Cowboys’ 2010 Non-Division Opponents Part 1
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In this first of a two-part article, the Cowboys’ 2010 non-division opponents will be examined. Having won the NFC East crown last season, the Dallas Cowboys will have to face four other division winners this year, two of which played in the 2010 Super Bowl. America’s Team will play five non-division opponents in their first seven games in 2010. The fourth of those five games is against defending NFC North champion Minnesota on the road. Dallas lost to the Vikings in the Divisional Playoffs, so the Boys are fairly familiar with this conference foe. After their division-title season, Dallas faces a tough 2010 schedule. The Cowboys will absolutely dominate the Bears at home in their second regular season game. Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler is projected by some to be a top 10 quarterback. You can say you heard it here first: that won’t happen. Dallas will beat Chicago by at least 15 points, and Cutler will continue to do what he does best – throw interceptions. Dallas cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman will have no problem covering the lackluster Bears receivers. No one in Chicago has figured out that Devin Hester is a great return man and decent cornerback; he is not a wide receiver. Devin Aromashodu caught four touchdown passes last year, but defenses will quickly discover his potential and shut him down quickly.
In Week 3, Dallas plays the Texans on the road in an in-state rivalry game. Houston quarterback Matt Schuab led the league in passing yards last year, most of which went to Pro Bowl wideout Andre Johnson, who led the NFL in receiving yards by a country mile. The Cowboys’ improved secondary won’t stop Johnson, but they will slow him down enough to keep the Houston offense under wraps. It might be a shootout because Houston’s defense allowed over 20 points per game last season, and everyone knows Dallas has a host of playmakers on offense. Shootout or blowout, Dallas will come out of Reliant Stadium victorious.
[picappgallerysingle id="7575244"]An early bye in Week 4 leads us to a home game against the Titans in Week 5. After a horrific 0-6 start, Tennessee finished with a .500 record after inserting quarterback Vince Young into the starting lineup. Titans’ running back Chris Johnson became the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards this past season, so there will be no shutting him down. However, if Dallas defenders DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff can put pressure on Young, it will be tough for Johnson to carry the offense. If Johnson produces 45% of the Titans’ offense like he did in 2009, Dallas will win big.
The following Sunday, Tony Romo and the Boys head back to the Metrodome in a rematch of their Divisional Playoff game with the Vikings. Brett Favre is more brittle than everyone thinks, and Keith Brooking will have the Dallas D ready after what he called a “humbling experience” in their playoff loss at Minnesota. Focus is the only thing Dallas needs to improve to beat a tough Minnesota team. Wide receiver Sidney Rice is a big target who had his first 1,000 yard receiving season last year with Favre at the helm. Florida product Percy Harvin is the opposite; he’s a small, quick receiver that is great at catching slants and returning kicks. Orlando Scandrick, Gerald Sensabaugh, and Mike Hamlin, the “other guys” in Dallas’ secondary, will have to step up to beat the Vikings.
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Two weeks later, the Jacksonville Jaguars come to Cowboys Stadium for a Halloween game at noon. Jacksonville finished dead last in the AFC South in 2009 after running back Maurice Jones-Drew rushed over 300 times. With one player carrying the offense like Jones-Drew, the passing game should be wide open. Contrastingly, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard only threw 15 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions. With such a one-dimensional offense, Jacksonville will be lucky to match their seven wins of a year ago. The Cowboys’ stacked defensive line can lock in on Jones-Drew, and the Dallas secondary can play loosely on the Jaguars’ receivers, who lack a clear-cut leader. Dallas will definitely win four of their first five non-divisional games, and a perfect record over this handful of games is very possible.
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Not sure who wrote this heap of junk about the Cowboys but for starters let’s break down the Cowboys home game against the Bears. Cutler will be a top 10 QB and last year the Bears were injury prone. Urlacher coming back healthy and the new additions with Peppers and Chester Taylor, I’d be watching out and not blabbering on about things I knew nothing of. I’m a Cowboys fan myself, but unlike other Cowboy fans I don’t make excuses and don’t act as the Cowboys have been a force in recent years. Potential means absolutley nothing! I just think that people are taking the Bears very lightly this year, and are going by what happened last year. Cutler threw interceptions trying to make plays, because every eime he went back out in the huddle they were down even more. They won 7 games last year while being injury plagued, put a healthy bears team out and they can win 11 – 12 games this year. I just hope the Cowboys don’t take them lightly, because it could very well be an upset in this one!
Wow, Erik, looks like someone likes the Bears. It must be miserable to root for a team who’s quarterback throw as many interceptions as touchdowns last year. The “injury plague” did not affect Cutler’s throwing and your beloved Urlacher being hurt didn’t make you have a losing record. The Bears may be your team and that’s all good, but don’t come on a Cowboys website and talk trash. You claim to be a Cowboys fan, but you obviously don’t know your facts talking about “potential.” If you were a real Cowboys fan, you wouldn’t be blabbering about the freakin Bears and their crybaby quarterback. Go write this crap on the Bears website. What an idiot lol