As you may have heard, each of the four teams in the NFC East lost in Week 9. This means that none of the four teams in the NFC East were able to move up in this week's NFL Power Rankings. You may or may not think that's fair, but that's how Power Rankings roll. Here's a look.
5. New York Giants (Last week: 2). I had them at No. 2 last week and dropped them to No. 4 this week. Couldn't sink them behind the 49ers, as the memory of the extent to which they beat them in San Francisco remains in my mind. I jumped the 7-1 Texans and the 7-1 Bears ahead of them, which I feel is justified. Ashley Fox also put them fourth. Everybody else ranked the Giants No. 6 this week.
18. Dallas Cowboys (14). A road loss to the undefeated No. 1 team in the poll didn't feel like grounds for a big drop, but we're at the point in the season where I think we really have to start leaning on 2012 performance as the sole determining factor for these rankings. So my drop of the Cowboys from 12 to 17 was an adjustment based on more than one week's worth of evidence. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami and Detroit all moved ahead of the Cowboys on my ballot, for the somewhat simple reason that they're all having better seasons. I think the Cowboys can be better than the 17th-best team in the league, but to this point I don't think they've done anything to deserve a better ranking. My 17 is still the highest ranking they received in this week's poll. Jamison Hensley's 21 was the lowest.
19. Washington Redskins (19). The Redskins got to stay put in spite of their disappointing home loss to the No. 29 Panthers. I dropped them from 14 to 18 after their third loss in a row, and again, that's the highest anyone in the poll ranked them. Mike Sando has them down at 24. I couldn't move the Saints or Chargers ahead of them, and while the Eagles may have a case, they don't really have much of a leg to stand on. Speaking of which...
21. Philadelphia Eagles (18). They started the season at No. 7. There is no team, over the past two years, that has consistently fallen shorter of external expectations. But at this point, after they couldn't even get the offense going in New Orleans of all places, we have to believe they're just a bad team. I have them at 22. Ashley has them at 18. John Clayton has them at 23. That's the range, and it's pretty far from the range in which the Eagles expected to be at this or any other point this season.
So, what do you guys think?