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Things did not go as planned for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 as they dropped the first game in the Mike McCarthy era to the Los Angeles Rams. Thankfully, as is usually the case in the NFL, there is another opportunity to get back on track only seven days later.
The Cowboys group of Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb didn’t exactly look like the high-flying offense that we all expected in their first game of the year, but it is worth mentioning that there was no preseason or anything of the like so perhaps time under their belt is all that this group needed. That is the hope at least.
Dallas will not be the only winless team looking to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start in the NFL (expect to hear how often teams with that record don’t make the playoffs) as their opponent, the Atlanta Falcons, lost to the Seattle Seahawks in their opener. Dallas will be at Seattle the following week, by the way.
Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Calvin Ridley will all present a difficult challenge when Dallas is on defense. Players like DeMarcus Lawrence, Aldon Smith, and Everson Griffen are going to have to show up in a large way as the Cowboys are down Leighton Vander Esch for the next two months or so. Jaylon Smith will be tasked with rising to the occasion, Falcons running back Todd Gurley should be an interesting task for him in some capacity.
This will be the first game that Dallas plays without Vander Esch (collarbone) and Blake Jarwin (lost for the season with a torn ACL) as far as notable injuries go. They are also down Cam Erving and have already been operating without the likes of La’el Collins and Sean Lee. Needless to say, this will hardly be easy.
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