5 bold predictions for Cowboys in Week 2 vs Jets

The Dallas Cowboys won't be facing Aaron Rodgers in Week 2 of the 2023 season after he suffered a ruptured Achilles on just his fourth snap with the New York Jets. With him out, the Jets will be starting Zach Wilson, who doesn't inspire confidence among their fan base.

Even so, Wilson helped them upset the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football and looks to lead his team to a 2-0 start. It won't be easy for them considering how well Dallas played in Week 1, shutting out the Jets' roommates by a score of 40-0.

Still riding a high from their huge win over the Giants, here are five bold predictions for the Cowboys in Week 2.

5. KaVontae Turpin breaks a 50-yard run

During the offseason, the Cowboys said they wanted to get KaVontae Turpin more involved in the offense. In Week 1, they stayed true to this with him recording five touches on offense in addition to his two punt returns.

Turpin finished with two receptions for just 11 yards and had three rushes for 14 yards — but did score the final touchdown of the game from seven-yards out.

While he didn't gain a ton of yards, it was evident each time he touched the ball why Dallas wants to see him get more opportunities. Turpin is one of the fastest players in the entire league and eventually, he's going to break one for a huge gain.

This first bold prediction is that he will do this in Week 2. Despite playing a tough defense, Turpin will get more than enough chances and whether it's on another pitch or a quick screen, look for him to break off a gain of at least 50 yards to really get the home crowd fired up.

4. Trevon Diggs gets his first pick

Last week, Trevon Diggs had a night to remember — even if he didn’t light up the stat sheets. In his first game after signing a massive five-year, $97 million extension in the offseason, Diggs finished with three tackles and a forced fumble.

That’s enough to be proud of, especially considering the Giants had no luck at all when targeting him. However, he still did more than this.

Diggs not only forced the turnover when he stripped the ball out of Isaiah Hodgins' hands — following a 24-yard reception which was set to be one of the best plays of the night for New York — but he also caused one of the team’s two interceptions. 

Late in the first quarter, Daniel Jones threw a short pass to running back Saquon Barkley. Before Barkley could secure the catch, Diggs lit him up and the ball bounced into the air and landed in the arms of DaRon Bland. The second-year cornerback then sprinted to the end zone for six.

Bland got the credit but Diggs was just as instrumental. And in this bold prediction, he continues to force turnovers, although this time he’s the one who gets the pick.

Zach Wilson will throw several passes up for grabs and that’s all Diggs will need to secure his first interception of the year.

3. Tony Pollard has two more touchdowns

For the past couple of seasons, we’ve been told that Tony Pollard isn’t a featured back. We were also told he couldn’t gain the tough yards the way Ezekiel Elliott could.

However, the smallest amount of research could tell you this was simply the way Dallas was spinning things as they tried to justify the massive contract they gave Elliott. Not only was Pollard consistently putting up more yards per attempt than Elliott, but his broken tackle rate was up there with elite backs such as Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb.

Now with Elliott gone, we’ve continued to see that Pollard is more than capable of carrying the load. Against the Giants, he had 70 yards on 14 attempts which was good for 5.0 yards per carry — right at his career average of 5.1. He also had two touchdowns, proving there was no reason other than trying to justify a salary for pulling him in favor of Elliott near the goal line in 2022.

Pollard finished with nine rushing touchdowns compared to 12 for Zeke, which was truly unfair to the Memphis product. Thankfully, that won’t be the case now and Pollard will continue to prove he’s a franchise back with two more touchdowns in this one.

Whether it’s a run through the tackles or making players miss in the open field on a screen pass, Pollard is going to hit pay dirt again this weekend.

2. Micah Parsons racks up two sacks

Daniel Jones likely headed straight to the ice tub after Week 1. The Cowboys were relentless in their pass rush and finished with seven sacks. That’s just the official number since one from Chauncey Golston was wiped out due to a penalty in the secondary.

That doesn’t even count how many times he was hit while throwing, or hit while escaping the pocket due to the pass rush. In short, the offensive line was no match for the waves of defenders Dan Quinn unleashed.

In Week 2, they should have another solid game against the Jets. While they gave up just three sacks, their offense line had more than their share of issues — including allowing Leonard Floyd to get into the backfield and take down Aaron Rodgers. That would up being the play that altered their season with Rodgers suffering a ruptured Achilles on the play.

Zach Wilson is more mobile than Rodgers but he’s not going to be able to evade pressure all day. And in this bold prediction, it’s Micah Parsons who does the most damage.

Parsons, who had 26.5 sacks in his first two seasons in the league, had three tackles and one sack — while watching Dorance Armstrong and Osa Odighizuwa each rack up two sacks. This time, he’s the one to two of them and lead the way for this opportunistic defense.

1. Dak Prescott goes another game without a turnover

In Week 1, the Cowboys won 40-0 and hardly had to ask anything of their offense. They wound up running the ball 30 times for 122 yards and had just 25 passing attempts. The final came from Cooper Rush and fell incomplete.

Starting quarterback Dak Prescott finished by completing 13-of-24 passing attempts 143 with no touchdowns and no interceptions. It was nowhere close to the stat line we’re used to seeing from No. 4, especially against the Giants. Then again, things change when the defense and special teams both drop touchdowns while pitching a shutout.

For most quarterbacks, this would have been considered a decent night. Prescott was efficient, took very few chances, and kept the chains — and the clock — moving. He did what he needed to in order to make sure Dallas started 1-0 and also accomplished a major goal — he had no turnovers.

Despite missing five games in 2022, Prescott was first in the league with 15 picks (which is a low number of interceptions for a league leader). This year, he’s been vocal about wanting to bring that number down and some feel the decision to move on from offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is tied to the desire to take fewer unnecessary risks.

With all that being said, this final bold prediction is that Prescott continues to play it clean. Not only does he lead the Cowboys to another win but he does so while throwing no interceptions and losing no fumbles.