By: Michael Higgins

The Dallas Cowboys ended another year in disappointment when fans thought it was their year. It has become a yearly tradition in Dallas. A year in which they ended the regular season at 12-5 ended against the Packers in an unexpected upset.

The Cowboys’ winning window certainly isn’t closed, but if any year was their year, it would’ve been 2023. On top of disappointment, they have lost valuable players on both sides of the ball. On offense, they have lost LT Tyron Smith, C Tyler Biadasz, WR Michael Gallup, and RB Tony Pollard. On defense, they lost CB Stephon Gillmore, LB Leighton Vander Esch, DTs Neville Gallimore and Jonathan Hankins, and DE Dorance Armstrong.

It is also worth noting, at the time of writing, WR Ceedee Lamb is holding out for a new contract. Jerry Jones has stated he feels no sense of urgency to get the deal done, even with the season starting shortly. While these offseason holdouts usually get sorted out by the regular season, this situation does not look promising.

In the offseason, the Cowboys brought in RB Ezekiel Elliott as well as LB Eric Kendricks, but could not do much else. In the draft, the Cowboys made out well. They selected OT Tyler Guyton, EDGE Marshawn Kneeland, IOL Cooper Beebe, and CB Caelen Carson.

The Cowboys’ season is hard to predict as their record will be much different if they are without Ceedee Lamb. For the sake of argument, we are going to pretend that the team gets the deal done before Week 1.

Dallas opens the season in Cleveland before hosting the Saints and Ravens in back-to-back weeks. They close out September on Thursday Night Football against the Giants in the Meadowlands. The Cowboys will begin the season with a 3-1 record.

The Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh for a Week 5 matchup against the Steelers, then host the Lions, enjoy an early Week 7 bye week, and end the month of October in San Francisco against the 49ers. Dallas goes 1-2 in October.

The team travels to Atlanta to play the Falcons before hosting the Eagles, and the Texans on Week 11 Monday Night Football. They travel to the capital to play the Commanders in Week 12 and host the Giants on Thanksgiving. Dallas goes 3-2 in November.

The Cowboys start December on Monday Night Football at home against the Bengals. They travel to play the Panthers, come back home to play the Buccaneers, travel to play the Eagles, and end the season in Dallas against the Commanders. The Cowboys will go 4-1 in this stretch of games.

I have the Dallas Cowboys going 11-6 in 2024. I am confident in their top talent to carry them to another successful regular season. The rest of the division is getting tougher, but they should still be looked at as the division champions.

2023 Record: 12-5

2024 Prediction: 11-6