We are in the midst of the first week of the 2012 NFL Preseason, with things getting underway on Thursday night. The Hall of Fame game already took place between New Orleans and Arizona, but that’s all the preseason action so far.
There will be some nationally televised games on Thursday through the weekend, and that will be capped off by the Monday Night Football matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders.
Coming into this season, neither the Cowboys, nor the Raiders are picked as the favorites in their division. Of the two though, the leash is probably tighter on the Cowboys to make the playoffs, as there is definitely some thin patience between Tony Romo and the Dallas fans.
But both of these teams are likely going to be in difficult divisions. In fact, Dallas may very well be picked third behind both Philadelphia, and the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The same can be said for Oakland, who will be behind at least Denver and San Diego, and maybe even Kansas City.
No doubt both of these teams have a lot to prove in 2012.
Obviously we aren’t sure how many series or quarters the starters will be in for this match up, but we should see the first unit for at least the first half of the opening quarter, and maybe on into the second.
The Cowboys took a gamble in the draft by trading all the way up to No.6 to take LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne. It’s a glaring need for the Cowboys on the defensive side of the ball, and we expect Claiborne to resemble Patrick Peterson of the 2011 draft. Claiborne probably had the best natural athletic ability of any player in the 2012 draft class. It will certainly be fun to watch and see him play for Dallas this season.
For Oakland, the offense wasn’t the problem in 2011, at least statistically. They ranked 11th in passing and 7th in rushing. But defensively, the Raiders were 27th in both pass yards allowed and rush yards allowed. Quarterback Carson Palmer has a full year of offseason practice under his belt, and should continue to get even better in 2012. In fact, Oakland could have one of the top offenses in the NFL this season.
The Raiders couldn’t really stock up in the draft this season because of the trade with Cincinnati for Palmer. But they did tend to lean heavy on defense, a big need for them. The Raiders success this season will most likely be dictated by how the defense steps up. If they are even a middle-of-the-pack NFL defense, Oakland will be a playoff contender.