What we might learn: Browns not a common opponent, but plenty of familiarity between season opening opponents

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Sunday’s Cowboys/Browns matchup is one of a handful of games this week featuring two playoff teams from last year.

It’s hard to believe, but with a win on Sunday the Dallas Cowboys would have their first win streak for season-openers under Mike McCarthy. For a coach that had to speak up himself about the apparent numbness towards rattling off 12 regular season wins three years in a row, last year’s 40-0 beatdown at the Giants was the first time McCarthy’s team started 1-0 in the process of doing so. Opening against an NFC East opponent they’ve dominated for a while now may have been the key in reversing this Week 1 fortune, and though they won’t have the same advantage on Sunday, there are some ties back to recent NFC East matchups that should be telling about how Dallas starts the season.

A Cowboys offense with the majority of their projected starters making their debut after sitting out the preseason will go against a Browns defense coordinated by former Eagles DC Jim Schwartz. Dalvin Tomlinson is also a key piece of this Browns defense on the interior, a former Giants draft pick. We covered the matchup of McCarthy’s offense vs. Schwartz’s defense more extensively right here, and now it is time to take a look at other things that might be learned after the first 60 minutes of Cowboys football is in the books by Sunday evening.

Will Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe follow familiar footsteps?

Ever since the Cowboys schedule was released and this opening matchup was set, the headline of rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton making his pro debut against All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett has gotten the lion’s share of attention. Guyton is not alone as a rookie starter making his debut at a new position, as the Cowboys are also breaking in third-round pick Cooper Beebe at center.

Guyton against Garrett will draw plenty of eyes consistently throughout the game, as pressure off the edge from a player of Garrett’s caliber is one of the quickest ways for any game plan McCarthy and OC Brian Schottenheimer have in place to fall apart completely. The time to talk big picture about how McCarthy is coaching for his job while also calling plays will come later, as the Cowboys offense will be looking to break in players with a lot of rust on them all at game speed in a hostile environment in Week 1.

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If Guyton at least holds his own and doesn’t let Garrett wreck the game himself, the confidence Dallas has in their stars like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, or Brandin Cooks to get comfortable as the game goes on and make enough plays to win is high.

Guyton is the ideal type of athletic tackle that moves well in space to deal with the speed of Garrett, and baiting him upfield to allow Prescott to climb the pocket and deliver the ball downfield should be part of Dallas’ plan of attack here. Garrett will counter this freakish bend on the edge with inside moves that are just as strong, and can deliver punishing hits on running backs when left unblocked too. The Cowboys know they have options outside of just Guyton playing one-on-one against the Browns best defender, but for a team that did not look comfortable in heavier formations or playing offense on the road a year ago, there are going to be reps that Guyton needs to win on his own without help.

As for the less talked about debut of Cooper Beebe at center, the Cowboys at least have the luxury of breaking him in alongside the trusted Zack Martin at right guard and Tyler Smith on the left side. The season-long expectation is that Beebe will fit in just fine to give Dallas a very strong interior that can help them run the ball between the tackles, but doing so against Cleveland with not only Tomlinson but Shelby Harris, Maurice Hurst, and Quinton Jefferson at DT is no easy task.

Jim Schwartz is known for bringing havoc right to the A-gaps for an opposing offense to deal with pre-snap, and the Cowboys should expect nothing less with a rookie center making his first start. The Cowboys will have hopes of this young and retooled offensive line molding into one of the league’s best over time this season, but much can be learned after Sunday about how viable they are as a unit that can help this offense take a complete next step in year two of McCarthy’s scheme.

The Cowboys track record of hitting on high draft picks on the offensive line is at or near the top of the entire league, and they’ll be putting it to the test in just a few days time in a big way with Guyton and Beebe as their latest projects.

Can any of these running backs be difference makers?

Speaking of Beebe as the new starting center for Dallas, the rookie out of Kansas State was able to win the job thanks to his very high upside as a run blocker. The Cowboys know what they have in this department at the two guard spots, so adding Beebe gives instant viability to the team going with a mostly unproven RB by committee approach.

Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, and Deuce Vaughn will get their first opportunity of the season against a defense that allowed the most runs of 20 or more yards a season ago, but also the fewest total rushing first downs. The Browns defensive front is feared more as a pass rushing unit than it is against the run, and once the Cowboys offensive line does their job of springing these backs to the second and third levels the opportunity for explosive plays, could be there if any of these backs show the ability to make defenders miss for extra yards.

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The best way the Cowboys can show they are ready to play to their full potential on offense away from AT&T Stadium, where they racked up points with ease in 2023, is to be less dependent on throwing the ball downfield, Finding balance with a run game that can keep this game from being a track meet on both sides will be something important to watch for against the Browns. Whichever back can show they’re capable of getting more than just the yards blocked for them up front could emerge as the early favorite to “start” in week two and beyond.

Are Jourdan Lewis and Caelen Carson enough to survive at CB without DaRon Bland?

The Cowboys will welcome back Trevon Diggs at cornerback in this matchup against their former star WR Amari Cooper, playing against Dallas for the first time since being traded. With Diggs likely needing some time to get up to full game speed, and his propensity to take risks that can lead to big plays allowed, it stands to reason that Cooper is going to make his share of plays in this game.

The Cowboys have their own firepower at WR to feel good about matching Cooper’s individual production if this game comes down to a battle of passing offenses. More intriguingly, how the Cowboys handle other skilled pass catchers like Elijah Moore and TE David Njoku with CBs Jourdan Lewis and rookie Caelen Carson will be the first indicator of what life is like in Mike Zimmer’s secondary without DaRon Bland for the first portion of the season.

The Cowboys are also limited in their proven depth at defensive end outside of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, meaning opposing offenses won’t be as worried about dropping back to pass and calling progressions other than the quick game to really test out what Dallas has in a 29-year-old Lewis and fifth-round pick Carson. This is the type of question that could linger going into game days before the bye week without Bland, but opening the season with Deshaun Watson as the opposing QB is far from a worst case scenario to test out what Dallas has at CB.

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Can DeMarvion Overshown live up to the hype?

The Cowboys run defense has a lot of questions to answer this season, but they won’t have the chance to prove themselves against Nick Chubb to start the season as the Browns’ RB is on the PUP list.

This is an early break, especially for a Cowboys linebacking corps that needs time to find themselves. DeMarvion Overshown and Marist Liufau are new, inexperienced faces teamed up with Damone Clark and FA addition Eric Kendricks to give the Cowboys an entirely new look on the second level in this new defense.

Overshown should be one of the Cowboys best options out of this group to matchup in man coverage and help take away tight ends like Njoku, but he’ll also have to be ready to handle the physicality of an offense that has no fears pulling their linemen into space and playing downhill with misdirection to cause these second level defenders confusion. Every week that Overshown takes the field following an ACL tear that prematurely ended his rookie season is a great chance for the former third-round pick, but Sunday in Cleveland should show exactly how much “on the job training” the Cowboys can expect him to need without many other options behind him should Overshown struggle.

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Overshown has never been one to back down from competition and could take a hype train that’s existed for him ever since last preseason into high gear if he does more than just hold his own against and comes up with splash plays.

How Ready is CeeDee Lamb?

As mentioned, the Cowboys have every reason to feel good about their passing game coming into this game despite some understandable timing concerns from players that haven’t had in-game reps stepping onto the field for the first time. At the top of this list is WR1 CeeDee Lamb, new contract in hand after his holdout cost Lamb all of the Oxnard portion of training camp and the preseason.

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When Prescott and the Cowboys have played against a Schwartz defense before, they’ve been able to have their way picking on individual defenders in the secondary with their best receivers all game long. Brandin Cooks was noticeably better in home games compared to on the road a year ago, Jalen Tolbert is a new face at WR3, and Ryan Flournoy and Jalen Brooks also lack experience, making this a game where Lamb needs to consistently be on the same page as his QB and keep the offense moving.

Lamb will likely draw Browns CB Denzel Ward, who is sticky in man coverage and fights for the ball at the catch point well. If Ward has help from equally athletic safeties Juan Thornhill and Grant Delpit, other routes should open up for the likes of Cooks and Tolbert, but Lamb still needs to remain the focal point early and often in McCarthy’s game script. Making Lamb the center of the passing game was a turning point for the Cowboys offense last season, and now with far less time to waste finding their rhythm, the time is now for Lamb to come out of the gates with a clutch performance on the road in Cleveland.