The NFL Power Rankings this week are predictably unkind to the Cowboys, dropping the 'Boys into the bottom ten of the league.
Meanwhile in the rest of the NFC East, the Redskins are inching closer and closer to the Eagles. The Giants, buoyed by their win over the Cowboys are closing in on the top five teams in the league.
From a Power Rankings point of view, next week's opponent, the Jaguars, have suddenly turned into an opponent whom the Cowboys meet at eye level. We live in interesting times.
[Note: 20 of 20 power rankings are now in]
1. Major Media Networks & Affiliates
SportingNews.com: 18th (-1). "A lot of Dallas coaches and players should be fearful of losing their jobs after Monday night."
[updated] USAToday.com: 21st (n.c.).
National Football Post: 23th (-5). "Time to close the book on the 2010 Cowboys without Tony Romo."
Fox Sports: 25th (+1). "The bleeding has to stop at some point, but the loss of QB Tony Romo likely will end any chance they have of finishing with even a .500 record. What they need to do going forward is make more of a commitment to the running game to take the pressure off veteran QB Jon Kitna."
Pete Prisco at CBSSports.com: 25th (n.c.). "Jon Kitna is the backup? What, wasn't Danny White available? Craig Morton? Roger Staubach? This team is so finished."
NFL.com's Brain Trust of Experts: 24th (n.c.).
ESPN: 26th (n.c.). "Jerry Jones is hosting the Super Bowl, but he should apply to host the 2011 NFL draft. (Clayton) "
[updated] SI.com: 29th (-3). "If he does nothing else right this year, Jerry Jones deserves credit for trading up to draft Dez Bryant. I don't care if Dallas does have a couple of other quality receivers in Miles Austin and the emerging Roy Williams, Bryant is a game-changing talent."
2. Blogs & Other Media
ProFootballWeekly: 20th (+3). "It will be a tough hill to climb without Romo."
Weii.com: 23rd (-3). "After six games, the Cowboys’ season is over. The team that many thought would be hosting the Super Bowl in their own stadium is now 0-3 at home. The loss of Tony Romo obviously hurts, but Dallas is a bad team with or without its starting QB. The Cowboys lack leadership, discipline and a will to win."
[updated] ColdHardFootballFacts.com: 24th (21). "When you win the turnover battle 5-2 at home and lose, as Dallas did Monday night, there is definitely something wrong. Since the start of 2007, teams to go +3 or better in turnovers at home have a record of 91-9."
Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com: 25th (-1). "Any remaining hope this team had snapped along with Tony Romo's collarbone."
SB Nation.com: 28th (-3). "Tony Romo appears done for most if not all of the season and the Cowboys are sitting at one win. Just how low can the 'Boys go this year?"
Fanhouse.com: 29th (-1). "Look at it this way, Cowboys fans: it's not like the team was any good when Tony Romo was healthy. Now you can stop fretting every week and simply sit back and start thinking about who you'll take with one of the first three picks of the draft. Or just watch the Rangers and ignore this mess."
3. Statistics, Computer & Vegas rankings
[updated] AdvancedNFLstats: 14th (-7). Offense ranked No. 6 (-3), Defense ranked No. 21 (-7). This ranking model includes offensive and defensive passing and running efficiency, offensive turnover rates, defensive interception rates, and team penalty rates.
[updated] FootballOutsiders.com: 17th (n.c.). Offense ranked No. 10 (-1), Defense No. 28 (-4), Special Teams No. 16 (+13).
[updated] WhatIFsports: 21st (-14). These guys simulate every possible match-up in the NFL 100 times, and use the winning percentages from those nearly 50,000 games to evaluate every team, with updated rosters and depth charts.
Jeff Sagarin's NFL rankings: 25th (-7). These are rankings based on W/L record, points differential and schedule strength.
Betus.com: 29th (-9). "Just be thankful that Tony Romo didn’t dislocate his collarbone, which is actually way worse than breaking or fracturing it. He’ll be back in 3-4 weeks, and by then the Cowboys will be waaaaay out of the playoff picture. Right now they’re only "way" out of the picture."
Covers.com: 26th (-6). "Dallas is pretty much cooked. The Cowboys dropped to 1-5 on the season and making matter worse, quarterback Tony Romo is out for an extended period with a broken collarbone."
Here's how the NFC East and our next opponent, the Jaguars, fared: