Dallas Cowboys’ 2022 opponents bring new coaching challenges

Although we don’t know the actual order of the schedule, we do know who the Dallas Cowboys will be facing next season. The team released their official home and road opponents in January. At first glance, it definitely appeared that next season’s matchups would be tougher than the 2021 lineup. Many people claimed the Cowboys were “fake” this year due to their easy schedule.

Next year will be a great opportunity for America’s Team to prove they are worth all of the buzz they got this year. In order to do so, they will have to beat some tough teams. Two examples of that include both teams in this year’s Super Bowl: the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.

The other challenging factor is that Dallas will also face a lot of new head coaches, which could make prepping for the games more challenging. Of the 14 teams the Cowboys will face, five of them will have new head coaches.

What was already going to be a challenging 2022 schedule to begin with looks a bit more daunting now with major changes happening in these opponents’ organizations.

A deeper look at the new head coaches the Dallas Cowboys will face in the 2022 NFL season

The Cowboys’ home opponents are the Giants, Eagles, Commanders (lol), Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, Bengals, Texans, and Colts. The away opponents are the three NFC East teams, the Rams, the Packers, the Vikings, the Titans, and the Jaguars.

Here are the teams with new coaches:

Chicago Bears: Once a job defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was considered a top candidate for, the Bears job went to Matt Eberflus, the Colts defensive coordinator. Eberflus was hired by the brand new GM Ryan Poles. The coach boasts 13 years of NFL experience and 17 years of collegiate experience.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The Cowboys should consider themselves lucky that Kellen Moore isn’t the head coach of the Jags and spilling all the Cowboys’ secrets. However, the coach chosen knows a lot about Dallas too: former NFC East/Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson. The Super Bowl-winning coach was with the Eagles from 2016 to 2020 and spent this last season off from the NFL.

Houston Texans: The Texans chose to hire internally in what many are calling a terrible choice. Houston chose their associate head coach and defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. Smith has coached with the Bears and Bucs before and also spent time as the Univesity of Illinois’ head coach.

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings have selected a head coach whose mind is currently elsewhere. The Rams offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connell, is currently trying to win a Super Bowl. But once that game is over, he will head to Minnesota. O’Connell has previously coached with the 49ers, Browns, and what used to be the Redskins.

New York Giants: The ever-struggling New York Giants poached Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Daboll joins newly hired GM Joe Schoen as new faces at MetLife Stadium. The new coach has made several stops around the league holding various positions with the Patriots, Jets, Chiefs, Browns, Dolphins, and Bills.

Amidst a tough overall schedule, the Cowboys probably hope to see these new coaches later in the season (remember we don’t know the exact schedule yet) so that they can figure out these coaches’ tricks and ideas. What we do know is that Dallas has a lot to prove in 2022. If they can have a strong record against these opponents, it will be hard for haters to call them “fake.”