Home games: Atlanta, Cleveland, NY Giants, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia.
Road games: LA Rams, Seattle, Washington, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Baltimore, Cincinnati, NY Giants.
Projected record: 9-7
Stop me if you’ve heard this before but many folks are getting excited about the Cowboys chances entering the upcoming season.
The Dak Prescott contract drama aside, a large number of experts and pundits feel Dallas is primed to take over the NFC East and in fact be a force inside the up-for-grabs NFC.
The draft helped Dallas get more potent on offence, with the selection of Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb. His explosiveness and ability to make every catch will give the ‘Boys a talented trio of receivers as Lamb teams up with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup.
Ezekiel Elliott still looms large should Dallas hope to achieve anything significant. His running power and ability to wear down a defence gives Prescott options through the air and on the ground when he keeps the rock himself.
Jason Witten departs and the tight end position is thin but it was far from potent with Witten in silver and blue anyhow.
Defensively, things need to rise up. Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch are a dynamic linebacking duo but a lot looks likely to fall to recycled veterans in Gerald McCoy, Aldon Smith and the enigmatic DeMarcus Lawrence up front.
The secondary also has to be a massive concern with Byron Jones departing and not much coming back through the door other than HaHa Clinton-Dix.
Andy Dalton lays in wait in case contractual negotiations turn sour with Prescott and Jerry Jones but you get the feeling things will eventually work out okay.
Dallas is a hype team. Their fan base is so large that they’re always overhyped or over-critiqued but personally, there still looks to be too many holes on the defensive side of the ball to make a championship run for the men from Jerry World.
Josh Jenkins Sports 