Week 3 turned the NFC East on its head, and the Dallas Cowboys were right in the middle of the chaos after their wild loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Rio.
Dallas dropped a game it had every chance to win, but the division picture got even stranger around them. The Washington Commanders, who entered the week as the only NFC East team without a division win, pulled off the shocker of the slate by taking down the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks even with Marcus Mariota starting.
The New York Giants added to the surprise-filled weekend with a 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans. Then on Monday night, the Philadelphia Eagles ran into a buzzsaw of their own, falling 27-7 to the Chicago Bears, who were down to third-string quarterback Case Keenum.
For Washington, the win in Seattle changed the tone fast. The Commanders had already lost to Philadelphia in the opener and to Dallas in Week 2, and with Jayden Daniels injured, they had started to look buried.
Instead, that result gave them life heading into a trip to London to face the 1-2 Indianapolis Colts. Another win would push them right back into the conversation despite the rough start.
Dallas, meanwhile, is left with a frustrating but familiar storyline. The loss to Baltimore will linger, but it also showed the Cowboys can hang with anybody.
The problem is the same one that keeps showing up: self-inflicted mistakes. That has been the theme for years, and it showed up again in a game that slipped away.
The good news for Dallas is that the next stretch offers a chance to respond quickly. The Cowboys get the 0-3 Houston Texans next, then turn around for a Thursday matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tampa will be without Baker Mayfield, giving Dallas a real opportunity to stack two wins in a short window. The bigger question is whether the Cowboys have the mental toughness to do it.
New York’s season has already taken a sharp turn. The Giants opened with a statement win over Dallas, then lost Jaxson Dart in Week 2.
They traded for J.J. McCarthy, though that move feels like a step down from Jameis Winston, even if Winston’s brand of football comes with plenty of wrong-team throws.
Their win over Tennessee keeps them in second place, and Cam Skattebo has been a force. Still, the Giants also lost Brian Burns, and the outlook could be drifting toward 2027 before long.
Philadelphia entered Monday night with a 2-0 start and looked like the clear team to chase in the division. Then Chicago stunned them.
Jalen Hurts remains exactly what the Eagles have shown all season: a quarterback who can look brilliant one week and out of sync the next. The Eagles are still the favorites in the East, but their loss opened the door just enough to remind everyone that Dallas is not done yet, even after a disappointing start.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones Just Turned Cowboys Loss Into An Accountability Fight
The Cowboys left Maracan Stadium with more than just a loss to the Ravens. A sequence of shaky play-calling helped turn a promising stretch into a field goal, and the late-game clock management only added to the frustration as Dallas tried to regroup from a trip that exposed some familiar issues on offense. With the Texans up next, the attention around the defeat has already shifted from what happened on the field to who should answer for it.
Jerry Jones made sure the conversation did not stay on the scoreboard. The Cowboys owner and general manager publicly questioned the coaching staff's decisions, while offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer accepted responsibility for a key third-down call. For a team trying to steady itself before another divisional test on the calendar, the bigger question now is whether this becomes a one-game critique or the start of a broader accountability push. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Safety Crisis May Force A Move Faster Than Expected
Early in the 2026 season, the Cowboys are already dealing with a thin safety room after injuries have hit Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson. The result is a depth chart that suddenly looks vulnerable, and it has pushed Dallas toward evaluating outside help before the problem gets any worse.
Several names are already in the mix as the team weighs its next step, including Caleb Ransaw, Cole Wisniewski, Donovan McMillon and free agent Donovan Wilson. However the Cowboys choose to patch the spot, the urgency is real, because safety is one of the few areas where an early-season injury pileup can force a move faster than a team planned. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Rookie Defender Made A Strong Case In Brazil
The Cowboys trip to Brazil ended with a crushing loss to the Ravens on a last-second field goal, but the game still offered a useful early look at several rookies on Dallas defense. Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, Jaishawn Barham and LT Overton all had moments that stood out in a game that gave the staff plenty to evaluate beyond the final score, especially with the spotlight on how the young players handled a high-pressure setting far from home.
There were encouraging flashes in the groups performance, and at least one of those rookies made a strong case with the kind of play that tends to catch coaches attention quickly. Still, the outing also showed the usual rookie growing pains, with each player leaving Brazil having given Dallas reasons to feel better about the future and reasons to keep coaching the details moving forward. [Read more 🡒]