The 2020 Dallas Cowboys will look much the same on offense but very different on defense when they take the field to open the regular season in early September. Dallas moved on from head coach Jason Garrett and hired Mike McCarthy, the former head coach of the Green Bay Packers, to take his place. The Cowboys (8-8 in 2019) are expected to battle for the NFC East title with the Philadelphia Eagles as they did last season when they came up one game short and missed the playoffs.
The Cowboys offense will be its strength, as Dallas will have quarterback Dak Prescott back under center, although the signal-caller is still negotiating a long-term deal. Lining up behind Prescott in the Dallas offensive backfield is star running back Ezekiel Elliott, while Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and rookie CeeDee Lamb give the Cowboys three dangerous receiving threats. Both Cooper and Gallup are coming off 1000-yard receiving seasons and much of the same is expected in 2020. The offensive line lost Travis Frederick, but Pro-Bowlers Tyron Smith and Zack Martin return as does La’el Collins, Connor McGovern, Joe Looney and Connor Williams.
The Dallas Cowboys defense took a huge hit during the off-season as Robert Quinn left to play for the Chicago Bears and Byron Jones joined the Miami Dolphins, while Jeft Heath, Daniel Rose and Maliek Collins all signed with the Oakland Raiders. In addition, Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder also left to play elsewhere. The Cowboys have spent most of the last two months restocking their defense and have had good success.
Dallas has three of its top defensive players returning in Demarcus Lawrence, Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith. The Cowboys will have two new defensive tackles in Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, who were teammates with Carolina Panthers before signing free-agent deals with Dallas. Dallas also signed cornerback Darryl Worley to a free-agent deal and added cornerback Maurice Canady and safety Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix. Dallas also used four of their seven picks in the NFL draft to shore up the defense by selecting cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson as well as defensive linemen Neville Gallimore and Bradley Anae.
The Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles are evenly matched on both sides of the line of scrimmage and are likely to be the only two members of the NFC East battling for a playoff berth as the regular season comes to a close in December. The Cowboys lost just one of six NFC East games in 2019 but it was to the Eagles and knocked the Cowboys out of playoff contention. In 2020, the tables will be turned on the Eagles, as Dallas will bounce back and win the division title.