If McClain can get his feet under him before this game, I'd be a lot more optimistic. A hard hit or two on Kaep to start the game would definitely encourage them to throw the ball, which is not his strong suit.
Aldon out would be big, his talent on the field is inversely proportional to his lack of common sense off the field. But who knows, the DA basically dropped everything, which imo was borderline injustice. We'll see what the league does, but with the backlash on the Ray Rice scandal, Aldon might not get off so easy.
They still have Justin Smith and Willis in the front 7, a lot of young guys that are developing, and Eric Reid and Ward at safety. Bowman out is huge of course.Their corners are pretty weak, talent wise.
Our OL should be able to handle their front 7, which would definitely give us a leg up. They aren't strong on the interior D right now, Willis will probably lead team in tackles, but it also means there should be a relatively clean pocket for Romo to step up into, and I'm confident Dez/our passing attack can exploit their secondary and we can establish somewhat of a run game against their undermanned front 7.
They have some weapons on offense but it's week 1, I think their offense will struggle to get their weapons involved, and I expect a few miscues which could lead to some turnovers. If we win the TO battle and can get a lead early, I think we'll win this game. We match up pretty well against them. They aren't an offensive powerhouse and their D is weaker than normal and inexperienced.
I'm going to say something like 23-17