2016 Dallas Cowboys = 2015 Carolina Panthers.

They're 4-0 against the AFC North, which is led by the 5-5 Baltimore Ravens.

They're 1-1 against teams that currently have a winning record. (Giants, Redskins)

Their opponents win percentage to this point is .386 (38-61-2), the lowest in the league, and they are the only team whose opponents combined have failed to win 40 games yet this season.

3 of Dallas's wins have come againts the 2-8 Bears, 1-9 49ers, and the 0-11 Browns, a combined record of 3-28. They are the only team in the league that faced or faces all three of those teams this season.

Admittedly, this could all be coincidental, but I doubt it. It reeks of last year's Panthers.

Not denying they've found something in Dak and Zeke, I just don't believe they're real.

Yet.

*allas won't be in the Super Bowl, odds are they will lose their first playoff game.
They have a good offense but crap defense, and had a very weak schedule so far.
They've caught every break in the book so far, including their old fragile QB getting hurt to pave the way for a promising rookie QB.

The problem is....those Panthers took us out.....

WmHBonney":1cvesp8a said:

The problem is....those Panthers took us out.....

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Fair point, but this year we should be much better positioned to beat a team like that. As things currently stand, if we face them, it would be in the NFCCG at 12 PM PST and won't be after a cross-country road trip.

I think the Cowboys this year are worse than the Panthers last year. The 2015 Panthers had an excellent defense; the Cowboys do not. They are average at best.

The NFC South last year was a disaster. The Cowboys don't have that luxury. They'll drop a couple of games before the end of the year.

Sports Hernia":1smwdpas said:

*allas won't be in the Super Bowl, odds are they will lose their first playoff game.
They have a good offense but crap defense, and had a very weak schedule so far.
They've caught every break in the book so far, including their old fragile QB getting hurt to pave the way for a promising rookie QB.

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But who is in the NFC to take them down? Maybe an NFCE team due to the division rivalness. Otherwise, Minnesota? Detroit? Atlanta?

Any one of the above. Though it does look like DAL has upgraded at qb

Dallas has a mini Russell in the making.

Also, watch out for the Giants.

Dallas is bringing up there 2nd round pick, Jaylon Smith(sp?) that was a great LB in college, wonder how he will do. I he does well, this will be one of the great draft classes by a NFL team.. gotta believe.

Maulbert":3715m539 said:

3 of Dallas's wins have come againts the 2-8 Bears, 1-9 49ers, and the 0-11 Browns, a combined record of 3-28. They are the only team in the league that faced or faces all three of those teams this season.

Admittedly, this could all be coincidental,

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Or the result of a 4th place schedule.

Cowboys, Bears, 49ers, & yet to be played Bucs were all 4th place.

"The matchups are determined by where the teams finished in their divisions in the previous season. For example, a team that finished the previous year in third place in its division will play the third-place teams from the two other divisions in its conference."

http://operations.nfl.com/the-game/creating-the-nfl-schedule/

Other than their records being similar, I don't see much of a comparison between the two teams.

The Panthers last year were built like us, strong nasty D and dynamic QB and run game making explosive plays. The Cowboys D is average but gets a big bump because their offense controls the ball for so long.

I do think we'd have a hard time with that O-line, as we did a couple years ago when that line came in here and pushed us around. Throw in another dynamic QB like Prescott and pounding runner like Elliott and it'd be a hell of a task for our defense, especially in Dallas.

Even Cowboys fans are skeptical of this team. The 2015 Panthers were better.

WmHBonney":2iliclrf said:

The problem is....those Panthers took us out.....

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But it took an early start after a sub-zero game with another early start, god-awful field conditions that shouldn't even happen in a professional setting, and a 31-point lead to do it. Barely. And they had all of the momentum from the very first play of the game.

I knew they couldn't win the big one and even called out their first loss being to Atlanta. They had a soft schedule and a good chunk of their wins were by single scores. Dallas is following the exact same path right now.

DTexHawk":1tp080mf said:

Maulbert":1tp080mf said:

Admittedly, this could all be coincidental,

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"The matchups are determined by where the teams finished in their divisions in the previous season. For example, a team that finished the previous year in third place in its division will play the third-place teams from the two other divisions in its conference."

Click to expand...

Sgt. Largent":1tp080mf said:

Other than their records being similar, I don't see much of a comparison between the two teams..

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fenderbender123":2dlyfvco said:

Even Cowboys fans are skeptical of this team. The 2015 Panthers were better.

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Where the hell are those fans? Cause every Cowboy fan and media honk I see can't shut up about how amazing they are.

Cowboy fans are right up there with Patriot, Red Sox and Raider fans.............even when they stink they're insufferable. But now that they're good? Holy moly, it's more than I can bear.

Sgt. Largent":2hmg8iu1 said:

fenderbender123":2hmg8iu1 said:

Even Cowboys fans are skeptical of this team. The 2015 Panthers were better.

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Where the hell are those fans? Cause every Cowboy fan and media honk I see can't shut up about how amazing they are.

Cowboy fans are right up there with Patriot, Red Sox and Raider fans.............even when they stink they're insufferable. But now that they're good? Holy moly, it's more than I can bear.

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I live in the belligerent part of Cowboy country. You're preaching to the choir.

They're going to get embarrassed in the playoffs, and it's going to be funny. They MIGHT survive to a second playoff game, but I'll be shocked if they get to the Super Bowl.

Almost every year, there's a big "upset" in the playoffs by a heavily favored team and most of those times, the team that was supposed to win and didn't had a cupcake regular-season schedule.

Strength of schedule matters, even though a lot of people like to pretend otherwise. Steel sharpens steel is not just a pointless cliche.

What I meant about coincidence wasn't about how the schedule played out for Dallas, I know the opponents are set the day the last season ends. I'm not stupid. I meant that it might just be coincidence that they got REALLY good in a year where they had a soft schedule, but I doubt it. Also, 4th place schedule doesn't mean much. All it affected was their games against SF and TB. They would have gotten the Bears and Browns if they finished in first last season.

I live in Texas and haven't seen a Cowboy fan since I moved here outside of the game we played there last year, and there were a TON of Hawks fans there.

Washington will beat them, and also NY. Creampuff schedule and lightning in a bottle rookies.

Maulbert":3idjfpd0 said:

What I meant about coincidence wasn't about how the schedule played out for Dallas, I know the opponents are set the day the last season ends. I'm not stupid. I meant that it might just be coincidence that they got REALLY good in a year where they had a soft schedule, but I doubt it. Also, 4th place schedule doesn't mean much. All it affected was their games against SF and TB. They would have gotten the Bears and Browns if they finished in first last season.

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That's how the NFL wants it.........and that parity is one of the big reasons the NFL is such a great pro sport.

On the flip side, the Cardinals and Panthers are getting their teeth kicked in this year cause they've had to play 1st place schedules, and all the expectations and how hard teams go after them that comes with it.