NFL Power Rankings: How High Did Cowboys Rise After Week 9?

FRISCO - The New England Patriots are down. The San Francisco 49ers are up. And the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys? Well, when it comes to Sports Illustrated's NFL Power Rankings, we're about to find out who's who.

Sports Illustrated's NFL Power Rankings (gravitas included!) are available here, and beyond the usual gravitas, they are also delivered with juice! "Juice,'' in that the 49ers have vaulted to the top spot. "Juice,'' in that the vaunted Patriots are being punished for their loss to the Baltimore Ravens last week, New England's first failure of the year but in the post-Week 9 rankings, a failure nevertheless.

And Dallas? While some say the Cowboys' 37-18 victory at the New York Giants wasn't "impressive enough'' (people, they won by 19 points!), the good judges at Sports Illustrated think enough of the work to nudge Dallas up a notch. They write:

9. DALLAS COWBOYS (5-3)

Previous rank: 10

Points in poll: 163

Highest-place vote: 8 (3 voters)

Lowest-place vote: 12 (2 voters)

Last week’s result: Beat New York Giants, 37-18

This week: vs. Minnesota

Coming off their bye, the Cowboys locked up another crucial divisional win—this one over the Giants at MetLife — to hold their lead atop the NFC East.

Oh, it's that "this week'' thing that makes it all so interesting. The Cowboys are 5-3, but the Vikings are 6-3 ... and Minny travels to DFW for a Sunday night showdown this week. Next week's Sports Illustrated rankings might be in for a change, one way or another.