Why Skip Bayless has matchups against Jets, Eagles circled for Cowboys

National Football League

Updated Jun. 29, 2023 2:36 p.m. ET

The countdown to the NFL season is on, and Skip Bayless has a couple of games he’s already looking forward to for the Dallas Cowboys.

One of those games comes early on in the season, as the Cowboys host the New York Jets in Week 2. Of course, the Jets are now quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers, who has performed well against the Cowboys over his career. He’s 8-2 in games he has started against Dallas.

While Bayless believes Rodgers is “one of the most overrated athletes” in all of sports, he acknowledged that the former Packers great has had the Cowboys’ number over the years. That’s why he views the Week 2 game as a bit of a litmus test.

“Unfortunately, that hasn’t applied to Aaron when he faces the Dallas Cowboys, when he turns into Count Dracula as he swoops in and sucks the life out of [the Cowboys] time after time after time,” Bayless said on the “Skip Bayless Show.” “Remember last year in Green Bay? [The Cowboys] led by 14 in the fourth quarter. Aaron turned back into ‘Aaron Bleepin’ Rodgers.’ He went 6-for-8 in the fourth quarter, throwing for 66 yards and two touchdowns while my man Dak disappeared right on cue. He was 3-for-8 in the fourth quarter for all of 18 yards. Green Bay won the fourth quarter 14-0 and the game went to overtime.”

Bayless thinks the Cowboys will pass the test in Week 2.

“I have that game circled this year because I’m already on record saying that we will finally beat ‘Aaron Bleepin’ Rodgers’ in Dallas,” Bayless said.

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The other game that Bayless has his eyes on is the Week 9 matchup against the Eagles in Philadelphia, saying he has “two big, metallic blue circles” around that one because he thinks the Cowboys will prove themselves to be the best team in the NFC East that day.

After mentioning how the Cowboys remained competitive against the Eagles in Philadelphia with Cooper Rush at quarterback last season, Bayless recalled the Christmas Eve matchup between the two teams. While Jalen Hurts didn’t play in that game, Bayless doesn’t think that Hurts’ absence was the reason the Cowboys won.

“Dak Prescott threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception,” Bayless said of the Week 16 game last season. “The man that led the league in interceptions threw for just one that day against Philadelphia because Philadelphia was not great on defense last year. Philadelphia will not be great on defense this year. [Dallas] will be. Advantage [Dallas].”

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Bayless is high on the Cowboys entering the 2023 season, and the key reason for that is because Dallas added two difference-makers he believes can help elevate them on both sides of the ball.

“I’m sorry, I believe the Cowboys had the NFL’s best offseason,” Bayless said. “I’m going with an ‘A’ for the offseason. They traded for two must-haves, stole them, just stole them in trades that shocked me. The more I think about them, the more I’m shocked. A pleasant shock. A proven deep threat in Brandin Cooks that might help Dak Prescott rise from ‘middle-of-the-pack Dak’ to, I don’t know, the NFL’s ninth- or 10th-best quarterback.

“And they traded for, or stole, Stephon Gilmore. He’s a top-five corner with top-one brains and instincts. He’s the missing link for what I think will be the NFL’s best defense.”

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However, Bayless believes the Cowboys’ 2023 season will end similarly to the last two.

“You might have noticed I blew right by the San Francisco game on the Cowboys’ schedule,” Bayless said. “I don’t have a lot of hope of the Cowboys winning that game or for the Cowboys to win the NFC Championship Game, which I’ve already predicted that the Cowboys will lose at San Francisco, where [the Cowboys] lost last year in the playoffs after losing at Jerry’s World in the playoffs the year before.”

Bayless isn’t alone in feeling optimistic about the Cowboys this season. Dallas holds +1400 odds to win the Super Bowl on FOX Bet, which is the third-best odds among all NFC teams.

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