If the Cowboys appear a little rusty in the 2024 season opening, don’t be alarmed.
In a perfect world, the Dallas Cowboys would appear to be in midseason form when they play the Cleveland Browns in the opening week of the 2024 season.
Unfortunately, that is perhaps unreasonable given that most of their starters saw little to no preseason action and will therefore undoubtedly appear a little rusty at first.
Rust may have a big impact on how the Cleveland Browns and the Packers play in Week 1.
The Cowboys hope that whatever rust they needed to shake off during training camp, as seen by their choice to rest most of their players at both the offensive and defensive ends of the ball during the preseason.
Regretfully, it’s possible that training camp exercises weren’t sufficient to fully remove all of the rust.
There are a few significant offensive elements that could lead to some careless play in this Week 1 game against the Browns. The offensive line continuity might not be as strong as it should be at the start of the season, to start with.
As things currently stand, it appears that the Cowboys will start two new players in crucial spots on their offensive line.
This year’s rookies Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe will need to perform at their highest level against Cleveland and their strong defensive front. As the other starters and I primarily have practice repetitions, communication is going to be essential.
If that wasn’t already cause for alarm, No. 88’s holdout means that CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott will have very little practice reps left to rebuild their relationship to its previous level.
In 2023, these two hauled in 135 passes for 1,749 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. I hope their synchronization has little to no rust.
While CeeDee Lamb was gone from the club during contract discussions, we can only assume he was working hard.
He might not be precisely in “football” shape right immediately even if he was. He might struggle a little in Week 1 since it might take him some time to shake off any rust.
Players who appear a touch rusty when playing defense may also be a cause for equal concern.
Many of them missed all of the preseason, so they’re not only still getting used to Mike Zimmer’s new defensive scheme and still learning it.
Injuries and the arrival of free agents will also be factors.
Other than training camp practice, Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph haven’t had much time to get used to life in Dallas.
like in and of itself might have an impact on the remainder of the defense, starting with Dallas’ inexperienced linebacker group and ending in their secondary, where it appears like rookie wide out Caelen Carson will start in place of injured wide receiver DaRon Bland.
Therefore, yes, the abbreviated preseason can help avoid injuries early in the season, but it also means that several Cowboys players may still have a lot of rust on them.
It may lead to carelessness in all three phases of the game in the season opener versus the Browns, but it remains to be seen how much of an impact that will have.