Pre-preseason power rankings

[CalPolyTechnique]

Power rankings ARE stupid especially right now before training camp ends. But it does give an opinion of how good someone thinks a team can be. Dont we do that all day long on here?

Not to mention the fact they are heavily based on the fragrance (or stench) of the team's previous season, which is just stupid.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

They are only silly if they dont project what you want right?

No, no matter where they have Dallas it would be silly. It's clickbait and it serves it's purpose, but the majority of it will be wrong.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

What in the hell? The chiefs, raiders, Vikings Jaguars and Commanders are not better than us and I see no logical argument being formed to say otherwise.

When people say things like this, it makes me think that they only watch the Cowboys, and do not watch football around the league. Even if we stay healthy, which is a big if given the age of some of our major contributors, the Chiefs are better than us. Now that obviously could change, Charles Tapper could be a DROY player for us and Morris Claiborne could actually play like a guy we spent the #6 pick on, but more than likely, we'll have a defense with huge holes that has almost no ability to force turnovers and pressure the QB.

 

[Sydla]

1) The only DE that will be out for 4 games is Lawrence. Gregory did absolutely nothing last year so he is not our 2nd best DE. He was outperformed by David Irving who will be our bright spot this year.

2) Scandrick our best corner was not here last year. Byron Jones was not a full time safety and he was a rookie. Definitely not the same secondary And again the pass rush will be better this year than last.

3) linebacker depth is better this year than it was last year. So idk where that is coming from. McClain with his suspensions injuries and games spent trying to get into shape is balanced out with Durant.

In addition to the fact that our defense will get a lot more chances to pin their ears back and get after the qb since Romo and the boys will actually be putting up numbers on offense unlike last year. We saw that this formula worked just 2 years ago and we are upgraded at lots of positions from there til now. So that may be your reality but this is mine. As long as Romo is healthy this team will not see less than 10 wins saying 6 wins is ridiculous imo when Romo already took the 3rd worst defense in history to an 8-8 record. But then again all teams success is predicated on the health of their franchise qbs.

1) Gregory may have done nothing but clearly the team and many fans around here were counting on him making an impact at DE. He's one reason why we didn't spend any real money on DEs In free agency.

2) Scandrick was our best corner, but he also had a serious knee injury. We don't really know how he's going to play. He might return to form or he might struggle a bit getting his legs under him again. He wouldn't be the first player that took some time getting back to form after a serious injury. Hence, why he's a question mark at this point. Byron Jones still has never played a full season as a FS. Again, he might end up being an excellent FS. He also may end up being a disappointment. Hence, again, why he's a question mark. We don't have enough data to conclude that he's going to be this massive upgrade to the secondary.

3) LB depth is better? Not with McClain out for drugs. It's likely the same.

Maybe you just don't understand what I am saying. I am not discounting the possibility this team could win 11 games. They very well could. But you want to seem to ignore that there is a very real downside to a team that has a suspect defense and a QB that easily could miss games this year given his age and recent injury history. That's the whole point. Because there are so many ways this season could go, stating with complete certainty that this team is definitely better than say the Chiefs or Vikings is just homerism IMO. Could they be better? Absolutely. But there's nothing "certain" about it.

You do realize that 2014 might have been an anomaly right? You keep referencing that season as if that's the norm, the standard, by which we've seen from other Cowboys teams. When in fact, it's the outlier. More often than not, this team has trended right around that .500 level in recent years.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Unfortunately no.

 

[StarBoyz83]

I'll try, in no random order.

Pats, Steelers, Bengals, Chiefs, Green Bay, Cardinals, Seahawks, Panthers, Broncos. That's 9.

I think the Raiders will be better. They are a younger version of us with a better defense IMO. That's 10 teams. Vikings look better too so that's 11 teams you could argue could be better. Now it gets dicey. Jacksonville is loaded on defense and at the skill positions. They certainly could be better than us in 2016. So that's 12 teams. Skins won the division and improved this offseason and have a smart GM. They could certainly be better so that's 13 teams.

It's not hard to come up with 13 teams that could be better than us.

I mean realistically what are we? A potentially explosive offense led by a QB that is a question mark health wise and a defense that lacks real stars and talent and is counting on retreads and rookies and inexperienced guys to make major impacts early. This Cowboys team could be really good or be really mediocre. You just don't know.

I can agree with all of that. I'm just hoping we have a year like 2014 again. Hard to picture a sb run. But this should be a good season... the schedule is pretty easy and we are a pretty good team.

 

[AsthmaField]

Clearly, any team with Ezekiel Elliott should be number 1. I don't know what they were thinking.

 

[CowboyRoy]

No, no matter where they have Dallas it would be silly. It's clickbait and it serves it's purpose, but the majority of it will be wrong.

I agree. But really, power rankings are temporary. They are just what someone would rank them at that particular moment. As each game goes by in the season they change it up and down anyway.

With Dallas its really tough. Its really not a question of how many games will they win its more a question of how many games will Romo play. I think some people factor in his injury history.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

1) Gregory may have done nothing but clearly the team and many fans around here were counting on him making an impact at DE. He's one reason why we didn't spend any real money on DEs In free agency.

Considering they knew about the 4 game suspension, I'd say we are far worse than I thought, as far as management goes, if they let him factor into any long term decision. I can buy that they did not like the value out there in free agency and in the draft (we know they wanted the Okla St and Clemson DE, but they were taken before #34), but I can't fathom anyone thinking they could count on Randy Gregory.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

When people say things like this, it makes me think that they only watch the Cowboys, and do not watch football around the league. Even if we stay healthy, which is a big if given the age of some of our major contributors, the Chiefs are better than us. Now that obviously could change, Charles Tapper could be a DROY player for us and Morris Claiborne could actually play like a guy we spent the #6 pick on, but more than likely, we'll have a defense with huge holes that has almost no ability to force turnovers and pressure the QB.

Now do the other side of the ball.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Now do the other side of the ball.

We'll be fine with good health offensively. There are a few question marks, Romo could easily begin to show his age, you can almost pinpont when Manning got old. Terrence Williams is a more legit question mark, as well as Doug Free. However, if Romo plays well, the offense will make up for those 2. The defense could be pretty bad though, I think at best they are middle of the pack, but at worse, they can be bottom third of the league.

 

[Sydla]

Now do the other side of the ball.

Cowboys offense is much better. However, the Cowboys offense is completely reliant on a QB coming off a broken collarbone and has had back surgery recently. We saw how awful this team looks with Romo isn't around. The Chiefs are far more likely to survive an injury to their starting QB given the QB friendly system and the strong defense than the Cowboys can survive an injury to Romo, who basically makes the entire offense and possibly team go.

 

[Shuff]

Coming off 4-12, it's all you can really expect. Power rankings are kind of silly anyway.

It is really not that low, we have been a .500 team the last 20 years.

 

[Idgit]

It is really not that low, we have been a .500 team the last 20 years.

Oh, I know. But that's how power rankings work. You start where you left off, and then you work your way up as you win. That's what they're sort of all about.

 

[Jstopper]

When people say things like this, it makes me think that they only watch the Cowboys, and do not watch football around the league. Even if we stay healthy, which is a big if given the age of some of our major contributors, the Chiefs are better than us. Now that obviously could change, Charles Tapper could be a DROY player for us and Morris Claiborne could actually play like a guy we spent the #6 pick on, but more than likely, we'll have a defense with huge holes that has almost no ability to force turnovers and pressure the QB.

I watch games from every other team even the bad ones all the way from the jags to the bucs to the titans. The chiefs are not better than us. Again the grass is always greener

 

[Jstopper]

1) Gregory may have done nothing but clearly the team and many fans around here were counting on him making an impact at DE. He's one reason why we didn't spend any real money on DEs In free agency.

2) Scandrick was our best corner, but he also had a serious knee injury. We don't really know how he's going to play. He might return to form or he might struggle a bit getting his legs under him again. He wouldn't be the first player that took some time getting back to form after a serious injury. Hence, why he's a question mark at this point. Byron Jones still has never played a full season as a FS. Again, he might end up being an excellent FS. He also may end up being a disappointment. Hence, again, why he's a question mark. We don't have enough data to conclude that he's going to be this massive upgrade to the secondary.

3) LB depth is better? Not with McClain out for drugs. It's likely the same.

Maybe you just don't understand what I am saying. I am not discounting the possibility this team could win 11 games. They very well could. But you want to seem to ignore that there is a very real downside to a team that has a suspect defense and a QB that easily could miss games this year given his age and recent injury history. That's the whole point. Because there are so many ways this season could go, stating with complete certainty that this team is definitely better than say the Chiefs or Vikings is just homerism IMO. Could they be better? Absolutely. But there's nothing "certain" about it.

You do realize that 2014 might have been an anomaly right? You keep referencing that season as if that's the norm, the standard, by which we've seen from other Cowboys teams. When in fact, it's the outlier. More often than not, this team has trended right around that .500 level in recent years.

At this point we are just going to keep coming up with points to counter each other so I will just defer and say let the season show which teams are the best.

 

[LocimusPrime]

I just checked three Vegas betting sites they all have the Cowboys below 20. Odd sharks is one of the sites. Does anyone know where Vegas has us ranked high? I want to check it out.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Cowboys offense is much better. However, the Cowboys offense is completely reliant on a QB coming off a broken collarbone and has had back surgery recently. We saw how awful this team looks with Romo isn't around. The Chiefs are far more likely to survive an injury to their starting QB given the QB friendly system and the strong defense than the Cowboys can survive an injury to Romo, who basically makes the entire offense and possibly team go.

If healthy applies to every team in the league. For some reason it's really only used against the Cowboys though. I agree with your supposition that everything is speculation. But I disagree with the idea that other teams that are just as susceptible to injuries are somehow exempt from the same qualifier.

 

[LocimusPrime]

If healthy applies to every team in the league. For some reason it's really only used against the Cowboys though. I agree with your supposition that everything is speculation. But I disagree with the idea that other teams that are just as susceptible to injuries are somehow exempt from the same qualifier.

Gave u a like so you only need 10 more to break even. 1335-1325

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

I just checked three Vegas betting sites they all have the Cowboys below 20. Odd sharks is one of the sites. Does anyone know where Vegas has us ranked high? I want to check it out.

Vegas insider 8th
Football locks 8th
Oddshark tied for 8th
Westgate tied for 8th

Where are you looking?[/QUOTE]