A weekly examination of the Cowboys’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 20 | Last Week: 18 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

The ESPN.com voters liked what the Cowboys did in their Week 1 36-31 win over the New York Giants with their six takeaways and mostly mistake-free offense, moving from No. 18 in the poll to No. 13.

The only team to make a bigger move in the weekly rankings was Philadelphia, jumping from No. 25 to No. 14. The New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans and New York Jets also moved up five spots, like the Cowboys.

The Cowboys are the seventh-best NFC team, according to the rankings. That’s still on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, and yes, I realize it’s ridiculously early to mention postseason talk in September.

But if form holds -- and if our voters know what they’re doing -- the Cowboys could get off to a hot start to the season and climb even more. Their next three foes all rank below them: Kansas City Chiefs (20), St. Louis Rams (15) and San Diego Chargers (26).

If they can start 4-0, that would set up a terrific Oct. 6 meeting at AT&T Stadium against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, who are third in the rankings this week.