¶¶ÒõÊÓƵ

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

How important is a good start for the Cowboys this year? In 2024, they missed the playoffs and had a losing record. Do they need to get off to a good start to get confidence and momentum after last season's struggles? Or does the previous season have no effect on the next season? – Marty Monforte/Endicott, NY

Nick: Yes, always - but probably even more this year. Just ask yourself what the most important games on the schedule usually are. Typically, it's NFC East games and then NFC games after that. The Cowboys start out on the road in Philly against the world champs, a test that will definitely be a major challenge. After that it's a home game with the Giants - another division game - followed by two more NFC games against the Bears and Packers.

So four games against the NFC and two within the division. If you don't get off to a good start, you'll most certainly be way behind in the NFC East and the playoff race. But more than that, all of this "culture" narrative that has been established by Brian Schottenheimer and the new coaching staff, will take a big hit if they don't win early. The critics are just waiting to pounce on the fact that "culture" is overrated and doesn't amount to wins and losses. And if they get off to a bad start, we'll definitely hear a lot of that.

More than anything, this team just needs a confidence boost. After three straight 12-win seasons, last year was a huge setback to go 7-10 and miss the playoffs. The Cowboys need to turn this around quickly and getting off to a great start can help create the momentum needed to right the ship.

Kurt: First off, I do think there can sometimes be carryover from one season to the next. At least it sure seemed that way in 2024 after the Cowboys fell at home to Green Bay in the 2023 wild-card round. However, with a new coach and several new players, that shouldn't really be a factor this year.

Still, I do think getting off to a fast start in 2025 is very important for two reasons. Of course, there's the schedule. We all know about that five-game stretch in November and December when every opponent Dallas will face reached the playoffs last season, a gauntlet that includes three games in 12 days against Philadelphia, Kansas City and Detroit. Ouch.

So if the Cowboys don't take care of business ahead of time against teams like the Giants, Bears, Jets, Panthers, Cardinals and Raiders as well as home dates vs. the Packers and Commanders, well, things could get ugly.

More importantly, though, I think they need to get off to a good start just to solidify that new head coach Brian Schottenheimer has the organization headed in the right direction. Everything has been sunshine and rainbows with how the players have seemingly bought into his culture change this offseason, but what happens if they get embarrassed in the opener at the Eagles? How will the players and even public respond if Dallas stumbles out of the gate the first few weeks against those aforementioned clubs? Could the culture turn sour in a hurry? As we all know, none of that stuff truly matters if you're not winning games.

Regardless, I do like what Schottenheimer is building here and I'm looking forward to seeing the Cowboys' hard work come to fruition on the field. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But given what we've seen so far in this new coaching era, there's reason to believe they'll hit the ground running when the season officially gets underway.