STORY OF THE WEEK
PLAYOFF PICTURE TAKES SHAPE
The defending champion Giants and upstart Titans clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with hard-fought victories.
The Panthers and Steelers lost but still can clinch first-round byes with wins Sunday.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, can win the AFC East for the first time since 2000 by avenging a season-opening loss to the Jets - win or lose, a remarkable improvement for a team that went 1-15 last season.
Likewise, the NFC North-leading Vikings can win their first division title since 2000 by beating the nothing-to-play-for Giants or by virtue of a Bears loss in one of their final two games.
The surprising Falcons clinched a playoff spot with a victory over the Vikings on the road, putting the Michael Vick scandal further in the rearview mirror.
Then there are the Cowboys, the summer consensus favorite to reach the Super Bowl. The Cowboys must win at Philadelphia on Sunday to return to the playoffs or hope the Raiders can pull off an upset of the Bucs.
Even with a victory over the Cowboys, the Eagles still needed the Bears to lose one of their last two and the Bucs to fall in order to qualify.
The Ravens could join the Colts as an AFC wild card by beating visiting Jacksonville.
The NFC West champion Cardinals, who lost their last two games by a combined score of 82-21, and the AFC West winner shouldn’t bother to show up for the first round.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Norv Turner never has been a coach for strong stretch drives, but this season marks an exception: The Chargers have won three straight to force a showdown with the Broncos for the AFC West title.
A victory Sunday in this rematch - the Broncos won a controversial 39-38 decision in Denver in Week 2 - would ensure the Chargers of a second straight division title and a first-round home game despite their 8-8 record.
A victory also would ensure the Chargers of rare - and distinctly mediocre - company: The Browns are the only team to win a division title with an 8-8 mark.
Talk about injustice: The Patriots could beat the Bills on Sunday, push their record to 11-5 and still miss the playoffs even as the Chargers play on.
Coincidentally, the 1985 Broncos are the only 11-5 team to fail to qualify for the postseason - the same season the Browns got in at 8-8.
FIVE THINGS LEARNED IN WEEK 16
1. The Lions aren’t good. OK, that has been known that since they gave up 21 points in the first quarter of their season opener. But the 42-7 beating applied by the Saints this week leaves the Lions 60 minutes from making a special kind of history as the first team to finish a season 0-16. The Packers deliver the coup de grace Sunday in Wisconsin, where the Lions have lost 17 straight.
2. Monte Kiffin, the Bucs’ defensive boss for 13 years, soon will join his son Lane at the University of Tennessee. Kiffin is exiting at the right time: His usually stellar defense was strafed Sunday for the second time in three weeks. If the Bucs fail to reach the playoffs, Kiffin’s last game with the club will be Sunday’s meeting in Oakland with the Raiders, who fired Lane as their coach in October.
3. Mike Holmgren’s love for Brett Favre only goes so far. Holmgren’s Seahawks have been out of contention for weeks, but they made the home finale for their retiring coach a sweet one with a 13-3 upset of Favre and the Jets. Favre and Holmgren teamed to lead Green Bay to six playoff berths, two NFC championships and a Super Bowl title from 1992 to 1998.
4. There’s still some life in Cedric Benson. The running back, the fourth pick of the 2005 draft, was cut by the Bears during the offseason and signed by the Bengals. He averaged just 3.1 yards a carry before Sunday - though he did take a screen pass 79 yards a week ago against the Redskins. Sunday, Benson ran for a career-high 171 yards in the Bengals’ 14-0 victory over the Browns.
5. Tennessee is back. The Titans lost their unbeaten season with a Week 12 drubbing at the hands of the Jets and followed that with victories over the lowly Lions and Browns and another loss to the Texans. So the Titans entered Sunday’s game against the Steelers without a quality win in six weeks, but their 31-14 pasting of Pittsburgh made them the clear AFC favorites.
NEXT MAN UP
The big injuries of Week 16:
TE Jeremy Shockey (ankle): The Saints tight end left the game at Detroit in the second quarter and didn’t return. Billy Miller replaced Shockey.
QB Ken Dorsey (ribs): The Browns quarterback left the game against Cincinnati in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Bruce Gradkowski. Dorsey is the third Browns passer hurt this year.
NUMBERS GAME
Interesting stat from Week 16 games:
6-9 Record for home teams at the time of year when home-field advantage really is supposed to matter. Four of the nine losers - the Cowboys, Broncos, Vikings and Bucs - were playoff contenders.
HOT SEAT
Whose performance in Week 16 puts him in the spotlight for next week?
MIKE SHANAHAN
Wade Phillips gets an honorable mention for losing the final game at Texas Stadium and leaving the Cowboys’ playoff bid in jeopardy, but it’s Shanahan who narrowly takes the crown. The Broncos could have clinched the AFC West at home by beating a Bills team that had lost seven of eight. But the Broncos blew a 13-0 lead and lost - leaving them in need of a victory on the road over the suddenly hot Chargers to secure their first playoff berth since 2004.
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