So much of the Cowboys’ offseason narratives revolved around the offense. Head coach Mike McCarthy took control of the play-calling as Kellen Moore left for the Chargers, and together with Brian Schottenheimer he set out to changing some of the areas he felt needed to be different. There was also the matter of Dak Prescott and his interceptions from last year, and many of McCarthy’s tweaks were centered around minimizing turnovers and improving the pass protection for Prescott.
So it was a bit ironic that the Cowboys’ season opener - on the road against a division rival on Sunday Night Football - turned out to be a whole lot less about the Texas Coast offense as it was the dominance of the defense and special teams units, both of whom scored a touchdown before the first quarter even ended.