Coach Mike McCarthy's 'Overconfident' Dallas Cowboys Sink In NFL Power Rankings; How Low?

The Dallas Cowboys went from being in the discussion for the best team in the league to nearly out of the top 10. "Overconfidence'' a problem? “I don’t think we took them lightly,'' coach Mike McCarthy insists. "They have guys that can play. You can’t take anybody lightly.”

On Sunday, the possibly too-confident Dallas Cowboys hit the road and took on an Arizona Cardinals team that they were expected to throttle.

That was far from the case for the Cowboys, who came into the game being discussed as one of the best teams in the league. They were also in the discussion for having the best defense in the entire NFL, which did not appear to be the case against a Cardinals offense led by Josh Dobbs, that ended up winning the game 28-16.

So ... was Dallas overconfident?

“I don’t think we took them lightly,'' coach Mike McCarthy insisted. "They have guys that can play. You can’t take anybody lightly.”

Maybe so. But ... Arizona got on the board early and often, going up by as many as nine points in the first quarter, and by as many as 12 points in the second quarter. The Dallas offense simply wasn't able to match them blow-for-blow, and a touchdown-less second half did them no favors. 

One week after being viewed as the No. 2 team in the NFL, Dallas has since fallen nearly out of the top 10 dropping all the way to No. 7 behind teams such as the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills according to Sporting News. Vinnie Iyer cited the offense's struggles and lasting effects from losing Trevon Diggs for the season as why they lost. 

"The Cowboys took the Cardinals lightly offensively, and once they fell behind, they couldn't dig deep enough with Dak Prescott to recover. No Trevon Diggs may be a bigger emotional blow to the defense than anticipated."

Whatever they think the reason for the loss was, needs to be figured out and addressed in-house because the Cowboys schedule is only going to get more difficult. After a matchup with the Patriots this week, three of their next four games will be against opponents that are ranked within the top 15 of the power rankings. 

It is still early in the season, but to have all of the momentum from their first two weeks be completely overshadowed by one game is awfully concerning to some.