Dallas Cowboys

The absurdly premature playoff picture: Week 10

See last week's absurdly premature playoff picture here.

AFC First-Round Byes:
Indianapolis Colts
Cincinnati Bengals

Other AFC Divisional Champions:
New England Patriots
San Diego Chargers

AFC Wild Cards:
Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos

NFC First-Round Byes:
New Orleans Saints
Minnesota Vikings

Other NFC Divisional Champions:
Dallas Cowboys
Arizona Cardinals

NFC Wild Cards:
Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers

• As promised, with its win over Pittsburgh, Cincinnati slides into the second first-round bye spot in the AFC. The Bengals thoroughly earned it. They should stay there for a while, too, as their next three games are against three teams that would be playing in the UFL next year if the NFL worked like English soccer: Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit.  

• We also had a change in the divisional champion out west, with San Diego taking over for Denver. As always, this comes with the requisite warning that this could be a homer pick, and if you believe it is, well, fair enough. The good news? Any homerism gets rectified this weekend, as the Chargers and Broncos play for that spot. AFC West Divisional Champion spot ... ON THE LINE.

• I like San Diego in that game, though, which is why I've given the Chargers the nod today. They're a better team today than they were when they played Denver the first time, and I don't know if anyone can say conclusively that the Broncos aren't worse. Especially if Kyle Orton(notes) can't go.

• Over in the NFC, everything stays the same outside of the wild-card spots, which are a mess. There's a gaggle of teams at 5-4: Philadelphia, New York, Green Bay and Atlanta. We've also got a couple of 4-5 teams we can't completely discount yet: Chicago, Carolina and San Francisco. Of those, the 49ers have the most favorable schedule remaining, but their win over the Bears was not exactly the stuff of which legends are made.

• I ended up going with Philadelphia and Green Bay, simply because of the "When in doubt, go with the best quarterbacks" philosophy. Philadelphia put forth a game effort in San Diego; the Eagles shot their feet off in the red zone. If Brian Westbrook(notes) is out for a while (and I've got a hunch he will be), that'll hurt, but the Eagles deserve a chance to show they're prepared for his absence, which they absolutely should be.

• If that defensive performance Green Bay put forth against Dallas was real, I love Green Bay's chances to snag a wild-card spot. The Packers are still far from a perfect team, obviously, but they're the most explosive offense in wild-card contendership, and if the defense can start to match that at all, I like it.

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• Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:44 pm EST
• Shutdown Corner
• By MJD
• 224 Comments

The Week 10 NFL Quarterback Power Rankings

Shutdown Corner presents the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		If he had been facing, for example, the number eight quarterback on this list, Bill Belichick may have punted on that 4th and 2 Sunday night. He wasn't, though. He was facing the number one quarterback, and he knew that guy was going to score from anywhere on the field.
2. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		This week, Favre became your NFL leader in quarterback rating. In a year where we're blessed with five different quarterbacks with a rating of 100 or better, Favre stands at the top. He's thrown 285 passes, and just three of them have been intercepted. Favre might be asked to do a little bit less than most guys on this list (he's 16th in the league in pass attempts), and he might be in the most quarterback-friendly situation in the league, but he's been close to perfect. Wrangler sales are even up.
3. Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots
		Brady made some tremendous throws in a losing effort on Sunday night. He didn't get the win, but he did play well enough to continue his rise towards the top of these rankings, where he belongs. He's been over 300 yards in his last four games, which isn't something he hadn't done since Week 1.
4. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		Saints fans are going to be mad at me, but I'm afraid it had to be done. Through his first five games, Drew Brees threw for 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Over his last four games, Brees has six touchdowns and seven interceptions. That's not good, and I'm afraid it mandates a slide in the rankings. His yardage totals and completion percentages have still been awesome, but to stay in the top two, I'm afraid we need a better TD-to-INT ratio.
5. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		Schaub rises a spot, even on his bye week, because it wasn't a particularly great week for the best quarterbacks in the league. But now, after everyone's had their bye week, let's check and see where Schaub ranks in some key statistical categories. He's third in yards passing (behind Manning and Brady) and tied for fifth in touchdowns (behind Manning, Brady, Brees and Kurt Warner(notes)). Not at all shabby.
6. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		A brutal week drops Benjamin a few spots: He was 20-of-40 for 174 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. In a huge game for the Steelers, he came up with a quarterback rating (51.5) fewer than 10 points away from JaMarcus Russell's(notes) (43.6). That's not what you're looking for.
7. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		It was a very solid week for Rivers, who faced an Eagles defense that ranks fifth in the league in opposing quarterback rating. He went 20-of-25 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. This will be the fourth straight week where Rivers checks in at number seven.
8. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		A good, but not great effort from Rodgers against the Cowboys: 25-of-36, one touchdown, no picks, and just 189 yards. Not good enough to move him up the list, but not bad enough to move him down. He's been sacked 12 more times than anyone else in the league, and more than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees combined. Dallas got him four times.
9. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
		Welcome, Kurt! I'd still like to see more consistency from you, but two consecutive phenomenal weeks will get you in the mix. Over his last two weeks, Warner's thrown seven touchdowns against zero interceptions. If he has another good game this week, it'll mark the first time all year he's strung three quality games together. He's playing the Rams, too, so it's not exactly a tall order.
10. Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles
		The 450 yards against San Diego were really nice, but would have been nicer if a few more of them had come in the red zone. Again, I'd like to see some more consistency. Really, it was a three-way toss-up here between McNabb, Romo and Palmer, so I thought I'd go with the guy coming off the best week. I'd consider McNabb's grip on the 10th spot very, very tenuous.
Noses pressed against the glass: Carson Palmer(notes), Cincinnati Bengals Tony Romo(notes), Dallas Cowboys

• Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:06 pm EST
• Shutdown Corner
• By MJD
• 118 Comments

The VRR: Cowboys Must Get Back in Saddle after Pulling off Squeaker over 'Skins

The Dallas Cowboys must get back in the saddle after pulling off a one-point squeaker over the rival Washington Redskins.

• Mon Nov 23, 2009 EST
• Blogging The Boys
• By Aaron Novinger

FISH on FOOTBALL: Cowboys Top-10 Takes After Surviving Redskins

A look at 10 things we observed in the Cowboys narrow escape from the Redskins.

• Mon Nov 23, 2009 EST
• Blogging The Boys
• By Mike Fisher

Cowboys vs. Redskins: The Pros and Cons of Winning Ugly

The Cowboys managed to win ugly over the Redskins, so what does it all mean? We look at the Pros and Cons.

• Mon Nov 23, 2009 EST
• Blogging The Boys
• By Dave Halprin

The Cowboys Escape the Redskins Death Embrace, 7-6

The Cowboys Escape the Redskins' Death Embrace, 7-6

• Sun Nov 22, 2009 EST
• Blogging The Boys
• By Rafael Vela

Week Eleven: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

BTB's Week Eleven: Fantasy Focus on the Dallas Cowboys

• Sat Nov 21, 2009 EST
• Blogging The Boys
• By Aaron Novinger