Cowboys Prepare For a Very Physical Start

Before we get deep in the woods with the Browns, let's have one more "macro" chat.

We have the NFL back in just two days.

Thursday night, we have NFL football, and Friday night, we have something resembling NFL football, too (Live from Brazil?).

Either way, there is no longer much wait for Dallas to start the season with one of their toughest tests of the year. Once upon a time, we could argue that playing in Cleveland should be a win, but those Browns had 11 wins in 2023 and appear to be potentially better in 2024.

The Browns are one of the more physical teams in the league, and their defense is fantastic. They had the 2023 top-ranked defense in yards, passing yards, and third-down conversions, and Jim Schwartz has them with full swagger and belief that they can certainly handle anyone in their stadium. We know this because they went 8-1 at home last season and physically beat up the San Francisco 49ers in a game unlike anything we really saw last season. We know this because they also gave Joe Burrow perhaps the toughest day of his career last season.

Yes, they had a very humbling playoff exit right down the road from where the Cowboys had theirs to end last season, but overall, the league took great notice of the way they can control the line of scrimmage and try to beat you up physically.

Now, our weekend game preview will cover the rest of the Browns, but one topic I have not spent enough time on is the schedule and, more specifically, the way the schedule is laid out this year. It is going to ask an awful lot of tough questions about this team, and it will be in quick succession to start the year. If they can survive this stretch of games that will impose a physical toll on Dallas, then there is a chance they can really gain speed coming down the stretch.

But only if they can survive the first gauntlet.

Let’s examine it below: