The Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders both have great history among their franchises and now the two teams will meet up in the preseason on Friday night at 10:00 PM in the first game for Oakland and the second game for the Cowboys after defeating the Miami Dolphins in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game in Canton.
The Cowboys are coming into the season after going 8-8 and losing in the final game of the year for the second time in a row to miss out on making the playoffs as AFC East champions and while Jerry Jones won't say it, Jason Garrett could be on the hot seat come early in the season if the team is struggling. Tony Romo will get his first start in the preseason against the Raiders after sitting out against the Miami Dolphins, but that didn't stop the team from winning 24-20 on Sunday night. Romo had another very good season after passing for nearly 5,000 yards and after signing his lucrative long extension the team will be expecting to go to the postseason.
Check here for the Raiders and Cowboys live coverage from the NFL and for more news from the league on Sports World Report.
The Raiders should be an interesting team to watch this season after making some wholesale changes to the roster and general manager Reggie McKenzie has been looking forward to seeing some of his young players in action. The Raiders brought back Charles Woodson after years in Green Bay and the team also upgraded the secondary and defense with Mike Jenkins, Tracy Porter and linebacker Kevin Burnett. The team went mostly offense in the draft apart from linebacker Sio Moore and DJ Hayden, who was the teams first round pick at number 12 overall. The team drafted Menelik Watson with their second round pick and later took Brice Butler, running back Latavius Murray as well as tight ends Mychal Rivera and Nick Kasa.
The Cowboys ranked third in the league last season in passing yards per game with nearly 300 and while Romo put up great stats, the offense was inconsistent and ranked 31st in the league with 79 yards per game while dealing with injuries. The defense is going to be overhauled now after Monte Kiffin took over for Rob Ryan and Jones is expecting improvement after ranking 19th and 22nd in passing and rushing yards per game. The team opens the preseason with the Raiders before going on the road against the Cardinals the following week.
The third game will be at home against the Cincinnati Bengals before hosting fellow Texas residents the Houston Texans and that will come before they open the season against the Giants on Sunday night on NBC. The team then travels to Kansas City before coming home to play St. Louis and then the team will have an AFC West kick against the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos before hosting RG3 and the Washington Redskins.
Click here for the Raiders and Cowboys coverage stream from the NFL for the preseason.
