Things I Think I Know - The Dallas Cowboys edition

Dez Bryant is ready for a breakout season in 2011.

With the lockout well in the past, and another boring preseason in the books, it's finally time to focus on what actually counts as the 2011 NFL season officially begins tonight. But as interesting as tonight's Green Bay-New Orleans matchup may be, my focus is once again on the Silver & Blue.

I'm always a little hesitant to speak too highly of the Dallas Cowboys, and for good reason. They usually fail to meet the expectations that the media puts on them. So, in order to avoid the emotional turmoil that comes with missing the mark year in and year out, I've learned to drop my standards a little bit, or as I prefer to call it, thinking like a realist instead of a fan.

Here are a few things I think I know about the 2011 Dallas Cowboys:

1. Dallas will open the season with a loss . . .
The scheduling committee wasn't too kind to the Cowboys when it put them up against the New York Jets to open the season – on September 11th. Not only will Dallas have to deal with a Jets squad built for a Super Bowl run, but the Cowboys will have to deal with the emotion attached to this game, on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Empire State Building.

It's nothing more than a disaster waiting to happen as the hearts of the nation will be beating in unison for anything New York, the Cowboys will essentially be playing the role of villain as they try to steal a win in New York. As much as I'd like to see them do it, they won't.

2. Rob Ryan's defense will struggle early . . .
One thing we found out in the preseason was that the Cowboys defense still needs lots of work. With the training camp schedule cut short due to the lockout, Ryan didn't have the kind of time one would normally have to install a brand new scheme.

That means, the Cowboys will have to learn on the fly, and that'll take some extra time. It will take a few weeks to get all the kinks worked out, but when they do, this defense will be fun to watch.

3. Dez Bryant will have a breakout season in 2011 . . .
I'm making this prediction for two reasons, but the most important reason is that we all saw flashes of brilliance a year ago before he missed the end of the year with an injury. If he can stay healthy, he will dominate, like a 1,400-yard, 12-touchdown kind of dominate.

I also not only drafted him first for my fantasy team, but named the squad after him (Dezzie Does Dallas), so I actually have a lot riding on this prediction. I feel good about this one.

4. The Dallas Cowboys' record in 2011 will be . . .
9-7, good enough for a wild card spot.

Basically, just looking at the schedule, I have wins against San Francisco, Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Buffalo, Miami, and NY Giants, and Philadelphia. I also have Dallas losses to NY Jets, New England, Phladelphia, Washington, Arizona, NY Giants, and Tampa Bay.

Interesting enough, I have the Cowboys at 7-4, then losing three straight to the Cardinals, Giants, and Buccaneers, then regrouping to win the last two, including a New Year's Day road game against the Giants.

The NFL Is Back, But Not Better

So, the NFL is finally back. No more bickering between players and owners, no more wondering if there will be a season, no more drama. We now know that the NFL is indeed back in action, at least for the next decade anyway.

What we don't know, and won't know for a while, is how the lockout will affect the teams, and ultimately, how it will affect the leave this season.

There were no rookie OTA's, no minicamps and no communication between coaches and players, which pretty much means: (1) Rookies are even more behind the curve than before, (2) Team chemistry has taken a serious hit because of the lack of team functions, and (3) Coaches will have a short window of time to evaluate new players, and/or establish relationships with others.

Football may be back, but it has these BIG issues and more to deal with. So, while NFL fans everywhere celebrated the lifting of the lockout, those of us who look deeper into the spectrum are left wondering about the side effects.

Mark my words: The NFL will look different this year.

• How does all this affect the Cowboys? Well, for starters, Dallas has quite a bit of fat to trim to get under the new salary cap, which means somebody that is needed will likely be released. Dallas will have to make the most adjustments to the new cap, but fortunately, the team has a load of talent to help get past it all. Dallas will be solid, I believe they're a playoff team. That's my WAY early prediction.

• As impressive as the Rangers' 20-6 win might have been last night, I was stuck on a couple of stats that stood out like a sore thumb. One was the number of combined errors by the two teams - 7. Wow. The other was 0-for-6. That was the plate performance of Longview native Chris Davis, who was lighting up the Triple-A circuit down in Round Rock, but couldn't ride the teams' momentum last night to get one measly hit. Sad.

• On to something a little more mind-boggling. David Beckham publicly defended the recent backheel shot attempt by Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli, a play that was widely criticized worldwide and led to the Italian being benched. Defending a guy who tried to show up a vastly overmatched squad is not something that should be supported. But then again, neither is Beckham.

• Speaking of soccer, I got together with my buddy Adam last night for some FIFA. We always have great, competitive matches, usually grueling defensive struggles. Last night was no different as we split two matches with a total aggregate score of 2-2. Looking forward to the next time.

Have a great day, and enjoy the NFL frenzy!!