It is hard to believe we are just one day away from the Dallas Cowboys Week 1 matchup with the Cleveland Browns. It’s been a long off-season, and this will be a long game against one of the toughest defenses in the NFL.
Dallas heads into this season opener as the underdogs on the road. Overcoming that is no small task.
We’re talking about a Browns defense that allowed just 2,800 total passing yards in 2023. That was the lowest in the entire league.
With stars like Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward on defense, and former Cowboy Amari Cooper on offense, this will be no walk in the park for Dallas. They will need key players to over-perform in order to win it.
If this ends up as a Cowboys Week 1 victory, it will be in large part because of three guys stepping up.
So, let’s talk about those three and what they can do to deliver a Dallas win on Sunday.
Ezekiel Elliott: Pound the Rock
The Ohio legend and returning franchise cornerstone, Ezekiel Elliott, needs to have a big day in Cleveland if the Cowboys are going to win this thing.
We know exactly what makes the Browns so tough, and it is their pass defense.
They are not going to allow Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to run wild. In fact, you can probably expect a pretty mundane game from that dynamic duo.
This game is going to be won, or lost, based on how well the Cowboys running backs do, and that starts with Elliott.
Cleveland was the 12th ranked rushing defense last year, which is good, but not elite.
Elliott is going to have to tire their rushing defense down over the first three quarters, accumulating yards on the ground and in the screen-pass game, before hammering it home in the 4th quarter.
It will be a major test for the 29-year-old as the NFL world sees how much he still has in the tank in his Cowboys return.
DeMarcus Lawrence: Attack Backup Tackles
Once again, the Cowboys Week 1 strategy can not fully depend on their offense. That won’t work. This defense is going to have to make some plays of their own if they want to keep up with Cleveland’s D.
Enter DeMarcus Lawrence, who will have a golden opportunity to wreak some havoc in this matchup.
The veteran pass-rusher is going up against an injured offensive line, specifically at the tackle spot. Browns All-Pro Jedrick Wills will be missing in action at the left tackle spot, and Jack Conklin, their right tackle, is questionable to play.
Not only does this leave the Browns susceptible to the pass rush of Dallas, but it specifically means that Lawrence will get increased chances because of the attention Micah Parsons will get.
In a world where Wills plays and Conklin is healthy, Cleveland probably trusts those guys, along with the occasional double-team, to handle Parsons. Now? They would be silly to do that.
It will be a constant effort by the Browns backup tackles to contain Parsons, which should leave Lawrence with plenty of one-on-one opportunities.
He must come up big in those moments if Dallas wants to shut down the Cleveland offense.
Trevon Diggs: Operation Contain Cooper
After a year of recovering from a torn ACL, All-Pro Cornerback Trevon Diggs is being thrown into the fire in this Cowboys Week 1 matchup.
The interception machine himself will be taking on his former teammate in Amari Cooper. Essentially, Diggs will be in charge of defending a guy that had 1,250 receiving yards last season in his first week back.
It cannot be overstated how crucial this face-off will be, as the Cowboys defense will try to one-up the Browns unit in this game.
Without DaRon Bland by his side, Diggs will be out there with a 5th-round rookie in Caelen Carson. Needless to say, the pressure is on the veteran to step up.
This will be his secondary on Sunday, and he must perform like it.
There is little room for rust here, as unfair as that is. Diggs has to be ready to take on the challenge of containing Cooper, as well as Jerry Jeudy, for all four quarters.
It is a tall task for Diggs, but it should be one that he is up for.