It’s 24 days until the new NFL season begins but for a football mad guy like me that’s just too long so I’ve taken it upon myself to go over each NFL schedule and try and predict for all of you what may happen once the season rolls around.
Today we finish off our analysis of the NFL schedule with an NFC East double-header beginning with the Dallas Cowboys who went 8-8 in 2011. Here’s how I think their season will go:
- Week 1 at New York Giants – Loss
- Week 2 at Seattle Seahawks – Win
- Week 3 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Win
- Week 4 vs Chicago Bears – Loss
- Week 5 BYE
- Week 6 at Baltimore Ravens – Win
- Week 7 at Carolina Panthers – Win
- Week 8 vs New York Giants – Win
- Week 9 at Atlanta Falcons – Loss
- Week 10 at Philadelphia Eagles – Loss
- Week 11 vs Cleveland Browns – Win
- Week 12 vs Washington Redskins – Loss
- Week 13 vs Philadelphia Eagles – Win
- Week 14 at Cincinnati Bengals – Win
- Week 15 vs Pittsburgh Steelers – Win
- Week 16 vs New Orleans Saints – Win
- Week 17 at Washington Redskins – Loss
Overall Record for the Dallas Cowboys in 2012: 11-5
This schedule is a real head-scratcher. On one hand the Cowboys face some quality opposition in what is a fairly difficult schedule but on the other hand this team has masses of talent and for once has reasonable depth at most positions with the exception being the offensive line. The likely record could be anywhere from 6-10 to 13-3. In the end the majority of match-ups went in favor of Dallas simply due to the depth of talent on the team.
The two most important spots on this schedule are from weeks 8-10 and 13-17. The former starts with the always competitive matchup against the Giants at home followed by road games against the Falcons and Eagles. The latter will determine the Cowboys playoff fate with the return match against the Eagles and tough games against the Bengals, Steelers, Saints and Redskins. The minimum they will need here is three wins but depending on the rest of the NFC they may well need to win all five games to secure a spot in the postseason.
Be sure to check back with NFL Spin Zone later today as we have the very last schedule to examine – that being the Washington Redskins.