2021 NFL Power Rankings Week 13: Cowboys continue to slide, Packers bounce back

It’s really hard to figure out the Dallas Cowboys. They were recently on a six-game winning streak and seemed to be one of the best teams in the entire league. Then, they were smoked by the Denver Broncos at home, but that seemed to be a mere blip as they embarrassed the Atlanta Falcons the following week.

But then, they continued to trend downward as they lost in Kansas City despite a great showing from their defense and they struggled defensively against the Las Vegas Raiders at home. That ended in a 36-33 loss on Thanksgiving Day as the Cowboys fell to 7-4.

They’re still in first place in the NFC East and they have a very favorable stretch coming up with games against New Orleans, Washington, the New York Giants, and then Washington again. Having said that, they still don’t have too many signature wins. They secured wins over the Chargers who have been up and down and beat the Patriots before they got hot, but outside of that, they have been beating up on bad teams and struggling to finish against good ones.

One thing that could help them down the stretch, however, would be a return to health. They’re hoping to get Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Randy Gregory, and DeMarcus Lawrence back soon. They’re also considering sitting Ezekiel Elliott for a while to heal up his knee, which would be very beneficial for the stretch run.

Having said all that, something is wrong in Big D and they’re going to keep sliding until they figure it out.