Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Dak Prescott’s hamstring is reportedly partially torn off of the bone. It has only been a few days since the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Atlanta Falcons, but the totality of exactly what happened to Dak Prescott is starting to come into focus. Prescott left the game as the fourth quarter began with an injury, one many people originally assumed had to do with his throwing hand based on what the television broadcast showed. After the game he noted that it was something he had never felt before which suggested the matter was rather serious. It was later revealed that he had a hamstring injury and one day later it was reported that the injury was so severe that it was going to cost him multiple weeks. As of Wednesday evening the Cowboys had yet to officially place Prescott on injured reserve, although that sort of seems like an inevitability at this point. It’s even more the case based on the reporting of NFL Network’s Jane Slater who noted on Wednesday evening that Prescott’s diagnosis is specifically a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon that is apparently partially torn off of the bone. As the #Cowboys weigh in on Dak Prescott’s IR status, sources tell me the initial diagnosis is a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon which is partially torn off the bone. I’m told it typically takes more than a 4 week recovery. In some cases, they let it scar over, repair… — Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) November 6, 2024 Slater notes that the injury in question generally takes more than four weeks to recover from so injured reserve (which would require Prescott to miss at minimum four games, for those unaware) seems logical; however, she added that sometimes it is possible for different recoveries to happen and that Prescott is currently trying to explore all options (in terms of a second opinion) before crossing that proverbial bridge. There are nine games left in the season for the Cowboys and even if the team were to win the next four that would only bring their record to 7-5. While that sounds incredible relative to where they are at the moment, consider that the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles both currently have six and seven wins, respectively. Winning the NFC East, and making the playoffs in general, is an uphill battle for this team at the moment. It would appear that the front office does not entirely feel that way as they traded with the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. The Mingo deal does not exactly scream all-in (only Jerry Jones does to signal the worst offseason of all time), but it at least partially suggests that the team will not be waving the white flag any time soon. This feels more true given that Dallas paid a fourth-round pick to acquire Mingo, a figure that was regarded as a “shocker” by NFL insiders.

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images The Eagles offense is finding itself right now which is highly annoying. The Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. Unfortunately, due to injury and poor performance, this doesn’t look like it will be the close fought contest it should be. The two division rivals are far apart right now in terms of strength of roster, but how do both offense’s stack up? Let’s take a look and match each position group from both teams. QUARTERBACK Cooper Rush/Trey Lancevs.Jalen Hurts There’s no sugarcoating things this week, the quarterback position for Dallas has more questions than ever before. Dak had his problems this season and there is no denying he’s underperformed this year. Is he the root cause of the team’s failures this year? That’s more debatable. He’s set to miss several weeks after pulling his hamstring in last week’s game against Atlanta. He will go on injured reserve. So now we get to see Cooper Rush enter the field once again. Rush stepped in back in 2022 when Dak injured his hand during the Tampa Bay game and delivered four consecutive wins. That of course was a different time with better offensive weapons and a stronger defense, so now Cowboys fans have to truly hold their breath. More to the question is whether Dallas plays Rush for the entire stint Dak is out or play Trey Lance to see what he’s got. Jalen Hurts ranks eighth in passer rating and seventh in completion rating. But beyond that as a passer he has had a down year so far. What Hurts lacks as a passer though he makes up for as a rusher. He’s second in the league in rushing touchdowns and fifth in the league in rushing first downs. He’s also second among quarterbacks in rushing yards per game. Against a Cowboys defensive line that has struggled consistently to defend the run and has a history of issues defending mobile quarterbacks, this makes for a big day for Hurts. Conclusion:This isn’t hard to decipher this week. One team is playing a backup quarterback, the other is starting a quarterback that has helped deliver a 6-2 record this season so far. Win: Eagles Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images RUNNING BACK Rico Dowdle/Dalvin Cookvs.Saquon Barkley/Kenneth Gainwell Last week, Dallas made the decision to leave Ezekiel Elliott back in Dallas after a week of tardiness and disappointing behavior. He’s averaging just three-yards per carry and his best game came in Week 1, since then he’s been very disappointing. If you thought Dalvin Cook is the answer then guess again. He’s played in the last two games and totaled just 20 yards for an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Rico Dowdle, however, has been playing much better. Against the Atlanta Falcons he averaged 6.3 yards per carry and made five receptions, with one being the bobbled catch in the endzone for a touchdown. Saquon Barkley may have made one of the most athletic plays your eyes will witness. Last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars he hurdled a player— backwards! The play was insane and a testament to his explosiveness which is on form this year. He’s second in the league in rushing yards and average yards per carry. Then to top off Hurts’ eight rushing touchdowns, Barkley ranks fourth in the league with six rushing touchdowns. He did experience back issues after the game so keep an eye on his name during practice reports. Conclusion:This is a huge mismatch and that’s without counting the rushing threat of Hurts. The Eagles are second in the league in rush yards per game, the Cowboys defense rank third-worst in rush yards allowed.Win: Eagles Photo by Elsa/Getty Images WIDE RECEIVERS CeeDee Lamb/Jalen Tolbert/KaVontae Turpin vs.A.J. Brown/DeVonta Smith/Jahan Dotson The Cowboys decided to make a deal and trade with the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. They sent a fourth-round pick for the second-year receiver to help add weapons to the offense. The timing of the trade is confusing considering Dak has just been sent to IR, and the fourth-round price tag is extremely steep. Mingo has yet to score a touchdown or eclipse 100-yards in a game. The high price tag will take into account he’s only in his second year and was taken with the Panthers 39th pick in the 2023 draft. Another reason for the trade could also be based on Lamb having to deal with a shoulder injury that’s been tagged day-to-day. He looked in discomfort throughout last week’s game after landing on it during a catch. For a team that’s so heavily predicated on its ground game, the receivers for the Eagles all naturally take a hit. Smith leads the team in receptions and ranks outside the top 32 receivers in the league. He also ranks top in the team with 473 receiving yards which ranks 21st among wide receivers. Next to Smith is A.J. Brown who has missed time this season. He is questionable this week with a knee injury so keep a watch on his practice news. Conclusion:Neither Eagles receiver is close to matching Lambs production at the moment but both of them combined are a better WR1/2 duo than what Dallas currently has. Add in the fact the Cowboys will be playing with a backup quarterback, and that will affect the production of the wide receivers.Win: Eagles Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images TIGHT END Jake Ferguson vs.Dallas Goedert Jake Ferguson played a huge role last week and made a number of explosive plays early in the game. His 71 receiving yards were the most on the team last week against Atlanta. Dallas Goedert hasn’t played since Week 5 for the Eagles after injuring his hamstring. Keep a close watch as he will be listed as questionable going into the game this week. In his place is TE2, Grant Calcaterra. He’s made nine receptions for 93 yards since stepping as the starting tight end. He has yet to score to a touchdown

Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys’ trade for Jonathan Mingo was viewed to be a bit of an overpay by some NFL insiders. The Dallas Cowboys traded with the Carolina Panthers for Jonathan Mingo on Tuesday. Yes, it happened. That the Cowboys made a move for someone shocked a lot of people as they are looking like one of the lower-quality teams in the NFL through the first week in November. Many thought, hoped more than anything, that Dallas would maybe sell off some assets in the name of competing more seriously next season; however, waving the white flag has never been the team’s style. It does not seem like the Mingo trade is the Cowboys doing something that they believe will significantly help them this year as the lone positive that people are holding on to is that the Cowboys have him under team control through the 2026 season. Consider that a win if you’d like. Apparently the Cowboys do and paid what they did specifically because of that, not that this is shocking. NFL insiders referred to the Jonathan Mingo trade as a ‘shocker’ Tuesday marked the trade deadline for every team in the NFL so in the aftermath we are seeing grades and things of that nature being handed out. ESPN discussed all of the action and noted insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano discussed how the Mingo trade was a “shocker” and that the Panthers were “eager” to deal him. Fowler: Carolina getting a fourth-rounder from Dallas in exchange for Mingo was a shocker. Former Day 2 picks who are out of the lineup typically don’t garner that. The Panthers were eager to deal him. Yes, contractual control was a factor in his value. Mingo is in the second year of his rookie deal, meaning Dallas has him under contract for the next 2½ seasons for slightly more than $4 million in total. The Cowboys felt they had to pay a premium for that, and Mingo does have some upside. But Carolina didn’t have much leverage here. On a day that mostly followed a well-worn script, this move was off script. Graziano: Yeah, Dallas wasn’t going to trade players and wasn’t going to make a move for a rental. The Cowboys liked Mingo when he came out in the 2023 draft, where he was the No. 39 pick, and they felt they needed some size in their wide receiver corps. Having Mingo under contract for two more years after this season justifies the price in their eyes; basically, they didn’t think they’d get anyone they liked better with that fourth-round pick. Fowler’s analysis is the more damning one as it is he who mentions the word shocker, that Carolina was eager and he even goes on to add that the Panthers had no leverage. All of that makes the trade even more confusing. Graziano also notes that the Cowboys feel that the two extra years of team control is what justifies the price, but he also adds that the group didn’t believe they could get anyone that they liked better with that fourth-round pick. Excuse me, but that is insane. That the Cowboys could say in November that there is nobody they would have liked more in the fourth round of a draft six months from now is something said only to serve as a point of reverse justification. My argument is not that fourth-round picks constantly go on to join the Hall of Fame, but acting like it is worthless is ridiculous. Where the team is at in the current moment underscores this idea perfectly. While the situations are not apples to apples, do the Cowboys maybe feel now that they would be better off with someone from this past year’s fourth round as opposed to Trey Lance on their roster (who they traded for with that pick)? You know, the Trey Lance who the same article we linked to from ESPN notes that the Cowboys are unwilling to start him while Dak Prescott deals with a hamstring injury. The Cowboys also have Trey Lance on the roster, who is an interesting player to watch. Lance will get more practice reps than usual by virtue of Prescott’s absence and the fact that he’ll have to be ready to play if something happens to Rush. It’s also possible the Cowboys build Lance-specific packages into their offense to make use of his running ability while they continue to look for playmakers. But as of now, there’s no thought of starting Lance over Rush. They believe Rush gives them the best chance to win games with Prescott out. This team is not in any position to say what a fourth-round pick will or won’t be or could or could not be. None whatsoever.

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Our writers provide their opinions on the latest Dallas Cowboys news during our weekly review on the Roundtable. Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer’s perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have Tom Ryle, Brian Martin, David Howman, RJ Ochoa and Jess Haynie. What do you make of the Ezekiel Elliott situation? Ezekiel Elliott has been somewhat vocal about the lack of touches he’s been getting in Dallas but this past week things got worse for the running back. It was reported his attitude has declined and has even been late on several occasions for meetings and practice. That led to the coaches making the decision to leave Zeke back in Dallas while the rest of team tried beat Atlanta in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The relationship took a turn for the worse and the question now is how much longer Zeke will remain in Dallas. Tom: I read it as an attempt to establish some accountability first. That’s a good objective. But it also indicates that Zeke is not contributing much. Dowdle looked good with 75 yards in a game where Dallas was playing from behind and relying on the pass. I think they should roll with him and Cook from here on. Brian: In all honesty, it would probably be best for all parties concerned if the Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott parted ways. He’s obviously not happy with his role this year and the Cowboys have zero incentive to play him now that they’ve pretty much been dominated from the postseason. The longer he stays around the more chance it becomes a cancer to the locker room. Howman: I see it as a microcosm of the differences between Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy right now. McCarthy has been trying to preach accountability and effort since coming to town, but Jones is more interested in big names and sentimentality. Even after the news of Elliott missing several meetings, Jones was publicly praising Elliott’s work ethic and leadership. Clearly, the coach is seeing something the owner isn’t, but where a functional franchise would empower the coach to manage the team, Jones is once again undermining his coach’s authority in the name of keeping a fan favorite happy. RJ: That it became as big of a deal as it did is the actual problem. How many other teams are having headlines made because the third-best (being kind) running back on their team was going to be inactive? Why is it a mutual decision that this would be the case? We are all well-aware that things are not necessarily normal with this team, but this was far out there even for them. It is exhausting. I don’t make anything of it because it is beyond the realm of what should be normal. Jess: Elliott probably doesn’t have a job this year if not for the Cowboys, and he showed his appreciation by being late to meetings and acting entitled. That’s toxic; the opposite of the veteran leadership you brought him in to provide. The only question over the next 48 hours should be who they fire first between Zeke and Mike McCarthy. Injuries have played a part, but what went wrong with Dallas against the Atlanta Falcons last week? The Cowboys took another loss and are now on a three-game losing streak. To make matters worse, Dak Prescott is set to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury, CeeDee Lamb is considered day-to-day with a shoulder injury, the Cowboys offensive line struggled against the worst defensive line statistically in pressures as well as sacks, and the defensive line just keep going from bad to worse. The Cowboys currently own the 11th draft pick in next years NFL draft and are now 3-5. Tom: There are a variety of things, but one that jumped out for me was how the defense didn’t seem to know their assignments. Trevon Diggs looked badly out of place at times. Overall you just have to admit that the talent level is just subpar. Brian: What went right for the Dallas Cowboys against Atlanta Falcons? The Cowboys are simply just a bad team this year and there is no reason to try to sugarcoat it. Even if this team would have remained 100% healthy it probably would’ve made little to no difference to how things have played out for them this year. Howman: The same thing that’s gone wrong all season: coming up short in the big moments. They couldn’t block Kaden Elliss on the fourth-down jet sweep, Jake Ferguson didn’t get enough of a chip on that screen pass, Trevon Diggs led with his shoulder instead of wrapping up Pitts, even Zack Martin is missing blocks on screen passes. Nobody is doing the little things well right now, which is how you end up with so many losses that easily could’ve been wins. RJ: Simply put the Falcons are a better football team than Dallas which is not a difficult thing to be right now. The Cowboys do not have the horses to run with teams in most ways so when they get down it is a tough scene. That is exactly what we saw. Jess: My colleagues have already said it; this is a bad team right now. We all had our doubts going into the year and injuries have compounded those well-documented weaknesses. Cameras caught Dak Prescott saying what looked like, “We [expletive] suck.” He’d be right. This weekend the Dallas Cowboys face a huge division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Who are the key players to watch on the Eagles roster and the key threats? This week the Cowboys are set to face division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. The game will kickoff at 4:25 p.m (ET) and will be at AT&T Stadium. Historically, the Cowboys defeated the Eagles the last time these two teams met and Dallas has won six out the last ten competitions

Brett Davis-Imagn Images What would you say are the biggest questions you have about the Cowboys right now? Things went from bad to worse for the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday. They fell to 3-5 with a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and now they’re going to be without QB Dak Prescott for at least a few games due to a leg injury. With nothing going right and the season already seeming lost, what are some of the hottest questions going into Week 10? How does Prescott’s injury change perspectives on the rest of 2024? It probably shouldn’t. The Cowboys were going nowhere fast even with Prescott playing, so his absence doesn’t really flip the script. At the most, it adds to the sense of futility that had already developed regarding this season and may push the team further toward future-minded decisions. Specifically at quarterback, the Cowboys now have an interesting question regarding playing time for Cooper Rush versus Trey Lance. If they were 5-3 and facing a multi-week absence from QB1, then Rush would be the starter with zero debate. You’d trust in his 5-1 record as a starter from 2021-2022 and that Dallas could weather this storm while remaining in contention for the playoffs. We’re in a much different place now. The Cowboys are significantly behind in both the NFC East and the wild card race. There’s little confidence in what the team can do when fully healthy, let alone with all of the current injuries. So if this bus is already going off a cliff, how much value is there in asking Rush to drive it? Granted, Trey Lance is a free agent next March and there’s a good chance that Dallas won’t re-sign him. He didn’t show nearly enough in the preseason to be viewed as a key asset. But if the Cowboys do want some more evidence before making that decision, what better way to get it than having the 24-year-old run the starting offense in real games? It’s the classic “what do you have to lose” scenario. You already know what Rush is, but maybe you can learn more about Lance. Does anyone benefit from Prescott’s absence? I think this could be good for WR Jalen Tolbert. Over the last three years, he’s spent a lot of practice and preseason time working with Rush. We saw a play on Sunday where Tolbert was wide open and Prescott didn’t see him, and that isn’t the first time. Something we saw in 2022 when Rush played is that he was good about working through reads and finding the best option, and Tolbert consistently has opportunities with defenses focused on CeeDee Lamb. One valid criticism of Prescott is that he’s sometimes too focused on specific players, forcing the ball into bad spots. You want to trust your stars like Lamb to make plays, but we’ve seen him throw into double coverage even to the likes of KaVontae Turpin. Tolbert may not be doing a great job of getting open on his own right, and we know the offensive design isn’t helping anyone in that regard, but Rush may give Tolbert more chances to make plays against single coverage than Prescott did. Is Rico Dowdle officially RB1 now? He better be, or else this team has truly stopped standing on business. Between last week and the Week 5 win over the Steelers, Dowdle has clearly proven he’s their best back and deserving of the most touches both running and receiving. He does the most with what a struggling offensive line offers, plus he’s a solid enough pass blocker to be an every-down option. The real question should be what Dallas does with other snaps at RB. Dalvin Cook looks washed up and Ezekiel Elliott has now added diva behavior to his on-field struggles. At this point, it would seem like leaning into the versatility of Deuce Vaughn and FB Hunter Luepke would better uses of your remaining RB reps. And since Turpin is limited as a receiver, do more with him in a backfield role or on other handoff plays. Unfortunately, this strategy relies on a sudden wave of creativity from Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer that wouldn’t be true to their form. If they’re going to go down doing things their way, we won’t see much to get excited back from these players. But at the very least, even their stubbornness shouldn’t get in the way of Dowdle being the bell cow the rest of the way.

Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys get WR help in trade for Jonathan Mingo – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com The Dallas Cowboys bolstered their wide receiver depth for now and in the future. The Cowboys acquired wide receiver Jonathan Mingo via a trade with the Carolina Panthers. Dallas is sending a 2025 fourth-round pick to Carolina for Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick. The corresponding move is a release of cornerback Andrew Booth, who was acquired via trade during this year’s training camp in Oxnard. Mingo was the 39th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, and in 24 career games has caught 55 passes for 539 yards and has yet to score his first career touchdown. The 6’2, 220 pound wideout gives the Cowboys a big target that still has two years remaining on his rookie contract after the 2024 season, and Mingo gets a fresh start to his career in Dallas. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones mentioned on his weekly 105.3 The Fan radio show this morning that the Cowboys would likely be acquiring a wide receiver that they liked coming out of college. Now, they’ve got him. “We’re going to bring a receiver in more than likely today that we really have thought a lot of and wanted to draft him,” Jones said. “And so we’re going to get a chance to get him.” Mingo played four seasons at Ole Miss, where he caught 112 passes for 1,758 yards and 12 touchdowns, and received 2nd-team All-SEC honors in his senior season. At the combine in Indianapolis, Mingo ran a 4.46 second 40-yard dash, tallied a 39.5” vertical, and a 10’ 9” broad jump. NFL trade deadline 2024 winners and losers – Robert Zeglinski, USA Today Dallas’ acquisition of Mingo from Carolina is receiving mixed reviews from the media. Loser: Jerry Jones, for trying to maximize the Dallas Cowboys’ disappointing pile of trash Unfortunately, Dak Prescott is on injured reserve. The Cowboys’ offensive line can’t reliably block anyone, the defense is inept, and the players have likely tuned out lame-duck coach Mike McCarthy en route to a middling 3-5 record. Now would have been the time for the Cowboys to pack it in for the season and regroup for next year. If Dallas was going to do anything at this trade deadline, it should’ve been selling (though to be fair, it didn’t really have much to sell). Instead (DEEP BREATH), owner Jerry Jones traded a fourth-round draft pick (these players are supposed to be starters) for Jonathan Mingo, a receiver with 12 catches for 121 yards in 19 career starts. Dearest readers, the Chiefs got potential Hall of Famer DeAndre Hopkins for less! From a team management standpoint and the context of the Cowboys’ season actively going down in flames, this might be the worst trade Jones has ever made. Period. End of story. I’m not shocked Jones did it, given his well-established precedent of foolishness, but I am, nonetheless, quite flabbergasted. I’m so sorry to all of the Cowboys, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Yankees fans out there. Stay strong. Commanders acquire CB Marshon Lattimore via trade with Saints – Zach Selby, Commanders.com For anyone who missed the news, Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders added to their defense. The Washington Commanders have acquired cornerback Marshon Lattimore via trade with the New Orleans Saints, pending a physical. Washington has sent a third-, fourth- and sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft to the Saints in exchange for Lattimore and a 2025 fifth-round pick. Lattimore, the No. 11 overall pick by the Saints in 2017 draft, has appeared in 97 games with as many starts. He has 405 tackles in his eight-year career to go with 15 interceptions, 88 pass breakups and five forced fumbles. Two of Lattimore’s interceptions were returned for touchdowns. Lattimore has been voted to four Pro Bowls in his career, including three straight from 2019-21. His first Pro Bowl appearance came after his rookie season in 2017, when he was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year for recording five interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 18 pass breakups and 53 tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, Lattimore allowed a catch rate of just 53.8% and zero touchdowns. From 2019-21, Lattimore recorded six interceptions, 44 pass breakups and 187 tackles. During that span, the Saints were a top 15 team in passing yards allowed in 2020 and 2021. They also held quarterbacks to the fourth lowest passer rating in each of those seasons. DeMarvion Overshown has been one of the few bright spots for the Cowboys in 2024 – Matt Lenix, Blogging the Boys The Cowboys 2023 class can be saved if Overshown turns into a superstar. Although the Cowboys didn’t win last Sunday, Overshown, again, had a case for being the team’s best player on defense. He put up seven tackles with three tackles being for a loss, which is a season high for Overshown. Two months into the season, Overshown’s play isn’t exciting just because he’s producing. It’s how he’s looked doing it. Yes, the Cowboys run defense is still bad overall as it’s ranked 31st in the league. However, Overshown continues to show the ability to flow sideline to sideline with no hesitation and speed. He shoots through gaps extremely fast, and he attacks as soon as he reads a play, which is very key against the run. That’s the type of guy you want on the second level of your defense. Now, if the Cowboys got better play on the interior of their defensive line, that would keep offensive lineman from getting to the second level and putting a hat on Overshown, and he would have free reign to roam and make plays. If anything can come from the ashes of the Cowboys 2024 season, it’s that DeMarvion Overshown is starting to find his groove at LB.#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/KNCIku0wOv — Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) November 4, 2024 For the season, Overshown is second on the Cowboys

Brett Davis-Imagn Images The latest batch of power rankings are, not surprisingly, unkind to the Dallas Cowboys. Tuesdays are normally busy around the proverbial water cooler with power rankings coming out and the dust firmly settling on a full NFL week. This particular Tuesday was juiced all the way up as it was the NFL trade deadline. Obviously the Dallas Cowboys had to involve themselves in these matters and did so by trading away their 2025 fourth-round pick to the Carolina Panthers. In return the Cowboys received wide receiver Jonathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick. If you are curious, Andrew Booth was the roster casualty around these parts. But Tuesday called for power rankings nonetheless and we have never backed away from a challenge in that sense. Here is the lay of the land as we say goodbye to the single-digit weeks of the NFL season. As always we have also gathered where outlets across the league have the Cowboys ranked. You can view last week’s rankings right here. 1 – Detroit Lions (LW: 1) They have the league’s best roster, its most fearless head coach and a front office who is willing to never believe enough is enough. Za’Darius Smith joined the group before the deadline and the only thing stopping them from winning this whole thing is named Patrick Mahomes. 2 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 2) Speaking of! The Chiefs are undefeated and betting against them is foolish so my slotting of them here is certainly not that, they just do not look as sound as the Lions do in an overall sense. But they continue to employ the best quarterback in the world which means they are always very well in the fight. 3 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 3) Ultimately they are one of the handful of teams who appear to have a legit shot at all of this. Some fatigue with their consistency over the years is seeing them fly a bit below the radar, but the Bills haven’t gone anywhere. 4 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 4) Lamar Jackson remains underrated as a passer, as impossible as it is to believe. We all reserve the right to change who we think is going to the Super Bowl before we firmly have to lock things in a few months from now, but it is going to be hard to not take the Ravens. 5 – Washington Commanders (LW: 5) Everything is coming up the way that Washington wants it to, including acquiring Marshon Lattimore from the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday. Imagine if they break their title game drought before the Cowboys. 6 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 9) Could the Saquon Barkley signing be off to a better start halfway through the season? What’s more is that Jalen Hurts appears to be really finding himself as a passer. He will probably never reach the true supernova status he had two years ago (just because it was that incredible of a season), but he is talented and has remembered that. If only we had the energy to care. 7 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 7) Maybe they are losing a little bit of steam? It felt like it took so much for them to beat the Colts on Sunday. Whatever the case they are not a team you can really count out. But we are watching. 8 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 10) It would not be shocking at all for them to stumble out of the bye and have people shocked as to why they are “regressing.” The answer will be because the greatness we saw from them was when they were playing the Cowboys. 9 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 6) Look, Jordan Love is insanely talented. But Jordan Love also is somewhat volatile. That is starting to become an issue. Losing to your top rival at the moment in the first measuring stick game after giving your franchise quarterback the big-time contract… it is amazing that it was not made a bigger deal out of. 10 – Houston Texans (LW: 8) Last week was a tough scene and it will not get any easier this week against Detroit. 11 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 11) I’ve been telling you for weeks that I will happily buy all stock in the Cardinals that you are willing to sell me. My Red Birds are going to be a playoff team. 12 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 12) They picked up Mike Williams and Preston Smith before the deadline. Neither of those things is massive in and of itself, but their team continues to remain very much in play. The Steelers are incapable of being bad. 13 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 13) I’m not ready to say that this is a really good team given that they let a bad Cowboys squad hang around a bit. But the NFC South appears to be theirs for the taking at the very least. 14 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 15) Tough. Gritty. Good for them. 15 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 16) Sorry about that, though. 16 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 17) It turns out losing your top two wide receivers is an issue, although the Bucs are certainly doing all they can to hold down the fort. Losing stinks, but there is a lot of fight in the Tampa crew. 17 – Los Angeles Chargers (LW: 19) Does anyone feel passionately about this team one way or the other? They are just kind of existing right now. 18 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 20) Thursday night’s game against Baltimore is the opportunity to prove that they really have begun to save their season. It should be a great game. 19 – New York Jets (LW: 27) Maybe they actually are turning it around? That win over Houston was impressive. 20 – Denver Broncos (LW: 18) Another boring team void of any real juice or substance. 21 – Chicago Bears (LW: 14) It is starting to get pretty late for our