Power Rankings: NFC East now domination central

College football has the SEC. The NFL has the NFC East.

Power, baby, power.

In the South where I live, the local college-football-is-religion fans always prop up the Southeastern Conference, extolling the power of the league. Rightfully so. The SEC is the king of college football this year, with four teams in the top 10.

We expect that kind of power from a college conference. We don't from one division in the NFL.

But after three weeks of the NFL season, the NFC East is a combined 10-2, the only two losses coming to division teams. They are undefeated against the rest of the NFL.

Power, baby, power.

The division features the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the best team in football right now in the Dallas Cowboys, a Philadelphia Eagles team that nearly upset the Cowboys on the road last Monday night and a Washington Redskins team that has won two straight behind a quarterback who seems to have arrived.

In putting together the CBSSports.com Power Rankings this week, the thing that stands out is how top heavy it is with the NFC East. The Cowboys remain atop the rankings after going to Green Bay and beating up a good Packers team.

The Giants, who escaped with an overtime victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, are second. The Eagles are in the fifth spot. The Redskins, whose only loss came to the Giants, are in the 12th spot.

We expected the division to be tough, but this good?

Right now it would be hard to argue against an NFC East team playing in the Super Bowl -- unless they beat the daylights out of each other.

With only two games between the teams so far, it means we have plenty of division wars left to come. Will the team that wins the division be a group of battled-tested warriors or a beaten-up, punch-drunk champ who just happened to be the last team standing?

The way the Cowboys are going, it might be the former. They have an offense that can't be stopped and a defense that showed signs of coming to life against the Packers.

The NFC East is the SEC of the NFL.

How y'all like them rigors of the NFC East?

The Power Rankings after Week 3:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Titans · Trends	1
	Now that they've shown they can pass it to win games, where are the weak spots? There aren't any. They can essentially clinch home-field advantage by beating the Jets this week.
	2	Giants · Trends	2
	Here's the plan: They tell you they're going to run it, and then they do it. Get ready, Cardinals. The Mack truck offense is coming.
	3	Panthers · Trends	3
	It hasn't been pretty the past two weeks, but is it ever with this team? At 8-2, do we really know if they're any good? We might after they go to Atlanta this week.
	4	Buccaneers · Trends	4
	Don't you get the impression that they're getting better each week? They could be the sleeper team in the NFC. Jeff Garcia is playing well.
	5	Jets · Trends	7
	They proved by beating the Patriots last week that they are a legitimate contender. They do have to work on that pass defense. They get their crack at Tennessee this week.
	6	Cardinals · Trends	8
	They can prove all of the doubters wrong by beating the Giants this week. If they do, they just might end up as the NFC's second seed.
	7	Cowboys · Trends	9
	Getting Tony Romo back is huge, but so is having Terence Newman healthy at corner. They are healthy now, which readies them for a six-game run to the playoffs.
	8	Colts · Trends	11
	For the first time this season the offense looks to be getting into a groove. The defense remains a worry, especially when Bob Sanders isn't playing.
	9	Steelers · Trends	12
	The best thing to come out of the San Diego game was seeing Ben Roethlisberger throwing it better. That will be the key to the playoff run.
	10	Patriots · Trends	6
	They have a huge one this week with the Dolphins. The winner might be tied for first place if the Jets lose. The loser could be in playoff trouble.
	11	Dolphins · Trends	18
	Yes, they are playing a big game in November. Can you believe it? It has been a nice start for first-year coach Tony Sparano.
	12	Broncos · Trends	20
	They've fought through a bunch of injuries and now look to be the team to beat in the AFC West. As they get healthy, they should be even better, especially when they get Champ Bailey back.
	13	Falcons · Trends	10
	They have a chance to bounce back in a big way from that loss to the Broncos by beating the Panthers this week. If they don't, they will be traveling the wild-card route at best.
	14	Redskins · Trends	5
	They've lost consecutive games at home and the passing game has struggled in both. Jason Campbell needs to get it going again the way he did early this season -- or they'll be watching come playoff time.
	15	Packers · Trends	19
	After two tough road games they got right against the Bears last week. They are tied for the division lead now and the good thing for the rest of the season is that Ryan Grant got it going Sunday.
	16	Ravens · Trends	13
	There's no shame in losing to the Giants on the road. The big shocker is that the defense got pushed around. That doesn't happen often.
	17	Eagles · Trends	14
	After that terrible tie at Cincinnati, they must now go on the road again to play the Ravens. Wonder if Donovan McNabb knows that this game will be 60 minutes long?
	18	Bears · Trends	17
	The defense is a sieve. Hard to believe this is a team known for tough, physical defense. It just isn't happening and the passing game can't keep up when the Bears fall behind.
	19	Saints · Trends	22
	The next four weeks are brutal. It starts with a Monday home game against Green Bay, followed by Tampa Bay on the road, home against Atlanta and at Chicago. We'll know if they're in it after that.
	20	Vikings · Trends	15
	I'm tired of saying it: Their passing game isn't good enough. Gus Frerotte can't overcome his shortcomings.
	21	Browns · Trends	24
	They still have playoff hopes, thanks to Phil Dawson's 56-yard field goal. Brady Quinn is going to be a heck of a player. The defense still has issues.
	22	Bills · Trends	16
	What has gone wrong with Trent Edwards? Did that hit in Arizona change his game? It sure looks like it.
	23	Chargers · Trends	23
	L.T. doesn't do much anymore and the defense can't stop anybody. Is this really the same Chargers team that went to the AFC title game last season?
	24	Jaguars · Trends	21
	Their playoff chances are basically over. It will be interesting to see if they play hard down the stretch now that they're 4-6.
	25	Texans · Trends	25
	It's going to be another playoff-less season. That has to change next season or Gary Kubiak could be out in 2010.
	26	49ers · Trends	30
	It's too bad they can't play the Rams every week. They might be playoff bound if they could. They're playing harder under Mike Singletary, that's for sure.
	27	Bengals · Trends	28
	They have a victory and a tie in the past two games. That's progress. The good thing for next season is that the young defensive players are playing better.
	28	Rams · Trends	26
	If they didn't have to play the first half, they'd be OK. They've been blown out the past three weeks in the first halves of games.
	29	Seahawks · Trends	27
	Hard to believe this team is way down here. But even the return of Matt Hasselbeck can't turn things around. Why? The defense has been terrible.
	30	Raiders · Trends	29
	They battled in Miami, but they just don't do enough on offense. The change to having Tom Cable call the plays hasn't exactly worked. Maybe it's the players.
	31	Chiefs · Trends	31
	Tyler Thigpen is showing that maybe, just maybe, he might be this team's quarterback of the future. The next six games will tell us that.
	32	Lions · Trends	32
	I know Daunte Culpepper almost beat the Panthers, but is it really wise to be playing him? Don't they need to find out about Drew Stanton?