NFL power rankings: What the pundits say about Cowboys after tie with Packers
After the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers tied on Sunday Night Football, did the team rise or fall on various power rankings lists?
The Cowboys’ record is now 1-2-1 as they prepare to face their first AFC opponent of the season, the winless New York Jets.
Todd Archer, ESPN
It’s difficult to quibble about an offense that has scored 40 points twice, run the ball efficiently and has quarterback Dak Prescott playing at a high level. The Cowboys have even performed well without wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (left high ankle sprain), center Cooper Beebe (right ankle and foot injury) and right guard Tyler Booker (high ankle sprain). But with a defense that is struggling, the offense needs to be better on third down. Through four games, the Cowboys have converted just 42.5% of their third-down tries (20 of 47). They have to do a better job of keeping their defense off the field.
Eric Edholm, NFL.com
They sure don’t make it easy, but the Cowboys showed life against the Packers, forging a 40-40 tie without several key pieces. That Dallas managed to keep Micah Parsons relatively in check and rally from down two scores shows that Brian Schottenheimer hasn’t lost anyone. He also earns credit for an offense that rolled to 436 yards (against a Green Bay defense that hadn’t allowed more than 246 in the first three weeks), despite being without CeeDee Lamb and multiple OL starters.
Conor Orr, Sports illustrated
Here’s the full column from Sunday’s Cowboys-Packers thriller but the TL;DR version is this: Dak Prescott looks as good as we’ve seen him in the last half decade. The Cowboys have a terrible secondary and are struggling to generate pressure but are still competitive in nearly all games. So, what more does Jerry Jones need to see in order to necessitate investing in the league’s best edge rusher?
The Athletic, Josh Kendall and Chad Graff
It’s been a tough go for Dallas’ rookie class, and it got worse last week when Booker, the first-round offensive lineman, suffered a high ankle sprain that could put him on IR through the midpoint of the season. Second-round edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku had a career-high four tackles against Green Bay but also had a costly personal foul. Only four of the Cowboys’ nine picks are on the 53-man roster.
Neil Greenberg, Washington Post
Dak Prescott’s four-touchdown performance for Dallas in a 40-40 tie with Green Bay is proof the offense is finding rhythm. The Cowboys’ defense giving up 30-plus points in three consecutive games is proof their defense remains a concern.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
When is a tie like a victory? When you are the Cowboys and you come back to tie the Packers like they did Sunday night. The Cowboys schedule lightens up in the next few games, too.
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
The offense is great. The defense is not.
Diante Lee, The Ringer
Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones was half correct in his postgame comments on Sunday night, calling Prescott “indispensable.” Prescott personified that throughout the game against Green Bay, pushing the ball downfield aggressively and working around a banged-up offensive line, forcing a tie against a superior Packers roster. Jones didn’t view edge rusher Micah Parsons in the same light, though, and it continues to feel like Prescott’s efforts to keep the Cowboys afloat after the Parsons trade are ultimately going to waste. If Dallas’s defense had just one high-impact player up front, it would make a world of difference, and the Cowboys might not have any losses at this point in the season.
Nate Davis, USA Today
As magnificent a kicker as Brandon Aubrey is, one aspect of his game that should make him even more appreciated is his ability to dump kickoffs so accurately throughout the landing zone in the NFL’s new “Dynamic Kickoff” era.
Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports
According to NFL Media, home teams that get 40 points with no turnovers are now 300-0-1 in the Super Bowl era. The Cowboys’ defense is so bad, it’s making history. Don’t blame Dak Prescott for this mess, he might have a Joe Burrow-esque season, playing at an elite level on a non-playoff team.
