How boring is the NFC, with all six playoff participants already decided? Well, the conference is pretty spicy, actually, with the East crown about to be decided in Dallas, the Vikings capable of being seeded second, third or fourth, and the top-ranked Saints suddenly struggling.

The AFC already has all four division winners and has concentrated its frenzy on the wild-card race, which has seven teams still in the scramble. The Ravens and Jets are in control, but if either slips, the Broncos, Steelers, Jaguars, Texans and Dolphins remain possibilities. Denver has 10 scenarios by which it can get a wild card, half of those not even requiring the Broncos to win Sunday against Kansas City.

Most intriguing are the Eagles (11-4) at the Cowboys (10-5) and the Bengals (10-5) at the Jets (8-7).

Dallas won 20-16 at Philadelphia on Nov. 8, seemingly taking charge of the division. But the Cowboys went 4-3 after that, while Philly went 6-1 to take the NFC East lead. Sunday's winner gets the title and perhaps a bye in the first round of the postseason.

"It's a perfect picture right now," Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins said. "I think it was set up real great. We're in a good situation to go in and show everybody what we're made of. Doing it (against the Eagles) is even better. We're in a great situation."

Of course, they were in the same situation a year ago in the wild-card race, went into Philadelphia and got routed 44-6.

An Eagles victory earns them that bye. Dallas needs a win and losses by Minnesota and Arizona to get the week off.

Most people, including Jets coach Rex Ryan, thought the Jets would have the postseason off after a loss to Atlanta two weeks ago. Then everything New York required to remain viable for the playoffs happened last weekend _ including the Colts waving an unbeaten season goodbye by sitting nearly every starter in the third quarter of a close game. The Jets rallied to hand Indianapolis its first loss, and with a victory Sunday night over the AFC North champion Bengals, who also might rest their regulars, New York gets in.

"We had a lot of tough games this year, a lot of tough losses, games that we thought we would win and we ended up coming up short," running back Thomas Jones said. "For us to have an opportunity to even get in the playoffs at this point in the season says a lot about our coaching staff, says a lot about Rex and the commitment that they have to us. It says a lot about the character of our team and guys not giving up."

It also says a lot about having a favorable schedule at the end of the season.