Preseason football is hard to read. We spend most of August saying these games don’t matter, technically they don’t, but these preseason games give us insight.
We watch these games as starters barely play, coaches call a vanilla game, and most of the guys deciding these games are just fighting to stay in the NFL. Still, if the Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints tonight and finish 3-0, it will be the first time in years.
Dallas has made it to 2-0 after beating Seattle 17-7, and Arizona 34-13. I’m all about a 51-20 scoring advantage through these games, a plus 31 point differential.
I don’t think anyone should be changing their regular-season prediction because of a couple of preseason wins, but I’m just as guilty of this as the next guy. We also have some history to look at.
The Last Perfect Season Came in 1985
The last Cowboys team I found that went that had a perfect record in the preseason was in 1985. That is undefeated without a loss or tie.
After going 4-0 that summer, they followed it up with a 10-6 regular season, an NFC East title and a trip to the divisional round. If this present day squad beats New Orleans, they’d have their first perfect preseason in 41 years.
I don’t care if it is the preseason, 41 years is a long time.
Dallas Went Unbeaten in 2006
Just so we clear the air, Dallas went unbeaten in 2006, not undefeated.
This team went 3-0-1 and then went on to have a regular season record of 9-7, but they did make the playoffs. I don’t think most Cowboys fans need a big reminder about how that playoff game went, but if you do here it is in a nutshell.
Tony Romo. Seattle. The snap. I think we can leave it at that.
For this comparison, let’s just use the important part. Dallas followed up an unbeaten preseason with a playoff berth.
In 1985, the Cowboys went 10-6, and in 2006 won nine games. A regular season winning percentage of .594. If we put that over a 17-game season, we would be looking at a 10-7 season.
I don’t want to be the guy that says an undefeated season will lead to 10-7. That would be crazy, but if we’re using Cowboys history as a reference point, that’s where we would land.
The 2007 Cowboys are Another Interesting Point in the Timeline
Before this year, Dallas hadn’t even started a preseason 2-0 since 2007. That 07′ team beat Indianapolis and Denver to open the preseason games, and lost its final two games, finishing 2-2.
What I liked about 2007 was the team finished the regular season 13-3, won the NFC East, and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Then fell apart in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Giants and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning.
So, looking on the bright side. The last time a Cowboys team went 2-0 to start the preseason, a 13-3 season followed.
I think as Cowboys fans, we would take that record. If it’s followed by a deep playoff run.
The Depth is Something to Love
Dallas has outscored opponents 51-20 while sitting the majority of their starters. Brian Schottenheimer sat 29 players against Arizona.
We haven’t got to watch Dak Prescott and friends build a big lead and hand it over to a revamped defense. It has been Dallas’ backups beating somebody else’s backups and that should tell you more than the record.
I haven’t seen an NFL team go an entire season without needing players who were buried on the depth chart. Someone who was a camp body almost always ends up playing some significant snaps.
I love that these guys are getting all the opportunity to control preseason games rather than watch the starters put up multiple touchdowns on a G-League defense.
So far, it looks like we have the depth to put up a good fight this season.
So What Would 3-0 Mean?
If Dallas beats New Orleans tonight, I wouldn’t all of a sudden give them a bump in the regular season win column prediction, but I don’t know if you can fully dismiss it either.
The last perfect preseason was 85 and that became a 10-5 record and an NFC East title. Then the last Cowboys team to go unbeaten was 06. They went 9-7 in the regular season and got to the playoffs. 2-0 was 07 and the team went 13-3, earning the No.1 seed in the NFC.
If Dallas is going to be tied to a few old Cowboys teams, I’m OK with the connections I dug up. If I had to put a number on this season based on history, I would settle for 10-7. That seems reasonable to me.
If Dallas finishes 3-0, it’ll be the first perfect preseason for the Cowboys in more than four decades.
Then September will happen, and none of it will matter unless the team keeps winning.
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