What To Expect From The Dallas Cowboys In Week 2

The NFL Power Rankings have been released and the Dallas Cowboys have moved to the number eight spot in the latest rankings. After an impressive week one victory on the road against the Cleveland Browns, the Cowboys now shift their attention to their home opener against the New Orleans Saints.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Cowboys have a 62 percent chance of winning and are a -6.5-point favorite at home. As heavy favorites for Sunday’s matchup, this can be one of those tricky trap games each team faces throughout the year. Here’s how the Cowboys could avoid the trap and be victorious in their home opener.

Week 2 Expectations for the Cowboys

Lead The Way Defense

If there is one word to describe the defensive performance in week one it would be dominant. Mike Zimmer took over the defense this offseason and week one was an introduction to the style of defense Zimmer brought with him. The defense plays with their hair on fire, all 11 to the ball, and plans to wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

In week one they held Deshaun Watson and the Browns offense to 230 yards of offense. Watson was sacked six times. According to PFF, they pressured Watson 40 times and 11 of those came from Micah Parsons who had one sack on the day as well. To add to their dominant performance they intercepted Watson twice, one of those coming from Trevon Diggs in his first game back after missing 15 games last season.
For Dallas’ defense, they saw a bunch of young studs such as Caelon Carson, DeMarvion Overshown, and Marist Liufau already making plays in Zimmer’s system.

Similar to the approach of the Cleveland game is how the defense can take over Sunday’s game. Dallas stopped the run and put Cleveland in obvious passing downs. Once Dallas gets a team in passing situations, they let the dogs loose or in Parsons’ case the lion. The pass rush turns up and the secondary locks things down on the back end. The defense has a great opportunity to turn up the notch this week and make Derek Carr uncomfortable for four quarters.

Turn It Up Offense

The Cowboys’ offense wasn’t as explosive as usual against the Browns but they didn’t have to be. Since they led for the entirety of the game the Cowboys’ offense took a very conservative approach for the second half. After leading 20-3 at halftime, KaVontae Turpin completely blew the doors up with a 60-yard punt return early in the third quarter to give Dallas a 27-3 lead and ice the game. Considering the Browns struggled to move the ball there was no need for the offense to come out firing in the second half.

They finished the game with 265 yards of total offense and 26 points, not including Turpin’s generous seven points. Dak Prescott finished the game 19-of-32 for 179 yards and one touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott was the team’s leading rusher with 40 yards and CeeDee Lamb had five receptions for 61 yards and Brandin Cooks reeled in four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Although Prescott and the offense didn’t stuff the stat sheet on Sunday there were a few positives to take away from their outing. Both rookies Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton played very well, especially against one of the NFL’s toughest front sevens. Prescott and Lamb continued to show they were one of the best duos in football, although their chemistry was a tick-off. Lastly, Elliott wasn’t the 2016 version of himself but showed some juice and spark.

According to the Saints injury report, this week may be the week for the Cowboys to air it out. Both Marshon Lattimore and Tyrann Mathieu have appeared on the injury report. They haven’t officially been ruled out but if they’re Prescott, Lamb, and Cooks could all have a very busy day against a short-handed Saints secondary. The Cowboys’ offense will already be looking to heat up after being fairly quiet last week, and it’s looking like they’ll get their chance to do so.

Here We Go

Week 2 is too early to be in “must-win” mode but Sunday’s game is a big one for Dallas. After Sunday they have a stretch where six of their next eight opponents were playoff teams last season. However, home is where the Cowboys do the majority of their damage. Since 2022 there hasn’t been a better team at home than the Cowboys. They’ve won 16 consecutive regular season home games and are averaging 33.5 PPG at home during that stretch. The Saints march in with a talented defense but the home-field advantage for Dallas is no joke. They’ll look to come out firing on Sunday and push that win streak to 17 games.

Main Image: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images