That the Cowboys fell in every set of power rankings on the planet is no surprise whatsoever. But the fact that the "devastating" and "demoralizing" overtime loss to Arizona didn't drop them even further is mildly shocking. Dallas is hovering right around the fringes of the league's bottom 10 teams in the eyes of most analysts. Yet most believe the NFC East crown is still within the Cowboys' reach, partly due to the weakened state of the rest of the division, and partly because this team still has Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Quinnen Williams, Joey Porter Jr., et al.
But Week 8's collapse was simply too epic to look past with some worn-out football cliche like "any given Sunday" or "trap game" or "their guys get paid, too."
Heading
into Week 9, no one is sure if the Cowboys should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, if a midseason coaching change is coming or not, or if the team is more likely to pack it in or go on an improbable run. But something (and maybe more than one something) feels like it has reached a breaking point at The Star. This Sunday's contest against the 2-6 Colts could determine exactly what it is.
Here's where the major outlets ranked the Cowboys at the season's halfway point and what they had to say about the NFL's most perplexing team.
ESPN: No. 23, ▼3
On the franchise-altering Herschel Walker midseason trade in 1989: "Regardless of whether the credit for the trade goes to Jerry Jones or Jimmy Johnson, it altered the Cowboys' trajectory into becoming a three-time Super Bowl champion. They were 0-5 when they traded Walker, ending the 1989 season at 1-15. It wasn't the five players the Cowboys received from Minnesota that were important, but rather the conditional draft choices that would come if players Dallas acquired were cut the next offseason. Ultimately, the trade landed them Emmitt Smith, Kevin Smith and Darren Woodson, and gave them flexibility to make other moves. Without the trade of Walker, the Cowboys of the 1990s probably never would have existed."
NFL.com: No. 24, ▼2
"Remember when that guy in the AT&T Stadium bowels described a Cowboys loss as 'embarrassing' a few weeks ago? Well, that individual would have been spot on again on Sunday. Dallas disintegrated against the Cardinals, blowing a 17-3 lead and surrendering 467 yards to Arizona. It's a loss that feels too devastating to have occurred in Week 8. It’s where the Cowboys are right now, though: They pin their hopes on their passing game, haven’t improved enough defensively, and can only hope the running game produces. That’s simply not a winning formula."
The Athletic: No. 22, ▼4
"The Cowboys owner said after the game, one in which Dallas blew a 24-10 lead in the final 11 minutes, that he doesn’t expect to make a head coaching change during the season, but he didn’t rule out doing something. 'This is something we will take a good hard look at,' Jones said. 'That was a total team effort out there for us. We have to be, for our fans, better than that.' Dallas has lost three of its last four."
CBS Sports: No. 22, ▼2
"What in the hell was that against the Cardinals? That's the kind of loss that gets a coach fired. Jerry Jones said it's not happening now, but Brian Schottenheimer better get it going."
Yahoo Sports: No. 25, ▼5
"At some point the Cowboys need to have an honest conversation about themselves, which seems impossible after team owner Jerry Jones proclaimed everyone is letting head coach Brian Schottenheimer down. Jones has talked about making big trades, and already made one in-season for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. A putrid defense that let Gardner Minshew tear it apart in the fourth quarter and overtime on Sunday needs a lot of help. But, is a team that has losses at home to a Buccaneers team led by an undrafted rookie quarterback and to a Cardinals team that came back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter really a defensive piece away from contending for a Super Bowl? Probably not. It puts the Cowboys in a weird place. They're not out of the NFC East race because the division isn't good. They're also not very good themselves. It's not even outlandish for the Cowboys to look in the mirror after that hideous loss to the Cardinals and admit they should be sellers. That would require self-awareness, which isn't abundant in Dallas."
USA Today: No. 25, ▼2
"They had been 69-0 at home when nursing a lead of at least 14 points in the fourth quarter … but that was before Sunday."
SI.com: No. 21, ▼2
"TEASER: Stay tuned to the social accounts of MMQB podcast co-hosts Albert Breer and myself [Conor Orr] for my uber-creative solution to fixing the Cowboys defense. I think I can make it work."
ProFootballTalk: No. 26, ▼5
"Offseason hype, in-season tripe."
Bleacher Report: No. 22, ▼1
"Sunday's home loss to Arizona dealt another significant blow to the Cowboys' playoff hopes. Dallas had a 14-point lead in the third quarter and again in the fourth. However, its defense, which is again one of the worst in the NFL, had no answers after Arizona made a quarterback change. The Cardinals scored touchdowns while the Cowboys settled for field goals down the stretch, and the result was a demoralizing overtime loss at home. Franchise owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the game that he won't make a coaching change during the season. If something significant doesn't change soon, though, he will be evaluating a third straight losing season."
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Power Rankings Roundup: 'Putrid' Cowboys slip even further heading into Week 9
