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NFL Power Rankings 2012, Week 16: Cowboys keeping close in rankings

Dallas is doing just enough to stay in playoff contention in the NFC, and they're correspondingly teetering on the top 10 in most power rankings across the web.

By Ben Gellman-Chomsky
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys have won three straight, but all in close fashion, so the Internet's NFL pundits remain unconvinced of how strong this Dallas team actually is.

The Cowboys have reeled off a three-game winning streak after a 5-6 start, but the three wins have come by a combined nine points. With the Washington Redskins holding the tiebreaker for the NFC East and the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings leading in the Wild Card race, Dallas needs a few things to break its way in order to punch a postseason ticket.

SB Nation NFL editor Joel Thorman slots the Cowboys 12th in the league in his latest power rankings, writing:

It seems right to have all three of the top NFC East teams clustered together. The Cowboys aren't noticeably better or worse than the Giants or Redskins. This is coming down to Week 17.

Over at CBS Sports, senior NFL columnist Pete Prisco docks the Cowboys two ranks, sliding them down to 14th. Mike Florio of NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk has Dallas ranked ninth in the league in his latest estimate of the league's status. ESPN's power rankings roundup promotes the Cowboys three places to 10th in the league, espousing the Al Davis credo: "Just win, baby."


Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.