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NFL FACTOID

Things were real close in the NFL in Week 12.  All 16 games were decided by 13 points or less.  That was the most games with a less-than-two-touchdown margin in NFL history.  There were 12 games last week decided by seven points or less.  That total ties the NFL record for most such games in a week of December 11-13, 1993 (Week 15).

There will be a lot of belt-loosening…and tiebreaking.

That’s on the menu this week as the NFL and the rest of America head into Thanksgiving looking forward to second-helpings and their first taste of that hallowed NFL tradition – playoff tiebreakers.

Three teams can earn postseason berths this week – Carolina, Kansas City and New England.  But, as this season – and certainly this past week – has proven, predictability in the NFL is unpredictable.

Last week?  In addition to record-breaking/tying close games, there were eight games that featured second-half, fourth-quarter, last-minute or overtime comeback victories.  As for overtime, the NFL extended its record string of overtime weeks to 11 last week (at least one per week since Week 2).  With 19 overtime games so far, the season record of 25 last year is in danger. 

As the NFL turns into the final lap of its season signaled by the annual Detroit Lions- and Dallas Cowboys-hosted national TV Thanksgiving games – the Cowboys’ will be the 100th Thanksgiving game the two teams have played since the Lions started the tradition in 1934 – things are, no surprise, tight!

Three of the NFL divisions – AFC North and South and NFC East -- have first-place ties.  In two divisions – the NFC North and West – the leader has only a one-game lead.  In another – the AFC East – it’s a two-game lead. 

"We’re all in the race," says Philadelphia Eagles center HANK FRALEY.  "We’re all trying to make every game count."

Three clubs this week can really make their game count.  With a win (or in one case a tie) and other scenarios taking place, the trio will be playoff bound:

CAROLINA PANTHERS can clinch the NFC South with a win, plus New Orleans and Tampa ay losses.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS can win the AFC West with a win and a Denver loss or tie; or with a tie and a Denver loss.  The Chiefs can earn a playoff berth with a win and a Miami loss.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS can claim a playoff berth with a win, plus a Kansas City win or tie, and losses by Baltimore, Cincinnati and Denver.

Playoffs aside, there’s turkey to be carved this week, and football to be watched:

GREEN BAY PACKERS (6-5) at DETROIT LIONS (3-8)

Talk about tradition!

In the 1950s and early ’60s, this series was NFL Thanksgiving football.  These two teams played every year on Turkey Day from 1951-63.  You’re talking BOBBY LAYNE and TOBIN ROTE!  The Lions won the majority of those games (9-3-1, .692).

The teams will wear classic uniforms Thursday.  Detroit will don its style from 1934, the year of its first Thanksgiving game.  Green Bay will sport its look from 1967, the season of its second consecutive Super Bowl title.

The Packers – one game behind Minnesota (7-4) in the NFC North – are 5-7 in Detroit since quarterback BRETT FAVRE became their starter in 1992.       

MIAMI DOLPHINS (7-4) at DALLAS COWBOYS (8-3)

Ten years after the "Blocked-Kick-In-The-Snow Game" on Thanksgiving, these two play again on Turkey Day.  The Dolphins will wear their uniforms from 1973, 30 years after they won Super Bowl VII to cap off their 17-0 "Perfect Season."  The Cowboys will sport the "double-star" jerseys they wore from 1960-66 and in 1994.

The game will feature the return of Miami running back RICKY WILLIAMS to Texas for the first time since he became the NCAA career rushing leader (6,279 yards) and won the Heisman Trophy at the University of Texas.  He will confront the NFL’s second-ranked rush defense.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (8-3) at CAROLINA PANTHERS (8-3)

Matchup of two first-place teams.  Each club has typified its season by winning tight contests.  The Panthers have won six games this year in the final two minutes or overtime.  The Eagles have won six in a row, four of them on second-half comebacks.

Each team features a quarterback confident in his passing game.  The Eagles’ DONOVAN MC NABB is tied for the fewest pickoffs in the conference (7) and has not been intercepted in his past 124 attempts, spanning four games.  The Panthers’ JAKE DELHOMME, in his first year as an NFL starter, has shown a leadership that inspires his teammates and has produced a fifth-place NFC fourth-quarter passer rating (84.2, tie).

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (9-2) at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (9-2)

Another meeting of first-place teams.  The coaching matchups alone are enough to get the excitement quotient bubbling.  There’s head coaches BILL BELICHICK of the Patriots vs. TONY DUNGY of the Colts, who both built their reputations on defense.  There’s offensive coordinators CHARLIE WEIS of the Pats and TOM MOORE of the Colts vs. their respective opposing coordinators RON MEEKS and ROMEO CRENNEL.

On the field, things will be just as exciting, primarily because of the two quarterbacks.  Indianapolis’ PEYTON MANNING heads up the NFL’s No. 1 passing game.  New England’s TOM BRADY directs the league’s No. 8 pass offense.  They are two of the most resourceful quarterbacks in the NFL.  That’s why their teams have the second-best records in the league.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (7-4) at ST. LOUIS RAMS (8-3)

Get ready for a race, DBs.  This one could turn on the flat-out speed of the receivers.

The Vikings come in with RANDY MOSS.  The Rams counter with TORRY HOLT and ISAAC BRUCE.  The three are ranked no lower than fifth in catches and receiving yards in the NFC.  Holt (84/1,285) and Moss (72/1,079) are the top two receivers in the league in receptions and yards.  The three average 72 catches for 1,074 yards for the season.  And the game is indoors on AstroTurf.

But, the pass defenses have no apologizing to do.  The Vikings lead the league in interceptions (22), the Rams are ranked seventh in the category (16).  The Vikings face the Rams’ 11-game home win streak, tied with Kansas City for the NFL’s best active mark.

CINCINNATI BENGALS (6-5) at PITTSBURGH STEELERS (4-7)

A tables-are-switched AFC North battle.  Usually it’s the Steelers who are in the division lead this time of year.  This season, it’s the Bengals in the top spot along with Baltimore.

Cincinnati, under new head coach MARVIN LEWIS, is in playoff contention this late in the season for the first time since 1990, its last time in the postseason.  The Bengals are led by JON KITNA, the only quarterback in the league to take every snap this year, a tough running game in COREY DILLON and RUDI JOHNSON, and fleet and effective receivers CHAD JOHNSON and PETER WARRICK.  Chad Johnson ties for the AFC lead in catches (65) with the Steelers’ HINES WARD and leads in yards (988).

Cincy goes against the NFL’s ninth-ranked defense.  And the Steelers, who have won two of their past three and the division the last two years, do not believe they are out of it.  "We’re still in this," says linebacker JOEY PORTER.  "We run the table, we’ll be there."  

TENNESSEE TITANS (9-2) at NEW YORK JETS (4-7)

No matter which quarterbacks play, this could be an exciting one.  The Titans’ STEVE MC NAIR (calf) has not been ruled out for the game.  But if he is unable to play, it could be a battle of Volek vs. Pennington, the comeback QBs.      

BILLY VOLEK, who had not thrown a pass since 2001, last week replaced the injured McNair in the second quarter, and proceeded to engineer a 21-point comeback for a 38-31 win over Atlanta.  CHAD PENNINGTON, as he has in the past four weeks for the Jets after returning from injury, guided a fourth-quarter rally in Week 12.  This one comprised a 94-yard, three-minute drive (with no timeouts available) culminating in a TD pass for a 13-10 victory over Jacksonville.

RESULTS: NOVEMBER 23 - 24, 2003

(Home teams in capitals)

Indianapolis 17, BUFFALO 14
BALTIMORE 44, Seattle 41 (OT)
DALLAS 24, Carolina 20
Pittsburgh 13, CLEVELAND 6
Chicago 19, DENVER 10
GREEN BAY 20, San Francisco 10
New England 23, HOUSTON 20 (OT)
Tennessee 38, ATLANTA 31
MINNESOTA 24, Detroit 14
N.Y. JETS 13, Jacksonville 10
MIAMI 24, Washington 23
PHILADELPHIA 33, New Orleans 20
KANSAS CITY 27, Oakland 24
St. Louis 30, ARIZONA 27 (OT)
Cincinnati 34, SAN DIEGO 27
TAMPA BAY 19, N.Y. Giants 13

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE – NOVEMBER 27, 30-DECEMBER 1

(All times local)

Miami at Dallas, Thurs., 3:15 (CBS)
Green Bay at Detroit, Thurs., 12:30 (FOX)

San Francisco at Baltimore, 1:00
New England at Indianapolis, 1:00
Atlanta at Houston, 12:00
Philadelphia at Carolina, 1:00
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 1:00
Buffalo at N.Y. Giants, 1:00
Arizona at Chicago, 12:00
Denver at Oakland, 1:15
Cleveland at Seattle, 1:15
Minnesota at St. Louis, 12:00
Kansas City at San Diego, 1:15
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 8:30 (ESPN)
New Orleans at Washington, 4:05

Tennessee at N.Y. Jets, Monday, 9:00 (ABC)