With the opener against the Giants set for Sunday night, some of the biggest names in Dallas sports radio sent their listeners into the weekend with their season predictions for the Cowboys. Some were more bold than others.
Sportsradio 96.7 FM The Ticket’s George Dunham, for instance, is predicting the Cowboys will break their three-decades-long drought and make their way back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1996. Meanwhile his co-host is tagging them as first-round playoff fodder. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Check out some of their predictions below.
George Dunham: “I think everybody [in the NFC East] is better, will have better records than they did last year. John Harbaugh, we’ll see on Sunday night, just his arrival there makes [the Giants] a better organization. Dan Quinn will have somewhat of a bounce-back in Washington, though I’m not sure about their offense. I think Philadelphia wins this division again because I think they’re gonna win around 11 games.
“So I’m gonna give [Philadelphia] the division for the third time in a row, no one’s done that in the NFC East since the early aughts. And I have the Cowboys finishing second, and being a wildcard team, at 10-7. … My wildcard teams in addition to Dallas will be Seattle and the Chicago Bears. … I think Dallas will meet Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game. And the Cowboys, for the first time since 1996, I’ll stick to it out of odds and a belief in Schotty and CP, that they will go to the Super Bowl this year.”
Craig Miller: “I’ve also got Philadelphia winning the division, I’ve also got Dallas finishing second. I think Philly wins 11 games, I think the Cowboys win nine, and get a wildcard. I think Cowboys are gonna be better — they can’t be worse on defense, I know we said that last year, but they really will be this year, and their offense will be fine. The schedule is really tough, that’s the one thing preventing me from making them an 11-win team. I think they’re borderline that caliber, but I think the schedule will be so difficult, they’ll be a nine-win team.
“… I don’t know that Dallas wins a playoff game, I think it all depends on who they’re matched up against. If they’re the worst wildcard they get the best division winner — what if they have to go on the road to play the Rams in the first round? I’ll put it this way, I don’t think they’ll be in the NFC Championship Game. I have the Rams winning the NFC.”
Bob Sturm: “After some humming and hawing, I’ve got the Cowboys as the wildcard. I chickened out. I have the Eagles with a divisional win at the final wire, I just trust their defense more than I trust Dallas’ by quite a bit. And I hope by Thanksgiving my opinion has changed on that, but it hasn’t changed yet. … It’s just, it’s a tougher schedule. They’ve got a murderer’s row of defenses coming up once they get to October through December. It won’t be easy for the Cowboys’ offense this year, if they’re gonna be great they’ll have to be great the hard way.”
Corby Davidson: “I’m going to take your Dallas Cowboys to win the division with the Eagles hot on their heels. And this is gonna be a banger of a race until the very end, but the Cowboys sneak in there with maybe nine wins or so. That gets them in. 10-7, my Cowboys prediction for the overall record.”