The Dallas Cowboys are starting to get the kind of national buzz that used to belong to the Philadelphia Eagles.
With Super Bowl LXI set for Valentine’s Day next year at SoFi Stadium, Brian Schottenheimer is openly talking like Dallas belongs in the mix. And for once, that belief doesn’t feel like a desperate sales pitch to Cowboys fans. The roster has real reasons behind it.
Dallas brings back everyone that matters from an offense that was electric a season ago, and only a few pieces are left from what the source described as a tragic 2025 defense. That alone has changed the conversation.
Add in the Eagles losing A.J. Brown and the ongoing tension surrounding the futures of Jalen Hurts and Jalen Carter, and the NFC East path looks a lot less crowded for the Cowboys than it has in recent years.
That shift showed up in Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr, who put together a list of 14 NFL teams that could theoretically win Super Bowl LXI next February. The Eagles were nowhere on it.
That omission was deliberate, and Orr explained why: "While some teams on this list will benefit from a coordinator change, I am taking the Eagles down a notch for the loss of offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. We’re going to be asking two of the best anchor tackles in franchise history to learn a brand-new running scheme in addition to asking Jalen Hurts to operate without A.J.
Brown as a major security blanket. That’s a pass for me at this juncture."
That’s the same kind of concern Cowboys fans have been hammering all offseason. While Philadelphia supporters have tried to shrug off the losses and make sense of the additions, Dallas has quietly benefited from the national skepticism aimed at the Eagles.
At the same time, the Cowboys are being treated like a legitimate contender. Orr included Dallas on the same list, and his reasoning was straightforward. He called them "Definitely the most controversial team on this list," then pointed to their 2025 offense, which finished among the NFL’s top 10 in explosive plays, ranked third in first downs generated, and posted a team quarterback rating within a point of the 49ers.
He also highlighted the work Dallas did on the other side of the ball, including the hire of Christian Parker as defensive coordinator and the additions of defensive help through free agency and the draft. Orr noted that even if the defense only climbs to mediocre, the Cowboys still look like a playoff team. He also pointed to Dak Prescott facing plenty of pressure last season and said the young offensive line should improve, especially with another year under hybrid offensive coordinator and longtime offensive line coach Klayton Adams.
That’s the heart of the story right now: Dallas is being viewed like a team with real traction, while Philadelphia is the one being asked to prove it still belongs in the top tier.
None of that means the Eagles are finished. They still have to play the games, and Dallas knows Philadelphia won’t just roll over.
But the perception has changed. The Cowboys are carrying the hype now, and the Eagles are the ones trying to convince everyone they haven’t slipped.
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