ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

After a full day of travel and paying $2 a pop for soft drinks on ESPN's favorite new airline, I've arrived at my Midtown hotel. In a strange twist, my cab driver blocked the path of ESPN personality Kenny Mayne as he attempted to cross the street near 43rd and Sixth.

Oh, and who knew this was Fashion Week in New York? Certainly no one reading the NFC Beast Blog. Pretty large crowds gathering in Bryant Park for the annual event. I've been asked to stop by the Valentino tent later, but as one might guess, I have nothing to wear -- except for khaki shorts and a golf shirt that I hope to utilize for at least two days during this trip.

In other news, there's a buzz throughout the city about today's release of the ESPN.com power rankings. My colleague and master of the spreadsheet, Mike Sando, was kind enough to share our "secret" vote with several million readers. Hopefully you'll see where I voted three of the four teams of the NFC East higher than the rest of my colleagues. I'm not sure if this is due to my intimate knowledge of the four teams or flat-out bias toward the Beast. But truly, I think this is the most competitive division in the league, and it may be ready to surpass the AFC South as the best.

In case you don't have time to view Mike's powerpoint presentation, I voted the Cowboys No. 2 overall (bring it on!), the Giants eighth (Osi Umenyiora's injury cost them at least four spots), Eagles ninth (don't believe everything SI tells you) and the Redskins 16th (Don't sleep on Zorn).

In the final power rankings, the Cowboys finished third, the Giants eighth, the Eagles 12th and Redskins a (way too low) 19th. Behind closed doors, I've scolded each and every voter for underestimating The Beast.

In fact, things are really awkward between John Clayton and me right now.

Thanks for being patient while I traveled today. Now, I have to hit the streets to gather more research.

Make sure and look for my column on Thursday's Giants-Redskins game at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow.