Cowboys predicted to be NFC’s #1 seed, but still don’t get to the Super Bowl

The NFL regular season starts this week. It’s the first step towards what each NFL team hopes ends in a Super Bowl victory. Some teams have better chances of accomplishing that goal than others. The Dallas Cowboys are generally thought to be serious contenders from the NFC. A stacked roster, a good draft, and a Super Bowl-winning coach running the show have led to serious optimism in Big D.

So much so that Peter King went ahead and predicted that the Cowboys will end the regular season as the conferences number one seed.

Dallas is the top seed not because I think the Cowboys are the runaway best team but because they’re good, because their front seven should be a monster and their offensive attack very hard to stop, and because they’ve got six games against Cincinnati, Cleveland, the Giants and Washington.

NFC Playoff Seeds

1. Dallas
2. New Orleans
3. Seattle
4. Minnesota
5. San Francisco
6. Tampa Bay
7. Detroit

Not bad. Any Cowboys fan would take that prediction as we stand here today on the edge of a new season. But, what we really want is post-season success. The Cowboys have made the playoffs plenty of times since their last Super Bowl appearance, and they have had the top seed in the conference before. It’s all come to naught. Post-season success is what any true Cowboys fan craves.

Unfortunately, they won’t get it with this prediction. King has Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the NFC representative in the Super Bowl. He doesn’t even have the Cowboys making the NFC conference championship, that honor goes to the Bucs and the New Orleans Saints.

Suffice it to say if the Cowboys get the number one seed in the conference then crash out in the divisional round of the playoffs, that will be a huge disappointment.

King goes on to predict some other things that have Cowboys personnel involved.

• Dak Prescott ends up second in the MVP race to Patrick Mahomes.
• Coach of the Year goes to Mike McCarthy.

Jerry Jones hired McCarthy for his contending pedigree, and if Dallas wins the NFC’s top seed, McCarthy proved Jones right. I also think McCarthy’s quarterback-nerdiness will be a great add for Dak Prescott, who will have his best NFL season.

• Prescott also comes in third for Offensive Player of the Year; DeAndre Hopkins is the winner followed by Mahomes.
• CeeDee Lamb is third for Offensive Rookie of the Year behind winner Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Henry Ruggs.
• Aldon Smith is your Comeback Player of the Year according to King.

If Alex Smith plays one snap this year, I might change my mind. His comeback is one for the ages. Aldon Smith hasn’t played in the NFL since November 2015. He abused himself out of football, and he’s going to have a chance to be the disruptive pass-rusher he once was this fall on a good team. Reports out of Cowboys camp are raves.

King also have Smith fourth on his Defensive Player of the year list.