NFC 'Big Dog' Table: Do Cowboys Deserve Seat?

The race for the NFC is for some a two-horse competition between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. But don't the Dallas Cowboys deserve to be mentioned as well?

The Dallas Cowboys will enter this season with renewed hope after coming off back-to-back 12-win seasons. While neither regular season resulted in the ultimate outcome, as quarterback Dak Prescott stated, there is something building in Dallas.

But when talking about the NFC's elite, Dallas is being left off some observers' lists. Instead, to them, it is a two-horse race between the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. We've already examined in depth how Dallas compares to Philly roster-wise (hint: favorably). And now? Do the Cowboys deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as an NFC 'Big Dog'? Three-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Shaun O'Hara believes so.

"It's interesting to me that we just have two teams as the big dogs," analyst O'Hara said on Good Morning Football. "We got the Niners and the Eagles, and I look at it from a team standpoint, forget about the playoff mishaps, I feel like the Dallas Cowboys belong in that 'big dog' table. When you look at what they've got on offense and on defense, this team is loaded. 

"This division should come down to the Eagles and Cowboys ... I have no reason to believe that the Cowboys aren't going to be better this year."

Indeed, Dallas, on paper, looks to be a better version of last season's team. The same can't be said for the Eagles, we'll argue, due to a host of starters being lost, along with both coordinators. 

The 49ers deserve to be mentioned simply due to the talent on their roster, although they did lose Jimmie Ward, Emmanuel Moseley and Samson Ebukam, along with Mike McGlinchey. The quarterback situation is interesting, with Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold and Trey Lance all vying for the starting job. That could be a weakness, in theory.

For the Cowboys, adding critical pieces in free agency and only losing one player who could be deemed a starter in Dalton Schultz, there is a case to be made that the roster is in better shape than last season.

This is all, of course, done before a single snap has been taken, but looking at the rosters of Dallas, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, we think it's clear the Cowboys deserve to be mentioned in the same category as the teams who played for the NFC Championship last year.

Are the Cowboys a "big dog" in reputation only? Cowboys Nation will surely agree the time has come for Dallas to play like one. ... to have a bite as noticeable as its bark.

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