We blinked and all of a sudden there are only two weeks left in the regular season. How?!
This has been quite the ride across the league as a whole, and certainly for the Dallas Cowboys specifically. Part of the magic and chaos of the NFL is that even with as small of a window as two weeks left to go that anything can change. Consider that just two weeks ago the Cowboys were riding a five-game winning streak and looked unstoppable and now, well, you know.
How do we feel about the Cowboys entering Week 17 relative to the league as a whole? Additionally, how do other outlets feel about the Cowboys right now? As always we have put together our power rankings of the entire NFL and collected opinions from outlets across the internet as well.
You can see last week’s rankings right here.
1. Baltimore Ravens, 12-3 (LW: 2)
We have ourselves a new king. They look incredible.
2. San Francisco 49ers, 11-4 (LW: 1)
While it was fun to watch them humbled a bit on Monday night they still present the greatest threat within the NFC.
3. Buffalo Bills, 9-6 (LW: 3)
Saturday night was a bit of a scare but they held on and seem to be very fairly in the overall mix of the AFC.
4. Miami Dolphins, 11-4 (LW: 4)
They did what had to be done. Good for them.
5. Detroit Lions, 11-4 (LW: 6)
Congratulations on winning the NFC North for literally the first time ever. We will see you Saturday night.
6. Cleveland Browns, 10-5 (LW: 7)
We have moved on from this subject generally, but man Amari Cooper is so good.
7. Philadelphia Eagles, 11-4 (LW: 9)
A win is a win, but they definitely continue to look vulnerable.
8. Dallas Cowboys, 10-5 (LW: 5)
Flush it and be done. All goals are still right there for the taking.
9. Kansas City Chiefs, 9-6 (LW: 8)
It appears that this is indeed a very different version of the Mahomes-led Chiefs.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8-7 (LW: 16)
Suddenly a Wild Card game against this team does not feel so easy, does it?
11. Los Angeles Rams, 8-7 (LW: 12)
They present great danger as the potential #7/6 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
12. Seattle Seahawks, 8-7 (LW: 13)
Not so much here, but they are not going away.
13. Cincinnati Bengals, 8-7 (LW: 10)
I’ve been so impressed with how they have withstood all of the obstacles they have faced this season. It appears that we might be reaching a point where it is simply too much.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars, 8-7 (LW: 11)
The fraud alert is very much on.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers, 8-7 (LW: 21)
Mike Tomlin does not know how to quit. Saturday was maybe the most impressive Steelers win this season.
16. Las Vegas Raiders, 7-8 (LW: 22)
Give Antonio Pierce the head coaching job right now. What a Christmas Day victory at Arrowhead.
17. Green Bay Packers, 7-8 (LW: 19)
It is so difficult to know how good this team really is.
18. Houston Texans, 8-7 (LW: 14)
We deserve to get to see C.J. Stroud in the playoffs.
19. Atlanta Falcons, 7-8 (LW: 20)
Nobody saw them beating Indy. The NFC South feels too far out of reach, but anything can happen.
20. Indianapolis Colts, 8-7 (LW: 15)
It was right there for the taking and they dropped it.
21. New Orleans Saints, 7-8 (LW: 17)
Nobody enjoys watching this team.
22. Denver Broncos, 7-8 (LW: 18)
They found the most painful way possible to lose that game on Sunday night.
23. Minnesota Vikings, 7-8 (LW: 24)
Like with Cincinnati, it appears as if the mountain is just too steep to climb.
24. Tennessee Titans, 5-10 (LW: 23)
Mike Vrabel’s team never gives up, but this is a lost year.
25. Chicago Bears, 6-9 (LW: 26)
At least Justin Field made it fun to watch.
26. New England Patriots, 4-11 (LW: 30)
Kudos to Ezekiel Elliott. That was a fun win in a season with not a ton for Patriots fans.
27. New York Jets, 6-9 (LW: 27)
Blah.
28. New York Giants, 5-10 (LW: 25)
We will always have those few weeks of the Tommy DeVito story.
29. Los Angeles Chargers, 5-10 (LW: 28)
Ultra blah.
30. Arizona Cardinals, 3-12 (LW: 29)
Please help us.
31. Washington Commanders, 4-11 (LW: 31)
The organic tank is very much on.
31. Carolina Panthers, 2-13 (LW: 32)
Imagine being this bad and not even having your top draft pick which was number one overall!
Editor’s Note: There were a few outlets that we normally curate who did not have their power rankings up by their usual time on Tuesday, obviously the work week began with Christmas and that is potentially impacting things. We have released our rankings and provided rankings from outlets that had them available and we will make sure to update this post when all outlets have released theirs.
NFL.com: TBD (LW: 3)
ESPN: TBD (LW: 3)
USA Today: 10 (LW: 7)
Barely made the top 10.
Sunday was yet another reminder that this team just can’t run the ball effectively when it needs to – and that’s especially true on the road, where Dallas so infamously struggles. Hard to have much faith this is the year “America’s Team” gets back to the NFC title game.
Yahoo: 5 (LW: 4)
Not too far of a dip. And some optimistic words on top of it.
Every Cowboys loss leads to a week of freaking out, but not here. The Cowboys did just fine against the Dolphins on Sunday. They lost on the last play against a good team on the road. It happens. I actually like the Cowboys’ chances of winning on the road in the playoffs a little more after they played a coin-flip game that they happened to lose.
CBS Sports: 9 (LW: 8)
A drop is understandable, but the Cowboys are still very much in play for the NFC East.
They have lost two straight to basically end their hopes of winning the division. So now it’s time to get ready for the playoffs.
The Athletic: 6 (LW: 5)
They also listed an MVP for each team.
MVP: Dak Prescott
The Cowboys go as Prescott goes. In Dallas’ wins, he is averaging 272.9 passing yards with an EPA per dropback of .26. In Dallas’ losses, he is averaging 232.6 passing yards with an EPA per dropback of minus-.01. On Sunday, he was good (253 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions) but not good enough to get the Cowboys a signature win