There was no mistaking the Cowboys got off to a more than shaky start to begin the season against the Buccaneers, including the loss of Dak Prescott with his thumb injury.
Alas, the 'Boys flipped the script against the reigning AFC champion Bengals in Week 2 behind a game-winning Brett Maher field goal and a monster performance from Micah Parsons. So, after a tough first week how does the national media view Dallas now?
Each week we'll survey the national media landscape and their weekly power rankings to get a sense how of the Cowboys are viewed, and how they stack up against the rest of the league.
NFL.com: 1.) Buffalo Bills 2.) Kansas City Chiefs 3.) Philadelphia Eagles 4.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5.) Green Bay Packers
21.) Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: No. 27)
"Cooper Rush made several big-time throws in his first start in place of Prescott, the biggest a 10-yard connection to CeeDee Lamb that put Dallas in field-goal position in the final minute. Lamb also received some much-needed help from fellow wideout Noah Brown, who had receptions on all five of his targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. If the Rush-led offense can stay this competent, a strong Dallas defense will keep this team afloat," – Dan Hanzus
FoxSports.com: 1.) Buffalo Bills 2.) Kansas City Chiefs 3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4.) Philadelphia Eagles 5.) Miami Dolphins
13.) Dallas Cowboys
"Credit to Cooper Rush and the Dallas offensive line for rising to the occasion, but the real star of the show was Micah Parsons. If the Dallas pass rush can hit every quarterback the way it hit Joe Burrow on Sunday, the Cowboys might just be able to hang around until Dak Prescott returns from injury," – David Helman
ESPN: 1.) Buffalo Bills 2.) Kansas City Chiefs 3.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4.) Los Angeles Rams 5.) Miami Dolphins
21.) Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: No. 26)
"Make Micah Parsons a full-time pass-rusher... He can be an All-Pro off-the-ball linebacker, too, but pass-rushers change the game more than those guys. Against Cincinnati, Parsons almost exclusively lined up at pass-rusher and had two sacks and was credited with 10 pressures. He has four sacks in two games. He can win with speed and power. The Cowboys want to be able to line Parsons up all over the field to create mismatches, which is smart, but he is often a mismatch when he lines up solely at defensive end, too." – Todd Archer
