Gregg Rosenthal

The NFC East race is going to take a while.

The Giants kept the division race a three-team affair Sunday with their 31-24 victory over Dallas. The day's results leave the Cowboys and Eagles tied atop the division at 8-4, with the Giants just one game back at 7-5. The Giants still have defensive problems, but give the coaching staff credit for the dramatic changes in the starting lineup they made to improve the team’s rush defense.

Dallas rushed for 45 yards on 23 carries; you can’t pin this December loss on Tony Romo.  (Romo played great, but Dallas’ defense and special teams gave up big plays.)

Round two of the Giants/Cowboys/Eagles round robin extravaganza is on Sunday Night Football next week. New York’s shoddy secondary will be tested again.

The Cowboys have the toughest road left of any contender. The Giants hold the tiebreaker over Dallas now, and the Cowboys have one more division loss than the Eagles.

Add it all up, and you get a whole lot of high pressure games in the division over the next month.

Not a big deal
People in Boston will disagree, but this wasn’t that meaningful a loss for the Patriots. The Dolphins have a brutal four-game schedule to end the season. The Jets still have Indianapolis and Cincinnati in the final two weeks. The Patriots (7-5), meanwhile not only hold a one-game edge over the Dolphins and Jets, but have a much easier schedule, facing the Panthers and Bills before a home date with the Jaguars and a trip to Houston. If they can’t win three of those four games, it doesn’t really matter if they make the playoffs.

The loss does mean the Patriots would likely have to win two road games to make the Super Bowl. They haven’t won a true road game all year.

Forgettable 49ers
I’m not sure what to think about the 49ers, but I know I won’t be watching them in the playoffs. It’s very odd to see a ground-and-pound team completely change to a wacky pass attack. Alex Smith threw 45 passes against Seattle, and mostly looked good doing it. But a Frank Gore fumble in the fourth quarter crushed one San Francisco drive, and then Smith looked shaky on the next. The Seahawks won 20-17 to move to 5-7 and essentially hand the NFC West title to Arizona. Even if the 49ers beat the Cardinals next week, if will be very difficult for San Francisco to win the division.

Chris Johnson insanity update
Johnson’s streak of 125 rushing yards is over, but he still piled up 113 on the ground and 28 more on the ground against Indianapolis despite playing from behind all day. He’s on pace for 2,012 rushing yards and 2,441 yards from scrimmage. Marshall Faulk owns the yards from scrimmage record with 2,429 yards.

AFC wild-card drags on
The AFC wild-card race will come down to the final Sunday of the season. In the meantime, we’ll slowly watch a few contenders get eliminated each week.

On Sunday, the Titans and Texans were essentially knocked out, both done in by curious play calls inside the 10-yard line.

The Titans were woefully inefficient in the red zone against Indianapolis; often calling for low-percentage Vince Young throws instead of runs by Chris Johnson. Tennessee has seven losses, all in conference, which will kill their chances of winning any tiebreaks if a 9-7 team sneaks in. They are done.

The Texans fell behind 17-0 with Rex Grossman filling in for Matt Schaub, but rallied back to make it a close game in the fourth quarter. On first-and-goal from the five-yard line with under nine minutes left, the Texans handed the ball to Chris Brown ... who threw an interception. That’s a play call that will haunt Gary Kubiak for the rest of his life, especially if the Texans decide to fire him at season’s end. Houston finishes 1-5 in the AFC South.

A host of teams remain in a murky AFC playoff picture — more on that shortly — but the Texans and Titans provided clarity Sunday. They aren’t going anywhere.

Steelers’ future just as shaky
Two weeks ago, we wrote that the defending champion Steelers were wobbly. Losing to the Raiders at home puts them down on the canvas.

Still, Pittsburgh has a chance to get up; 10 wins will get you in the playoffs and we don’t trust the Jaguars to close strong. But this loss hurts because Pittsburgh had no excuses. Kansas City beat the Steelers on a bunch of fluke plays despite getting dominated. The Ravens beat the Steelers with Dennis Dixon at quarterback.

This time, the Raiders just went toe to toe with the Steelers and won. So much for unleashing hell.

Oakland held the ball more than the Steelers and gained 396 yards from scrimmage — 5 less than Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ fatal flaw was their defensive collapse. The Raiders scored 21 points in the final frame, including an 88-yard drive in less than two minutes to win the game.

Slideshow   Week 17 action Take a look at shots from the NFL's 17th week of play in 2009. NBCSports.com

The Steelers’ defense carried the team to the Super Bowl last year, and it’s the reason they face an uphill climb to the playoffs this year. Troy Polamalu can’t be this valuable, can he?

Jaguars far from pretty
Jacksonville is the worst 7-5 team imaginable. Even this win comes with an asterisk because they took a big lead while Rex Grossman was in the game. Give the Jaguars credit for making the most of big plays to lesser players; Nate Hughes, Ernest Wilford, and “the other” Zach Miller were all stars Sunday.

The Jaguars have home games against Miami and Indianapolis before a trip to New England. Win two of those, and the Jaguars are likely in the playoffs. It wouldn’t remotely surprise me if they lose all three.

Give Denver its due
The Broncos are going to make the playoffs because they beat the teams they are supposed to. The team’s offensive line is playing punishing football, making Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter look like Pro Bowlers. Denver has outscored their last two opponents 70-19. That’s ending a four-game losing streak in style.

Are these really the Patriots?
The Patriots’ defense rarely makes a play to win a game, but they gave Tom Brady plenty of chances to pull out a victory Sunday. Miami doesn’t win unless Brady throws an interception inside the 10-yard line in the fourth quarter. That drive followed an earlier second half trip inside the 10-yard line that ended when the Patriots were stuffed on fourth down. Two trips inside the 10, zero points.

Brady also missed a wide open Sam Aiken streaking down the sideline for a big play in the fourth quarter. This Patriots team is the opposite of their early championship groups. They wow you with big plays, but make mistakes in the crucial moments.

Did Miami find its franchise QB?

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The game was meaningful for Miami and Chad Henne, though. Henne’s touchdown pass to Brian Hartline in the fourth quarter was gorgeous, while his fourth-and-six throw on the run to Greg Camarillo showed he doesn’t let bad plays get to him. Henne made a poor throw on the play previous play, but bounced back.

Bill Parcells’ franchise is on schedule. They are just as good as the playoff team from a year ago and they found their franchise quarterback.

NFC playoffs a little clearer
While the AFC playoff picture is cloudy, the Eagles are providing clarity in the NFC. Philly’s 34-7 win over Atlanta should disabuse the Falcons from bringing Matt Ryan back too quickly from his toe injury. Atlanta does not have a playoff-caliber defense, so Ryan’s presence wouldn’t make a difference.

The Falcons are done, leaving the Eagles, Giants, and Packers to fight for two playoff spots. Philly doesn’t need DeSean Jackson and Brian Westbrook to put up points, making them the most dangerous offense in the division. The Eagles could knock out the Giants next week, then start worrying about the division title.

The Saints can't afford to lose
Part of me thinks the Saints could use a loss. It would take some of the pressure off their undefeated season and a feeling of invincibility. They haven’t shown up for the first half of games against St. Louis, Miami, Carolina, and now Washington.

The problem with my theory is that homefield advantage remains crucial and the Vikings don’t have a loss in conference. If the Saints play the NFC Championship in the Superdome, remember Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham’s miss on a 23-yarder that would have likely sealed the win for Washington.

NFL game stories Quick look at Week 17 games JETS 37, BENGALS 0: Rout sets up rematch in playoffs  |    Highlights COWBOYS 24, EAGLES 0: Dallas enters playoffs on hot streak  |    Video TEXANS 34, PATRIOTS 27: Houston logs its first winning record  |    Video RAVENS 21, RAIDERS 13: McGahee carries Baltimore into playoffs CHIEFS 44, BRONCOS 24: Denver denied playoff spot with flop  |    Video TITANS 17, SEAHAWKS 13: Chris Johnson is 6th with 2,000-yard season PACKERS 33, CARDINALS 7: Green Bay cruises in playoff preview CHARGERS 23, REDSKINS 20: Washington falls in Zorn's last game STEELERS 30, DOLPHINS 24: Defending champs avoid collapse  |    Video VIKINGS 44, GIANTS 7: Favre throws for 316 yards, 3 TDs  |    Video BEARS 37, LIONS 23: Cutler tosses 4 TDs in finale PANTHERS 23, SAINTS 10: New Orleans sits its stars (13-3)  |    Video BILLS 30, COLTS 7: Indy rests starters; T.O. sets record  |    Video FALCONS 20, BUCS 10: Atlanta (9-7) closes on 2-game streak BROWNS 23, JAGS 17: Harrison carries Cleveland to 4th straight win 49ERS 28, RAMS 6: St. Louis (1-15) headed for No. 1 overall pick

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