3 reasons the Cowboys will win NFC East in 2023, and 2 they won’t
It's never a given that the Dallas Cowboys are any other team that wins their division will come back and win it again next season, and the NFC East is a prime example of that. The last team to win the division in back-to-back seasons was back when the Eagles reigned supreme under Andy Reid from 2001 to 2004.
Ever since that time, the NFC East has been up for grabs each season, and this season is no different with the Cowboys and Giants looking to dethrone the Eagles.
Dallas looks like to team that is best built to do just that, but there are always mitigating factors that come into play that can either enhance their chances or derail them entirely. In a perfect world, it would just be the best team at the time wins but these factors could come into play for better or worse for the Cowboys.
Let's take a look at a few of them now starting with three reasons the Cowboys will win the division and two main reasons that would lead to Dallas not being able to dethrone the reigning NFC East champions.
1. Reason Cowboys will win NFC East: Rival rising stars come back down to earth
No matter how you look at it, last season both Jalen Hurts and Daniel Jones played some really good football in contract years for their respective teams and both were paid handsomely for it this offseason.
With both QBs collecting second contracts, the focus shifts to whether they can continue to improve on their 2022 performance or if they start to regress a little bit in 2023. Both Hurts and Jones saw their completion percentage and turnovers drop last season, which resulted in better overall outcomes for their teams.
Incredibly, the Giants made the playoffs and upset the Vikings in the first round, while the Eagles advance all the way to the Super Bowl.
Dak Prescott | Daniel Jones | Jalen Hurts |
|---|---|---|
2022 Completion Percentage 66.2 | 2022 Completion Percentage 67.2 | 2022 Completion Percentage 66.5 |
2022 Total Turnovers - 16 | 2022 Total Turnovers - 11 | 2022 Total Turnovers - 13 |
Some factors could lead to both Hurts and Jones regressing, and in turn open up an avenue for the Cowboys to come in and win the division.
For Hurts, that will be whether or not Philly's new offensive coordinator's scheme is a fit for what Hurts does best, and if the running game minus Miles Sanders can have the same success it did last season. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the two don't mesh well and the running game isn't effective and it leads to more rushed or hurried passes from Hurts, which got him in trouble early in his career.
As for Jones, he's still waiting to see if his most effective offensive weapon in Saquon Barkley will even take the field. If the Giants rely on him to make plays down field without Barkley teams will be able to attack a still growing and improving offensive line which could then cause him to regress in the turnover department.