Struggling Dallas Franchises Look to the Cowboys

The Dallas Mavericks are hoping to improve this season but realize that their chance at a championship is close to zero. That being said, Dallas fans can look forward to one of the local franchises with a shot at a trophy.

Everyone here knows that the Dallas Mavericks have a lot of things to look forward to this season. The beginning of the Dennis Smith Jr. era, the final glory days of the Dirk Nowitzki era (potentially), and further proof that Harrison Barnes is worth every penny, are just a few exciting things this season. Despite that excitement, we also know not to expect anything too crazy from this season.

Could the Mavs compete for a playoff spot? Sure, I would not put it past them to put together a season worthy of an 8-seed. Are they in any way going to contend for the title? Definitely not. The ceiling for the Mavs is probably the 7-seed.

With that being what it is, the Dallas area needs a team to look forward to watching this year. Luckily, that team just happens to be the team that everyone is watching anyways.

The Dallas Cowboys are the source of excitement in the DFW sports world right now, and for good reason. The good reason may be the fact that no other team offers much hope at this point, but the fact remains that the Cowboys offer Dallas a legitimate team to contend for a championship this season.

For those who do not follow all the Dallas sports teams like myself, here is a brief rundown for each franchise this year and into next.

Dallas Mavericks

Starting with the team we have already talked a little bit about, the Mavs are not a threat to the title and probably won’t be for years to come. That being said, there are definite things to look forward to for the team, as mentioned above.

Many projections have come out for the Mavericks, predicting somewhere between 32-38 wins for the upcoming season. I expect them to do better than the projections, but probably still outside of the playoff battle in the end. Dallas title chances are probably out of the question for at least the next 3 years.

Key additions: Dennis Smith Jr., Nerlens Noel (retained), Josh McRoberts, Jeff Withey, Jonathan Motley

Key losses: A.J. Hammons, Jarrod Uthoff, DeAndre Liggins, Nicolas Brussino

Texas Rangers

The Rangers have been on a wild ride this season with injuries and bullpen issues leading the charge of disappointment towards a current 71-71 record. Although they are only 2.5 games behind in the wild card race, the season has definitely not gone according to plan.

This year has not been without its bright spots, however, as the Rangers have found their power, leading the entire MLB in home runs with Joey Gallo firing off 37 dingers so far this year (good for 4th in the MLB). Unfortunately, the power hitting has been accompanied with lots of strikeouts and low batting averages.

Despite all of the  struggles of this season, the Rangers have shown flashes of being one of the better teams in the nation. They are only missing a few pieces before becoming regular contenders again.

Key additions: Jason Grilli, Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner, Ricky Rodriguez, Mike Napoli

Key losses: Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Jonathan Lucroy

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are probably the unknown team that really made some great strides this summer. After a horribly disappointing season plagued with injury, the Stars changed their focus, made a coaching change, and look to rebound this coming season.

One key change made that should have a major impact is the Stars addition of Ben Bishop to solidify the goaltending efforts with Kari Lehtonen. A few other key moves should give Dallas a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup this year and hopefully for years to come.

Key additions: Alexander Radulov, Ben Bishop, Marc Methot, Martin Hanzal, Miro Heiskanen, Ken Hitchcock (coach)

Key losses: Antti Niemi, Patrick Sharp, Cody Eakin, Ales Hemsky, Lindy Ruff

Dallas Cowboys

Now, the team that we have all been waiting for. After an impressive victory over the New York Giants in the season opener, the Cowboys are already on their way to exorcising their demons from last season. Despite coming out of the NFC with the best record last season, the Dallas Cowboys ran into the ever-infuriating Packers in the divisional round.

Since then, not much good has happened for the Cowboys with the Dak Prescott autograph fiasco and, of course, the Ezekiel Elliott case. Despite the bad, however, the Cowboys have a great chance of being atop the NFC once again this season as they have shown to be stalwart on both sides of the ball. Even if Elliott misses significant time, the Cowboys line will be ready to help any running back.

This is the team that everyone is watching and the year that we have all been waiting for. The Cowboys window is wide open right now and, if they can properly prepare themselves each and every week, there is no reason to believe they could not go all the way. Which is good, because the DFW sports world is clinging to that hope.

Key additions: Jonathan Cooper, Nolan Carroll, Taco Charlton, Chidobe Awuzie

Key losses: Doug Free, Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, J.J. Wilcox, Ronald Leary

Next: Mark Cuban Talks Nerlens Noel

No matter what happens, this will be a fun year for the three remaining sports teams in DFW. The Rangers still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs and the Mavs, Stars, and Cowboys are ready to show what Dallas is made of. Even still, all eyes are on the Cowboys in hopes of another championship team in Dallas.