Super Bowl contender index, Week 1: Cowboys among 5 teams who can win it all

Week 1 of the NFL season is almost always a dice roll. That sentiment probably goes tenfold when it comes to picking championship-caliber squads.

Picking Super Bowl contenders before seeing one meaningful snap can be a fruitless exercise. As tempting as it is, running back the top contenders from last season isn’t going to be as seamless as everyone believes (hopes?). So much changes in one NFL offseason, from roster turnover in free agency and adding impact playmakers in the draft to some established stars and difference-makers just getting flat-out old. It’s an unspoken rule, but NFL time may as well be measured in dog years: everything is on an accelerated clock, and you have less time to cherish the present than you think.

At the same time, star quarterbacks and great coaches provide a guiding compass. Few other professional sports leagues can boast continuity of the same heavyweights fighting it out near the top year after year like the NFL. That’s because this is a league built on top signal-callers and teams who don’t step on rakes in pivotal moments.

As Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season looms on the horizon, let’s take an early look at five teams that have justifiable expectations of winning Super Bowl 58 in February.