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Here we are again in the sec­ond install­ment of the series. Last time we added the New York Giants as an obvi­ous threat. Next, in week three the Cowboys will be home against the Carolina Panthers. Though the buzz hasn’t been sur­round­ing Carolina, they are still a dan­ger­ous team.

Key Offseason Additions:

None.

Key Offseason Subtractions:

FB Nick Goings

WR DJ Hackett

CB Ken Lucas

Key Draft Picks:

DE Everette Brown, Florida State: Brown is a speedy guy with great size, he should com­pli­ment Peppers nicely.

S/​CB Sherrod Martin, Troy: Martin is a speedy guy with great range and ver­sa­til­ity. Won’t start but should be in on nickel packages.

Projected Top Performers

(cour­tesy ESPN 2009 Projections)

DeAngelo Williams 267 car 1325 yards 11 Td

Steve Smith 90 rec 1390 yards 9 TD

Jonathan Stewart 196 car 936 yards 9 TD

The Panthers game presents itself to me as a poten­tial upset. Most peo­ple will expect the Cowboys to win this game at home. However, Carolina is a play­off cal­iber team, though not much hap­pened in the offseason…Not much hap­pened in the off­sea­son. Meaning not much has changed. They still have the some­times dan­ger­ous Jake Delhomme, the blaz­ing run­ning back core star­ing DeAngelo Williams, and the ever so speedy Steve Smith, who, in his last game against the Cowboys beat them for 9 rec and 147 yards. If that’s not enough to get you think­ing, their defense is relent­less and a bit of a new look. Julius Peppers is capa­ble of dom­i­nat­ing and their defen­sive line will reach Romo more then we would like.

On the other side, Dallas has a league best pass rush. Meaning sim­ply that Ware, James, Spencer, and Ratliff will find the slow incon­sis­tent Delhomme enough to rat­tle his cage. The potent pass rush will cause bad throws, turnovers, and a one dimen­sion run­ning game, which the Cowboys should be able to stop. Nevertheless, Steve Smith is a burner and DeAngelo Williams can make this game look like the Baltimore game did last year. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t think the Cowboys will lose this game, but I think they could if they aren’t prepared!

Matchup of the Game:

DeMarcus Ware Vs Jake Delhomme

Terrence Newman Vs. Steve Smith

Bradie James VS DeAngelo Williams

What IF sports prediction:

(10 sim­u­lated games)

Avg Score: DAL 26 CAR 18

DAL Win PCT: 80%

My Season Prediction

The Cowboys should win this game as long as they stick to their game­plan and keep their heads straight

CAR 14 — DAL 24