Dallas City News

The long wait is over, and the 2024 NFL regular season is almost here. The Dallas Cowboys kick off their 2024 schedule by traveling to Cleveland to take on the Browns. Cleveland has one of the better defenses in all of football and lost at home just once last season, making this a difficult opening-week matchup for Dallas.

Before the two teams kick off on Sunday here are three bold predictions for the game.

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1) Dallas’ new-look defense records multiple takeaways

The Cleveland Browns did a lot of things well last season. One thing they did not do well was take care of the football on offense. The Browns led the league with 37 turnovers, recording at least one in 17 of their 18 regular season games.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is back healthy this season, was guilty of five of those turnovers in just six games. The 28-year-old recorded 13 danger plays and eight interceptable passes in just 171 passing attempts, showing an inability to take care of the football.

While Dallas’ new-look defense under Mike Zimmer may not generate as many takeaways as they did under Dan Quinn, the preseason showed us this team is still going to be aggressive on defense. The Cowboys’ defensive line matches up favorably against Cleveland’s offensive line, and they should be able to generate pressure and force Watson into some mistakes.

Dallas’ defense starts off on the right foot, recording two takeaways (Jourdan Lewis interception and DeMarcus Lawrence strip sack) in the season opener.

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2) Ezekiel Elliott scores twice in his Cowboys return

The 2024 version of Ezekiel Elliott is not going to magically fix the Cowboys’ run game, but there is some value the veteran can provide. Whether you like it or not, at least to start the season, Elliott figures to get the most carries and touches of all Dallas’ running backs.

The 29-year-old isn’t going to be a 1,000-yard rusher again, but he could do something similar to what he did in the 2022 season when he rushed for 876 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

The Cowboys will likely rely on Elliott as their red zone and short-yardage back, something he has lots of familiarity with from his first stint in Dallas.

On Sunday, Elliott turns back the clock and matches his touchdown total from Dallas’ 2016 trip to Cleveland, scoring twice on the ground.

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3) Brandon Aubrey converts a game-winning field goal

In all likelihood, this matchup is going to come down to the wire. Both teams are very evenly matched, and it would be surprising if this game isn’t decided by seven or fewer points.

For the most part, the Cowboys tend to play close games in Week 1. This year will be no different. Dallas’ offense gets the ball back down by two with a little less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Dak Prescott leads Dallas down the field and gets them in position for a 50-yard field goal with just five seconds left. Brandon Aubrey, as he did so often last season, comes through in the clutch, converting the field goal and giving Dallas a Week 1 win.