Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
Of all our country's national holidays, ESPN.com's Week 1 NFL Power Rankings has to rank near the top. The rankings were released to the world at 2 p.m. ET and we'll be analyzing them throughout the afternoon and into the evening hours. Here's how the NFC East ranked:
17. Dallas Cowboys
Just in case you're interested, the voters this season are John Clayton, Jeff Chadiha, Paul Kuharsky and Mike Sando. I think they have the Giants and Eagles about right, although you could make an argument for the Giants being No. 2. I don't think the Steelers are the best team in football heading into this season, but this might be a reward for last season.
I'm not sure what happened in the Cowboys' preseason to convince the voters to drop them three spots to No. 17. The double tight end look with Jason Witten and Martellus Bennett blossomed and I don't have huge concerns with the defense. The Cowboys' season hinges on whether they can stay healthy -- but that applies to pretty much every team in the league.
The Skins are too low at No. 20. They would be the second-ranked team in at least two other divisions in the league. Don't sleep on the Redskins' defense. I'll be back with so much more.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Matt Mosley
Mosley, an award-winning writer for The Dallas Morning News for seven years, joined ESPN.com in January 2007. Mosley, a Baylor graduate, writes columns, features and blogs for ESPN.com.