While the Dallas Cowboys got Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Orlando Scandrick healthy during their bye week, their divisional opponents continued to underperform high pre-season expectations.
After the Philadelphia Eagles dropped to 1-4 with a 31-24 loss to the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants lost 36-25 to a struggling Seattle Seahawks team at home, the Rex Grossman-led Washington Redskins are unexpectedly on top of the NFC East at 3-1.
Philadelphia is now behind Dallas in all three sets of national NFL Power Rankings, while New York is only one spot ahead of the Cowboys at CBS Sports and ESPN.
Of course, as former NFL head coach Brian Billick notes in his power rankings for Fox Sports, Dallas has more then enough to worry about:
The bye week was a great opportunity for the Cowboys and, specifically, QB Tony Romo to overcome his second-half demise against the Lions in Week 4. Unfortunately for them, two weeks still won't provide them enough prep time for the New England Patriots.
A victory over Tom Brady and the Patriots would give the Cowboys immediate national credibility, but the poor play of the Giants and the Eagles means it's unlikely Dallas will need to win more than 10 games to win the NFC East.