The Dallas Cowboys have high hopes for the 2021 NFL season, with two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott returning from both a season-ending ankle injury in 2020 and a mild shoulder strain in training camp, it stands to reason the Cowboys offense will return to the form that saw it ranked as the best in the league in 2019 as well as through the first four weeks of last season. The dismi sal of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan hints greatly at the impatience living within Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones, who wasted no time firing Nolan after just one season of watching his defense become the worst in franchise history in several categories.Enter Dan Quinn, former head coach of the Atlanta and -- more notably as a defensive coordinator -- the former engineer of the famed "Legion of Boom" with the , and it's a move praised by both Justin Holiday Jersey the front office and the locker room. If Quinn can get the defense in Dallas to upgrade to average or better, particularly considering offseason additions that include first-round pick Micah Parsons and talented ballhawk Malik Collins, and if the offense can do away with the focus errors of last season and use the return of healthy starters like Prescott, Tyron Smith, and Blake Jarwin; they stand to be the team to beat in the NFC East.They will have competition though, to say the least, and how they handle it both within the division and outside of it will tell the full story on if they're contenders or pretenders. Zach LaVine Jersey William Hill Sportsbook has the ' Over/Under at 9.5 games, while having them as 6.5-point underdogs at the in Week 1. Can the Cowboys bounce back from an injury-, coaching- and pandemic-fueled 6-10 season to jump over those odds? Or will they find a way to get in their own way in the NFC East?Let's take a shot at predicting how it'll all shake out. Key schedule observationsMatchups with both LV teamsCoast-to-coast travel from Week 1 to Week 2Three-game homestand in first five weeksJust one three-game away stretchFive prime-time games plus ThanksgivingWeek 7 byeNFC East opponents: 17-30-1Non-NFC East opponents: 88-87Toughest stretchYou could point at a few marks on the schedule to determine this, but there's one that stands out mightily.Sure, they'll open the year with the challenge of leaving Dallas to meet the defending Super Bowl champs in their own backyard, and then travel just over 2,500 miles to face the , and then there's the fact they visit the furious loser of Super Bowl LV in Mi souri before heading to the equally hostile environment of New Orleans only two weeks later, but take a look at the month of December. It's quite likely the fate of the NFC East comes down to the gauntlet of interdivision games that await as the mercury in the thermostat begins to take a nosedive.The Cowboys travel to Washington directly after their visit to the , for their first matchup of the year with the Football Team. They'll then leap over to MetLife Stadium for their final regular-season battle with the before returning to FedEx Field for a rematch only two games later. Follow this with what will be a daunting task in the desert against and a loaded offense (and defense) only to finish out the year with a finale against the . The Cowboys better stack wins early and often to buffer against what could be an absolutely brutal winter stretch. It's quite po sible they'll have to win the division to get Ryan Arcidiacono Jersey into the tournament, and they can't afford to hang all of their hopes on running the table in December; because if they're not prepared, well, the table will run them.Tampa Bay BuccaneersWeek 1 - Thursday, Sept. 9Location: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)Time: 8:20 p.m. ET2019 record: 11-5Series record: 15-4, Cowboys lead TB QB #12 This is the opposite of the seemingly perennial (and boring) rerun of the Cowboys opening their season against the Giants. Instead, they'll be part of a proverbial fireworks display when they head to Florida to lock horns with the Buccaneers. Hot off of a beatdown of the in Super Bowl LV, it's tough to believe the usual hangover will apply to -- . For not only is Brady now working on trying to land an eighth ring (inhale that for a moment), but the Buccaneers were also able to retain every single free agent of note that helped them lift their first Lombardi in two decades. They're locked and reloaded and know who they are, the latter being absent in Dallas at the moment. The return of is a ma sive leverage gain for the Cowboys, and it does give their offense back their identity that was completely absent when he wasn't on the field. Defensively, however, it's a much different story. This will mark the first game of Dan Quinn's time as the team's defensive coordinator, and even if he does right the ship and gets the defense humming before the end of the year -- a suming it'll be at full steam as early as Week 1 and against Brady and Co. is a stretch. Expect Prescott and the high-powered offense (who will presumably Max Strus Jersey have both starting tackles on the field to protect their prized QB) to give the visceral Bucs defense one hell of a challenge, but Brady's simply too wily and has too many offensive weapons to lose a season opener at home against a Cowboys defense that still needs to figure itself out.They won't have starting tackle Neville Gallimore for this one, and that could be the defining factor.Prediction: 27-21, BuccaneersLos Angeles ChargersWeek 2 - Sunday, Sept. 19Location: SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles)Time: 4:25 p.m. ET2019 record: 7-9Series record: 6-5, Cowboys lead LAC QB #10 There won't be any time to think about what happened in Tampa, unle s the Cowboys do it on the 4.5 hour flight acro s the U.S. as they ready to take on the Chargers in L.A.. The trek acro s three time zones will definitely take a bit of a toll on the Cowboys, as will the presence of -- a young talent who's shown the ability to take over games. Herbert isn't Brady though, and that's where the still-forming Cowboys defense might find an edge, namely in his youth. A usually takeaway-thirsty Dallas team found its groove in that respect Patrick Williams Jersey as the 2020 season came to its conclusion, and the savvy mind of Quinn will likely concoct things that -- unlike Brady in Week 1 -- Herbert didn't see as a rookie. He's not turnover-prone though, having thrown only 10 interceptions to 31 touchdowns in Year 1, so when/if he does make a mistake, the Cowboys must capitalize and give Prescott and Co. as many extra chances as is po sible.That's because the offense will also have their hands full against the Chargers pa s rush led by , along with an opportunistic secondary. The problem for L.A. is it doesn't know if -- an all-world talent -- will hit the ground running following another major injury, or if he'll need a moment