NFL Week 1: Here's who will win the Cowboys-Browns season opener, a disappointment or euphoria prediction

November 6, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Cowboys won 35-10. Mandatory Photo Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys have a football game today. The action begins with the first of 17 games in 18 weeks that will hopefully culminate in a fourth straight playoff appearance. Even more hopeful is that the results will be better than they have been in the last 28 years as the club looks to achieve a conference championship for the first time since winning its fifth Lombardi Trophy following the 1995 season.

The first hurdle is the Cleveland Browns, led by Deshaun Watson at quarterback and Myles Garrett on defense. Head coach Kevin Stefanski beat Mike McCarthy in their only head-to-head meeting, a shootout in October 2020 that the Browns won 48-39.

Both teams will be looking to get off to a good start. Dallas will be looking to keep up with the Philadelphia Eagles, who began their season in Brazil with a win over the Green Bay Packers, while the Browns will be looking to get a head start on the Baltimore Ravens, who lost to the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

Trends for Cowboys and Browns at the start of the season

The Cowboys have gotten off to a good start with 12-5 records over the past three seasons, although last year’s 5-2 start (after 4-1 and 6-1) was marred by two crushing losses to Arizona and San Francisco. The road was not kind to the Cowboys, as they were 2-5 before picking up a win in Week 18 at their second home stadium, FedEx Field.

Dallas’ road problems have worsened since going 7-2 in 2021, dropping to 4-4 in 2022 ahead of last season’s disastrous record.

Meanwhile, the Browns dominated at home in 2023, reaching an 8-1 record as part of their 11-6 overall record. They were 4-4 the year before and 6-3 in 2021.

Cowboys and Browns at the last season openers

The Cowboys have not seemed to be consistent since McCarthy has increasingly adopted a philosophy of resting all of his key players in preseason games. They started off strong last season (a 40-0 win in New York over the Giants), but lost 19-3 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in last year’s opener.

Dallas lost to the same Bucs 31-29 in a nerve-wracking game the year before. The Browns also won their opening game in 2023 comfortably 24-3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Who will win between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns?

So how are things going on Sunday afternoon?

The Cowboys will start with a rookie at left tackle and center, and despite Tyler Guyton’s potential, it’s hard to imagine him not being coached by Garrett. That means the club will have to use a large 12-personnel and keep Luke Schoonmaker and rookie Brevyn Ford (if active) to help with blocking.

On the other side of the ball, if Dashaun Watson ever wants to recapture the magic of his time with the Houston Texans, he’ll have to face a secondary with a new game system (Mike Zimmer), without their 2023 All-Pro corner (DaRon Bland), and with their other All-Pro corner playing his first game (regular or preseason) since tearing his ACL last September (Trevon Diggs).

Forecast: The Browns win 27-21.