Week 1: Cowboys vs Buccaneers

[rocketfuel]

The league gave the Cowboys a really tough test putting them up against the Superbowl champs in the opener, when the Cowboys are trying to integrate a lot of things. There was a lot to like about the game. The Cowboys went toe to toe with the Superbowl champs and won the turnover battle by 3. I can't recall the stat, but when you lose the turnover battle by 3, it's a very low probability that you win the game... but Tom Brady and the Bucs know how to win these tight games. The defense looked like they were able to force several turnovers to give the ball back to the offense. Connor looked physically strong and wasn't pushed around. He's no Zack Martin, but he still played well. I don't know how long this trio of receivers will stay together, but it doesn't look like a lot of secondaries can keep up with them. It's too much to ask for your 3rd best corner to have to guard one of the 3 (CeeDee, Cooper and Gallup). I can see them rolling up a lot of points in the air. The Cowboys will still need to be able to run the ball better if they want to do better in the red zone. But, I think that will improve when they aren't playing probably the best team in the league.

[rocketfuel]

Looking at the Cowboys next 8 opponents, none of them made the playoffs last year:

Chargers
Eagles
Panthers
Giants
Patriots
Vikings
Broncos
Falcons

If the Cowboys offense continues rolling an the defense is opportunistic, I can see them string together a pretty good record before they face the Chiefs on Week 11.

[lbz88]

So why did they take no shots down the field when TB was short 2 starting DB's? How healthy is Dak really? I understood the not running the ball against TB's D-line. If Zuerlein actually kicked during camp Dallas probably wins this game. But they need to score TD's when in the red zone and not settle for FG attempts.

[lbz88]

And that is the difference between us and the top teams in the league. They find a way to win, after last week with Rush I thought Dallas had it, but then they forgot to show up to play.