Cowboys Schedule: ‘Contender’ Question Might Get Early Answer
The Dallas Cowboys' full-season schedule has dropped, and coach Mike McCarthy's team will get a good understanding of where they sit in the Super Bowl pecking order relatively early in the season.
The Cowboys' first five games are at the Giants, back home against the Jets, at the Cardinals, home against the Patriots, and at the 49ers.
That is a tough start to the season.
With McCarthy now the offensive play caller, we will likely get a good idea of how good the Cowboys can be next season early on, as four of those five consider themselves playoff-worthy.
The New York Giants will be no pushovers as Daniel Jones showed promising signs last season, while Dallas' bogeyman Aaron Rodgers, who is 3-0 in his previous three trips to AT&T Stadium, comes to town in a New York Jets uniform.
The Jets defense is regarded by many as one of the best units in the league, and with an offense that was missing a veteran quarterback to take advantage of the weapons on offer, coach Robert Saleh's team will be a challenging proposition.
Dallas then gets a reprieve of sorts against the rebuilding Cardinals, who will be without Kyler Murray. The trip to State Farm Stadium is usually treated as another home game for the Cowboys; so there’s the “breathing-room” game.
Coach Bill Belichick and his unknown Patriots team then comes to Dallas in Week 4 in what could be a rather interesting outing. The Cowboys have only won one of their last seven meetings with New England dating back to 1999.
Rounding out the first five-week block is perhaps the most challenging assignment in football - the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium.
In a rematch of the last season's divisional matchup, the Cowboys will no doubt be looking for revenge. If McCarthy's team can manage to secure a win here, it could set them up for a deep playoff run based on confidence-building alone.
With the Cowboys facing some tough opponents to start their season, McCarthy's revamped offense and coordinator Dan Quinn's defense will be a serious test early on.
While teams can't win the Super Bowl in September, they can certainly lose ground in pursuit of it, and with a difficult schedule to start the year, the Cowboys would like to get off to a promising start. … and might just find it challenging to do so.
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