DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - With a new coaching staff in tow, the Dallas Cowboys are looking to get back into the postseason in 2020.
Coming off an 8-8 season, the Joneses moved on from Jason Garrett and brought in Mike McCarthy to lead a still-young core of players including Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper and DeMarcus Lawrence.
Expectations remain high for the Cowboys as NBC Sports' Peter King believes they are a top-10 team and the favorite in the NFC East.
In his latest power rankings for Pro Football Talk, King has the Cowboys as the ninth-best team in the NFL. Here's what he said about Dallas:
"So now we'll find out how much Mike McCarthy really learned in that gap year in his luxury garage in Green Bay. [Trust me: I was there. Having a luxe office space upstairs and an indoor full-court basketball floor downstairs makes it pretty darn nice.] On his desk in that garage was a sign that said LESS VOLUME, MORE CREATIVITY. Which is a smart thing for a man who, with Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, was 23-23-1 in his last three Green Bay coaching seasons. McCarthy didn't like how in Green Bay he got away from the quarterback being under center; he'd rather play the QB under center 50 or 60 percent of the time to take advantage of stressors for the defense — play-action especially but also the relatively nouveau threat of the Jet Sweep. He'll have much better weapons to use with the Cowboys, led by CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup at receiver and Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield.
"I still feel like the Cowboys would have been wiser to go defense with the pick that nabbed Lamb — even better, a trade-down to get a corner and a safety in rounds one and two — after losing sack leader Robert Quinn and top cornerback Byron Jones in free agency. Dak Prescott certainly can win his share of 33-30 games; now, for the Cowboys to beat Philadelphia for the NFC East crown, he'll have to. I think the Cowboys are the team to beat in the division, but one of the toughest November/December slates in football (Eagles twice, Steelers and Niners at home, Ravens and Vikings away) will make it very difficult."
You could say King isn't making much of a prediction here, as all you have to do is follow the numbers over the past six seasons to get an idea if the Cowboys will make it or not.
Dallas has made the playoffs every other year since 2014, and after missing out in 2019, the betting odds say to put your money on the Cowboys returning to the postseason. However, all of those seasons were played under Garrett, and the team will look much different on the field under McCarthy. Which, a lot might say, increases the Cowboys odds of making the playoffs even more.
See King's power rankings right here.
