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Week 6 is officially in the books and despite having one of the worst defenses to ever play in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in first place in the NFC East. The league’s most storied division has only seen two of its five total wins come from outside of the division this season, and all four teams will play inside the division this week. There is no doubt that the East as a whole is drastically behind the rest of the league in terms of how they stack up.
How does the whole league look entering Week 7? Where do the Cowboys stand in the minds of many? It’s time for our weekly power rankings as well as a collection of how the world views America’s Team.
You can view last week’s power rankings right here.
1 - Seattle Seahawks (LW: 1)
No game for them, but they are still the best.
2 - Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 3)
They can beat you in a number of ways. The AFC’s top seed is likely theirs.
3 - Baltimore Ravens (LW: 2)
They showed some flaws, but managed to still win. That’s worth noting.
4 - Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 5)
People are sleeping on them.
5 - Tennessee Titans (LW: 6)
What an impressive start to the season.
6 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 12)
Was this the coming out party that they needed?
7 - Green Bay Packers (LW: 4)
They’ll be back, but Sunday was rough.
8 - Chicago Bears (LW: 15)
If there is a paper tiger in the NFL, it is the Chicago Bears.
9 - Buffalo Bills (LW: 8)
Losing to the Chiefs is hardly anything to be ashamed about.
10 - Los Angeles Rams (LW: 7)
All they’ve done is beat up on the NFC East.
11 - Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 10)
We’ll know more about them after they host Tampa Bay in front of the world.
12 - Arizona Cardinals (LW: 11)
Their offense struggled early on, but once the party got going it was unstoppable.
13 - New Orleans Saints (LW: 14)
It will be interesting to see how the week off benefits them.
14 - San Francisco 49ers (LW: 18)
They are still flawed, but they got a much-needed win.
15 - Indianapolis Colts (LW: 17)
Giving up 21 points early on is hardly ideal, but finding a way to win those types of games is the mark of good teams.
16 - New England Patriots (LW: 13)
We still have no real idea who this team is because of everything that has happened around them.
17 - Miami Dolphins (LW: 23)
It was just the Jets, but they are playing great football and that should be said.
18 - Cleveland Browns (LW: 9)
Have the real Cleveland Browns shown up?
19 - Carolina Panthers (LW: 16)
Matt Rhule is doing a great job this season, but it wasn’t enough on Sunday.
20 - Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 20)
We want to see more of Justin Herbert!
22 - Denver Broncos (LW: 27)
They found a way.
22 - Houston Texans (LW: 24)
It’s rare that you rise after a loss, but this team looked better and more organized without its former head coach.
23 - Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 22)
An almost-impressive comeback, but this team is broken.
24 - Detroit Lions (LW: 26)
They looked... functional?
25 - Atlanta Falcons (LW: 28)
They played with more freedom, but Atlanta sports collectively are hurting badly!
26 - Dallas Cowboys (LW: 21)
They are a very special type of bad right now. It’s unsettling.
27 - Minnesota Vikings (LW: 19)
Is Mike Zimmer the right man for this job?
28 - New York Giants (LW: 29)
They got a win!
29 - Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 25)
Joe Burrow’s Bengals will get better. You (ideally) learn from blowing 21-point leads.
30 - Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 30)
They have settled in to being who they are.
31 - Washington Football Team (LW: 31)
They would be the worst team in the NFL if not for the Jets.
32 - New York Jets (LW: 32)
See?
NFL.com: 26 (LW: 22)
Right near the bottom.
Hoo boy. The Cowboys got blown out by the Cardinals at home in prime time on Monday night — and even worse, Andy Dalton looked completely incapable of keeping the Dallas offense afloat with Dak Prescott out for the year. Dalton was jittery in the pocket, missed open receivers and threw two interceptions in a dreary performance. He didn’t get any help from Ezekiel Elliott, whose two first-half fumbles led to 14 Cardinals points. Elliott has put the ball on the carpet five times in six games — just one more problem for a badly depleted Cowboys team that looks closer to a top-10 draft pick than a return to the playoffs.
ESPN: 20 (LW: 18)
Not as bad as you might have thought. They also picked the biggest injury to each team and the Cowboys one is rather obvious.
Most impactful injury: QB Dak Prescott
While the Cowboys have expressed faith in Andy Dalton, the full impact of losing Prescott might not be felt for a few weeks. In addition to playing at a high level, Prescott also was the heart and soul of the team as its biggest leader. Losing a star quarterback can throttle a team, though Prescott’s injury is not the only one that hurts. The Cowboys are without both tackles, Tyron Smith and La’el Collins, and the latter did not play this season. That has a huge impact on the offense, but nothing like losing the quarterback. — Todd Archer
USA Today: 28 (LW: 24)
The furthest so far.
Given state of offensive line and defense, it probably wouldn’t matter all that much even if QB Dak Prescott were still available.
Sporting News: 19 (LW: 19)
Looks like these were written before Monday night’s fiasco.
The Cowboys will see what they will get from Andy Dalton as their starting quarterback going forward. They should keep passing well and putting up big points, but the question is whether their defense can improve with Leighton Vander Esch returning.
Yahoo: 28 (LW: 22)
Deep sigh.
If anything, Jerry Jones is too patient with his coaches. And it’s hard to fire Mike McCarthy after he lost his quarterback. But let’s say the Cowboys lose double-digit games and don’t win a pathetic NFC East. Is it possible McCarthy is one and done? A team with Ezekiel Elliott, CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup was stuck on 3 points at home against the Cardinals on Monday night, until a late garbage-time touchdown. That’s hard to explain, even after giving the Cowboys some slack for losing Dak Prescott.
CBS Sports: 24 (LW: 18)
The bottom quarter.
They are a disaster, and yet they are still in the NFC East race. The defense can’t stop anybody and they clearly miss Dak Prescott.
Sports Illustrated: 25 (LW: 25)
No drop off here.
If Andy Dalton’s game-winning drive at the end of the Giants’ game raised your expectation for what he can do the rest of the season, Monday night was probably a rude awakening. We also learned a little more—not that we necessarily had to—about how good Dak Prescott really was before his injury. The Cowboys have had injuries at other positions too, which is a big reason their outlook is so dire.