NFL analyst predicts Cowboys to endure nightmare start in 2022 NFL season: "This is still a team that is likely looking at an 0-2 start"

The Dallas Cowboys would like to imagine that they're going to contend this season like they have in recent years. They boasted the league's top-scoring offense last season en route to a 12-5 finish and a division title. They fizzled out in the playoffs, but figure to be back there next year.

However, they've got a bit of a tough schedule, especially at the beginning of the season. They begin the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cincinnati Bengals.

That's a tough start to a season, even if both games are at home. Cincinnati is the defending AFC champion, and the Buccaneers made the NFC Championship Game last year and won the Super Bowl the year prior.

NFL analyst Alex Ballantine for the Bleacher Report believes they could be in trouble:

"For the record, there's still a lot to like about the Cowboys over the course of the entire season. Prescott is still a top 10 quarterback in the league. Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott are still a great tandem of backs. Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs are two elite young talents on defense.

"This is still a team that is likely looking at an 0-2 start, creating two high-pressure games to get back to .500 at the beginning of the season."

Granted, those high pressure games are at the New York Giants and home against the Washington Commanders, but still. Being 0-2 is a hole that can be difficult to climb out of.

It's a long season, but starting off the season with two losses can really put any team behind the eight ball. That's not something the Cowboys would like to see happen.

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What might the Cowboys record be in 2022?

Ballantine is right, it is very likely that the Cowboys will begin the season 0-2. Divisional games, of which they have two back-to-back after that, are often a toss-up, which could put them at 1-3 and in deep trouble.

NFC Wild Card Playoffs - San Francisco 49ers v Dallas Cowboys

The NFL schedule doesn't get much easier after that as they visit the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and then the Philadelphia Eagles.

The season from there isn't as challenging, but they still play the Green Bay Packers, Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts.

Unless they start hot and defy the expectations, there's a real chance they finish 10-7 at best, which is probably not going to be enough to win the NFC East this season.