As the playoffs draw near, all is pretty much set in the NFC. All four divisions have crowned champions, with the 49ers all but locked into the #4 seed and the Bucs, Packers and Eagles battling it out for the top spot. Philadelphia has the tiebreaker over both teams, while Tampa Bay has the tiebreaker over Green Bay. So look for one cold weather team in the top 2, and the other in the 3 hole.

In the AFC, it’s a complete muddled mess. With almost 75% of the conference at .500 or above, almost every teams thinks they are still alive and will play their tails off this week.

There was major shaking in the new poll, with every top 10 team moving one way or the other. The resilient Eagles moved into my top spot, while Pittsburgh and Indianapolis snuck back into the top 10 when Atlanta and New Orleans both laid eggs at home against bad teams.

1 (4) Philadelphia (11-3) Because I lifted them up, I can’t put them under the Bucs team they beat. 4-0 without McNabb, who looks like he might return for the playoffs, and make a Super Bowl run.

2 (1) Tampa Bay (11-3) With this record, and the teams they have beaten, I can’t drop them any more, but what an awful effort by a defense that should have destroyed the rusty McMahon.

3 (2) Green Bay (11-3) They suffer a little hard luck, dropping a spot after a gutsy win in drenched San Francisco, but they’ve got their starting QB and the Eagles don’t.

4 (10) Miami (9-5) They took advantage of a decimated Oakland secondary and held on to win, but Ricky was held down most of the day.

5 (3) Oakland (9-5) Let’s face facts. If James suits up, they might have beaten Miami. If Woodson suited up, they probably would have won. If both were in, it’s a definite. So let’s not overreact.

6 (9) Tennessee (9-5) They are officially rolling, and now have to win two road games to ensure they play at home in the playoffs.

7 (11) Indianapolis (9-5) Big comeback win on the road for them, and Mungro is making people forget that Edge is supposedly in good health. Might be time to start worrying about these guys securing home field in the AFC.

8 (5) San Francisco (9-5) After giving it away at home, Tampa Bay is the only team they can catch for home field, meaning the likelihood for a trip to cold weather is about 90% if they want to reach the Super Bowl.

9 (8) New England (8-6) Good teams aren’t supposed to get blown out (losses by two touchdowns or more) or get run over (200 yards rushing) They have done both twice.

10 (12) Pittsburgh (8-5-1) It was good for them to smash a team, and now they need only a tie in their final two games to wrap up the division.

11 (6) Atlanta (8-5-1) Good teams don’t lose at home to bad teams, and of the few upsets that took place, them and the Saints are the only teams that did that.

12 (7) New Orleans (9-5) Call me Nostradomus, or however you spell that idiot’s name, but I did say last week that giving up 20+ would hurt them, and it cost them a loss to a team that they should have trampled.

13 (15) Denver (8-6) Even after the huge slide, they can still win their final two games and walk away with the AFC West title.

14 (17) Buffalo (7-7) They played like they still had a shot at the playoffs, and it paid off with a win. This might be the best team that isn’t going to make the dance.

15 (13) San Diego (8-6) On the day after the Heisman presentation there was almost a cameo hail mary from Flutie, but in the end they lost a crucial game to Buffalo.

16 (16) Kansas City (7-7) The defense is back to their old tricks, and now they will be wondering what would have been if they had held on to stud linebacker Donnie Edwards.

17 (19) NY Giants (8-6) Classic romping win for a team with sudden life after both the teams they are chasing for the wild card lost to chumps at home .

18 (14) NY Jets (7-7) Inexcusable loss against a team with a wet paper towel defense against the run, and no running game. Jets are done, and deservedly so.

19 (20) Baltimore (7-7) Yet another ugly win, and they are still clinging to hope that a win plus a Tampa Bay victory over Pittsburgh gives them a chance to play for the AFC North title in the final week.

20 (18) Cleveland (7-7) In December, the good teams win, especially at home. They not only lost, they blew a 16-0 lead.

21 (27) Jacksonville (6-8) Too little too late for this team that had plenty of chances to stay in the mix.

22 (22) St. Louis (6-8) Tough to get excited about them beating a team with none of their top receivers in uniform and a lame duck quarterback.

23 (25) Seattle (5-9) Holmgren’s job might have been saved with that big win over Vick’s bunch, but he should still drop the GM duties.

24 (21) Dallas (5-9) The defense is tired, and in that cold weather can you really blame them for mailing this one in?

25 (29) Minnesota (4-10) Great call by Tice going for the win as this team finally gets the close big win, and one that gives them something to build on next year.

26 (24) Washington (5-9) News flash to Spurrier. Close doesn’t cut it, and you better pay Marvin Lewis a lot of money to stick around because if the defense goes to shambles this team is going to be much worse.

27 (26) Arizona (5-9) At least for two weeks they have not given up, but there are major changes that need to happen.

28 (30) Chicago (4-10) Talk about bad luck for the Bears. They win a game, but hardly move up because so many bottom feeders picked up wins.

29 (23) Carolina (5-9) I lost my head and forgot that their impressive win was over Cincinnati. Pittsburgh just devastated them.

30 (28) Houston (4-10) They lose again, they have no offense and they are overall a team that had no business winning any games. It will be two years before they win 7 or more in a season.

31 (31) Detroit (3-11) McMahon came on and showed why it might have been a mistake to take another quarterback in last year’s draft.

32 (32) Cincinnati (1-13) Now that Carson Palmer has won the Heisman, will they take him instead of Leftwich? It would be a mistake because Leftwich is more of a cold weather player.