Don’t be surprised if the Cowboys look a little rusty in the 2024 season opener.
Ideally, the Dallas Cowboys would come out in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 of the 2024 season and already look as if they’re in midseason form. That unfortunately is probably unrealistic considering the majority of their starters had little to no snaps in the preseason, and because of that, will likely look a little rusty early on.
Rust could be a significant factor in the outcome of this Week 1 matchup with the Cleveland Browns. The Cowboys decision to rest the majority of their starters on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball in the preseason means whatever rust they needed to knock off was hopefully done in training camp.
Sadly, training camp practices may not have been enough to completely knock off all of the rust. Offensively there are a couple of big factors that could result in some sloppy play in this Week 1 matchup with the Browns. For one, the offensive line continuity may not be at the level it really needs to be at the beginning of the season.
As things stand right now, it looks as if the Cowboys will have two new faces starting for them at two critical positions along their offensive line. Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton, both rookies this year, will need to be at their best against Cleveland and their talented defensive front. With mostly just practice reps with the other starters, communication will be key.
If that’s not concern enough, the connection between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb will only have a few practice reps to get back to where it was last season because of No. 88’s holdout. These two combined for 135 receptions for 1,749 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. Hopefully there’s little to no rust with their synchronization.
We can only hope CeeDee Lamb was putting in the work during his time away from the team while contract negotiations were ongoing. Even if he was, he still may not be exactly in “football” shape right away. It may take him a little time on his own to knock off a little rust, and as such, may struggle a bit in Week 1.
There might be just as much concern about players looking a little rusty on the defensive side of the ball as well. Not only are they still learning and fine tuning themselves to Mike Zimmer’s new defensive scheme, but a lot of them didn’t participate in any of the preseason either. Plus, injuries and free agent additions will play a factor as well.
Jordan Phillips and Linval Joseph haven’t had much time to acclimate themselves in Dallas other than in training camp practice. That alone could have a ripple effect through the rest of the defense from Dallas’ young linebacker corps to their secondary where it looks as if they will start at rookie CB Caelen Carson as DaRon Bland’s injury fill-in on the outside.
So yes, while the shortened preseason may help prevent early season injuries, it also likely means we could see quite a bit of rust still remaining for several Cowboys players. That could result in sloppiness in all three phases the game in the season opener against the Browns, but only time will tell how much it will play a factor in the outcome.
