Kurt: First off, I do think there can sometimes be carryover from one season to the next. At least it sure seemed that way in 2024 after the Cowboys fell at home to Green Bay in the 2023 wild-card round. However, with a new coach and several new players, that shouldn’t really be a factor this year.
Still, I do think getting off to a fast start in 2025 is very important for two reasons. Of course, there’s the schedule. We all know about that five-game stretch in November and December when every opponent Dallas will face reached the playoffs last season, a gauntlet that includes three games in 12 days against Philadelphia, Kansas City and Detroit. Ouch.
So if the Cowboys don’t take care of business ahead of time against teams like the Giants, Bears, Jets, Panthers, Cardinals and Raiders as well as home dates vs. the Packers and Commanders, well, things could get ugly.
More importantly, though, I think they need to get off to a good start just to solidify that new head coach Brian Schottenheimer has the organization headed in the right direction. Everything has been sunshine and rainbows with how the players have seemingly bought into his culture change this offseason, but what happens if they get embarrassed in the opener at the Eagles? How will the players and even public respond if Dallas stumbles out of the gate the first few weeks against those aforementioned clubs? Could the culture turn sour in a hurry? As we all know, none of that stuff truly matters if you’re not winning games.
Regardless, I do like what Schottenheimer is building here and I’m looking forward to seeing the Cowboys’ hard work come to fruition on the field. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But given what we’ve seen so far in this new coaching era, there’s reason to believe they’ll hit the ground running when the season officially gets underway.