Cowboys Rise In Power Rankings; Dak Prescott Wins Player of the Week

Did the throttling of Washington in prime time send a message that Dallas can hang with the top teams in the NFC come playoff time?

The Dallas Cowboys are NFC East Division champions for the first time since 2018 and fresh off a 56-14 domination of the Washington Football Team. Quarterback Dak Prescott set a unique NFL record in his crisp outing while the defense continues to frighten foes with the likes of Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, Randy Gregory, and DeMarcus Lawrence.

Oh, and the offense isn't too bad, either, with QB Dak Prescott on Wednesday being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 16.

Prescott threw for over 300 yards and four TDs in the blowout win.

Dallas is currently No. 2 in the NFC with a chance to climb to begin a stretch run to the playoffs. With postseason nearing, expect to hear the "Cowboys" and "Super Bowl" together a lot this week.

Did the throttling of Washington in prime time send a message that Dallas can hang with the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams come playoff time? Where do the Cowboys stack up in Sports Illustrated's Week 17 Power Rankings? After Sunday's win, Dallas is at No. 3. (The Chiefs are No. 1, the Packers No. 2.)

The Cowboys are still loaded on offense and now very scary on defense. They should not be afraid of anybody in the playoffs, even if they have to go on the road. I’ll be interested to see how many people pick them as their NFC Super Bowl team, and if the most popular team in the country tries to claim it’s been counted out.

The Cowboys' 56 points vs. Washington are the second-most in franchise history behind two 59-point outings in 1968 and 1980. Following Prescott's 330 passing yards and four touchdowns in the win, the team leader emphasized Dallas' postseason goals: 

“It felt good. Obviously, winning the division is something that you set a team goal to do at the beginning of the year and to get the T-shirts and hats – that’s a cool thing, but I guarantee you that nobody in the locker room is satisfied with that.”

The Cowboys have +490 odds to win the NFC conference on FanDuel. On a four-game winning streak, Dallas hosts a very motivated Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray on Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.