While the Cowboys didn’t get the start they wanted last Sunday night, they weren’t the only NFC team that stumbled out of the gate. That’s why Week 2 brings a full rooting board for Dallas fans - and if things break the right way, a few of last week’s surprises could start looking a lot less dangerous.
The biggest immediate priority is obvious: the Cowboys need to straighten things out against the Commanders. Beyond that, there are plenty of games where Dallas fans can pull for the result that helps most in the NFC race.
A few of the most useful outcomes involve teams within the conference beating up on one another. The Falcons over the Panthers, the Vikings over the Bears, and the Cardinals over the Seahawks all fit that mold.
The logic is simple: Carolina, Chicago, and Seattle are expected to be more competitive this season than their Week 2 opponents, and every NFC loss can matter later when seeding gets sorted out. A September result can end up carrying real weight when the postseason picture gets tighter, whether that’s for a bye, a home game, or another edge down the line.
There’s also no reason for Cowboys fans to hesitate on the interconference slate. In matchups between the NFC and AFC, Dallas can comfortably root for the AFC side across the board: Bills over Lions, Jets over Packers, Ravens over Saints, Browns over Bucs, and Dolphins over 49ers. The NFC taking losses is the preferred outcome almost every time, with a few draft-related exceptions that could come up later in the year.
That’s where the Steelers and Texans become worth tracking. Dallas owns Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick from the Broderick Jones trade, and it also has Houston’s seventh-rounder after sending the Texans Nate Thomas.
For now, those picks make AFC vs. AFC games a little more interesting, even if there are still situations later in the season where Cowboys fans might want the opposite result.
The source points to a future game like Steelers-Eagles in Week 11 as one example, and notes that Houston will face every NFC East team this year.
The NFC East games are trickier to stomach, but they’re part of the board too. Tennessee over Philadelphia and the Rams over the Giants are the calls here, even if neither feels especially comfortable.
The Eagles and Giants are both 1-0, and their Week 2 opponents don’t matter much to Dallas in the standings. The Rams, meanwhile, are easier to root for after being dominated at home by the 49ers last week.
Tennessee would have to pull off a major upset to beat Philadelphia, since the Titans are viewed as one of the league’s worst teams this year.
One more note from the broader NFC picture: last week already delivered a few odd twists. The preseason favorite Rams were blown out at home by San Francisco, and they also lost Myles Garrett for at least a month.
In the NFC North, the Packers were the only division team to lose, getting routed by the Vikings and Carson Wentz. If Week 2 follows the oddsmakers’ script a little more closely, Dallas fans could be looking at a much cleaner setup heading into the rest of September.
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Miami instead leaned into its rookie trio of Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman, leaving Tolbert on the sideline and raising immediate questions about where he fits in the group. For Dallas fans who watched Tolbert try to carve out a role elsewhere, it was an ugly early sign that his next chapter may be off to a far more complicated start than anticipated. [Read more 🡒]
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Cowboys Suddenly Have A DeMarvion Overshown Problem Again
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Now a hamstring issue is expected to keep him out for 1-2 weeks, and it lands at a difficult moment because he is also in a contract year. Dallas still knows what Overshown can look like when he is healthy, which is what makes the situation so frustrating, but the bigger issue is whether the team can count on that version of him enough to shape what comes next. [Read more 🡒]