Cowboys star Micah Parsons makes honest admission on facing Tom Brady in Week 1

The Dallas Cowboys will open their 2022 NFL season against the same team they opened it against in 2021. That team would be none other than Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The NFL released the full schedule of every team yesterday, and Cowboys' star linebacker Micah Parsons believes that their first two games, against the Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals, are a testament to how far they've come as a team.

Here's what Parsons had to say about their first two games of the 2022 NFL season at the 2022 Schedule Release:

"Tampa Bay and Cincinnati back-to-back was the first thing that I saw. The Bengals were in it last year...Super Bowl contenders. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are always Super Bowl contenders. It's a testament to see where our team is at and where we stand. I think that's a great start to [play against] those two Super Bowl teams. Super Bowl-type teams will be big 'W's for the Cowboys."

Parsons also admitted that, in his rookie season last year, he was in awe of facing the seven-time Super Bowl champion for his very first game:

"Obviously, my first year, [playing against] Tom Brady, I was obviously big eyes in seeing Tom. I'm kind of excited for the rematch. It was a real big nail biter."

Last year, the Cowboys lost the season opener to the Buccaneers by a score of 31-29. It was the first game played for both teams since the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl (LV) the previous season over the Kansas City Chiefs.

This year, Dallas will have their work cut out for them as they proceed to next season with a slightly different roster than before.

Can the Dallas Cowboys improve in 2022 with their offseason losses?

Arizona Cardinals v Dallas Cowboys

The 2022 version of the Dallas Cowboys will look a bit different than the squad that won the NFC East with an overall record of 12-5 last season. For most of last season, the team was widely considered a juggernaut on both sides of the ball.

Until he suffered a calf injury against the New England Patriots in week six, quarterback Dak Prescott was performing at, perhaps, the highest level of his career.

The injury appeared to derail some of his productivity, but the team still made it to the Wild Card Round of the playoffs in 2021. Last year's defense was quite a revelation, starting with Micah Parsons.

The 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year tallied 13 sacks, which is second all-time for rookies behind only Jevon Kearse's 14.5 registered with the Tennessee Titans in 1999.

Second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs also led the league in interceptions with 11. However, Dallas lost several key players in the offseason.

Receivers Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson are now with the Cleveland Browns and the Miami Dolphins, respectively. The offensive line lost La'el Collins to the Cincinnati Bengals and Connor Williams to the Miami Dolphins.

The team signed Tyler Smith out of Oklahoma in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the hopes of patching any leaks left from the losses of Collins and Williams.

Perhaps, the most glaring loss on defense was edge rusher Randy Gregory, who signed with the Denver Broncos to team with fellow edge rusher Bradley Chubb.

The results for Dallas in 2022 will depend on how well or how poorly they respond to the offseason departures.

Keeping Dak Prescott healthy is at a premium, so the losses of two very good players could play a major factor into whether or not the team will advance further than a Wild Card loss.