With the holidays, it’s going to be a rather unique week in the NFC South. That’s why I wanted to throw out a quick programming guide to let you know what the game plan is for the next few days.

First off, we’ve got the Carolina Panthers playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Thursday night’s game. I’ll be posting an item on five things to watch in that game later this morning. I’ll also be monitoring the game and providing a quick wrap-up as soon as it’s over.

I’ll be working Friday and we’ll have our usual Final Word package and I’ll also be working ahead on an advance for the "Monday Night Football" game between Atlanta and New Orleans. But one important note about Friday: We will not be holding our weekly NFC South chat, and I’ve also been told we won’t be doing one next Friday due to New Year’s Eve and that’s a holiday for the people who run the technical side of the chat. I don’t have any schedule yet, but I’m sure we’ll be doing multiple chats once we get to the playoffs.

On Saturday afternoon, my advance on the Atlanta-New Orleans game will pop up. On Sunday, I’ll be monitoring the Tampa Bay-Seattle game and offering some observations and a wrap-up. But my main duty for Sunday is to fly to Atlanta and get ready for the showdown between the Saints and Falcons.

We’ll have lots of stuff going on for that game, and I’ll fill you in on the details once Monday rolls around.