NFL Week 7: Dallas Cowboys or Seattle Seahawks at No. 3 in League?

We know who the top two teams are, but are the Dallas Cowboys or Seattle Seahawks the third best team heading into NFL Week 7?

After six weeks, it’s fairly obvious who the top two teams in the league are, but which NFL team is third heading into NFL Week 7? Only two clubs fit the bill. Is it the Dallas Cowboys or Seattle Seahawks?

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Do you favor dominating defense or a punishing run game? Can a rookie quarterback instill enough confidence over a former Super Bowl champion under center? These are the questions to be answered as we breakdown the third-best team in the NFL.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, discuss NFL Week 7 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

I feel confident that you will agree the two best teams in the league right now are the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots. This may not end up being the Super Bowl matchup, but each of these teams is at least a head above the rest of its conference—if not both head and shoulders above.

The only other teams in football with one loss are the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. I can’t bring myself to believe in the Cowboys’ supremacy. Their defense somehow shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 6, but this is still a bad unit. The Dallas defense is not good! It was 25th in the NFL in DVOA before the Green Bay game and something seems off with the Packers. I’m not sure the Cowboys deserve too much credit defensively. Their offense is special on the ground, but it still leaves me wanting more through the air. Maybe the numbers bear out so that’s not correct or fair, but it’s how I feel. I would never be scared playing the Cowboys if they drop back to pass.

As for Seattle, it was the only team in Football Outsiders’ pre-Week-6 top seven that actually won its game. (Minnesota was ranked first but had a bye.) Seattle still has a dominant defense. The offense is really what is holding the Seahawks back, but they are winning nonetheless. And put me in the camp that believes Russell Wilson is not healthy even though he was “feeling way better” after the team’s bye. That means Seattle is 4-1 having not had anything resembling a healthy offense.

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I also like teams that have a strength that is really a strength. Sure, it’s good to be well-rounded, but give me a team that is the best at something instead. Seattle is one of the best teams on defense. I was ready to put Atlanta in this discussion because its offense is arguably the best, but since the Seahawks just beat it head-to-head, it falls out of the top three discussion. A healthy Pittsburgh team could be that in the AFC, but now Ben Roethlisberger is recovering from surgery. The Seahawks seem like the team that qualifies as third best behind the Vikings and Patriots.

Dan Salem:

I’m not ready to pencil them in for the Super Bowl, but New England and Minnesota are easily the top two teams in the NFL right now. Selecting the third best football team requires a bit more foresight and NFL wherewithal.

While you are struggling to believe in the Cowboys, I feel just as strongly against the Seahawks right now. They have an excellent defense, which has been proven to win championships of late. Yet the team was exposed by one of the league’s premiere offenses, the Atlanta Falcons. That makes Seattle human on defense, while their offense has done little to warrant praise as of yet. The combo of Russell Wilson to Jimmy Graham has shown flashes, but I need to see this team put up points against Buffalo and New England in week’s nine and ten before I’m ready to anoint them as third best.

The Atlanta Falcons were very close to being third in the league, but having lost to Seattle knocks them down a peg. I believe the Dallas Cowboys are third best in the NFL heading into Week 7. Not only do they have an incredible running game on offense, but they have a dynamic quarterback who has only thrown one interception all season. Plus they have an excellent backup quarterback, none other than Tony Romo upon his return, who would otherwise be the starter if not for fate and Dak Prescott. Dallas does not need to throw the ball a lot to win. That is a misnomer. The Cowboys have proven that you can win with a running game and a mistake-free passing game.

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I hear your complaints about the Dallas defense, but show me one other team on their remaining schedule that this unit can’t stop. Show me one team, outside of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13, that should even scare this Cowboys team. Pittsburgh has been too schizophrenic this season. This leaves Dallas as the favorite in every game but one for the rest of the year. The defense has held opponents to fewer than 20 points in four straight games now, including two previously prolific passing attacks. The Cowboys have earned their place as third in the NFL.