The Dallas Cowboys are projected to be one of the better teams in the NFC this season. Many of the other top teams in the conference are playoff teams from a year ago and are expected to be right in the thick of things again this year. To get a feel for what kind of challenges the Cowboys might face this season, we’ll run through their toughest competitors, starting with the reigning NFC champs.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Head Coach: Kyle Shanahan, seven seasons, 64-51 (.557)

The San Francisco 49ers are the team to beat in the NFC. They have advanced to the NFC Championship game in four of the last five years, twice moving on to the Super Bowl. They have stars on both sides of the ball with studs like Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, and Fred Warner. They also benefit from the emergence of seventh-round pick Brock Purdy who is only halfway through his super-cheap rookie deal. The Niners are poised to make some noise once again in 2024.

2023 Statistics

Record: 12-5, 1st in the NFC West, the top seed in the NFC playoffs

Offense rank: Points (3rd), Yards (2nd), passing efficiency (1st), and rushing efficiency (4th)

Defense rank: Points (3rd), Yards (8th), passing efficiency (5th), and rushing efficiency (14th)

2023 Leaders

Passing: Brock Purdy = 69.4 % completion, 4,280 yards, 31 TDs, 11 INTs

Rushing: Christian McCaffrey = 1,459 yards (5.4 ypc), 564 yards receiving, 21 total TDs

Receiving: Brandon Aiyuk = 75 catches for 1,342 yards and 7 TDs

Sacks: Nick Bosa = 10.5

Tackles: Fred Warner = 132

Interceptions: Charvarius Ward = 5

Best offensive weapon

The 49ers re-upped on their most talented offensive weapon adding two more years to McCaffrey’s contract, keeping him in San Francisco through the 2027 season. This move welcomes criticism from the “running backs don’t matter” coalition, but McCaffrey might be an anomaly. After never missing a game his first three years, he struggled to stay healthy, missing 22 games over the next two seasons. But since being traded to the 49ers, his career has been revitalized. Shanahan has been a run-producing genius since joining the team and now has the league’s most explosive runner.

Best defensive weapon

Before the 49ers were this NFC force, they were cellar-dwellers in the NFC, going five straight seasons without a winning record. This level of suckitude rewarded them with a top-10 pick in four consecutive drafts. Their top draft selection was the no. 2 overall pick, Nick Bosa, in 2019. The Ohio State edge rusher has been a force since entering the league and finished with 18.5 sacks in 2022 when he won Defensive Player of the Year (beating second-place finisher Micah Parsons). Bosa is the highest-paid player on the 49ers as he is in year two of a five-year, $170 million deal.

Notable losses

The 49ers came out of the offseason unscathed as they didn’t lose any huge contributors. Their biggest losses were suffered along the defensive line as some former blue-chippers are now gone. Former fourth-overall pick Clelin Ferrell had a solid year for them last year, starting all 17 games. He now joins Dan Quinn in Washington. Arik Armstead has been a mainstay at DT for them over the last several years but signed with Jacksonville. The 49ers traded for Chase Young (second-overall pick in 2020) and Randy Gregory last year, but both signed elsewhere this offseason.

Notable additions

Just because the 49ers defensive line was picked through in free agency doesn’t mean it’s now a weakness. The team was aggressive in finding some quality replacements. They signed veteran edge rusher Leonard Floyd (ninth overall in 2016) to a two-year, $20 million deal. Floyd hasn’t missed a game in six years and has recorded at least nine sacks in each of his last four seasons. They also added a run-stopping defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos to a two-year, $18 million deal. And to help strengthen the middle, they added a defensive tackle Cowboys fans might remember as they traded a seventh-round pick to the Houston Texans for Maliek Collins. He is coming off one of his better years in the league with a career-high in tackles (41) and sacks (5) last year.

Top draft pick

The 49ers picked at the end of the first round but took advantage of the rich wide-receiving class by selecting Ricky Pearsall. This could be a preemptive strike to replace Aiyuk whose future in San Francisco is uncertain as he looks for a new deal.

2024 game against Dallas: Week 8, Sunday Night Football