The Dallas Cowboys finished their disappointing 2011 campaign at 8-8 and with an extended break following Week 17. This year, the Cowboys will aim to make everyone forget about last year’s ills and try to win what is really a very winnable NFC East.
Unfortunately, thanks to a ridiculously tough schedule, Dallas probably won’t end up winning that very winnable NFC East no matter how hard it tries.
Something that immediately jumps out about the schedule: the Cowboys have an unnecessarily early bye week, then have a whole bunch of tough games after that which they won’t be able to recover from. The only way that Tony Romo and Co. retain any semblance of hope of winning the NFC East towards the middle part of the season is if they head into their Week 5 break with a 3-1 mark, at worst.
From Week 6 onward the Cowboys will have to take on and beat the Ravens (on the road), Giants, Falcons (on the road), Eagles (twice), Bengals (on the road), Steelers and Saints.
Tough.
Very tough.
Here is the full schedule:
Week 1: Wednesday, Sept. 5, at NY Giants, 8:30 PM
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 16, at Seattle, 4:05 PM
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 23, Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 4: Monday, Oct. 1, Chicago, 8:30 PM
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 14, at Baltimore, 1:00 PM
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 21, at Carolina, 1:00 PM
Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 28, NY Giants, 4:15 PM
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 4, at Atlanta, 8:20 PM
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 11, at Philadelphia, 4:15 PM
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 18, Cleveland, 1:00 PM
Week 12: Thursday, Nov. 22, Washington, 4:15 PM
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 2, Philadelphia, 8:20 PM
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 9, at Cincinnati, 1:00 PM
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 16, Pittsburgh, 4:15 PM
Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 23, New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 30, at Washington, 1:00 PM
(Thanks, ESPN)
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