NFL.com ranks NFC East fifth in division power rankings

NFL.com released its division power rankings Thursday and ranked the NFC East the fifth-best out of eight divisions in the league.

The NFC East boasted three teams that finished with a record of at least .500 in the Redskins (10-6), Giants (9-7) and Cowboys (8-8).

The Eagles, as I'm sure most of you know and won't forget despite how hard you try, finished last in the division at 4-12.

All of that gave the NFC East a combined record of 31-33 last season. NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal explains why the NFC East was voted fifth.

Last year, Dan Hanzus had the NFC East ranked first. This time, Marc Sessler fell victim to East Coast bias. He ranked the weekly "Sunday Night Football" division second, while no one else had them higher than fifth. You can argue that the NFC East is deep, but is there a complete roster in the division?

Topping NFL.com's list was the NFC West. The NFC West is home, of course, to the defending NFC champion 49ers, who finished the regular season at 11-4-1. The Seahawks finished the regular season at 11-5 and defeated the Redskins in a Wild Card playoff game.

Having two teams in the same division that won playoff games a season ago is what probably gave the NFC West the nod here. They were the only division to do so in 2012. Not to mention the division had a combined record of 34-28-2.

Here is Rosenthal on why the NFC West was voted No. 1:

It was only a year ago that the NFC West was viewed as a lower-rung division. We created some Division Power Rankings via poll at Around The League last summer, not one of our four voters ranked the division above sixth. They finished seventh overall, which was one spot ahead of where NFL.com's Michael Lombardi ranked the division in 2011.

Now the division has the two favorites in the NFC along with a rising force that are the St. Louis Rams.

The NFC West finished first, mostly based on its strength at the top. Unlike the next four divisions on the list, the NFC West has an expected also-ran with the Arizona Cardinals. Then again, they have more talent -- especially on defense -- than people think. 

The worst division according to NFL.com is the AFC West, home to Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The AFC West is home to one of the conference's best teams in the Denver Broncos, but the rest of the division failed to pull its own weight.

The Broncos finished 13-3 last season, but the division as a whole went a combined 26-38.

See the full rankings HERE.