Las Vegas Raiders: Toughest stretch of 2021 schedule

Las Vegas Raiders: Toughest stretch of 2021 schedule

Week 12 @ Dallas Cowboys – Thursday, November 25

The Dallas Cowboys were one of the disappointments of the 2020 season even before their hopes were shattered when Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending ankle injury. They were struggling to get stops on defense and came within a bonkers onside kick against the Atlanta Falcons of going 0-4. You could also argue that they were within an awful offensive pass interference of being 2-0 to start the year but that’s a different story.

However despite the defensive struggles, before Prescott went down the Cowboys had an explosive offense that features playmakers at every level. They have perhaps the best wide receiver group in the NFL that was bolstered with the emergence of CeeDee Lamb and the addition of Simi Fehoko in this year’s draft.

Ezekiel Elliott is still an excellent running back when he’s not turning the ball over and their only subpar weapons are at the tight end position.

Offensive line play was a major issue and they will hope to be more healthy but much of the offseason was spent upgrading the defense through free agency and the draft. Additions like Keanu Neal, Micah Parsons, and Tarell Basham will look to make immediate impacts on the field. Much like the Raiders, if the Cowboys can pair a decent defense with their explosive offense, they could be one of the more dangerous teams in the NFL.

This game also comes on a short week just after the Raiders face the rebuilding Cincinnati Bengals. While it may not be technically a primetime game, it is still one of the showcase games on Thanksgiving Day and that comes with plenty of fanfare and hoopla.

The Raiders will have played 3 primetime games before this but there is something special about playing on Thanksgiving and it should be another big test for this team.