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The Cowboys’ adventure in Buffalo went about as poorly as it could, with a 31-10 loss that probably could have been much worse. The Cowboys were out of the game, essentially, from the Bills’ opening seven-minute touchdown drive onward. The only way things could have gotten worse would have been for Dallas to suffer a major health setback and for much of the game, it appeared that might be the case with the Zack Martin injury.
Martin, the six-time All-Pro, took a nasty hit to the knee area with 2:57 to go in the first quarter. On the play, Martin was blocking Bills defensive lineman Tim Settle when defensive end Greg Rousseau came across to attempt to get to quarterback Dak Prescott. As he did, his knee collided with Martin’s leg. Martin limped into the blue medical tent and didn’t return to the game. At the time, certainly, it didn’t look good for Martin.
Ah but there was good news. There was pain, but it was a severe thigh bruise, not a more concerning knee injury.
“I feel all right,” Martin said at his locker after the game. “I got hit in the quad there pretty good. Just kinda of shut off, it wasn’t firing for me, so, you know, didn’t go back in the game.”
Zack Martin Injury: ‘Luckily My Knee Was Stable’
If, when watching the game live, you were concerned that Martin might be out for an extended period of time, you were not alone on that. Coach Mike McCarthy said he was concerned. Even Martin was pretty sure he’d done some kind of knee damage when the injury took place.
“I thought maybe I did something with my knee there with the way it felt when it got hit. But we went back in there and checked it out and luckily my knee was stable, felt good,” Martin said. “Kind of a fluke thing, I guess.”
Martin said he will focus on getting himself healthy for Week 16 once he can get back into the Cowboys’ practice facility. While his injury was hardly the cause of the Cowboys’ struggles, it was a step drop from an All-Pro like Martin to his backup, undrafted free agent T.J. Bass.
“It’s pretty stiff right now so, get in there tomorrow and try to get back in the next week here,” Martin said.
Cowboys’ Road Woes Still Puzzling
Like all the Cowboys, Martin was left scratching his head after the game over the team’s continued struggles on the road. Dallas is 7-0 at home and now just 3-4 on the road, and even before Sunday’s disaster, the Cowboys were averaging 6.1 yards per play on offense at home and 5.1 per play on the road. Dak Prescott’s quarterback rating was 119.4 at home and 88.3 on the road.
Week 15 did not help those numbers, as the Cowboys averaged 3.4 yards per play and Prescott had a paltry rating of 57.7.
“None of us thought we were gonna come in here and do that. I think, we talked about it after the game, we gotta be better on the road. We put up a ton of production at home and we’ve got to find a way to translate that when we hit the road,” Martin said.
They’ll get a chance to turn that around next week when they face another tough contender, the Dolphins in Miami.
“Right now, we’re focused on, we’re on the road again next week, and this week, coming in and going into Miami with more of a sense of urgency,” Martin said.
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