A win in Washington has boosted the Dallas Cowboys in the latest batch of power rankings.
We have reached the greatest week of the football calendar. Thanksgiving will serve us three NFL games and even when they do not appear great on paper, they are Thanksgiving Day NFL games which means they are amazing. In the aftermath of it all as we dive through leftovers we will get Black Friday NFL action and all of the rivalry madness that the college football world has to offer. I hope you all enjoy it, my friends.
Before we fully get to all of that fun though we have to settle the last week of action that we saw across the Football League of National (my own personal name for this wacky league).
The week in question featured a Dallas Cowboys win so America’s Team climbed a bit in our own rankings as well as the ones we curate across the rest of the internet. Let us begin.
You can view last week’s rankings right here.
1 – Detroit Lions (LW: 1)
It remains their world and we will be reminded of that throughout the early game on Thanksgiving Day. I will say that it is extraordinarily difficult to play at such a high level throughout an entirety of a regular season… I am interested to see how the Lions go.
2 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 2)
They had the week off, but I feel like they are going to remind us all this coming one about how special they are. They are ont he list of legitimate contenders.
3 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 3)
I’ve got them this low because I can’t justify moving them ahead of Buffalo or Detroit quite yet, but I worry that this is the best team in the NFC and maybe the most consistent team in the league at large. It is so annoying how much of a machine they are.
4 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 7)
They bounced back nicely on Monday night and now we get to see them and Philly square off on Sunday after all of the football before it. What a wonderful weekend indeed.
5 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 4)
It feels silly to drop them, but they barely pulled out a win against Carolina. They deserve all benefit of the doubt, but this constant flirting with danger is something that has to be accounted for in some way.
6 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 5)
The Packers are so consistent and able to survive anything. It is unbelievable.
I hate them so much for it.
7 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 6)
It is never easy to sit on a tough Thursday night loss through a long amount of time. I imagine they will be okay in the long run, but that was tough.
8 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 9)
Obviously the Lions are incredible, but the Vikings are such an amazing story.
Kevin O’Connell is coach of the year. There is no close second.
9 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 15)
This definitely feels like a large jump for a team that just lost four games in a row and stopped the skid by facing the Giants of all teams. But they won in emphatic fashion which is commendable.
10 – Washington Commanders (LW: 8)
Thanks for the good times!
For real though, this team is on fraud watch in a big way.
11 – Houston Texans (LW: 10)
Speaking of… the Texans may have blown out the Cowboys, but they hardly did so like the other contending teams in the league who have. Recall that the game in question was close at halftime.
I wonder if we are seeing the unraveling beginning for Houston.
12 – Denver Broncos (LW: 14)
On the other side of that coin… the Broncos are really establishing themselves. Sean Payton has found some of his vintage secret stuff. Well done.
13 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 17)
I’ve been very high on the Cardinals so taking them down is impressive.
I remain intrigued by this Seahawks group.
14 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 11)
You can’t win them all. As I have been saying… I will take all available stock in this team.
15 – Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 12)
Monday night’s loss was rough, but this still seems like a viable playoff group.
Also… making a big deal out of a standard regular season game between John and Jim Harbaugh seems silly given that they met in a literal Super Bowl.
16 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 13)
It is so frustrating that Dallas is having a lost year when this team is falling apart.
17 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 16)
They seem to have come back down to earth just a little bit. Treading water type of team.
18 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 24)
This may seem like a little bit of a jump, but consider the teams after them as we move on. This feels like a breakpoint in the NFL group overall where things get weird and messy.
19 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 18)
There is no shame in losing to the Lions and the Colts did put up a little bit of a fight.
Indy is in a weird space.
20 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 19)
Welcome back from the bye.
21 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 20)
You as well! See you soon, Simpsons style.
22 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 23)
Who wants to buy some Bryce Young stock? It is interesting to see him sort of turn a corner. We agree that this is happening, right?
23 – Cleveland Browns (LW: 25)
Winning in the snow is a cool thing regardless of who does it. Thursday night was so fun.
24 – Dallas Cowboys (LW: 31)
The win was so necessary and has certainly calmed things down a little bit.
If they win on Thanksgiving we will let them pronounce pecan pie however they want.
25 – Miami Dolphins (LW: 26)
I remain unconvinced that this is a legitimate team despite their little winning streak.
Lay however many points are necessary at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night.
26 – New England Patriots (LW: 21)
Their season is lost and so are their current times. It is strange to see.
27 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 22)
Another team back from the week off.
28 – Chicago Bears (LW: 27)
It is so sad to watch them lose in the most painful ways.
29 – Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 28)
This is a really bad football team.
30 – New York Jets (LW: 29)
Again… strange how Aaron Rodgers was not trustworthy and did not totally save the team!
31 – Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 30)
The season cannot end fast enough here.
32 – New York Giants (LW: 32)
See you on Thanksgiving! Bring the stuffing.
NFL.com: 22 (LW: 25)
Imagine not being in the top 22!
Give Cooper Rush some credit. Not many expected the Cowboys to pull off this shocker, and Rush was a big part of it. His teammates didn’t help much early, with two missed field-goal tries and a fumble on their first three possessions, but Rush was steady, leading key scoring drives on both sides of halftime to take the lead for the first time. The final product was a hot mess, with both teams making some wild mistakes, but the Cowboys were the more buttoned-up team late. Dallas’ defense hung tough, and the two late kick returns for touchdowns were shockingly clutch plays of awareness. The Cowboys haven’t always been the toughest or smartest team on the field this season, but they were Sunday, playing without a slew of their best players. The season has gone awry, and they have virtually no chance of making the playoffs, but the Cowboys knocked off a division rival on the road and deserve their praise.
ESPN: 24 (LW: 24)
Not quite as high here. They also included ESPN’s Football Power Index rankings for offense, defense and special teams.
Offense ranking: 32
Defense ranking: 21
Special teams ranking: 4
For as much as the defense has been a liability this season, ESPN’s FPI has the Cowboys worse on offense. Even before quarterback Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury, the offense struggled in most areas, including in the red zone (31st) and on third down (25th). The Cowboys are coming off their best performance since Cooper Rush took over, so maybe they are starting to find their footing as they play the next three games against the Giants, Bengals and Panthers. But the FPI does not give them much hope with a 29th ranking in the teams’ average in-game win probability. — Todd Archer
USA Today: 27 (LW: 29)
Moving on up.
Before you avert your eyes, at least note that over the past two games, QB2 Cooper Rush’s numbers are actually better than starter Dak Prescott’s this season. Just sayin’.
Yahoo: 24 (LW: 25)
This is a popular spot.
Micah Parsons had two sacks, two more tackles for loss and was the best player on the field in the Cowboys’ surprising win. There will be talk of trading Parsons, considering the salary cap ramifications of extending him, but games like that will make it difficult to entertain that thought.
CBS Sports: 24 (LW: 26)
A bit of a bump.
Give them credit for showing up and winning at Washington when things looked bleak. If they beat the Giants this week, they are 5-7. Wow.
The Athletic: 23 (LW: 26)
Not quite the highest ranking so far, but close.
The Cowboys have a less than one percent chance of making the playoffs, according to The Athletic’s model, and a wacky win over an old rival shouldn’t convince this team it’s in decent shape. Dallas is 29th in scoring margin (minus-98) and 31st in points allowed (29 ppg). The good news is KaVontae Turpin is fun to watch. He leads the league with 906 return yards, including an electric 99-yard kickoff return Sunday.
Sports Illustrated: 23 (LW: 24)
Same story here.
Good for Mike McCarthy, who got some love from Troy Aikman as I was writing this during the Monday Night Football telecast. He is a good football coach. He was absolutely hung out to dry by ownership this year and, if we take a generous view of it all, was a bad Cooper Rush fumble from being in last week’s game against Houston as well. Dallas isn’t going to turn the season around at this point, but I wouldn’t count McCarthy out as a third-time head coach, as crazy as that sounds right now. Let’s remove the man from the situation.
Dallas Cowboys Movement Week To Week
Every week (per suggestions from you wonderful BTBers) we will update this graph to note how the Cowboys moved in power rankings according to each of the outlets that we curate.
