The Oddest Opener: Cowboys At Rams & Dallas' Top 10 Week 1s

NFL Eye-Openers: Dallas Cowboys At Los Angeles Rams Adds To Dallas' Rich Week 1 History ... A Top-10 List, With This As The 'Oddest Opener'

Richie Whitt | Sep 8, 2020

FRISCO - Fitting that Sunday night in Los Angeles the Dallas Cowboys will play their 61st opener to kick off a season-long celebration of their 60th anniversary.

Because in a 2020 COVID-19 clusterf*ck that will be eternally memorable for being wholly forgettable, nothing in America makes sense. Why should "America’s Team'' be any different?

The Cowboys wearing a 60th anniversary patch on their jerseys in games played during their 61th NFL regular season only adds to what will be the strangest of season openers likely leading to an unprecedented, unpredictable year.

Pigskin in a pandemic will be like nothing we’ve ever seen:

No out-of-town training camp.

A televised “scrimmage” featuring players with no uniform numbers.

No preseason games.

No fans, cheerleaders or mascots.

Players kneeling in protest of police brutality and racial inequality during the national anthem.

Coaches and referees wearing masks.

Players drinking exclusively from their own designated water bottles.

Referees button-pushing electronic “whistles.”

One-player representation for the coin toss.

No post-game handshakes.

But in our bizarro new world ruled by social distancing, somehow tackling – assuredly accessorized with droplet exchanges of blood, sweat and tears – remains legal.

Thanks to coronavirus’ creative logistics, when the Cowboys face the Rams in front of a crowd of exactly 0 at sparkling new SoFi Stadium it will be the weirdest season-opener in team history. This coming from a franchise that opened one season on a Saturday (1960), one with a tie (1965), one with quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Craig Morton alternating plays (1971) and another with eventual league and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Emmitt Smith absent because of a contract dispute.

“It’s an understatement to say it’s been different,” said Cowboys new head coach Mike McCarthy. “There’s really nothing to compare to these particular times.”

A once-proud franchise that hasn’t won multiple playoff games in the same season since 1995 could surely benefit from a tweak or two. But along with the COVID-19 changes, the Cowboys we’ll see Sunday night will barely resemble the team we last saw demolishing the Washington Redskins Dec. 29.

Departed are Jason Garrett (and his cherished “process”), Jason Witten, Jeff Heath, Robert Quinn and Byron Jones.

Arrived are a new a coach with a different approach, three Bad ’Boys pass-rushers (Aldon Smith, Everson Griffen and Randy Gregory), a new rookie (CeeDee Lamb) that should spark the offense and an old veteran (Brandon Carr) who just arrived to potentially solidify the defense. ... or hold down the practice-squad fort.

Per McCarthy’s system, the Cowboys won’t name season-long captains. They also won’t have a starting quarterback with long-term security and, for at least the first three games, the services of injured linebacker Sean Lee or offensive tackle La’el Collins.

Even though they may not ultimately finish what they start, the Cowboys are committed to at least playing their oddball opener. (Yet another strange sight: For only the second time in seven seasons they won’t open against the New York Giants.)

“I feel like we’re gonna pull this off,” said COO Stephen Jones. “We’re gonna have all our games, and we’re gonna have a season.”

Even before kickoff, Sunday’s game is sure to crack this list of the Cowboys’ 10 Most Memorable Season Openers:

10. 9.24.60 Steelers 35, at Cowboys 28 – Late rally falls short in franchise’s debut game on a Saturday afternoon before only 30,000 at the Cotton Bowl.

9. 9.15.68 at Cowboys 59, Lions 13 – Don Meredith throws 4 TDs as Dallas establishes a still-standing team record for most points in a game.

8. 9.18.77 Cowboys 16, at Vikings 10 – Roger Staubach scrambles in from 4 yards in OT to launch a Super Bowl season.

7. 9.10.89 at Saints 28, Cowboys 0 – A sobering slap in the face en route to a 1-15 disaster for Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones.

6. 9.13.15 at Cowboys 27, Giants 26 – Tony Romo finds Jason Witten for an 11-yard touchdown with :07 remaining, the latest game-winning touchdown pass in franchise history.

5. 9.7.92 at Cowboys 23, Redskins 10 – Issiac Holt blocks an early punt for a safety and Dallas launches its dynasty by upsetting the Super Bowl champs on Monday Night Football.

4. 9.5.83 Cowboys 31, at Redskins 30 – Danny White’s TD pass to Tony Hill with two minutes remaining helps erase 20-point halftime deficit at a stunned RFK Stadium on MNF.

3. 9.8.02 at Texans 19, Cowboys 10 – Jerry Jones still calls the hapless loss to the in-state expansion franchise his most humbling defeat.

2. 9.12.99 Cowboys 41, at Redskins 35 – Troy Aikman 76 yards to Rocket Ismail in OT caps a frantic rally from a 21-point deficit in D.C.

1. 9.8.86 at Cowboys 31, Giants 28 – The “Dynamic Duo” works for at least one night as Herschel Walker scores a 10-yard draw with 1:15 remaining in his much-hyped debut with Tony Dorsett on MNF.

Published Sep 8, 2020

RICHIE WHITT