Dallas Cowboys Are Still the Team to Beat in the NFC East

The National Football League is a "what have you done for me lately?" kind of business. I get it. Every week, journalists and experts alike feed us overreaching opinions to stir debate and continue to development controversial subplots throughout the regular season. 

Despite last week's thrashing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints and a mediocre 5-5 record, the Dallas Cowboys are still the favorite to win the NFC East. 

The Cowboys obviously have some flaws, most notably their porous Monty Kiffin-led defense. But through 10 weeks they're still tied for the division lead and remain undefeated in the division (3-0).

They're supremely talented on both sides of the ball, and they've had three losses to playoff teams (Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions) by a total of just five points. What the Cowboys are most guilty of this year is playing to their competition, but by that logic, they're capable of beating anyone any given week.  

Dallas journalist Tim Cowlishaw recently argued that the Cowboys are no longer the favorites in the division and that the offense has fallen apart.

I'm not sure that we've been watching the same team over the last five weeks. While the loss to the Saints was ugly, the last five weeks have produced two stress-free division wins (Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins) and a 48-point effort against the Broncos that nearly resulted in a huge upset victory. 

Let's not overreact to one bad week. 

The Cowboys have the eighth-easiest schedule the rest of the way, according to NFL Trade Rumors, and their competition in the division remains suspect. The Eagles are 0-10 in their last 10 home games, and while the hype around Nick Foles is well-deserved, all they've done is beat up on two subpar teams the last few weeks. Their defense has also been awful, and if we're simply comparing offenses my money's on the Cowboys. 

At 3-6, the Redskins and New York Giants are too far back to catch the Cowboys and Eagles. The Redskins made a nice run last year, but their defense might be the worst of the bunch and Robert Griffin III has regressed in his sophomore year. The Giants have recovered after a 0-6 start, but Eli Manning has been erratic, and the defense is too soft to lead them to a playoff berth this year. 

Even after an injury-plagued 5-5 start with a few bad losses on the resume, the Cowboys are still the favorite in the weak NFC East. The 'Boys need to do a better job of utilizing their weapons on offense and find a way to apply more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. 

The Cowboys haven't been a model of consistency, but they're still the strongest team in the division.

Don't let journalists convince you that the sky is falling after one bad performance against arguably the best team in the NFC. They'll still be very relevant come December.