Inching towards the tournament
Who took a step towards the playoffs?

1. San Diego is closing in on a bye in the AFC. The Chargers can lock it up with a win over the Bengals next week. Philip Rivers deserves to be in the MVP consideration for an incredible season. And Norv Turner — yes Norv Turner — deserves a lot of credit for turning an imperfect defense around and maximizing an offense with no running game. The Colts have to be nervous because the Chargers are their nightmare matchup.

2. Jacksonville’s loss to Miami blew open the final AFC wild-card spot. Miami, Baltimore, New York, and Jacksonville all have six losses. The Dolphins are playing the best, but the Ravens have the easiest schedule remaining.

3. Baltimore’s 48-3 destruction of Detroit may not convince people that they are playoff-bound. But good teams are often defined by their ability to strike down inferior opponents with great vengeance and furious anger. The Ravens just need to hold serve against a terrible Bears team next week to set up a very interesting game with Pittsburgh.

4. Midway through the third quarter, the Jets’ defense had only allowed 19 total yards to the Bucs. Rex Ryan’s team is one quarterback away from being very dangerous, but Kellen Clemens is not that quarterback. Neither is Mark Sanchez, at least this year.

The Jets remain in good position at 7-6, but we don’t think they have the passing attack to run the table. And they don’t have the tiebreaks to lose another game.

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

5. New England got a win they desperately needed, but continue to make mental errors. This time, three turnovers made them work awfully hard to put the Panthers away. Things just aren’t coming easily for the Patriots, even against limited teams.

They’re real, and they’re spectacular
1. Brandon Marshall showed Josh McDaniels — again — why he was worth all the offseason trouble, breaking the all-time record for receptions in a game with 21 against the Colts. He is a beast after the catch, with vision like a running back and the body of a lean tight end. Teams with tiny cornerbacks like Indianapolis have no defense for him.

2. The Dolphins’ season is a success because they found their franchise quarterback. Chad Henne impresses more every week, and played flawless for the first three quarters against Jacksonville, throwing 14 straight completions at one point. (Fourth quarter … not so flawless. It happens.) Many of Henne’s throws required great arm strength and were thrown into a tight window.

3. Wes Welker is New England’s MVP this year. I’m not sure they win without his 10 catches and 105 yards. Welker has 105 catches on the season despite playing only 11 games. Ten catches is essentially a routine day for him.

Colts are clutch, no doubt about it
There is a debate between baseball purists and statisticians in baseball whether “clutch” exists.

There can be no debate about the 2009 Indianapolis Colts. Whatever “it” is, they have it. Whenever the Colts absolutely need a stop, they make it. When they need a third down, they convert it.

Three times Sunday, Peyton Manning faced a third-and-goal. He threw three touchdown passes, including the clincher to Dallas Clark.

On third-and-short from the Denver 5-yard line before the Clark score, the Colts handed off to Mike Hart. He was hit well behind the line of scrimmage, but broke the tackle to pick up the first down. Mike Hart!

Denver’s talented defense befuddled Manning for much of the afternoon, picking him off three times and shutting him down for more than half the game. But when the Broncos cut Indy’s lead to 21-16 with just under 10 minutes left, Manning marched the ball 80 yards, taking over seven minutes off the clock. That drive started with a key third-and-long conversion to Austin Collie. Of course it did.

The Colts used to be about stats; now they are about situational football. These are not the Tony Dungy-led Colts from the middle of the decade, racing out to a glitzy undefeated record but secretly soft underneath. They are tougher.

Indianapolis likely won’t even try to go undefeated, but the Colts are reminiscent of the 1972 Dolphins because they are greater than the sum of their parts. With parts like Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Robert Mathis, and Dwight Freeney, these Colts will be very tough to beat in Lucas Oil Stadium.

NFL game stories Quick look at Week 3 games JETS 31, DOLPHINS 23: Edwards returns to makes key TD catch  |    Highlights COWBOYS 27, TEXANS 13: Dallas avoids rare 0-3 start  |    Romo excited FALCONS 27, SAINTS 24, OT: Champs miss short FG in OT  |    Saints explain loss TITANS 29, GIANTS 10: Johnson scores 2 TDs  |    Coughlin takes blame EAGLES 28, JAGUARS 3: Vick makes Reid's decision look great  |    QB thrilled COLTS 27, BRONCOS 13: Manning throws 3 TD passes VIKINGS 24, LIONS 10: Peterson's career-long 80-yard TD keys win PATRIOTS 38, BILLS 30: 14th straight win in series for New England SEAHAWKS 27, CHARGERS 20: Washington has two kickoff returns for TDs CHIEFS 31, 49ERS 10: K.C. 3-0 for first time since '03  |    Chiefs confident STEELERS 38, BUCCANEERS 13: Batch shines in first start in 3 years RAMS 30, REDSKINS 16: Only second win in last 29 games for St. Louis RAVENS 24, BROWNS 17: Flacco fires 3 TD passes BENGALS 20, PANTHERS 7: Clausen struggles in first NFL start CARDINALS 24, RAIDERS 23: Janikowski misses 32-yard FG on final play