Cleveland Browns vs. Dallas Cowboys: Key matchups, numbers entering season opener
CLEVELAND — The season opener for the Browns couldn't have much more to draw in people's attention.
The Dallas Cowboys, America's alleged team, are the opponent. It's in the prime late-afternoon time slot. Tom Brady will be calling the game on Fox.
It's going to be on the Browns to draw the attention away from the attention-magnet Cowboys. The only way to do that is by doing what they've not done so many times they've come off seasons like the one they had a year ago, when they went 11-6 and went to the playoffs.
The Browns need to play well. That's been easier said than done.
The last three times the Browns have posted winning seasons — 2002, 2007 and 2020 — they have followed it up with losing seasons. They went 5-11 in 2003, 4-12 in 2008 and 8-9 in 2021.
A strong Week 1 would be a good way for the Browns to start to reverse that trend. A good way to get off to a strong start would be by playing well against the Cowboys.
With that as the backdrop, it's time to dive into some of the key matchups, players and numbers for Sunday's opener.
Cleveland Browns offensive matchup of the game vs. Dallas Cowboys: Left tackle vs. DE Micah Parsons
It could be Jack Conklin. It could be James Hudson III. It most certainly won't be Jedrick Wills Jr., who's still coming back from a knee injury. Regardless of who the Browns have at left tackle, whether its on the first snap or the 41st, they're going to have to contend with the potential of the Cowboys' star edge rusher Micah Parsons lining up over them. It's not going to be an all-game situation, because Parsons gets moved around the Dallas defense even more than the Browns move around Myles Garrett, their own star pass rusher. If the Browns can't slow down Parsons at left tackle, though, it may be the crack that Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer exploits all game.
Cleveland Browns defensive matchup of the game vs. Dallas Cowboys: Nickel CB Greg Newsome II vs. WR CeeDee Lamb
The layup answer here would've been Garrett against Tyler Guyton, the rookie left tackle for the Cowboys. That's taking the easy way, though. What's going to be more interesting is watching the chess match between the ultra-talented Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and whichever of the Browns' trio of top-level cornerbacks — Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson Jr. or Greg Newsome II — is matched up on him on a given play. It feels like Newsome's going to draw a lot of that assignment, just by how Lamb is typically deployed. A year ago, of his 1,079 offensive snaps between the regular season and playoffs, the majority — 584 — were in the slot compared to 480 split out wide. If whoever is lined up opposite Lamb can at least prevent him from having a massive game, it would go a long way to preventing the Cowboys offense from having a massive game.
Cleveland Browns vs. Dallas Cowboys numbers to watch
2,410 yards
Wide receiver Amari Cooper's total receiving yards in two seasons with the Browns. They acquired the veteran wide receiver form the Cowboys in March 2022.
502 yards
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott has a lot of impressive numbers on his resume. That includes his single-game career-best performance, which he did the last time he faced the Browns on Oct. 4, 2020, in Arlington, Texas.
2 sacks
The same game that Prescott posted his career high, Garrett got to him twice. He also forced a fumble off one of those sacks that led to a Browns touchdown.
The Cleveland Browns defeat the Dallas Cowboys if …
Deshaun Watson has time and can get the ball to Cooper, Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku.
Garrett and the Browns defensive line can consistently make Prescott very uncomfortable in the pocket
The secondary doesn't let Lamb run wild, thus giving Prescott his favorite target in space
The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Cleveland Browns if …
Prescott continues to feast on man-to-man coverage, against which he had a 66% completion percentage and a 128.9 passer rating
Parsons has a Defensive Player of the Year candidacy game with multiple sacks, leaving Watson to see ghosts when he drops back to pass
The Cowboys rookie offensive linemen, Guyton and center Connor Beebe, don't play like rookies and withstand the pressure of the Browns defensive line
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns vs. Cowboys preview: Key matchups, numbers for season opener
