The Dallas Cowboys kicked off their 65th NFL season with an impressive 33-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Cowboys’ offense took care of the ball and only put points on the board for Dallas. The defense throttled the Browns’ offense until the game was well in hand.
The special teams even got in on the act with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by KaVontae Turpin.
In short, it was a near-perfect start to the season, especially with Dak Prescott becoming the highest paid player in the league a few hours before kickoff.
The Cowboys generated 102 rushing yards – although 33 yards came courtesy of non-running backs. The running game was probably the only area of concern on Sunday.
Ezekiel Elliott was the team’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown.
DeMarvion Overshown finally made his NFL debut after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury. It was a smashing success.
Overshown was Dallas’ leading tackler with 11 tackles – five of them solo.
He added a sack and one tackle for a loss.
Fellow linebacker Eric Kendricks also had a great Dallas debut. In his first game in a Cowboys uniform he had nine tackles, two sacks and an interception.
DeMarcus Lawrence had two sacks while Micah Parsons added a sack too.
Trevon Diggs also returned from injury with five tackles and an interception.
The win was the fourth time Dallas has opened a season at Cleveland with a victory. They haven’t lost a season-opener at Cleveland.
Dallas is now 15-18 all-time against the Browns and 6-10 at Cleveland. They have now won four straight games at Cleveland.
The Cowboys are now 41-23-1 all-time in season-opening games – 23-12 when those games are played away from home.
Milestone Road Win
Sunday’s win was the 250th road victory all-time for the Cowboys. Dallas is now 250-253-2 in away games as they begin their 65th season of play in the NFL.
The Cowboys are 313-160-4 at home.
Scoragami Update
Sunday’s 33-17 final score was the second time that the Cowboys have ended a game with that score.
They have won both games. The first victory came 55 years ago in the eighth week of the 1969 season.
Dallas scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat New Orleans at the Cotton Bowl.
Too Fast, Cheetah, Too Fast
Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill was in a hurry to get the season started. Maybe in just a little too much of a hurry.
Hill was arrested just one block from the stadium for a traffic violation.
A video was posted online showing Hill on the ground and being handcuffed by several police officers.
The entire incident is currently under internal review by the local police.
Hill still managed to play in the game. He finished with seven catches for 130 yards – including an 80-yard touchdown late in the third that ignited a Dolphins come-from-behind win over Jacksonville.
Miami might want to have Hill get arrested before every game if he performs like that afterward.
First Dynamic TD
During the preseason games, the NFL’s new “Dynamic Kickoff” rules were mostly panned.
There were a few good returns on Sunday. One was slightly better than “dynamic” at that.
Arizona’s DeeJay Dallas dashed 96 yards for the first kickoff return for a touchdown under the new rules format.
While the return was certainly impressive, it didn’t help the Cardinals out at the end of the day. Arizona fell 34-28 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Not Ready For Prime Time
Maybe the Sanders & Son arrival in Dallas has been postponed?
Prescott’s massive extension all but puts the Cowboys out of the quarterback market altogether.
Even if Mike McCarthy is ousted as head coach at the end of the year, Dallas might be out of the Deion Sanders market too. Especially after Saturday.
After barely beating North Dakota State at home to open the season, Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes were routed by Nebraska on Saturday.
Not only has quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ stock dropped for next year’s draft, Deion Sanders is looking less and less like a big-time coach.
Looks like Coach Prime isn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.
Cowboys’ Next Opponent
Dallas draws the Saints at AT&T Stadium this Sunday in the Cowboys’ home opener.
The Cowboys are 18-13 all-time against New Orleans. They won the last meeting between the two teams 27-17 back in 2021 at the Superdome.
The Cowboys are 11-4 all-time against the Saints at home and have won the last two meetings played in Texas.
This will be the fourth time the Cowboys and Saints have met in the second week of the season. Dallas has won all three of the previous meetings.
This will be the first time they’ve played a second week contest since 1976.
As far as games played in the second week of the season, Dallas is 43-21 overall and 23-9 at home.
The Cowboys haven’t lost the second game of the year since 2017 when they lost 42-17 at Denver.
