Are the Cowboys better than the Eagles? NFL Power Rankings round-up

Are the Cowboys better than the Eagles? Most national sports outlets seem to think so.

Headed into Week 6, nearly every major NFL power ranking has the Cowboys edging out the Eagles (the only exception is USA Today). Even Daily News columnist Paul Domowitch ranks the Cowboys (#8) ahead of the Eagles (#13) in his latest power rankings.

On the face of it, it's not hard to see why the Eagles have dipped a bit. Their loss to the subpar Lions happened on the same day the Cowboys steamrolled the Bengals, an impressive win considering they were without injured playmaker Dez Bryant for the second week in a row.

The Eagles will face a tough road game Sunday in Washington without their best offensive lineman, Lane Johnson, who has been suspended 10 games for ingesting a banned performance-enhancing substance. Fifth-round rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai will step in to replace Johnson at right tackle, and defensive end Brandon Graham (who has faced off against him in practice) doesn't think there will be much of a drop-off.

"I think he can make any block, and he's not afraid to take risks out there. . . . He's not scared to get in your face and go at it," Graham told Daily News reporter Les Bowen. "He's strong. You can't bull-rush him."

The Cowboys also face a tough matchup, as they head to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers, who are in need of a win to keep up with the high-flying Vikings. The biggest potential stumbing block for the Cowboys seems to be the looming return of Tony Romo, but so far, everyone from rookie quarterback Dak Prescott to team owner Jerry Jones seems to be saying the right things.

Here how the national outlets rank the Eagles entering Week 6:

ESPN (Eagles ranked #11 | Last week's rank, #7)

"Both Doug Pederson and QB Carson Wentz took their first career losses this past week, but a one-point road loss is nothing to stress over. A loss this week at the Redskins, however, won't help in their pursuit of the Cowboys in the NFC East."

NFL Network (Eagles rank #9 | Last week's rank, #6)

"Hard to get after Carson Wentz for chucking the deep ball ( that was ultimately intercepted) on the Eagles' last-gasp attempt in Detroit. Wentz has performed brilliantly, and he threw his first pick on the 135th pass of his young career. Now, Ryan Mathews' fumble? Dude. It's third-and-2, and the sweep play didn't have a prayer of making the first down. Cover up the ball. At the very least, carry the ball in the offside arm. Mathews' primary job was to run the clock down, which requires keeping the ball."

Bleacher Report (Eagles rank #7 | Last week's rank, #3)

"Philadelphia's biggest opponent wasn't wearing Honolulu Blue on Sunday.

"It was wearing black and white stripes. Philadelphia couldn't get out of its own way in a game it probably should have won in Detroit.

"The flags kept on flying. Coordinator Jim Schwartz's defense was too aggressive when it hit a sliding Matthew Stafford and took his helmet off on separate plays. Both 15-yard flags kept Lions drives going.

"Penalties erased big offensive plays too. Example: Ryan Mathews busted a huge run with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter that was instantly brought back on a holding call. It's clear this team was rusty coming out of its early bye week.

"Carson Wentz was still impressive, but even he couldn't get his team out of its perpetual 1st-and-20 hole in Week 5. "

CBS Sports (Eagles rank #9 | Last week's rank, #5)

"They lost for the first time, which means their bye came at a bad time. The defense didn't look as good against the Lions."

Washington Post (Eagles rank #11 | Last week's rank, #5)

"The Eagles very well may have been wronged on the lost fumble that cost them the game against the Lions. It does appear that center Jason Kelce touched the football while he was out of bounds and Philadelphia should have been awarded possession. Even so, there was a simple way to have avoided all of that: Ryan Mathews shouldn't have fumbled in the first place."

SB Nation (Eagles rank #10 | Last week's rank, #5)

"A fall from five to 10 isn't a deep fall so to speak, but the Philadelphia Eagles looked very mortal on Sunday against the Detroit Lions — a team that looked like one the league's worst in the first four weeks.

"The Eagles defense shredded everyone in the first four weeks and actually did a good job slowing down the Lions offense after spotting them an early lead, but a controversial fumble and a rare rookie mistake by Carson Wentz opened the door for the Lions to steal the win back.

"It shouldn't be a huge concern for the Eagles, but the team doesn't look like it'll breeze through competition the way it did the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago."

Yahoo! Sports (Eagles rank #9 | Last week's rank, #5)

"[T]he Eagles have a really tough schedule coming up. We'll get to see how rookie quarterback Carson Wentz and rookie coach Doug Pederson handle some adversity."

USA Today (Eagles rank #9 | Last week's rank, #5)

"Time to see how they can cope with a touch of adversity with three division road games and a date with the Vikings over the next four weeks."