The Dallas Cowboys have not played a football game since January 3rd. For Cowboys Nation, it has been far too long since we’ve had a chance to see guys like Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and Sean Lee doing their thing for the silver and blue. That early-January home loss to the Redskins did little fill that void which will soon be closed when it comes to watching the best players that put the star on the side of their helmet, as it instead ended a painful 4-12 season that was derailed by injuries up and down the roster.
Saturday’s game at The Coliseum against the Rams may prove to be a similar exercise, as so many preseason openers typically are. Still, the Cowboys will be playing the first nationally televised game of the 2016 season, against a team with a shiny new home in Los Angeles.
The NFL – and the national media that covers it – will surely love this story line, but I’m here to tell Cowboys fans why your love for their coverage should end right there after Saturday’s game.
With HOF Game being cancelled, the 1st Nationally Televised football game of 2016 will be the @dallascowboys in NFL's return to Los Angeles.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) August 7, 2016
Rewind to last preseason, as I sat in my living room like many of you will do this weekend, and watched the Cowboys lose a meaningless game to the 49ers thanks to NFL Network. After the game, I released this rant, going off on the network for diving into talks of “Cowboys struggles” and “crushing Cowboys defeats”.
Should the Rams start off their latest endeavor in Los Angeles with a win on Saturday, similar articles, videos, and tweets will surely try to get under your skin. Instead, I ask Cowboys Nation to focus on the players that have worked incredibly hard in Oxnard through the beginning of training camp, and are fighting to make this team better.
Head Coach Jason Garrett is all about competition, and having a roster full of young guys competing against each other on a team with high expectations is a great way to roll into a nationally televised preseason opener.
Stakes will be just a bit higher than usual, as Dak Prescott and Jameill Showers fight to prove that they can both be the answer behind Tony Romo moving forward at quarterback. They will do so by throwing to the likes of Andy Jones, Ed Eagan, and Geoff Swaim.
Defensively, the Mike McAdoo’s, Zach Wood’s, and Lawrence Okoye’s of the world will get a fighting chance in the trenches for Rod Marinelli, fighting to make a team that needs all the help they can get at their respective positions.
Perhaps you didn’t need this warning, and if any of the players listed above already have you excited for the game than you are well on your way, but Cowboys Nation as a whole should be ready to put our heads down after Saturday night and really talk about how 60 minutes of football in the books for the 2016 Dallas Cowboys can help this team reach the ultimate goal of Super Bowl LI.
Of course, you can do so right here on InsideTheStar.com, and be sure to also tune in to the RJ Ochoa show – or RJOShow – with Staff Writer RJ Ochoa after the game – as I will be joining RJ to break down the Cowboys’ first game on the journey that will be this new and exciting season.
