There’s not much that will get a fan base fired up a week before training camp than a little Super Bowl chatter.
And while that’s probably part of the motivation behind Dan Graziano’s 25 predictions for the NFL through 2021, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s on record making a bold prediction about the Dallas Cowboys:
With Dak Prescott at the helm and Ezekiel Elliott running behind a stalwart offensive line, the Cowboys will win one of the next three Super Bowls.
Yes, you read that right.
Now, you’ve probably heard plenty of reasons to be down on the 2018 Cowboys this offseason, like a bottom-tier receiving corps or questions surrounding Dak Prescott’s sophomore dip in production. There’s still holes in the defense, too, including a suspended pass-rusher.
And while Graziano isn’t so bold as to put the ‘Boys in the big game this year, he certainly endorses the talent currently on the roster.
“It just feels as if people are sleeping on a team that went 9-7 last year while its best player/key to the offense was suspended for six games,” Graziano wrote. “Assuming Ezekiel Elliott plays all 16 games, there's no reason not to like the Cowboys as 2018 contenders. And with their dominant offensive line all under contract and Dak Prescott still on his rookie deal at quarterback, there's no reason to think there's any major drop-off coming in the short term.”
Oddly enough, what might make Cowboys fans just as happy as the anointment of their team as a Super Bowl contender is the fact that Graziano predicts the Philadelphia Eagles won’t hoist the Lombardi Trophy again before the Cowboys do it for the sixth time in franchise history.
That prediction is based more on history than it is on the current Eagles team. The NFC East hasn’t had a back-to-back champ in a decade-and-a-half and only the Seahawks have made returned to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl within three years of a previous appearance.
“Carson Wentz is a young superstar quarterback, the roster is well-built and well-coached, and if there's a team built to buck history, this could well be it,” Graziano wrote. “But it's really hard to buck that kind of history.”
Most anyone will project the defending champions – who earned their first Super Bowl ring without Wentz – finish ahead of the Cowboys this season, but Graziano’s metaphorical chips are on the Cowboys in the not-so-long-term.
Long term success will be tough if Graziano’s eighth prediction comes to fruition. He ventures a guess that Elliott’s contract situation will create problems for the Cowboys as the price tag for top draft picks at running back defies a stagnant market for veterans at the position.
“Teams aren't getting bargains on backs taken that high the way they are with quarterbacks and pass-rushers on their rookie deals,” he notes.
The Cowboys do have a history of being able to perform salary cap gymnastics to keep marquee players in the silver and blue, so Cowboys fans have reason to keep that glass half-full.
Plus, it’s more fun to picture Zeke holding the Lombardi Trophy – and hopefully behaving at the Super Bowl parade through Dallas – than it is to think of him holding out or possibly donning a new uniform.
