byDallas Cowboys Mailbag,Mickey Spagnola&Tommy Yarrish

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

Talk about jumping right into the fire. With a new coaching staff, new players and key players returning from injury, the Cowboys certainly didn't catch a break from the NFL in having to play their first game of the season at the reigning Super Bowl champs. Think Brian Schottenheimer and his team will be up to the task? Or is this going to be a very rude awakening?David Wright/Memphis, TN

Mickey:Well, as I said Monday on our Mick Shots podcast, they don't allow you to open up against Abilene Christian. Now you can certainly look at opening against the Eagles pessimistically that way. But then again as Bill Parcells is wont to say, there is another side of that pancake. The Eagles must get ready for Dak this time around, since he didn't play in either of the losses last year. They must prepare for the Cowboys with George Pickens and CeeDee at wide receiver and a much healthier team than when facing them both times last year the last two months of the season. Also, they must prepare for Brian Schottenheimer's version of the offense that they have not seen and as the play-caller, too, and a new defensive coordinator. Touch.

Tommy:What makes this first matchup interesting is the fact that it's the first game of the season, so both teams will have some rust to knock off just naturally after being away from playing a different team for so long. That can make this game completely different, as it would for whoever the Cowboys opened the season against. What they have working in their favor is that Dak Prescott, barring injury, will be back under center for Dallas, and he's had a lot of success against the Eagles. What is not working in their favor is that the Eagles are still, well, the Eagles, and although they lost some key contributors from their Super Bowl roster, their roster is one of the best in the NFL and I thought they had an amazing draft. As it stands right now, I don't see the Cowboys coming out of the gates with a victory, but they'll be playing with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove in a rivalry setting, so anything can happen.

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