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CLEVELAND -- They're more American Idol than America's Team these days. Celebrities in shoulder pads, the Dallas Cowboys have stars on their helmets, on the field and on their guest list.
True NFL blue bloods, no team has a higher profile. And no team has greater expectations.
"It's always Super Bowl or bust kind of deal," quarterback Tony Romo said this week, "and we start the next year and it's Super Bowl or bust again. It's just part of it. Every team has pressure at the start of the year because every organization thinks they have a chance to be really good this year.
"We're no different. I think we're going to go out there and hopefully do good things on the field."
Without a postseason win since 1996 -- an eternity in demanding Big D -- the Cowboys, 13-3 last season with 13 players in the Pro Bowl, will embark on another title run Sunday. They open against the Cleveland Browns, a team with similarly high hopes and an offense capable of matching Dallas point for point.
While the Browns may not be able to match the Cowboys' Q rating or star power, they also have their eyes on the playoffs -- and perhaps something even bigger. And if the football bounces the right way, who knows? The New York Giants weren't exactly the trendy pick to win it all last season. But they did, knocking the Cowboys off their high horses in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
"I think everyone knows across the nation that we have the talent," Terrell Owens said. "We just have to go out there and do what we do best. Everybody is excited with what can become of what we have in this locker room. We aren't going to by any means win the Super Bowl by what we do in Week 1."
Led by an offense that racked up 402 points, the Browns have enough firepower to hang with any team, including these gunslinging Cowboys. Injuries prevented Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Anderson, running back Jamal Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and Cleveland's other offensive starters from playing a single snap together during a winless exhibition season.
"We've got high expectations for this team, not just the offense," said tight end Kellen Winslow. "So the chemistry is going to come. It doesn't really come in the first game. It's going to take a little while, but we're very explosive and we've got a lot of weapons."
As do the Cowboys, who will get their first look at Adam "Pacman" Jones, the troubled and talented cornerback/kick returner. Jones was recently reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after serving a 17-month suspension for a litany of off-field transgressions.
Mr. Jones, as Browns coach Romeo Crennel referred to him this week, hasn't played in a regular-season game since 2006, when he was with Tennessee. In his Dallas debut, Jones will return punts, join rookie Felix Jones as a deep man on kickoff returns and may see some time at cornerback.
"I don't want to get too overhyped, but Sunday I'll be ready," he said. "I'm just trying to not get too riled up."
That may be more difficult than he thinks.
Cleveland fans have been at a fevered pitch since the opener was announced months ago. By the time kickoff arrives at 4:15 p.m., thousands of rabid Browns backers, known for their barking and dog-biscuit eating intensity, will be foaming at the mouth. It's been a long time since an opener -- or any game for that matter -- has meant so much, and the sight of the Cowboys will only raise the intensity.
"I've been on the other team coming into this stadium," Lewis said. "It's not a good feeling."
Even if you're America's Team.
