Two NFL presents on Christmas

Thank you, Santa.

As if Christmas weren't cool enough already, right? If you're a pro football fan, your stocking is overflowing. After you've finished stuffing yourself with Christmas dinner Monday evening you get to have your fill of two high-stakes matchups that feature three playoff contenders.

America's Team, the Cowboys, will have a lot of folks in New York, Green Bay, the Carolinas, Atlanta, and St. Louis rooting for them in the nightcap. Terrell Owens may not be that popular among his peers these days but he'll certainly have fans in those cities hoping he gets the best of his former team, the Eagles. And in places like Cincinnati, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Kansas City, the Dolphins are everybody's second-favorite team. They're hoping the trip to the playoffs a lot of people assumed the Jets would be taking is delayed for anther week, and eventually cancelled.

If Dallas, which already has clinched a playoff berth, holds serve at home and ends the Eagles' three-game winning streak, it would be the best present the rest of the NFC could hope for. Philadelphia can clinch a playoff berth and remain on track to win the NFC East with a win Monday night. A loss would drop the Eagles to 8-7 -- just a game ahead of the Giants, Packers, Panthers, Falcons and Rams.

It was just three weeks ago that Rams quarterback Marc Bulger was calling teammates out for not caring enough. Now Rams fans have even more reason to care about what happens Monday night in Dallas and in Week 17. The Rams started the season 4-1 but then dropped seven of eight and became an afterthought. Now they're thinking playoffs after wins against Oakland last week and the Redskins Sunday behind big days for Bulger and Steven Jackson. Only in the NFC.

The Giants have won just three games since beating the Cowboys in Week 7 in Tony Romo's debut -- against Houston, Tampa Bay and the Chris Weinke-led Panthers. By the way, those Panthers ended a four-game losing streak Sunday with a win at Atlanta, which has followed two straight wins with back-to-back home losses. New York, meanwhile, has lost six of seven since its 6-2 start. But no matter how much they've underachieved -- and the same goes for just about every other NFC wild-card contender -- they still haven't been eliminated and they'll be rooting as hard as anyone for the Cowboys to bring the Eagles back to the pack.

Speaking of the Pack, three weeks ago Green Bay was getting hammered at home -- again -- by the Jets. Three wins later -- including Thursday night's yawner over Minnesota -- and the Packers still have a shot at extending what may be Brett Favre's final season into the postseason.

Over in the AFC, a Jets loss would leave them 8-7 along with the Bengals, Chiefs, Jaguars and Titans -- winners of six in a row and present owner of the title "Team Nobody Wants to Play Right Now." Denver (9-6) won Week 16's big conference showdown when Cincinnati botched a late extra-point attempt that would have tied the game. The Broncos, for now, are in the driver's seat for the wild card, with a pretty crowded backseat that could get even crazier with a Jets loss that would leave five teams tied at 8-7.

Get ready to read and hear a lot about tiebreakers in the coming week. The best part about all the uncertainty heading into the regular season's final weekend? Nobody other than the Bears can really afford to start resting their starters before the playoffs. Most of Week 17's matchups mean something.

You gotta love the NFL. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

• Given the performance of rookie Maurice Jones-Drew, it will be interesting to see what Jacksonville's plans are for starting tailback Fred Taylor in 2007. There were some in the organization who really didn't want Taylor back this season and had Jacksonville landed running back DeAngelo Williams in the first round (he was chosen by Carolina instead), they might have gotten their wish. Taylor riled coach Jack Del Rio by eschewing the team's offseason program to work out in Miami, but came back in the best shape of his career and has rushed for 1,120 yards with one game remaining. Taylor wants to be paid like a Pro Bowl back and it's doubtful the Jaguars will do that. Jones-Drew had 25 "touches" on Sunday, but whether the 5-feet-8 mighty mite could handle such a workload over the course of a season is unknown.

• Richard Seymour remains the man on the New England defensive line, but he might not have been the unit's best player this season, despite another Pro Bowl berth. End Ty Warren continues to emerge as a difference-maker for the Patriots and nose tackle Vince Wilfork absolutely eats up blockers.

• The Patriots want to re-sign cornerback Asante Samuel, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency in the spring, but are a little wary of the numbers they're hearing he might want. Samuel has picked off eight passes this year and been very steady, but no one regards him as a shut-down corner. The problem is, if Samuel hits the open market, someone is going to pay him because there is so much cap room for 2007 and so few quality players projected to be in the market.

• The improved play of Arizona in recent weeks is giving Cardinals' ownership second thoughts about the future of coach Dennis Green. It's not a given now, by any means, that Green will be canned at the end of this season. There are players who are squarely in Green's corner, some executives don't want to start over again with a new coach, and Arizona might not want to ante up the kind of money it's going to take to lure a high-profile guy like Pete Carroll of Southern California.

• If the Falcons dismiss Jim Mora -- and he didn't help his cause with Sunday's loss to Carolina -- owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay will look for another guy who doesn't mind sharing input on decisions to fit into the structure of the organization. And such a guy probably will have a strong offensive background, such as coordinators Cam Cameron of San Diego or Pittsburgh's Ken Whisenhunt, because the key for the Falcons is finding a way to get the most out of quarterback Michael Vick.

• The Washington Redskins have already restructured the contracts of a few veterans and will approach even more about reworking their deals shortly after the season ends. The Redskins need to clear some more cap room for owner Dan Snyder's annual free agent spending spree.

• It's all but a given that quarterback Brad Johnson won't be back with the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. But there's still no feel for rookie Tarvaris Jackson either, and no one is certain he'll be ready to assume the starter's role next season. So look for the Vikings to seek a veteran in free agency or via trade.

• After a very slow start, in part because of off-field problems, Pittsburgh first-round wide receiver Santonio Holmes has very quietly put together a solid second half of the season. Holmes has the kind of big-play dimension the Steelers need and he'll go to camp as a starter in 2007.

• The most improved defensive player in the league this season might be Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and he probably deserved a Pro Bowl berth.

• Jim Mora of the Falcons and Tom Coughlin of the Giants didn't make strong cases to keep their jobs with horrible home losses Sunday. The Falcons dropped to 7-8 with a 10-3 loss to a Panthers team that had a backup quarterback, Chris Weinke, and a patched-up offensive line. Weinke completed only four passes in the game, further adding to the embarrassment. The Giants were blown away by the Saints 30-7 and Giant fans twice chanted, "Fire Coughlin" in frustration. Giants owner John Mara is a big supporter of Coughlin, but the 7-8 season and the continued regression of quarterback Eli Manning leaves him vulnerable with other members of the ownership group. Mora didn't help his cause by expressing his wishes to take the University of Washington job if it were available. That didn't please owner Arthur Blank, who wants to keep Mora. Dennis Green appears to be the only sure coach expected to be fired, but Sunday's performances by the Falcons and Giants could set the possibilities for more changes.

• Vince Young may be taking the offensive rookie of the year honors away from Marques Colston of the Saints. Colston has had one of the most impressive rookie seasons for a wide receiver since Terry Glenn's rookie year with the Patriots in 1996 (90 catches for 1,132 yards and six TDs). Colston has 70 catches for 1,038 yards and five touchdowns. Those are rookie of the year numbers. But Young is winning football games. He's 8-4 as a starter, one of the five best winning percentages for a rookie quarterback in NFL history. Even better, Young has led the Titans to four come-from-behind victories and is on six-game winning streak, topped by only Ben Roethlisberger and Kyle Orton of the Bears during their rookie seasons. Roethlisberger was 13-0 in 2004. Orton was 10-5 last year. Rounding out the top five is Chris Chandler, who was 9-4 for the Colts in 1988, and Joe Ferguson, who was 9-5 for the Buffalo Bills in 1973. Rookie quarterbacks aren't expected to turn teams around, but Young has turned around the Titans. It might lead him to rookie of the year honors.

• Brad Childress apparently isn't going to take much criticism of his play-calling. Wide receiver Marcus Robinson raised issue with Childress' play-calling in a published story over the weekend. Now, he's been informed he will be released this week. Robinson came to the Vikings as a deep threat. Robinson is sixth on the team with 29 catches for 381 yards and four touchdowns. The timing of his comments probably sped up the timing of his release.

• Sometimes it can be a blessing and a curse to have two of the best run-stopping defensive tackles in football. Using the game plan they used against stout Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams, the Patriots spread the field with wide receivers instead of pounding the ball up the middle against Jaguars DTs John Henderson and Marcus Stroud. Tom Brady completed 28 of 39 passes for 249 yards and the Patriots threw of first down a number of times. The weird part of Sunday's game is that Brady ran the ball 10 times. The Vikings and Jaguars are phenomenal at stopping the run, so the Patriots threw out of a lot of four-receiver sets. That's smart football.

• For a few weeks, Ben Roethlisberger cut down on his mistakes, which allowed the Steelers to claw back into thinking they had an outside change at the playoffs. But he threw two picks Sunday against Baltimore to bring his season total to 22. The Steelers wanted Roethlisberger to carry more of the load through the air this season. With the motorcycle accident and the appendectomy, it may have been a little too much for the third-year quarterback to handle. The thought in Pittsburgh is he won't throw as many interceptions next year and the team will continue to lean on his passing ability to carry them.

-- Check out John Clayton's blog

Question: Do you think Cedric Benson will be the starting RB next season for the Bears? Do they deal Thomas Jones in the offseason?
Jeremy Green: I think Benson is maturing and showing that he can be the starter. I would hate to see them get rid of Jones because he is a solid player and person, but they drafted Benson to be No. 1 guy and I think that will come next season.

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Question: Where do you see Denver drafting next year? D-line maybe?
Green: The Broncos need to find a pass rushing defensive end to take some pressure off the back end. I also think a wide receiver is a possibility. As much as I respect Rod Smith for all he is has done in his career, I think he needs to retire. They need to get a playmaker on the opposite side of Walker.

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Question: Should the Jets have had more than one Pro Bowler? What about Laveranues Coles and Kerry Rhodes?
Green: Rhodes should have gone as the starting strong safety. Troy Polamalu was in my opinion the worst selection of both teams. He has been injured and was not even playing well early in the year when he was healthy. Even Sean Jones of Cleveland would have been a better pick. I would have had it Rhodes and then Jones.