Eagles fans, I come in peace. I am bearing gifts, so please don't throw virtual snowballs at me.

Here's a look at the various power rankings out there heading into week 9. I publish this post regularly on Blogging the Boys. In anticipation of our upcoming game, I've adapted the post with Eagles content, and thought it might be worthwhile to post here.

For your reading pleasure, the post is subdivided into three different sections by type of power rankings. I'll try to include the final updates by Wednesday night.

1. Klick me, pleeeaaase. Major Media Networks & Affiliates

ESPN:

• Cowboys: 8th (+1). "Don't look now, but the Cowboys are quietly sneaking up on people and playing like a playoff team. (Clayton)"
• Eagles: 9th (+3). "The young legs of LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson have the Eagles' offense soaring. (Clayton)"

SportingNews.com:

• Cowboys: 7th (+3). "Tony Romo is on a mistake-free roll. Next up, a date in Philly for the NFC East lead."
• Eagles: 9th (+5). "Young playmakers make their offense far less dependent on Brian Westbrook's health."

NFL.com's Brain Trust of Experts: Cowboys 8th (+4), Eagles 7th (+4).

Pete Prisco at CBSSports.com:

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). "Is it time to stop ripping on Tony Romo? He's playing some of his best football. The defense, which was a problem much of the season, is playing better."
• Eagles: 8th (+-0). "We get Eagles-Cowboys this week for first place in the NFC East. That should be fun. The Eagles are rolling after that Oakland disaster two weeks ago."

NationalFootballPost:

• Cowboys: 9th (+-0). "Tony Romo is playing his best football and Miles Austin is showing that he wasn’t a one-week wonder. Can they go into Philly and take over first place in the East?"
• Eagles: 8th (+4). "The Philly big-play offense isn’t slowing down after they rolled the G-Men at home—and their defense continues to force turnovers."

Michael Silver at Yahoo Sports:

• Cowboys: 10th (+-0). "Can they compete in Philly next Sunday, or will they collapse like they did nine months ago with their season on the line?"
• Eagles: 9th (+5). "Is there a single fantasy football league in the world in which Leonard Weaver’s 41-yard touchdown run actually scored points for one of the participants?"

Fox Sports:

• Cowboys: 10th (+1). "Miles Freaking Austin. Wow. It took a while, but the Cowboys finally found their answer to filling the T.O. void and restoring their offensive machine. And best yet, it didn't cost several draft picks in a trade and many more millions of guaranteed greenbacks (Subtle dig alert, Roy Williams). Now the 'Boys get a chance to make an emphatic statement in Philly with a shot to take over first place in the NFC East."
• Eagles: 9th (+6). "The Eagles are like spitting images of their baseball neighbors, the Phillies. Swinging for the fences on offense with loads of weapons, as seen by how they ambushed the Giants. But capable of the big whiff, too (they lost to the Raiders, wow). If Andy Reid can remember to run the ball enough, Philly can be dominant. But we don't trust ya, Big Red."

[update] Don Banks' Power Rankings:

• Cowboys: 9th (+2)."Just when folks were starting to shovel dirt on the idea of Tony Romo ever being one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks (see Week 4 loss at Denver), Mr. Cap on Backwards responded with the first three-game interception-less streak of his career, with eight touchdown passes and passer ratings of 108.1 or higher each week. Now comes the ultimate test; can he keep it going Sunday night in Philly, the scene of where the Cowboys season crashed and burned in Week 17 last year? If he can, watch the hype machine crank right back to life in Dallas next week."
• Eagles: 8th (+-0). "With comfortable wins at Washington and home against the Giants in a six-day span, the Eagles are off to a 2-0 division start and now get to complete the first half of their season with a visit from the revitalized Cowboys. That three-game run will tell us just where Philly stands in the NFC East as it embarks on four road games in the coming five weeks, against four potential playoff teams: San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta and the Giants."

Peter King in MMQB:

• Cowboys: 10th (+1)."In the past three games, the Cowboys have scored 101 points. The Giants have allowed 112. That's why there's been such a big role reversal in the NFC East -- the Giants can't stop anybody and the Cowboys can't be stopped."
• Eagles: 9th (+5)."The Eagles' weaponry is so diverse. Think back to the preseason, when all wondered how long it would take Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy -- all third-year players or younger, all 24 or younger -- to contribute as a group. Well, in putting up 40 on the Giants, those four touched the ball 24 times for 278 yards and four touchdowns. I guess chemistry class is going well, Professor McNabb."

2. I write, therefore I am: Blogs & Other Media

Zac Wassink at AssociatedContent:

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). "My sleeper pick of the 2009 season is moving up NFL power rankings. After losing to Big Blue earlier this season, the Cowboys are now ahead of the Giants in the standings."
• Eagles: 5th (+4). "Even though the Giants are shaky, ca-rushing New York has earned the Eagles the 5 spot in my NFL power rankings."

[update] ColdHardFootballFacts.com provide comments not just on the teams but on Romo and McNabb as well, who both made their list of QBs currently Feasting On Their Success.

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). "When Tony Romo is on, like he was Sunday, the Cowboys are pretty much unbeatable. Since 2007, the Cowboys are 20-1 when Romo has a passer rating of 100 or better. When it’s under 100, they’re 5-9"
• Eagles: 7th (+3). "Eagles CB Asante Samuel has five interceptions; if he can finish with 10 he’ll have 30 over his last four seasons. The last player to do that was Chiefs safety Deron Cherry (1983-1986)"
• Romo: "Jessica Simpson’s Tony Romo voodoo doll wasn’t working over Halloween weekend. The Dallas signal caller rolled up 256 yards and three touchdowns in an easy 38-17 win over Seattle, giving him eight scores and no INTs in his last three games. That’s like 21 games without an INT in gunslinger years."
• McNabb: "McNabb had about as easy a day as a QB can have against the reeling Giants. He completed 74 percent of his passes, racked up an awesome 10.4 YPA and threw three TDs in Philly's 40-17 blowout win, its third straight victory over the G-Men. McNabb is feeling a rare bit of love from the Philly unfaithful – at least for one week."

[update] SBNation:

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). "The Cowboys have quietly moved their way up the standings, finally doing what good teams do: easily handling lesser teams. If Marion Barber can get healthier and Miles Austin can continue his strong play, the Cowboys could be right where everyone expected them to be before the year began: in position for Tony Romo to choke away the season in December."
• Eagles: 7th (+3). "A classic Donovan McNabb game: just as Eagles fans were beginning to grumble about McNabb and the offense, Philadelphia unloads on the Giants and puts to rest any and all questions (for now)."

ProFootballWeekly:

• Cowboys: 9th (+3). "Don't overlook them. Any other year that statement is ridiculous."
• Eagles: 7th (+2). "McNabb: 'I think we're just kind of touching the surface.'"

Weii.com: 

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). "Once again we have another exciting race in the NFC East. The Cowboys offense has been dominating during their current three-game winning streak. Tony Romo is spreading the ball nicely to his talented receivers."
• Eagles: 8th (+7). "No Westbrook, no problem for the Eagles. It’s hard to believe this team lost to the Raiders a few weeks ago after this dominating performance against the Giants. DeSean Jackson has turned into an elite playmaker in the NFL. The main question mark for the Eagles is: can they be consistent?"

Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com:

• Cowboys: 11th (+-0). "Beat the Eagles, and this team gets into the top ten."
• Eagles: 8th (+1). "Even with Terrell Owens long gone from Dallas, Philly fans probably will be chanting "T.O. sucks" on Sunday night."

Walter Football:

• Cowboys: 13th (+4). Comments only provided for top ten or bottom 10 teams. I have recently found out that this Walter guy is from Philadelphia, so I may have to remove his site from these Power Rankings if he continues his slanderous ways. He even has the Texans (!!!) ahead of us.
  
• Eagles: 8th (+7). "Did anyone else find it ironic that Donovan McNabb donned rose-colored glasses during his press conference where he spoke about how much potential the Eagles offense has? Philly's debaclation [sic] over the Giants was impressive, but let's not forget that they're just two weeks removed from scoring zero touchdowns against the Raiders."

3. Just the facts, ma'am: Statistics & Computer based rankings.

[update] FootballOutsiders.com: Adjust their rankings for opponent strength. Long history as notorious Eagles & Patriots lovers.

• Cowboys: 9th (+2). Offense ranked No. 5, Defense No. 22, Special Teams No. 4
• Eagles: 2nd (+4). Offense ranked No.12, Defense No. 5, Special Teams No. 5

[update] tom slick publishes his Rankings on SBNation's The Falcoholic: Cowboys 4th (+6), Eagles 3rd (+3).He weighs offensive and defensive points scored/allowed relative to all other teams to determine his rankings.

Great Blue North Draft Report. Cowboys 7th (+2), Eagles 5th (+5). This site calculates rankings by first round draft selection order based on own and opponent W/L record if the season were to end today.

WhatIfSports: Cowboys 5th (+4), Eagles 8th (+8). These guys simulate every possible matchup 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.

[update] AdvancedNFLstats.com: This ranking model includes offensive and defensive passing and running efficiency, offensive turnover rates, defensive interception rates, and team penalty rates.

• Cowboys: 6th (-1). Offense ranked No. 2, Defense No. 25
• Eagles: 9th (+5). Offense ranked No.14, Defense No. 3

[update] Covers.com: compute offensive and defensive statistics into one number for each team, while accounting for factors like recent performances and strength of schedule.

• Cowboys: 10th (+4). "Dallas is on a three-game winning streak and is tied with the Eagles atop the NFC East. The Cowboys are 2-1 on the road but the wins were against the Bucs and Chiefs."
• Eagles: 15th (+5). "The Eagles scored 13 points before the Giants got out of the locker room as they put that Oakland debacle behind them. Dallas comes in this week with first place in the NFC East on the line."

Jeff Sagarin's NFL rankings: Cowboys 13th (+1), Eagles 17th (+5). The Giants plummet 7 places to 20th. These are rankings based on W/L record, points differential and schedule strength.

Here's how the NFC East fared:

	This Week	Last Week	This Week	Last Week	This Week	Last Week	This Week	Last Week
FootballOutsiders	9	11	2	6	13	9	22	22
tom slick	4	10	3	6	17	8	20	20
Assoc. Content	9	11	5	9	11	8	30	28
Great Blue North	7	9	5	10	10	10	24	26
ProFootballWeekly	9	12	7	9	10	7	25	25
SBNation	9	11	7	9	11	8	27	23
CHFF	9	11	7	10	13	8	26	25
NFL.com	8	12	7	10	13	8	26	26
CBSsports	9	11	8	8	12	10	27	27
SI.com	9	11	8	8	14	10	25	23
ProFootballTalk	11	11	8	9	12	8	28	28
NFP	9	9	8	12	14	10	28	28
Weii.com	9	11	8	15	12	9	27	26
Walter Football	13	17	8	15	12	4	26	26
Whatifsports	5	9	8	16	21	18	30	30
ESPN	8	9	9	12	15	8	25	25
SportingNews	7	10	9	14	15	9	24	27
Yahoosports	10	10	9	14	13	12	26	25
Advancednflstats	6	5	9	14	11	7	25	24
Foxsports	10	11	9	15	13	10	27	26
Covers.com	10	14	15	20	17	11	30	30
Sagarin Ratings	13	14	17	22	20	13	30	30
Average	8.8	10.9	8.0	12.0	13.6	9.0	26.3	25.9

For a summary of all NFL teams using some of the same rankings, go to NFLpowerranks.com