Tennessee (13-3) at Jacksonville (14-2)
Tennessee's defense is for real. Titans coach Jeff Fisher has a great defensive system which attacks instead of reacting to opposing offenses.
Don't underestimate the Titans. Jevon Kearse was impressive against Buffalo in the wild card game, but last week fans saw how good this defensive unit really is. It is not loaded with superstars, but they play well as a team.
The Titans have upset Buffalo and Indianapolis in successive weeks thanks to a debatable call against the Bills and running back Eddie George's breakout game against the Colts.
Quarterback Steve McNair is still the Titans' Achilles heel, but you can't belittle the defense or the impact George can have on a game.
Looking at Jacksonville is almost the same as looking at the Titans. The Jaguars' passing attack is shaky because of Mark Brunell's status but the defense and the running of Fred Taylor make this team succeed on any given Sunday.
The Jaguars embarrassed the Dolphins last week. Sixty-two to seven isn't even a football game, it's more like a basketball game between the number one team in the country and the freshman team at your high school.
It was sickening to watch how poorly the Dolphins played. Sure, Fred Taylor made some nice moves on his 90-yard touchdown run and his 35-yard touchdown reception, but look at how many tackles the Dolphins missed.
And who didn't want to see Dan Marino finally win the big one and retire as a world champion? It just wasn't meant to be.
Sunday's matchup pits two squads that play a field-position game, relying on defense and special teams to shorten the field for their offenses.
The Titans were the only team to beat the Jags this season, and they did it twice. Both teams are very familiar with each other, have similar strengths and weaknesses and have excellent coaching staffs.
Both will attack with their defense and look to create turnovers and scoring opportunities.
The Titans hope McNair will be effective in preventing the Jaguars from putting eight men in the box against George. McNair just isn't good enough. If Tennessee is going to go to the Big Dance, the defense and George are going to have to win this one too.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, hope they can contain Kearse. Without Tony Boselli -- the NFL's best offensive tackle -- Jacksonville should be worried.
The Jaguars need Brunell to be effective. Unlike McNair, Brunell can take over a game with his throwing ability. He has a great tandem of receivers in Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell and a great pass receiving back in Fred Taylor.
The Jags will win if they maintain a run-pass balance and keep the Titans defense guessing.
The most important statistic in this game will be turnovers. Neither team can give the other a break by losing the ball deep in its own territory.
The Titans are confident and on a roll. They finally have people believing they are an elite NFL team. However, the Jaguars will still win.
Not to underestimate George and the Titans defense, but they just can't pull another win out of their hat without a significant contribution from McNair.
The Jaguars defense won't let the Titans score too many points offensively, while the offense will maintain a decent run-pass balance.
The score is Jaguars 20, Titans 17.
Tampa Bay (11-5) at St. Louis (13-3)
The Rams will win this one. No question.
The Buccaneers' win last week was unimpressive. They won by scoring two touchdowns, kicking two extra points and playing fantastic defense.
Give credit to the defense for both of those touchdowns because they resulted from drives that started deep in Redskin territory after turnovers.
Sure, Shawn King made an incredible throw on the second touchdown, but he moved the Tampa offense less than 30 yards. If the Bucs defense hadn't caused any turnovers, the Redskins would have laid a big goose egg on the Bucs and won 13-0. Instead, the Bucs are one win from the Super Bowl.
Tampa fans should pray to the defensive gods that their squad can create turnovers and score about 28 points. Otherwise, they have no chance of winning because the Bucs offense is a joke.
Just as Tennessee impressed everyone last week, so did the Rams. At halftime with the Vikings were up 17-14, those who haven't believed in the team all along their Cinderella run were saying, "ok, here it comes, the Rams faade of greatness is about to crumble."
Instead, they came out and beat the Vikes -- the league's hottest team at the time. Kurt Warner, offensive coordinator Mike Martz, London Fletcher, the Rams defense and the Rams special teams all were phenomenal.
The Rams are for real, and shouldn't be doubted anymore.
It will be fun watching the Rams offense tangle with the Bucs defense. In the NFL right now, these are the best offensive and defensive units, respectively.
As nice as it would be to prove the adage that "offense wins games, defense wins championships," there is no way the Rams lose this game, unless the Rams lose both Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk to injury or if the Bucs' defense can score 28 points on its own.
This just won't happen. The Rams win 27-10 and gain the right to face Jacksonville.
