(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
For the second time in as many years, the NFL schedule makers did the Dallas Cowboys no favors when they put together their schedule. Last year the NFL handed Dallas back-to-back road games against perceived Super Bowl contenders.
If you remember, the Bucs and the Chargers were both considered legit contenders with elite rosters and star QBs. The Dallas Cowboys were tasked to play them each on the road to start the 2021 season. As it turns out, the Chargers weren’t quite as good as many expected and Dallas was able to pull off a win and go home with a split record.
But how it played out isn’t the point. The point is the NFL was trying to hand the Dallas Cowboys a challenge. A challenge that made them underdogs on the road and likely to start their “bounce-back” season, 0-2.
Full Dallas Cowboys preseason and regular-season schedule for 2022: pic.twitter.com/tyZB1CeS3H
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) May 13, 2022
The NFL appears to be doing the same thing this season, as well.
The Dallas Cowboys start the new season playing the 2020 NFL champion Bucs and the 2021 AFC champion Bengals, back-to-back. We know Dallas eventually had to play them because the opponents have been set in stone since the end of the 2021 season. We just didn’t know when the Cowboys would play them.
As I detailed in the pre-schedule release column, 3 Most Important Parts of the Cowboys Schedule, who they face early matters enormously. Not only will Dallas be transitioning rookie, Tyler Smith, into the starting lineup, but they are asking the penalty-prone player to switch positions.
Facing off against the Bucs, his first test in the pros will be against Vita Vea, arguably the second-best interior defender in the entire league. And again, it’s with him playing a new position. It would have been nice to ease the rookie into things and work up to talents such as Vea. Rookies often look night and day between Week1 and Week 16. It’s unfortunate the NFL is rushing this match-up because it could have so good later in the season.
That’s not even the worst part of these early match-ups…
Michael Gallup tore his ACL on January 2nd of this year, and while the surgery and rehab have gone well, expecting him back by September 11 may be a little optimistic. Chances are Gallup will miss the first two or three games of the season, leaving the Dallas Cowboys uncharacteristically thin at the WR position.
Since Dallas parted with Amari Cooper this winter and saw Cedrick Wilson go to Miami in free agency, the Cowboys will likely head into Week 1 with only one of their top-four WRs from last season.
Opponents will undoubtedly key on CeeDee Lamb and force others to beat them. Can James Washington or the third round rookie, Jalen Tolbert, step up into that WR2 role against two Super Bowl caliber teams? I’m not even sure either can step into a WR3 role, if we’re being honest.
With only one true WR threat, Dallas may not be able to keep up with high powered teams like Cincy and Tampa. If this matchup came down the road, it would be a different story. Having Gallup back into the fold and the rookie Tolbert better acclimated to the NFL game, Dallas might be able to match firepower.
There’s just no way the Cowboys can match that firepower early in the season. Which is exactly what the NFL schedule makers wanted.
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