NFL 2024 WEEK 1 PREVIEW: Dallas Cowboys vs Cleveland Browns

The Dallas Cowboys (0-0) are opening up their season in Cleveland to take on the Browns (0-0) this upcoming Sunday at 3:30 PM on FOX. Some things to breakdown before game one:

Running back:

Ezekiel Elliott is back in Dallas and was listed as RB1 after the first depth chart was released on Tuesday. When speaking to head coach Mike McCarthy in Wednesday morning’s press conference he confirmed that Elliott is RB1 as of now and that the depth chart is correct. A lot of talk this off season is how many reps will Rico Dowdle receive. Social media thought Dowdle would be RB1 for week one, but the season is young and things could change. Both Elliott and Dowdle will have to go up against LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. He is not going to make things easy for either running back and expect to see both take snaps on Sunday.

Guyton vs Garrett:

The first round draft pick Tyler Guyton is going to get his biggest and probably hardest assignment in week one. He’s going up against the reigning defensive player of the year, Myles Garrett. Garrett ended his 2023 season with 14 sacks and Guyton will have his hands full protecting his QB1 Dak Prescott.

We spoke to Guyton following practice on Wednesday and he stated that he has been practicing against Parsons all off season so he believes that he is prepared to go against someone like Garrett.

Micah Parsons:

Another star that we can not forget about is Micah Parsons. Like Garrett, Parsons also ended his season with 14 sacks and was second behind Myles Garrett for the defensive player of the year award. Deshaun Watson won’t have it easy with Parsons coming after him either. Since 2022 Parsons has recorded at least one sack in the season opener recording two in 2022 against Tampa Bay.

We got to speak to Parsons following practice on Wednesday and he said that he is super excited to get out there and play football. When asked how many sacks he needs to get to be happy Micah said it’s not about the number of sacks, he said he just wants to be the best in the world.

Cornerback:

No. 7 is back! Trevon Diggs is back on the field for the first time since week three of last year after tearing his ACL. He will be going up against a familiar face, one you guys most likely know, Amari Cooper. Cooper finished last season with 1,250 yards, ranked 10th most in the NFL last year. DaRon Bland will be missing 6-8 weeks and according to the depth chart Caelen Carson will be taking over for Bland in his absence.

CeeDee Lamb:

Lamb missed the entire training camp and has yet to really have any contested catches due to missing so much time. The Cowboys did not have a padded practice on Wednesday but will get back into pads on Thursday. Despite not having many reps where he has been pushed around it looks like most of their offense will go through Lamb per usual.