Cowboys have 9 games against playoff teams from last year

[gtb1943]

The key will be if the D can stop the run and continue to get a good pass rush; and our DBs do not slide.
On the O it will be all about the line

 

[charron]

I've got them at 8-9. But it has nothing to do with the schedule really. I've been hedging my guess at 8-9 the last few years so i can feel some joy out of them winning more even when they lose in pitiful fashion in the playoffs. happy to be wrong the last few years but this year I may be overshooting things. Definitely take the under at 10.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Who are the 5 to 7 new starters?

2 on the OL, but they are not a huge drop off. Tyron who played half the time, and are we really worse off at C?

RB will not be much different as well.

Diggs will be back, and Bland takes over for Gilmore, Lewis back to the slot. So actually that may be better.

Williams and Kneeland may very well replace the production of Armstrong and Fowler. Were either all that great to lose much there?

Hankins at DT, but he too missed playing time, and how much of a difference make was he?

LVE at LB, but he too was injured yet again.

All players had someone behind them or was replaced by a 2nd team guy pushing for playing time, or a player with potential was drafted.

Not saying these guys can't be similar or even better players than what they're replacing in some cases, but it's a whole lot of unknown.

Tyron Smith played 13 games last year and was a 2nd team all pro. Biadasz is more easily replaced but was an average player. I worry more about replacing LT than C, but reality is your projected starters are both rookies who are making position changes. These guys could be fine with time, but at very least some growing pains should be expected.

RB is an interesting one as I think Zeke actually fits the mold better of what this offense wanted to achieve a year ago, but hes also so limited as a player these days I'm not sure that he's really an upgrade or downgrade. I'm losing faith but Id love to see them make another move this offseason to bring in another back to compete for passing down snaps.

Diggs will be back but we have no idea what to expect. He's coming off an injury that guys can bounce right back from, sometimes need a rehab year, and on occasion guys are never the same. Could be an upgrade if Diggs is truly 100% but that seems 50/50. We also really don't know what type of base coverage Zimmer will feature this year. Scheme change also creates a ton of unknown. Hes a guy who historically likes to go cover 0 while bringing the house on 3rd and long. Does he gamble like that with Bland who is a great CB but had his struggles at times in man, and with Diggs coming off a major injury? Does he let these guys just sit in zone 70% of the game and attack the football? We are all guessing.

I really like Kneeland, but it will be a different type of production. Armstrong/Fowler combined for 13 sacks last year, 15 sacks the year before. The pressure rates those guys got will be tough to duplicate, but those guys were also very one dimensional players.

DT you have a total unknown in Mazi. I'm optimistic that he can improve from year 1 to year 2 with more of a strict 1T focus, but as of right now we have a guy penciled in to replace Hankins who couldnt steal snaps from him at all a year ago.

LB I agree with you completely. Just going into this year with a healthy unit is an improvement in itself.

 

[nate dizzle]

If they stay healthy they will do well. Mike is a good coach and Dak generally plays well in season.

Against bad teams he's great, against good teams not so much.

 

[LifetimeBoysFan]

This is a brutal schedule for a team with so many unknowns in personnel. As far as getting back to pre-injury form, finding out if there is starting talent from last year’s class to rely on. Let alone this year’s class. Plus any injuries this year on a roster with thin depth. That is a lot of assuming to think this team can overcome all of that, and be a 12 win team again. If all the best case scenarios happen, I think 10/11 wins would be a solid success based on the talent we have to beat, including wirhin our improved division.

 

[McKDaddy]

Good news is the league changes so much year to year there is a good chance 3-4 of those teams wont be playoff teams again this year. Bad news is I don't think this division is so bad this year where you just pencil in 4 wins against NY/WASH for the Cowboys. I could see a 4-2 or even 3-3 divisional record this year with less margin of error for those out of division games.

Preseason I don't put too much stock into the schedule as there are so many variables that can change. Just looking at where I think the talent level is this year I have them at 9 wins.

Always appreciate your reasonable, well thought out comments.

 

[J12B]

except Ravens and 49ers we should win them all but we probably will lay an egg against a team like Texans,

I think the Lions beat us.

They're most likely only going to be better.

Lions might be the best team in the NFC. Still can't believe they lost to SF in the Playoffs.

 

[Jayinem]

except Ravens and 49ers we should win them all but we probably will lay an egg against a team like Texans,

I doubt we'll be favored against Texans or Lions or Eagles on the road. We lost a lot of key pieces and have replaced some of them through the draft meaning they'll be rookies, and added no free agents. Barring some trades I don't think we're going to be that good. 9 wins.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Not saying these guys can't be similar or even better players than what they're replacing in some cases, but it's a whole lot of unknown.

Tyron Smith played 13 games last year and was a 2nd team all pro. Biadasz is more easily replaced but was an average player. I worry more about replacing LT than C, but reality is your projected starters are both rookies who are making position changes. These guys could be fine with time, but at very least some growing pains should be expected.

RB is an interesting one as I think Zeke actually fits the mold better of what this offense wanted to achieve a year ago, but hes also so limited as a player these days I'm not sure that he's really an upgrade or downgrade. I'm losing faith but Id love to see them make another move this offseason to bring in another back to compete for passing down snaps.

Diggs will be back but we have no idea what to expect. He's coming off an injury that guys can bounce right back from, sometimes need a rehab year, and on occasion guys are never the same. Could be an upgrade if Diggs is truly 100% but that seems 50/50. We also really don't know what type of base coverage Zimmer will feature this year. Scheme change also creates a ton of unknown. Hes a guy who historically likes to go cover 0 while bringing the house on 3rd and long. Does he gamble like that with Bland who is a great CB but had his struggles at times in man, and with Diggs coming off a major injury? Does he let these guys just sit in zone 70% of the game and attack the football? We are all guessing.

I really like Kneeland, but it will be a different type of production. Armstrong/Fowler combined for 13 sacks last year, 15 sacks the year before. The pressure rates those guys got will be tough to duplicate, but those guys were also very one dimensional players.

DT you have a total unknown in Mazi. I'm optimistic that he can improve from year 1 to year 2 with more of a strict 1T focus, but as of right now we have a guy penciled in to replace Hankins who couldnt steal snaps from him at all a year ago.

LB I agree with you completely. Just going into this year with a healthy unit is an improvement in itself.

+1 ....you said it better than I could.
Just about every NFL coach will tell you the first game of the season scares them more than any other coz of offseason changes. Although they have confidence, as one coach put it, you just don't know how the team will respond until it's tested in real games. This is all I am saying.....last year, I felt confident predicting at least 9-10 wins. This year, I'm not sure....at least not yet.

 

[thunderpimp91]

+1 ....you said it better than I could.
Just about every NFL coach will tell you the first game of the season scares them more than any other coz of offseason changes. Although they have confidence, as one coach put it, you just don't know how the team will respond until it's tested in real games. This is all I am saying.....last year, I felt confident predicting at least 9-10 wins. This year, I'm not sure....at least not yet.

Agreed, and while there is still some time for Jerry to pull a rabbit out of his hat this is why I hold some resentment towards the front office and their lack of free agent activity this year. This team has some legitimate talent on the roster, but so much of it is wishful thinking that everything is going to fall the Cowboys way. Not every free agent received $100M contracts this year and going after even a couple players at cheaper positions like RB/DT/WR could have solidified a couple positions going into the year. I get you need to trust your young guys to step up and develop but that seems to be the plan across the board.

 

[MarcusRock]

Not sure about the totals being over or under but I have us at right around 10 wins....

What I do know is if we do have a losing season it will be based on; bias refs, bad coaching, bad defense, dropped balls, poor route running, MP having a podcast, no running game. I think that covers it....

Does Goodell count as "biased refs" because they're doing his bidding?

 

[MarcusRock]

Fans need to remember we will have 5-7 NEW starters, most average or downgrade. We have no way of knowing how they will respond. Will they play at the same level of the previous starter or can they? My point is this is not the same team that started last season. For me, I can't predict 10-12 wins or even so-called winnable games w/o seeing how the new starters respond. Ask me again after the first 3-4 games.....

But if we start off 4-0 or 0-4 that would be cheating. You will make your prediction NOW, mister. Or I'll turn this car around. Lol.

 

[Hawkeye19]

I can’t see this team winning more than 9-10 games this year.

They have taken some steps back from where they were last year, lame duck coaches, and likely a post playoff debacle funk— not to mention dealing with a first place schedule and the fact that other teams have improved and closed the gap on us within the division.

 

[Bullflop]

I'm seeing far more than just a few games this year whereby this team is likely to struggle mightily to pull out 10 wins. Yet, let's hope it's still possible and quite doable in the best of circumstances. Lots of youngsters with considerable development to be made will be counted upon. Wish them luck.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Not sure about the totals being over or under but I have us at right around 10 wins....

What I do know is if we do have a losing season it will be based on; bias refs, bad coaching, bad defense, dropped balls, poor route running, MP having a podcast, no running game. I think that covers it....

and if we have a winning season it will be due to luck, other team being injured, refs giving us the win, the other team's mistakes etc..

 

[GINeric]

Well what guidelines of "playoff teams" do we go by?? Cause when we've beaten previous season playoff teams like the Giants, Eagles, and Bucs, etc, for some reason people here said that it didn't count or played it down.

There's so many "goalpost moving" situations for the Cowboys that it's really gotten confusing. Sometimes it's a team game, sometimes it's not.

We've beaten previous season playoff teams and sometimes it counts, sometimes it's discredited.

 

[Diehardblues]

same analysis was done last year and the year before and the year before that...

this is a case of hindsight 20/20. we have to wait until after the season.

will steelers be back in playoffs? how about Bucs? remains to be seen.

but there is no denying the schedule looks tough.

Steelers may not be back but I’d bet Bengals will be. Could be 3 teams from AFC North again. And if Tampa isn’t there will be someone from NFC South who is.

I can see maybe 1 less playoff team from last year unless we see SF, Det or Phil missing.

 

[Rockport]

Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Texans, 49ers, Lions, Bucs and Egirls twice . Not to mention the Bengals .

Cowboys traditionally don’t fare as well against winning record teams.

If we win half of those there’s 4 or 5 losses. And we know we’ll get upset or blow some against lesser teams.

Over/ under 10 wins?

The schedule doesn’t matter. If you’re good enough, you’ll be in the playoffs. If not, you won’t. Don’t be scared and instead bring em on!

 

[Diehardblues]

Well what guidelines of "playoff teams" do we go by?? Cause when we've beaten previous season playoff teams like the Giants, Eagles, and Bucs, etc, for some reason people here said that it didn't count or played it down.

There's so many "goalpost moving" situations for the Cowboys that it's really gotten confusing. Sometimes it's a team game, sometimes it's not.

We've beaten previous season playoff teams and sometimes it counts, sometimes it's discredited.

Yea, we really can’t use the noise on a forum site to be our guide. Most analysis I’ve seen use last year playoff teams for this angle.

What else can you actually use until this season ends. Then we can use it. And along the way this season we can use teams with a winning record.

 

[Diehardblues]

The schedule doesn’t matter. If you’re good enough, you’ll be in the playoffs. If not, you won’t. Don’t be scared and instead bring em on!

Of course but these are simply for speculative analysis. If you’re not interested it might not be for you.