The Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals are one and the same. For the past two seasons, both have had terrific offenses, led by two of the best quarterbacks in the league in Dak Prescott and Joe Burrow, but they have continuously been let down by their defenses.
In 2025, the Cowboys and Bengals ranked 32nd and 30th in points per game allowed, respectively. In 2024, Dallas was 31st and Cincinnati was 25th. And you haven’t been able to blame any of it on injuries, their defensive rosters have just straight up been horrible.
As you can imagine, rebuilding their defense was a point of emphasis for both of these teams this offseason. They both truly believe they can be Super Bowl contenders if they can put the pieces together defensively, and according to a report by Jason La Confora, a long-time NFL personnel evaluator feels the same way.
“I really like what they both did in the draft,” they told La Confora. “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…They probably drafted their way into the playoffs.”
Let’s take a deep dive into each team’s offseason and see just how much better they got on the defensive side of the ball.
Dallas Cowboys’ Defensive Outlook
Let’s start with America’s team. The Cowboys came into the offseason with only two real valuable defensive pieces: Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark. But now that they’ve gone through the offseason, they actually have some talent to build around.
Starting up front, Dallas has their two star defensive tackles, but also added Rashan Gary through a trade while drafting Malachi Lawrence and Jaishawn Barham. Gary and Lawrence are pure pass rushers that will put pressure on the quarterback, but Barham might be my favorite additions. He’s an off-ball linebacker turned edge rusher, so he has a ton of upside, and he’s already a great run defender. Their defensive line received a heavy upgrade this offseason.
Linebacker is still a big weakness for Dallas. They really didn’t add anyone this offseason to improve that unit, so a part of me wonders if they’ll let Barham play some off-ball while Lawrence and Gary are occupying the two edge spots. Will be interesting to see.
The cornerback room is also a big work in progress. DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel Jr./Cobie Durant will probably be the boundary corners this year. That’s not awful, but it’s far from great, but they will be greatly helped out by Caleb Downs coming down and playing in the slot. At least they won’t have liabilities everywhere.
Finally, the Cowboys’ safety room is actually really strong. Malik Hooker has been a solid run defender and coverage safety for a while now, and I love the Jalen Thompson addition. He’s been one of the most underrated safeties in the league for a long time because he had to play next to Budda Baker, but now he’ll have his chance to shine.
This unit is 10 times better than it was last year, but is that enough to make the playoffs? We’ll see…
Cincinnati Bengals’ Defensive Outlook
The Bengals also needed to get much better across the defensive line, and they invested heavily into improving their pass rush. First, they signed Boye Mafe from the Super Bowl champions, but then they went out and made their biggest addition of the offseason by trading the 10th overall pick to the New York Giants for Dexter Lawrence, one of the best DTs in the NFL. But they weren’t done. In the draft, they selected Cashius Howell, who will be a day one starter, in the second round. On top of that, Myles Murphy had a career year in 2025, so he’ll also be a factor.
Much like Dallas, linebacker is still an issue for the Bengals. Demetrius Knight Jr. was supposed to be their replacement for Logan Wilson, but he had a very disappointing rookie year. If he doesn’t take a step forward, their linebacker room is in a lot of trouble.
At cornerback, the Bengals have DJ Turner II, who is one of the most underrated cornerbacks in the entire league, but outside of him, they need a lot of help still. Dax Hill has gotten better through the years, but he’s still not great. Jalen Davis is their projected slot corner, but he’s never been a full time starter. I would’ve loved to have seen them address the cornerback position (and they still could with Kenny Moore II) this offseason, because it’s looking grim.
I did really like the Bryan Cook addition at safety. The former Chief has been underrated throughout his entire career, but he took a massive step forward in coverage in 2025 and put his name on the map. Pairing him with Jordan Battle was a great move.
This defense still has some holes, but this was the first step towards rebuilding this defense.
Cowboys and Bengals Playoff Odds
After strong offseasons, the sportsbooks are putting some respect on the Cowboys’ and Bengals’ names. Despite the Cowboys winning seven games and the Bengals winning six games last year, they’re both considered favorites to make the playoffs.
The Bengals are even heavier favorites to make the playoffs at -148. They have even better odds to make the playoffs than the Denver Broncos (-146) according to FanDuel. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but Vegas knows all. They’re also +210 to win the AFC North, which is better odds than the Pittsburgh Steelers (+600), last year’s AFC North champions.
If I were making these odds, I think I’d have them in the same range. Cincy would probably be my eighth team in the AFC, but there’s always one big disappointment in each conference, so their odds of making it are pretty high in my eyes. For Dallas, I think it’s a bit tougher. The NFC is deeper than the AFC and has 12 teams that could be in the hunt. I would probably have them as my ninth team in the NFC, so they’d probably be closer to +120.
Super Bowl Odds
As I mentioned in the intro, both of these teams believe their offenses are good enough to be Super Bowl contenders as long as their defense is just average. With the upgrades they both made on that side of the ball, average is a realistic possibility, so what are their chances of winning the Super Bowl this year?
FanDuel currently gives the Cowboys the 14th-best odds to win it all at +2200, meaning a $100 bet would win $2,200. They are right behind the Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos, who are all at +2000. It seems insane that we’re mentioning Dallas in the same conversation as Denver and Houston, but that speaks to how good their offense is and how many improvements they made defensively.
The Bengals aren’t far behind the Cowboys. FanDuel has Cincy at +2500 to win the Super Bowl, just one place behind Dallas. They are tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 15th-best odds in the league to bring home the Lombardi.
Personally, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that they’re both right behind Houston and Denver in the Super Bowl odds, but 14th and 15th seems about right. They’re both fringe playoff teams, but if their defense can exceed expectations, their offenses are good enough to carry them.
Will these two be in the Super Bowl hunt at the end of the year? Probably not, but they’ve set themselves up to be in the hunt in two or three years.
