BEST GIFT THIS WEEKEND?
A PLAYOFF BERTH!

PATS SEEK FIRST 15-0 START IN HISTORY

The weather outside is frightful…and so is the scrambling inside the NFL.

With two weeks to go, the battle for playoff berths is still full-tilt.

“It’s already the playoffs for us,” says Cleveland Browns linebacker WILLIE MC GINEST, speaking, really, for all clubs in the playoff cauldron. “That’s the way we’ve been looking at these games and that’s what we have to keep doing.”

“These games” that McGinest cites came in the first three weeks of December and certainly include the final two of the season – this week and next. It is definitely crunch time.

With two weeks to go, seven clubs have made the playoffs, all by winning their divisions. Nine teams are vying for the remaining five playoff spots. All told, 16 clubs are in contention for Super Bowl XLII with two weeks to go.

“It’s pretty much like the playoffs for us right now,” says Tennessee Titans center-guard EUGENE AMANO. “We have to win every week to stay alive.”

Of course, a team that has done just that -- win every week -- can add to that string this week. The 14-0 New England Patriots can become the first team in history to win the first 15 games of a season when they host the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots also can tie the NFL record they set in 2003-04 of 18 consecutive regular-season victories. New England won its final three games of 2006.

So as winter officially begins this Saturday and Christmas is around the corner, the NFL has a big, nicely wrapped gift for its millions of fans – four national TV games on the holiday weekend and a schedule packed with playoff pressure:

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (9-5) at ST. LOUIS RAMS (3-11) (Thursday night, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET)

Steelers can set themselves up for NFL’s last division title.

But on their heels are the Cleveland Browns, winners of four of their last five. In fact, the Browns are tied with Pittsburgh for first in the AFC North, but the Steelers hold the tiebreaker, having won the season series.

After going 5-1 from late October through early December, Pittsburgh has lost its last two. “Who cares about momentum,” says Steelers LB LARRY FOOTE. “We just have to win Thursday and get in the tournament.”

St. Louis will not be an easy step in the Steelers’ push. Rams RB STEVEN JACKSON has rushed for at least 90 yards in each of his past five games, including 143 last week (it will be an attractive RB night, because Pittsburgh’s All-Star WILLIE PARKER leads the NFL in rushing with 1,317 yards). And Pro Bowl QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER will have to be his pin-point best. Rams S OSHIOMOGHO ATOGWE picked off BRETT FAVRE twice last week and ties for the NFC INT lead (7).

It will indeed be a big RB night: At halftime, the Rams will retire the uniform number (28) of NFL Network analyst MARSHALL FAULK, 2000 NFL MVP and the club’s all-time TD leader (85).

DALLAS COWBOYS (12-2) at CAROLINA PANTHERS (6-8) (Saturday night, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET)

Homefield?

That’s what the Cowboys will be going for Saturday night. Top the Panthers and have 12-2 Green Bay lose Sunday and Dallas will wrap up its first NFC top seed since 1995. The Cowboys -- already with a first-round bye – hold the tiebreaker advantage with a 37-27 November win over the Pack.

“We still have a chance to do what we are trying to do,” says Dallas Pro Bowl QB TONY ROMO, who will try to lead the Cowboys to their 13th win, tying 1992 for the most in club history.

The Panthers are in the race, too, and are two games out of the sixth seed. Plus, they have some extra familiarity with the Cowboys.

Carolina rookie QB MATT MOORE spent training camp with Dallas – compiling a 100.1 passer rating in three preseason games – and was one of their final cuts. Claimed by Carolina, he made his starting debut last week, taking the club to a 13-10 win over NFC West champ Seattle. Moore wasn’t sacked and threw no interceptions. “It’s good to see young guys starting their career,” says Carolina DE MIKE RUCKER. “The future is huge for them.” Especially this week.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (6-8) at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (7-7)

Saints alive!

That they are. New Orleans is tied with Washington one game behind sixth-place Minnesota in the NFC rankings. They, too, like the Vikings and Redskins, never gave up on the season and have won seven of their past 10. “We’re fighting still,” says New Orleans head coach SEAN PAYTON. “We’re scratching.”

The man who is leading a great deal of that fighting for New Orleans is QB DREW BREES, who directs the league’s fifth-ranked offense and is second in the league in completion percentage (68.7). “He has played at a very high level the last two-thirds of the season,” says Payton.

These teams are familiar with each other, so this should be a tight game. They met twice last season, with both games being decided by identical three-point scores (27-24) in New Orleans’ favor, including a Divisional Playoff meeting.

The Saints’ eighth-ranked NFL rush defense will have to find a way to stop the league’s scrimmage-yard leader (1,896), RB BRIAN WESTBROOK, just voted to his second Pro Bowl. New Orleans may get back RB REGGIE BUSH (leg).

WASHINGTON REDSKINS (7-7) at MINNESOTA VIKINGS (8-6) (Sunday night, NBC, 8:15 PM ET)

Both clubs in the hunt!

The Vikings, who have resurrected their season by winning five in a row after being shut out 34-0 by Green Bay on November 11, can clinch their first playoff berth since 2004 with a win and a New Orleans loss or tie. The Redskins, another turnaround team that has won their last two after a four-game losing streak, are tied with New Orleans, one game out of the sixth seed behind the Vikings.

“You’ve got a chance to make the playoffs,” says Washington head coach JOE GIBBS. “It’s a big deal. It’s motivation.”

Redskins RB CLINTON PORTIS (No. 8 in NFL rushing with 1,082 yards) and his OL will certainly be motivated – what else could they be? – by trying to crack open the Vikings interior line of mammoth DTs KEVIN and PAT WILLIAMS. The duo – which combines for 115 tackles -- has been named as starters on the 2008 Pro Bowl squad.

The Vikings are No. 1 in rush offense – thanks to rookie All-Star ADRIAN PETERSON and CHESTER TAYLOR – and No. 1 in rush defense. “And we are facing Minnesota in their dome,” says Gibbs. “It’s going to be a tough deal for us.”

DENVER BRONCOS (6-8) at SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (9-5) (Monday night, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET)

No. 3 coming up?

That’s the Chargers’ quest. Win their next two games and San Diego will claim the No. 3 seed in the AFC. Not bad for a team that started 1-3 and has now won its third division title in the past four years. “Sometimes,” says Chargers RB

LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON, “you just have to let the course of a season play out.”

That the Chargers have done, winning five of their past six and four in a row. They started their season turnaround on October 7 with a 41-3 victory at Denver, the first of three wins in a row.

An interesting matchup to watch will be Broncos QB JAY CUTLER, No. 5 in the league in third-down passer rating (102.6) against All-Star CB ANTONIO CROMARTIE, who tops the NFL in INTs with 10 – all coming in the last nine games.

2007 NFL PLAYOFF SCENARIOS - Week 16

For Week 16

NFC

CLINCHED:

Dallas -- NFC East Division and first-round bye.

Green Bay -- NFC North Division and first-round bye.

Seattle -- NFC West Division.

Tampa Bay -- NFC South Division.

ELIMINATED:

San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons.

DALLAS COWBOYS

Dallas clinches homefield advantage throughout NFC playoffs:

1) DAL win + GB loss

NEW YORK GIANTS

NY Giants clinch playoff berth:

1) NY Giants win or tie OR

2) Redskins loss or tie + Saints loss or tie

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Minnesota clinches a playoff berth: 1) Vikings win + Saints loss or tie

AFC

CLINCHED:

New England - AFC East Division and homefield advantage.

Indianapolis - AFC South Division and first-round bye.

San Diego - AFC West Division.

ELIMINATED:

Miami, NY Jets, Kansas City, Oakland, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, Buffalo, Denver.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Pittsburgh clinches AFC North Division title:

1) Steelers win + Browns loss

Pittsburgh clinches playoff berth:

1) Titans loss OR

2) Steelers win or tie + Titans tie

CLEVELAND BROWNS

Cleveland clinches playoff berth:

1) Browns win OR

2) Titans loss OR

3) Browns tie + Titans tie

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Jacksonville clinches playoff berth:

1) Jaguars win or tie OR

2) Titans loss or tie OR

3) Browns loss

LAST WEEK’S NFL RESULTS (DECEMBER 13, 15-17)

(Home team in CAPS)

HOUSTON 31, Denver 13

NEW ORLEANS 31, Arizona 24

Jacksonville 29, PITTSBURGH 22

Green Bay 33, ST. LOUIS 14

SAN FRANCISCO 20, Cincinnati 13

TAMPA BAY 37, Atlanta 3

Indianapolis 21, OAKLAND 14

Philadelphia 10, DALLAS 6

CAROLINA 13, Seattle 10

SAN DIEGO 51, Detroit 14

CLEVELAND 8, Buffalo 0

Washington 22, N.Y. GIANTS 10

Tennessee 26, KANSAS CITY 17

MIAMI 22, Baltimore 16 (OT)

NEW ENGLAND 20, N.Y. Jets 10

MINNESOTA 20, Chicago 13

WEEK 16 SCHEDULE – DECEMBER 20, 22-24

(All times local)

Thursday, December 20

Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 7:00 PM (NFL Network)

Saturday, December 22

Dallas at Carolina, 8:00 PM (NFL Network)

Sunday, December 23

Oakland at Jacksonville, 1:00 PM

Philadelphia at New Orleans, 12:00 PM

Atlanta at Arizona, 2:05 PM

Tampa Bay at San Francisco, 1:05 PM

Miami at New England, 4:15 PM

Baltimore at Seattle, 1:15 PM

N.Y. Giants at Buffalo, 1:00 PM

N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 3:15 PM

Green Bay at Chicago, 12:00 PM

Washington at Minnesota, 7:15 PM (NBC)

Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1:00 PM

Kansas City at Detroit, 1:00 PM

Houston at Indianapolis, 1:00 PM

Monday, December 24

Denver at San Diego, 5:00 PM (ESPN)