Cowboys' Demarcus Lawrence shares bold Eagles take

Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence sounds confident "America's Team" can become this season's version of the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles side that played in Super Bowl LVII this past February. 

"I don't feel like it's a huge gap at all," Lawrence said about his Cowboys compared to the Eagles during an appearance on the "AP Pro Football Podcast," as shared by Grant Gordon of the NFL's website. 

The Eagles finished last regular season with an NFC-best record of 14-3, while the Cowboys entered the playoffs at a respectable 12-5. Dallas fell at Philadelphia 26-17 in Week 6 when Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was sidelined due to injury, but the Cowboys then defeated the Eagles 40-34 on Christmas Eve when Philadelphia was without injured star signal-caller Jalen Hurts. 

Dallas smashed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 in the wild-card round of the playoffs but then lost 19-12 at the San Francisco 49ers the following weekend. Philadelphia tallied blowout postseason victories over the New York Giants and 49ers before the Eagles fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in a thrilling Super Bowl encounter. 

Lawrence expanded on why he's convinced the Cowboys instead of the Eagles will emerge from the next NFC playoff tournament as the last team standing. 

"I feel like it comes down to certain details," Lawrence continued. "Not just the scheme, but also your locker room. I feel like through this time right now when we headed to training camp that we made those adjustments, we learned those different things that we need to learn about our teammates so we can fully function the way we should out there on the field."

The Cowboys haven't returned to an NFL championship game since they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to win Super Bowl XXX all the way back in January 1996. As of early Thursday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Eagles as betting favorites to repeat as NFC champs at +330 odds. The Cowboys were third on the list, behind the 49ers (+425) at +650.