The Dallas Cowboys enter the 2026 NFL season with legitimate reasons to believe they can contend for the NFC East title and a playoff spot. No, I’m not trying to lean into the “this is our year” that often earns the fanbase critcism.

But this Cowboys team has some good things going for it. Let’s break it all down.

This defense is provable different

The transformation on defense is not cosmetic. Nick Harris from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram pointed out on social media that 15 of 26 Week 1 Cowboys defenders were unemployed or recently cut before teams filled out their practice squads.

Dallas has roughly seven or eight new starters on defense compared to last season, depending on how some competitions pan out.

The linebacker room alone tells the story. Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn started at inside linebacker in Week 1 last year. Now the Cowboys have Dee Winters, who started 17 games for the San Francisco 49ers last year and proved he can hold down a starting role. A healthy DeMarvion Overshown adds another dimension, and rookie Jaishawn Barham, while raw, flashes serious talent.

The secondary was perhaps even worse than the pass rush in 2025. Consider this: only one Cowboys cornerback logged a 50%-plus snap count on defense last season, and that was Daron Bland. Shavon Revel Jr., Reddy Steward, Kaiir Elam, and Trevon Diggs all came in under 50%. Even Trikweze Bridges was involved. That kind of instability in the secondary, compounded by losing Micah Parsons one week before the season, made for a historically bad unit.

I’m not predicting a top-10 defense. But a top-20 unit with upside to crack the top 15? That’s realistic. Heck, it should be expected after the complete revamp witnessed this offseason. And it’s a massive leap from where Dallas was.

The Cowboys offense remains elite

There’s a lot of good things to point out about the Cowboys offense but I’ll focus on the biggest X-factor of them all: I think George Pickens was not a one-year wonder.

I think he has a chance to again lead the Cowboys in receiving yards over CeeDee Lamb, and that’s not a knock on No. 88 at all. Pickens arguably had the best training camp of any player on the roster. Motivated and looking for a new contract, he could deliver another All-Pro-caliber season. And the thing is he fits what Dak Prescott does best.

The offense was already one of the NFL’s best in 2025, and with the same core returning, there’s no reason to expect a significant drop. Parlay that with Tyler Guyton’s expected improvement and Ryan Flournoy starting at WR3 and you can even bet on improvement.

Coaching continuity will show up in unexpected ways

This is the underrated factor. And I think it will be palpable in more than one way.

For starters, special teams should improve with coordinator Nick Sorensen returning and the Cowboys clearly prioritizing the unit during roster construction. Players like Alijah Clark, Tyrus Wheat, and Markquese Bell made the 53-man roster largely because of their special teams value. You can expect a lot of movement from last year’s snap count leaders for the unit.

Meanwhile, on offense, Schottenheimer having a second year means more time to game plan and design plays. He’s already acknowledged that offensive coordinator Klayton Adams has taken over pass installs, freeing Schottenheimer to be the strategist rather than the first-year coach buried in a to-do list. That extra bandwidth should translate to more creativity on Sundays, something Schottenheimer has openly alluded to.

It will be a long road for the 2026 Cowboys, who face the fifth-toughest schedule in the league per Sharp Football Analysis. But they have what it takes for a chance to be serious contenders.