The Dallas Cowboys could have received 12 video games in every of the previous three seasons, however they’re 1-3 in opening video games underneath head coach Mike McCarthy. They’re additionally slight underdogs in opposition to the Browns in Week 1 due to Cleveland’s spectacular protection.
Sunday’s Browns-Cowboys recreation stands out as the week’s most intriguing. Each groups made the playoffs in 2023, each might be with out their main rusher from final 12 months. Each additionally function items thought-about among the many NFL’s greatest.
No workforce scored extra factors per recreation (29.9) than Dallas final season. No quarterback threw extra touchdowns than the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and no vast receiver had extra receptions (135) than the workforce’s CeeDee Lamb. Ordinarily, stats like that will be sufficient to keep away from the underdog label, however in opposition to Cleveland, these numbers maintain much less weight.
The Cowboys offense ranked fifth with a mean of 371.6 yards per recreation in 2023, however the Browns protection allowed a league-low 270.2 yards per recreation final season. Dallas ranked third in passing yards with 258.6 per contest, however Cleveland gave up a league-low 164.7 yards by means of the air final 12 months.
If the Browns have a weak spot, it might be their Eleventh-ranked run protection. Cleveland allowed a mean of 105.5 yards per recreation to ball-carriers in 2023. In fact, nobody expects the Cowboys run recreation to do a lot with 29-year-old Ezekiel Elliott returning after a forgettable 12 months in New England to doubtlessly be the workforce’s lead again.
In contrast to Dallas, which might be with out cornerback DaRon Bland for at the least six weeks, Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will get to run it again in 2024 with gamers like All-Professional defensive finish Myles Garrett and defensive backs Martin Emerson Jr. and Denzel Ward.
All three had been important to the workforce’s success in 2023 and in line with knowledge from The thirty third Crew, are among the many league leaders in at the least one metric.
