Beastly East proving to be more than class of the NFC

If it wasn't clear Monday afternoon, it is 24 hours later: The NFC East is far and away the best division in the NFL.

Defending champion Dallas is at the top of most power rankings these days, and the Cowboys aren't the reigning Super Bowl champions. The New York Giants are, and I don't need to tell you where they are.

They're undefeated.

The NFC East is 6-2, and that's only because Washington lost to the Giants and Philadelphia lost to Dallas. Now look what happens when you go outside the division: Philadelphia clobbers St. Louis; the Giants torch the Rams; Dallas toys with Cleveland and Washington rallies to overcome New Orleans.

That's 4-0 by a combined score of 136-50, and it's proof that Joaquin Miller had it right when he wrote, "that good is good from east to east."

Look, I don't know much about Miller, either, and I probably care only slightly more than you. But I do care about a division that just gave us a memorable Monday night track meet and keeps reminding us that conversations about the balance of power in the NFC start here.

You can talk about the AFC South, but it's hard to make a case with Jacksonville off to an 0-2 start, David Garrard dodging pass rushers and Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew averaging 2.8 yards a carry and failing to combine ... combine ... for 100 yards.

Then, of course, there's Houston, and I'll always take the fourth-best team in the NFC East over the Texans. Of course, I'll always take the fourth-best team in the NFC East over the weak link in any division.

Kansas City? Oakland? Miami? Detroit? St. Louis? You name it, I'll trump it with the NFC East.

Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs give the Giants a lot of firepower. (Getty Images)

A year ago the division gave us three playoff teams, with Philadelphia left home. Now the Eagles are vastly improved, with Donovan McNabb looking like the quarterback who two years ago drew MVP attention before he suffered a season-ending injury.

But he's not the best quarterback in the NFC East. Tony Romo is. Or maybe it's Eli Manning. All I know is Manning has one Super Bowl ring the others don't and a 1.000 batting average when it comes to the playoffs, taking the Giants to three postseason appearances in three years as the full-time starter.

Tell me another division that has a better collection of quarterbacks than Manning, Romo, McNabb and Jason Campbell. You can't. All have passer ratings this season of 93 or better, with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Manning is the NFL's fourth-quarter passing leader. Romo is its third-down passing leader. The Eagles lead the league in passing. Dallas is third. The Eagles are second in scoring. Dallas is fourth.

You get the idea. The NFC East is a cornerback's graveyard.

Now let's look at how these guys run the ball which, after all, is supposed to be a benchmark for championship teams. The Giants' Brandon Jacobs is the league's sixth-best rusher, averaging 5.8 yards a carry. Washington's Clinton Portis ranks ninth, Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook 14th and the Cowboys' Marion Barber 15th.

But Westbrook leads the league in scoring. Barber is second. And the two are tied for the lead in first downs.

Everywhere you look someone is getting called to the head of the class. Terrell Owens is tied for the league lead in touchdowns for wide receivers. The Giants' Plaxico Burress is second in receptions. The Cowboys' Jason Witten leads all tight ends in catches. The Giants' Domenik Hixson is the leader in punt returns. Cowboys rookie Felix Jones is the leader in kickoff returns. The Giants' Justin Tuck is second in sacks. The Redskins' Chris Horton is tied for second in interceptions.

Enough already. I get it, I get it. The NFC East is a beast again, with the conference's top three teams (sorry, Green Bay) and three of its best four quarterbacks. You win the division, you should win the conference. And if you don't ...

Somebody else in the NFC East will win it for you. It happened last year, and it should happen again.