Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Bengals and Cowboys have overhauled their defenses after ranking among the NFL's worst in recent years.
- Both teams addressed critical needs in the draft, adding impactful players to strengthen their lines and secondaries.
- NFL executives now believe these strategic moves have positioned both franchises to contend for playoff spots in 2026.
For years, it hasn’t really mattered what Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott did most weeks, because there was a very strong chance that the defense of the Bengals and Cowboys, respectively, would find a way to undermine it.
It’s not entirely fair to clump the franchises together, in that the Bengals did reach a Super Bowl with Burrow and Dallas hasn’t done anything since the demise of a mid-1990s quasi-dynasty. But their flaws have been largely the same and they’ve been unable to best the quality teams in the NFL with enough regularity in recent years no matter how brilliant their quarterbacks were.
And once again, as we near the start of Organized Team Activities, NFL front offices see lots of similarities in how these franchises operated this offseason in an attempt to get better. Both have used the franchise tag recently to secure high-end receiving talent, both rewarded their passers with record-setting deals and both leaned heavily into trying to fix their broken defenses so that 2026 might be more rewarded than 2025 or 2024.
“I really like what they both did in the draft,” said one longtime NFL personnel evaluator. “They had to address their defense in big way, and they did. There was an intent to what they did. I think they both got a lot better.”
Defensive overhauls were badly needed for Cowboys and Bengals
Consider that over the past three years, the Bengals ranked 32nd in yards allowed per play (5.9), with the Cowboys tied for 30th (5.7). They ranked 31st (Dallas) and 28th (Bengals) in offensive touchdowns allowed. They also ranked sixth (Cowboys) and eighth (Bengals) in offensive points per game in that span, and they both went from winning playoff games in 2023 to falling well off the pace since.
Over the past two years, Dallas has allowed an NFL-high 112 offensive TD, with the Bengals next-worst with 101.
Why NFL evaluators think both teams got better
Both needed to, most importantly, fortify their anchor at the line of scrimmage. Their defensive lines have been torn asunder. That shouldn’t be nearly as easy to accomplish this time around. Dexter Lawrence, acquired by the Bengals for the 10th overall pick, might be the game’s singular most impactful disruptive interior force, and he will create matchups for Cincy’s young edge players to take advantage of.
Dallas’ secondary has also been a mess, and the Cowboys landed safety Caleb Downs without having to move up in the first round beyond a single pick. They added two edge defenders who evaluators generally liked after that. The Cowboys had six picks in the first 140 selections and used five of them on defenders and the other on a pragmatic piece for their offensive line.
This wasn’t splash for the sake of splash. “They probably drafted their way into the playoffs,” the evaluator said of both teams. “They stuck to their plan.”
Both the evaluator and the general manager believe a healthy Burrow will have the Bengals back in contention to be among the last teams standing. The days of scoring 35 points or more only to lose seem over. The additions of Lawrence plus defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, with edge Boye Mafe, alters the entire landscape at the line of scrimmage. And they improved depth at corner and edge with day two selections.
“Their defensive line might be the most improved unit in the league,” the GM noted.
No one I spoke to predicted a Bengals/Cowboys Super Bowl, and both play in divisions with other teams that have Lombardi aspirations (Baltimore and Philadelphia), but after thoughts, they are not. Wild Card teams, they very well may be.
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