Whasmatta, got a bad case of Other Shoe Syndrome? Just waiting for that to drop? We've been a little conditioned to that with Murphy's Law applying to the Cowboys over the last few years so if something looks too good to be true, it is. Or is it?
This team is different. For one thing the leader, the QB, is back and he's a working QB. He's the biggest star on the team but you would not know that from his work ethic.
There is an influx of new talent that doesn't know what it's like to be star without ever having done anything. And this has been exacerbated by the missing players and new blood on the field sooner and more than expected.
The OP poses an interesting question that many already had on their mind, do I believe what I am seeing or does history just wait to repeat itself?
If you want to believe this is not those Cowboys, you have a shining example to convince you. No player has been transformed more than Jaylon Smith.
The most maligned player on this forum, and certainly not a fan favorite, has responded to Quinn and the team adding Neal, Parsons and Cox in a most positive fashion. His comments about running the most of any Cowboy in the PHL game wasn't brag, it was fact. He was motoring as fast as he could go in every direction. He defied Xavier Woods statement that a player can't go 100% on every play. He cannot manufacture the talent we all wish he had but he can give everything he's got on that field....and he did.
The players' definition of coaching is putting them in their best possible situation to be successful. Nolan was the antithesis of that, prompting Smith to go public in his request to "dumb it down". He was the spokesman for D getting hammered and struggling for confidence. It can be amazing the difference in a player when he has confidence in his coaching that instills confidence in himself.
This Cowboys team is not those Cowboys teams, they have confidence, direction and leadership and they will hit some rough patches but unlike those other "teams", this one actually looks like a real team, not a gathering of individuals and stars. They play for the coaches and they play for each other and they are going to make us proud this season.