The Dallas Cowboys have lost two games in a row for the first time all season and morale is rather low around them for understandable reasons. Tuesday’s trades certainly made things a bit more interesting, though.
With the team on their bye week it means that if they manage to win their next game (against the Raiders in Week 11) they will have gone just about a month since last tasting the sensation of victory. That is tough.
You can imagine that national perception of the Cowboys right now is that they are one of the worst teams in the league and that is difficult to refute given recent events. They rank very low in our own power rankings and in those from across the internet.
Let’s get to them all.
1 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 2)
Thrashing the Chiefs felt like a boss that they had to conquer (obviously they have beaten them before). Destiny feels like it is on Buffalo’s side, but we are still only in early November.
2 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 3)
They have a serious claim to the NFC crown. It is going to be awesome to see if they can keep this up.
3 – Detroit Lions (LW: 1)
You can’t help but feel like this loss will haunt them down the road as it was at home and against a division rival and that the Packers lost on the same day.
4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 4)
Back from the bye.
5 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 5)
Same. With trade acquisitions. Because duh.
6 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 8)
They look very much like the real deal.
7 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 6)
Perhaps they do have a ceiling on them this year after all.
8 – New England Patriots (LW: 10)
They just keep doing it week after week. Football is fully back in the Boston area.
9 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 15)
Sunday was a very impressive win. I think we all think that Baltimore is going to find a way to take the division, but perhaps the Steelers will say no.
10 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 7)
It feels sort of like the clock struck midnight here. Maybe not. We will see. They clearly do not feel that way as they have gone all-in by trading for Sauce Gardner.
11 – Denver Broncos (LW: 11)
You mean to tell me you can play this team without them scoring a touchdown every 5 seconds?
12 – Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 12)
They are stacking wins together.
13 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 9)
Watching them lose is always sweet and this helped out draft capital. Additionally… they look a bit broken.
14 – Chicago Bears (LW: 13)
They won a game that they traditionally don’t. Maybe times are changing.
15 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 14)
It is going to be fascinating to see how they handle Brock Purdy when he comes back. I don’t think there is any sort of controversy, but this has been a weird season for the Niners at the quarterback spot.
16 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 24)
The whole world had a huge issue with how they handled their quarterback situation and that was their fault. Winning cures all though and they may have put the train back on its tracks.
17 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 21)
Speaking of getting back on track… watch out.
18 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 17)
The Cowboys should have beaten them to be clear, but maybe they are more for real than people were willing to give them credit for.
19 – Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 20)
File this under “a win is a win” but they made it as clunky as they could. Also how about a 68-yard field goal for Brandon Aubrey to chase?!
20 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 16)
The Falcons are maybe the weirdest team in the league this season. They beat top-level competition, falter against the other end of the spectrum, and put up a fight and barely lose when we have kind of given up. Let’s see what else they’ve got.
21 – Houston Texans (LW: 19)
Sunday was a fight, but they may be taking on too much water right now.
22 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 29)
Good for them.
23 – Dallas Cowboys (LW: 18)
This team appears to have given up with regards to this season. 2026 though… that is interesting.
24 – Cleveland Browns (LW: 23)
Welcome back.
25 – New York Giants (LW: 25)
There is some serious fight here. It will be interesting to see who their coach is next season.
26 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 26)
This felt like a real breaking point.
27 – Las Vegas Raiders (LW: 28)
Their season has been over for some time.
28 – Washington Commanders (LW: 22)
Obviously it is hard to understand what Dan Quinn was thinking. This is a mess. All the best to Jayden Daniels.
29 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 27)
Gross.
30 – Miami Dolphins (LW: 30)
Mega gross.
31 – New York Jets (LW: 31)
Gross, but in the New York Jets.
32 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 32)
Being more gross than the previous 3 teams is quite the task, but they accomplished it.
ESPN: 21 (LW: 18)
The dip has begun.
Most important game remaining: Week 12 at the Eagles
The Cowboys can’t begin to think about the playoffs until they win consecutive games. But the best way to make the postseason would likely be winning the NFC East — and that would require help. The Eagles play the Packers and Lions in the next two weeks. Let’s say they lose both. At 3-5-1, the Cowboys are in must-win territory, starting Nov. 17 at the Raiders, which would set up the rematch of the season opener at AT&T Stadium with the Eagles. Even that might not be enough because the Chiefs, Lions, Vikings and Chargers await the Cowboys, so there is no easy path. — Todd Archer
And even more so.
Dak Prescott and the offense never really found a rhythm against Arizona until late on Monday night, and they were ultimately buried by Javonte Williams’ fumble, one of five Dallas turnovers (if you count the two fourth-down stops) on the night. Brian Schottenheimer opted to go for it — down 17 points early in the fourth quarter — instead of kicking a field goal, with Next Gen Stats calling it a toss-up play, slightly favoring going for it (by 0.4%). But Dallas never got back within single digits, and that’s now three losses in the past four games. I’d gotten used to the offense not being quite as good on the road, but the ‘Boys dragged those struggles back home on Monday. Not even the blocked-punt touchdown could get this team going early enough. Another disappointing loss where the offense couldn’t do enough to make up for the defensive shortcomings.
USA Today: 23 (LW: 19)
The opening sentence here was in reference to the Bengals being ahead of Dallas and obviously without Logan Wilson following Tuesday morning’s trade.
That’s because (perhaps?) Jerry Jones’ big move was to obtain LB Logan Wilson, who’s in the second season of a four-year, $36 million contract but lost his job in Cincinnati to rookie Barrett Carter. Maybe an off-ball ‘backer − one who apparently wasn’t good enough for the Bengals D and struggles in coverage − will be a panacaea for Dallas’. But don’t bet on it.
Yahoo: 23 (LW: 17)
Pretty popular spot.
The Cowboys can’t be buyers at the trade deadline, right? It would be tough in an ideal situation to get back in the NFC playoff race, and the Cowboys’ defense probably isn’t good enough to lead a long winning streak. But would the Cowboys be sellers?
CBS Sports: 25 (LW: 21)
A bit lower here.
The defense is so bad that it’s starting to impact the offense. There is no need to make any blockbuster trades to try and fix that defense. It’s beyond repair.
The Athletic: 22 (LW: 20)
Same overall territory.
Midseason grade: D+
The hard truth for the Cowboys is that they’re wasting a really good season from the offense (Monday night notwithstanding) because of their poor defense. If only they had entered the season with arguably the best defensive player in the league.
Sports Illustrated: 25 (LW: 22)
That’s that.
I think there are a lot of examples societally where I wonder why people are giving a certain person so much oxygen and why we’re so desperate to reprint every half-baked thought that exits their brains and farts out into the universe. Then I realized that taking Jerry Jones seriously when he says something like he did Monday—that he had completed a trade but just won’t announce it yet—was part of the problem. Wake me up when this man takes actual steps toward bettering this franchise.
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