In this episode of Between the Lines we flip the attention to the defensive line, where chaos meets strategy. This is where the Cowboys’ games are won and lost, so let’s dive in.
Interior Defensive Line
Osa Obdighizuwa
(2025 Stats: 81 Total snaps, 6 Total Tackles, 0 TFL, 5 Pressures, 0 Sacks)
Grade: 76.6
Solomon Thomas
(2025 Stats: 53 Total snaps, 12 Total Tackles, 1 TFL, 3 Pressures, 0 Sacks)
Grade: 66.2
Kenny Clark
(2025 Stats: 86 Total snaps, 9 Total Tackles, 1 TFL, 6 Pressure, 1 Sack)
Grade: 72.5
Mazi Smith (2025 Stats:
N/A) Grade: N/A
Jay Toia
(2025 Stats: 39 Total snaps, 1 Total Tackle, 0 TFL, 0 Pressures, 0 Sack)
Grade: 29.3
On early downs, Chicago’s interior blocks better in terms of sack and pressure totals. The numbers back the narrative as the Bears interior offensive line rank sixth in Pass Block Win Rate (73%) and first in Run Block Win Rate (78%) through two weeks, a sneaky-elite split that doesn’t exactly scream 0–2. Yet the Bears have still given up six sacks, that ranks the sixth-most so far this season. Those figures hint the dents are arriving late from the edges, coverage, or the quarterback lingering, rather than from instant A-gap cave-ins. In other words the plumbing’s solid, but the leaks are coming from the roof.
Where do the Cowboys tilt the field on the interior? Let’s start in the mud on run defense. Dallas ranks fourth in Run Stop Win Rate (36%), and the Clark/Odighizuwa duo works like a hydraulic press, squeezing double-teams and smudging run landmarks. Clark is playing solidly and turns A-gaps into no-fly zones and lets the linebackers fly free. The Bears lead the league in yards before contact (1.9 yards per rush), yet their ground game grades out poorly in success rate. So the holes are open, but the gains fizzle once pads meet. Odighizuwa’s quick sheds on inside zone can play that perfectly as he can let Chicago enjoy the pre-contact sugar high, then slam the door shut.
What the Cowboys defensive tackles must be aware of is to keep Caleb Williams in the pocket and let the edges clean up here. They play contain, let Williams churn out his own mistakes and suddenly this interior can turn 2nd-and-5 into 2nd-and-8 and Ben Johnson’s play-action shine gets dull fast.
Defensive End
Marshawn Kneeland
(2025 Stats: 56 Total snaps, 4 Total Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Pressures, 1 Sack)
Grade: 57.3
Sam Williams
(2025 Stats: 80 Total snaps, 6 Total Tackles, 1 TFL, 5 Pressure, 0 Sacks)
Grade: 53.4
Dante Fowler Jr.
(2025 Stats: 55 Total snaps, 2 Total Tackles, 0 TFL, 4 Pressures, 0 Sacks)
Grade: 65.6
Donovan Ezeiruaku
(2025 Stats: 48 Total snaps, 1 Total tackle, 0 TFL, 3 Pressures, 0 sack)
Grade: 72.9
James Houston
(2025 Stats: 24 Total snaps, 4 Total tackles, 2 TFL, 1 Pressures, 1 Sack)
Grade: 75.2
Adding to the list this week on the edge rotation is the newly signed veteran, Jadeveon Clowney. He comes to Dallas in his eleventh season with 58 career sacks and 108 tackles for loss. We will see once he starts playing where he slots into the rotation.
Chicago’s tackles are a tale of opposites. Darnell Wright posted a Week 1 clean sheet with zero pressures and sacks, while Braxton Jones looked turnstile-friendly in Week 2 with seven pressures and two sacks surrendered, part of a league-high 13 pressures allowed through two games this year. Translation, on long downs tilt the blitz toward Jones. Against Wright, Dallas will need layered rush plans to set him up and win.
Expect Kneeland to play the doorman and the bouncer looking to set a hard edge on early downs and squeeze the C-gap so the ball spills where the help lives. James Houston has been a positive spark off the bench with his wide-9 speed and a nasty chop that turns third-and-long into a track meet.
The swing variable for the Cowboys defensive ends is Caleb Williams’ internal clock. He’ll linger to hunt for explosive plays, which is how you get sacks even when the protection looks average. The antidote isn’t chaos, it’s playing smart for the Cowboys edge group. Hold the edge and shrink the pocket without breaking the lanes. Play with patience on the edge, keep square, then apply a late squeeze. Do that, and those backyard extensions turn from scramble drills into drive-killers.
The optics may look fine for Chicago’s offensive line, but the film keeps blinking a “pressure-release” light on the edges, most of all at left tackle. Keep Fowler and Williams coloring inside the rush-lane lines,, and pair it with Dallas’s first-down pressures to create positive wins on Sunday. Do that, and the Bears’ quiet win-rate split turns into a marching band of stops.
Injury Update
Nothing new to report so far this week. The defensive line players have not appeared on this week’s practice report
