How High Do Dallas Cowboys Rise in 4 NFL Power Rankings After Blowout Win?
FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys are fresh off a dominating 49-17 win over the division-rival Giants and sit at 6-3. … and people are taking notice.
Dallas is still chasing Philadelphia – who is the last remaining one-loss team in the NFL – for the East lead. As the Cowboys sit two full games behind the 8-1 Eagles, it’s too early to start talking playoffs.
But as the schedule begins to shorten, the distance between the good teams and the mediocre teams broadens and is evident in the league power rankings each week.
After 10 weeks, the big four ranking outlets, ESPN, NFL.com, CBS Sports, and Fox Sports have the Cowboys in the top 10. Fox Sports has Dallas ranked the lowest at No. 8.
“Dallas did what it was supposed to do, which was crushing the Tommy DeVito-led Giants. This is not a game that’s going to win over many doubters, but at least they did it with style. More importantly, they also got all their offensive playmakers involved.”
CBS Sports has the Cowboys ranked the highest at No. 4.
“They took out their loss to the Eagles two weeks ago on the Giants. The Cowboys looked dominant in that game. But it was the Giants.”
Both ESPN and NFL.com have Dallas at No. 7 in their rankings, which is probably just about where they should be. ESPN sees the Eagles as a possible roadblock later on the schedule.
“If the Cowboys want to host at least one playoff game, they have to beat the Eagles. Of course, they need Philadelphia to stumble a little bit before and/or after since they currently trail their NFC East rival by two games. The Cowboys have won 12 straight at home and have outscored opponents 160-50 at AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys have beaten Philadelphia five straight times at home. But even if they win that game, their next three games after that are at Buffalo, at Miami and vs. Detroit – so it’s not clear sailing.”
NFL.com thinks Dallas might be the best team in the league in one aspect.
If you ask me who’s the best team in the NFL, I’ll say it’s the Cowboys (in the first half) at AT&T Stadium. In fact, I briefly mulled ranking 33 teams and listing “Cowboys (in the first half) at AT&T Stadium” at No. 1, but neither my editors nor you deserve that. Including Sunday’s shellacking of the Giants, Dallas has outscored opponents 107-22 in home first halves …
“Whatever the reason, the ‘Boys have so much more mojo at home, where they’ve now won their last 12 games.”
While the Cowboys have absolutely dominated the Giants this season, outscoring them 89-17 in two games, the team is not without problems, as evidenced in the 42-10 loss to the 49ers. Dallas’ “Texas Coast Offense” seems to click at times, and at other times fails to score TDs in the red zone.
The Cowboys will need more consistency as the year goes on if they hope to either contest Philly for the division title or make a deep playoff run as a wild card. But for now? The arrow is pointing up.
