The Dallas Cowboys know they face a tall task this season. They have high hopes of going to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season, but in order to make that happen, they will have to overcome their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles.

That will not be easy, because the Eagles were clearly the best team in the NFC last year, and they don't appear to have taken a step backwards. But there is confidence in Dallas this season, as the offense appears to be explosive and the defense may be among the best in the league.

Quarterback Dak Prescott faces significant pressure as he does not seem to compare with his opposite number on the Eagles in Jalen Hurts. Prescott is coming off a season in which he completed 261 of 394 passes for 2,860 yards with 23 touchdowns and a league-high 15 interceptions.

Prescott knows he has to cut down on his turnovers and take advantage of the big-play performers on their eye-opening offense.

Skill-position stars

The most explosive of those player is wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. He has explosive speed that allows him to blow by defensive backs, but he is also a precise route runner who comes through with his biggest plays in clutch situations.

Lamb led the Cowboys with 107 receptions for 1,359 yards and 9 touchdowns a year ago. He should get a big lift from the addition of Brandin Cooks, who caught 57 passes for 699 yard and 3 touchdowns in 13 games for the Texans. Like Lamb, Cooks has the speed to take the top off the top of the defense.

The Cowboys have turned the running game over to Tony Pollard, as they have parted company with veteran Ezekiel Elliott. Pollard has significantly more speed than Elliott at this point in their careers, and the Cowboys are hoping he can exceed the 1,007 yards and 5.2 yards per carry he had last season.

The X-factor for the Cowboys offense may be rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who was selected in the second round out of Michigan. Schoonmaker has been slowed in training camp with plantar fasciitis, but he is making progress and should be a key red zone factor because of his 6-5, 250-pound frame.

As a result of Schoonmaker's development, fellow tight end Peyton Hendershot may not make the roster.

Defense should set the tone

The Cowboys are counting on their defense this year to shut down opponents on a regular basis. They showed flashes of success during the 2022 season, but were vulnerable against the run. The Cowboys gave up an average of 129.3 yards per game on the ground, and that ranked 22nd in the NFL.

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The pass defense was quite a bit better, as they allowed 200.9 yards per game  and that ranked 8th in the league.

While that may sound like the defense is just slightly better than average, the Cowboys have a chance to be dominant this season because they have the best defensive player in the league in edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Parsons led the team in sacks with 13.5 sacks, and in addition to that impressive number, he plays with a nasty edge. Parsons looks forward to destroying opposing blockers and taking the will out of the offense. There may be no stopping him this year.

He should get plenty of help from safety Donovan Wilson, who led the team in tackles with 108 last year. If linebacker Leighton Vander Esch can stay healthy — this has been an issue for him throughout his career — he can be a difference maker. Vander Esch was second on the team in tackles with 100 last season. Cornerback Trevon Diggs may be the best cover man in the secondary.

In danger of being cut

Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore is going into his 4th season with the Cowboys, but there are no guarantees that he will make the team. At this point, it seems like it would be a long shot if he can remain with the team.

Gallimore played 16 games last year for the Cowboys and he had 33 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack last season. The problem with Gallimore is that he lacks consistency. He will make some highlight film plays because he has the ability to use the bull rush to dominate, but he will also disappear for long periods of time.

Wide receiver Jalen Brooks was a 7th-round pick and is a developmental project, but it appears to be a numbers game that will keep him off the roster. However, there is no way he can be any better than the team's fifth receiver behind Lamb, Cooks, Michael Gallup and Jalen Tolbert.

He will have to beat out KaVontae Turpin and Simi Fehoko if he wants to make the team, and that may be too much to ask.