3 reasons Cowboys are legitimate Super Bowl contenders, 1 they’re not

Why Cowboys are Super Bowl contenders: Defense is completely dominant

Simply reiterating that the Cowboys have won their first two games by a combined score of 70-10 would probably get the defense's dominance across pretty clearly. They have been perhaps even better than that with the eye test.

You have to start with Micah Parsons when you talk about Dan Quinn's dominant unit. Through just two games, he's already making the case to win Defensive Player of the Year. Against the Giants, he was a force with one sack and two QB hits. He only followed that up with two sacks, three tackles for loss, one pass defense, and four QB hits against the Jets in Week 2.

For as good as Parsons is, though, the defense doesn't end with him. The secondary already featured Trevon Diggs, but now added Stephon Gilmore to the mix via trade this offseason -- he had a pick in Week 1. Then DaRon Bland and Jourdan Lewis add depth at corner. The safety room goes three deep with above-average players for Quinn's scheme. Demarcus Lawrence remains supremely underrated, as is also the case with Osa Odighizuwa and Johnathan Hankins on the interior.

This is a truly special unit that luckily retained Quinn this offseason. They have every level covered with solid pieces supplemented by a few true superstar talents. Dallas has made life completely miserable for Daniel Jones and Zach Wilson thus far and that will likely be the case for just about any offense you put across the line of scrimmage for the Cowboys.