalties and one sack allowed, showing he can step in for Tyler Guyton without a big drop in protection. This is not hype either. The coaches credited him for a composed spot start against Kansas City and for holding up in true pass sets when Dallas needed him. For a second-year seventh-rounder, that’s meaningful.

So looking at Detroit. Aidan Hutchinson is the headline. He brings pace changes, a vise-grip long arm and counters that land late in the down. Detroit will also throw extra work to Thomas’ side to drag Hutchinson or an interior looper into his B-gap. Detroit generates plenty of near-wins, then struggles to finish, but when they do cash in, it’s often on the second move. If Marcus Davenport dresses, treat him as a speed-to-power change-up and stay the ready for the counter.

Left Guard

(2025 Stats: 760 Total snaps, 490 Pass Blocks, 18 Pressures, 0 QB Hits, 2 Sacks, 9 Penalties)

Smith walks into Detroit week with the right kind of résumé for a trench street fight. Individually, Smith’s profile is exactly what you want next to a backup left tackle, a people-mover first, and steadying influence second. His PFF profile has him at a 70.2 overall grade (22nd among all guards), but owns a run-block grade of 76.3 (9th), so the translation here is he creates displacement on schedule and against a Detroit team struggling in run stopping, this creates a huge mismatch inside for Javonte Williams. That dovetails with Dallas’ team win-rates and the way the offense has leaned on inside zone at his hip to keep second down friendly.

Back to Aidan Hutchinson. He’s back in form recently with a 90.5 PFF grade and a 24% pass-rush win rate during his midseason surge, plus 8.5 sacks and four forced fumbles on the year. Inside, Alim McNeill remains the leverage test, his season-long grade has him at just 57.3 overall grade by PFF, but he’s fresh off one of his better single-game efforts and still has the power to push the line. Expect rotation help from Roy Lopez and rookie Tyleik Williams on passing downs, and a steady diet of twists designed to drag Hutchinson into Smith’s B-gap after the snap.

Center

(2025 Stats: 414 Total Snaps, 271 Pass Blocks, 9 Pressures, 2 QB Hits, 0 Sacks, 0 Penalties)

Beebe gets maybe the most important assignments on the line this week against Detroit. Over the last few weeks the Lions have posted a top-five pressure rate but turned that into minimal sacks, and quarterbacks have held the ball close to three seconds against them on average, a league-high time to throw. That’s a lot of ‘almost’ and ‘not enough’ finish. This profile is the hinge of Beebe’s week, if he keeps the first 2.5 seconds clean, Detroit’s rush tends to arrive late.

Alim McNeill remains the leverage check on early downs for Beebe, and McNeil has been less splash this season but still the anchor they lean on to eat up double teams and muddy the middle. Expect the Lions to bring simulated A-gap looks, trying to pry open Beebe’s A-gaps after the snap rather than winning immediately.

PFF has Beebe grading as very good center with a run blocking grade at 72.8, 12th among centers this season. Marry that to Dallas’ top-third line win rates and you get the blueprint for this week, plenty of inside zone between him and the guards, then rhythm throws and play-action to blunt Detroit’s second-punch rush. The good news here is Beebe has remained a steady ship inside with zero sacks, no penalties and has allowed only two quarterback hits in the six games he’s started this season. When you consider some of the talent he’s faced this year, that’s an extremely strong result for the second-year starter, and should give Cowboys fans plenty to feel confident about this week.

Right Guard

(2025 Stats: 645 Total snaps, 416 Pass Blocks, 16 Pressures, 5 QB Hits, 1 Sacks, 6 Penalties)

For the in-depth analysis on Booker, go to BTB’s Rookie Battleground article. 

Right Tackle

(2025 Stats: 806 Total snaps, 507 Pass Blocks, 35 Pressures, 6 QB Hits, 4 Sacks, 6 Penalties)

Steele’s week starts with one note circled in red, clean up the penalties. He opened the Chiefs game with an early false start and later drew an ineligible-downfield flag before settling in. This sort of shaky start is something that Dallas can’t afford on the road. But let’s look at the positives here for Steele.

What Steele can be great at this week is by making Hutchinson win twice. What’s important for Steele is keeping his feet technique down and keeping an eye on any stunts. In the run game, Dallas can punish the Lions’ bottom-tier run stopping, and if Steele’s down blocks stay square, those four- and five-yard body blows is how Steele can keep Hutchinson out of his favorite rush packages.

Injury update

Tyler Guyton has been a non-participant this week in practice with an ankle injury, it’s looking likely he will miss this week’s game, but keep watch on the reports as game day inches closer.