The big news of the week: It snowed on the upper East Coast this week. In December. What a shocker. A snowstorm that hit the Philadelphia area forced a delay in the Eagles vs. Vikings game to Tuesday, December 28th, the first time since 1946 that the NFL had a Tuesday Night Football matchup.
Rumors that one of the networks had a hand in getting another game into prime time are of course completely unfounded. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called us a "Nation of Wusses" after the NFL announced it was moving the game. I wonder whether the league will be equally flexible if it snows in New Jersey on February 6th?
Regardless, the inclement weather not only postponed the Eagles game, but left us scrambling to get the weekly Power Rankings summary out. Some sources published on Tuesday, some on Wednesday. Those that published on Tuesday all have the Eagles ranked in the top three, the others don't. The Cowboys drop into the low twenties again, the Redskins close in on the Cowboys from below while the Giants exit the top 10 with a whimper.
[Note: 18 of 20 power rankings that we regularly track have published so far. We'll update the rest as they are released.]
1. Major Media Networks & Affiliates
SportingNews.com: 17th (n.c.). "Jason Garrett is providing the attitude adjustment needed to return this team to contender status in 2011."
Fox Sports: 21st (n.c.). "If I were in charge of personnel for the Cowboys, I'd go with RBs Tashard Choice and Felix Jones as the main ball carriers going forward. The versatile Choice could easily start for over half of all NFL teams."
ESPN: 22nd (-4). "Jerry Jones is still fuming about the Christmas loss to Arizona. He should be mad. (Clayton) "
SI.com: 22nd (-4). "The Cowboys are now only 4-3 under interim head coach Jason Garrett, but their three losses have been by three points to the playoff-bound Saints, three points to the playoff-bound Eagles, and one point to the going-nowhere Cardinals. That's six pretty good showings in seven games, and it would seem Garrett has proven the job's not too big for him."
NFL.com's Brain Trust of Experts: 22nd (-5).
USAToday.com: 23rd (-6).
2. Blogs & Other Media
ColdHardFootballFacts.com: 18th (-1). "Jason Witten needs 44 yards to hit 1,000 for the third time in four years; considering his reputation as the league’s best blocking tight end, that’s a mighty impressive run."
ProFootballWeekly: 19th (n.c.). "Mike Jenkins must come back in 2011 a completely different player."
Fanhouse.com: 20th (-1). "Big D just edged the San Diego Chargers for the most "Wait, did we really just lose?" games in 2010 with their thorough domination of the Arizona Cardinals. For Cowboys fans, the key word their painfully again being "lose.""
Weii.com: 20th (-2). "The Cowboys will wrap up a disappointing season against the Eagles on Sunday. What Jerry Jones will do in the offseason is an intriguing question. Jason Garrett has done a great job since taking over for Wade Phillips — the Cowboys are 4-3 since the switch. Jones needs to take a step back from the player-personnel decisions in order for Dallas to be successful."
SBNation.com: 23rd (-2): "The Cowboys had the game against the Cardinals won and then....poof. It's gone. Sort of like their season."
ProFootballTalk.com: 23rd (-4). "If Jerry Jones is "mad as hell" now, just wait to see how he’ll feel when someone else is running around with the Lombardi Trophy on the floor of Cowboys Stadium."
CBSSports.com: 25th (-5). "Is there one more game left in the Jason Garrett era? Or does he get the job full-time? That will be an interesting decision."
3. Statistics, Computer & Vegas rankings
[updated] AdvancedNFLstats: 19th (-4). Offense ranked No. 9 (-4), defense ranked No. 29 (-2). This ranking model includes offensive and defensive passing and running efficiency, offensive turnover rates, defensive interception rates, and team penalty rates.
Jeff Sagarin's NFL rankings: 24th (-2). These are rankings based on W/L record, points differential and schedule strength.
FootballOutsiders.com: 24th (-1). Offense ranked No. 21 (-2), Defense No. 28 (n.c.), Special Teams No. 13 (-1).
Covers.com: 24th (-3). "Dallas regained a lot positive momentum prior to last week but laid an egg in Arizona. The Cowboys could use a win in Philadelphia as a springboard into next season."
WhatIFsports: 26th (-1). These guys simulate every possible match-up in the NFL 100 times, and use the winning percentages from those nearly 50,000 games to evaluate every team, with updated rosters and depth charts.
Below is how the NFC East fared in this week's power rankings.
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| This Week | Last Week | This Week | Last Week | This Week | Last Week | This Week | Last Week | |
| SportingNews |
17 |
17 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 25 | 26 |
| CHFF.com | 18 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 27 | 28 |
| AdvancedNFLstats | 19 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 21 |
| ProFootballWeekly | 19 | 19 | 2 |
3 |
12 | 9 | 21 | 24 |
| Weii.com | 20 | 18 | 7 | 3 |
12 | 10 | 25 | 27 |
| Fanhouse.com | 20 | 19 | 2 |
3 |
14 | 10 | 26 | 28 |
| Foxsports | 21 | 21 | 5 |
4 |
13 |
9 |
20 | 27 |
| NFL.com | 22 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 27 |
| ESPN | 22 |
18 |
7 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 26 |
| SI.com | 22 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
11 | 21 | 26 |
| USAToday | 23 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 28 |
| ProFootballTalk | 23 |
19 |
7 |
3 |
14 |
9 |
24 | 29 |
| SB Nation | 23 | 21 | 7 |
3 |
12 |
10 |
22 | 28 |
| Covers.com | 24 | 21 | 6 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
23 | 25 |
| Sagarin Ratings | 24 | 22 | 9 |
5 |
10 |
10 |
22 | 25 |
| Football Outsiders |
24 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
6 |
29 | 29 |
| CBSsports | 25 | 20 | 7 |
5 |
12 |
9 |
22 | 22 |
| Whatifsports | 26 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
4 |
20 | 20 |
| NFP.com | - - | 16 | - - | 3 | - - | 14 | - - | 29 |
| Betus.com | - - | 18 | - - | 4 | - - | 10 | - - | 25 |
| Average | 21.8 | 19.1 |
5.7 |
3.7 | 11.1 | 8.7 | 23.1 | 26.0 |