2019 NFL Week 11 Power Rankings: Cowboys don’t really fall thanks to weird week among contenders

It was a wild week in the NFL as far as top teams were concerned. Teams like the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons won. Teams like the New Orleans Saints lost (to the Falcons). The last unbeaten team finally experienced defeat so the 1972 Miami Dolphins can toast champagne once again.

In considering power rankings it’s so hard to know who so many of these teams are. The “top” is getting slimmer while the middle-level teams continue to pile up.

Where does everybody rank entering Week 11? Including the Cowboys? We’ve got the answers right here.

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1 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 2)

Lamar Jackson is squarely in the MVP conversation.

2 - New England Patriots (LW: 3)

A bye week didn’t move them.

3 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 4)

Watch out, NFC West.

4 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 1)

They’re for real, but that division is stacked.

5 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 7)

Lambeau Field in the snow is a beautiful sight.

6 - Houston Texans (LW: 10)

Can’t wait to watch them against Baltimore.

7 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 5)

One loss isn’t too troubling, but it’s not ideal obviously.

8 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 6)

Same.

9 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 13)

They deserved to beat the Cowboys. Dalvin Cook is unstoppable. Kirk Cousins is playing well.

10 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 8)

Who below them deserves to be higher? There were a lot of losses from contending teams. Dallas is lucky that they caught a week where the NFC had some big losses. It’s a shame that they couldn’t capitalize.

11 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 9)

Like the Rams.

12 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 11)

Obviously the Eagles were on a bye.

13 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 15)

Kyle Allen looks legit, though.

14 - Oakland Raiders (LW: 16)

Jon Gruden might know what he’s doing after all.

15 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 12)

Are they fully pretenders?

16 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 20)

They’ve surged back into relevance.

17 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 14)

Losing quarterbacks sucks.

18 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 24)

Unless you have Ryan Tannehill waiting, apparently.

19 - Detroit Lions (LW: 17)

Missing Matthew Stafford is a very big deal.

20 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 23)

That offense can be fun.

21 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 18)

So can this one.

22 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 19)

Nick Foles is back.

23 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 27)

The world will tell you that the Browns are, too.

24 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 28)

Only one less win than the Browns.

25 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 29)

They finally won again!

26 - Denver Broncos (LW: 21)

Blah.

27 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 22)

Super blah.

28 - New York Jets (LW: 32)

At least they beat the Giants.

29 - Chicago Bears (LW: 26)

A win didn’t convince anyone that they’re good.

30 - New York Giants (LW: 25)

Will they have a new head coach next season?

31 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 30)

Yikes.

32 - Washington Redskins (LW: 31)

Forever yikes.

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NFL.com: 8th (LW: 7th)

Only a drop of one.

If the Cowboys aimed to show the world on Sunday night they should be viewed as legit Super Bowl contenders, they didn’t do a very good job of it. Lapses in judgment and failures in execution killed Dallas in a 28-24 loss to the Vikings, which dropped the Cowboys into a tie with the Eagles atop a weak NFC East. Advanced analytics tell us that Jason Garrett’s team is one of the best in football, but there’s always been truth to that ol’ Parcellism: You are what your record says you are. The Cowboys are 5-4, a little better than mediocre. Tavon Austin’s fair-catch call on a Vikings punt in the final minute is emblematic of Dallas’ struggles. He told reporters after the game he was instructed to call for a fair catch to save seconds on the clock. Fortune favors the bold ... and that ain’t the Cowboys.

ESPN: 10th (LW: 11th)

They actually climbed after a loss. As mentioned in our rankings, it was a weird week.

This is likely going to be for the division title and a spot in the playoffs -- if the Cowboys can grab wins before they get there. The Cowboys’ best and presumably only path to the postseason is by winning the NFC East. There simply are too many teams with better records at the moment to consider a wild-card spot. Philadelphia has a much easier schedule, so the Cowboys have to be in a position to make the Dec. 22 meeting matter. If this game ends up for the division, we truly can say Jason Garrett will be coaching for his job. -- Todd Archer

Bleacher Report: 11th (LW: 14th)

They climbed three spots! Insanity.

The Cowboys are still technically in first place in the NFC East thanks to a head-to-head win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7. But Dallas also faces a much more difficult schedule the rest of the way than Philly—five of the Cowboys’ next six games come against clubs that either made the postseason 2018 or have a winning record in 2019.

The Cowboys’ playoff hopes are still very much alive. But it’s not going to be easy.

Yahoo Sports: 10th (LW: 10th)

No drop here either.

Tavon Austin likely wasn’t going to break a punt return for a touchdown in the final seconds. Still, the fair catch looked weird when he had a ton of room to run. It looked even stranger when Austin said he was doing what he was told, and coach Jason Garrett said Austin wasn’t told to automatically fair catch it and could have used his judgment. Just another day in the Cowboys’ circus.

CBS Sports: 13th (LW: 7th)

The lone outlet here that dropped the Cowboys. Interesting.

Just when they take a big step forward, they always seem to take one in the other direction. Is that coaching?