Philadelphia Eagles: NFC East Power Rankings heading into Week 1
. . Dallas Cowboys. 2. team. 123.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ rivals from Texas land at number two.
Just in case you’re unaware, the Cowboys hired a new head coach. ‘Big D’ went with Mike McCarthy, an interesting choice seeing as how the former Green Bay Packers coach stalled towards the end of his last run as a coach, but McCarthy has a few things going for him. Sometimes, a fresh start is all that it takes to be successful.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones felt like McCarthy was the right man for the job. The question now is whether or not McCarthy will be another puppet. We won’t know the answer to that immediately and Jones can run his organization however he pleases, but if he isn’t content, the meddling will begin. Here’s the thing though. Jones has a spotty track record when it comes to picking his coaches, probably because he doesn’t like guys with a backbone.
On the other side of the coin, McCarthy doesn’t have to be the second coming of Bill Walsh to kickstart the offense. He’ll have plenty of talented players to work with. The Cowboys had the top-rated offense in the league last season, and most of their starters on that side of the ball are returning. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot are the leaders on offense. Their wide receiver corps is arguably one of the best in the league with rookie CeeDee Lamb joining an already established Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup.
Dallas’ offense should be improved. They ranked just outside the top ten a season ago in points allowed, and with the improvements that they have made, this team should be fine. Mike McCarthy inherited a club with plenty of talent. Let’s see if he can do more with it than his predecessor, who could only squeeze eight wins out of this bunch in 2019.