NFL Gameday-- the Playoff Picture develops...

Happy Holidays everyone on the penultimate weekend of the NFL season. With 22 of 32 teams still in contention 10 of today's 13 games have playoff ramifications (sorry, Skins). And with Indianapolis finding itself all of a sudden even the undercard has meaning in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Let's try to sort things out from a league and yuletide standpoint...:

I prefer to open presents Christmas morning. Something magical about having your parents telling you to stay in your room until 8am...oh the anticipation. And after so many Christmases... the anticipation often trumps the eventuality.

Three teams are alive for the NFC East title: Dallas clinches with a win over Philadelphia plus a New York Giants loss to the Jets... while the Eagles need a victory plus a Giants loss to remain in contention. The Giants take the division with a win today and January 1st over the Cowboys.

I'm all about ham instead of turkey at Christmas. It's all about brand identity-- and lets load up on tryptophan on Turkey Day... ham on December 25th... and lamb on Easter.

Dallas isn't the only team that can wrap up a their division today. Baltimore takes the AFC North with a win over Cleveland plus a Pittsburgh loss to St. Louis. New Orleans clinches the NFC South by beating Atlanta. Denver wins the AFC West with a win over Buffalo plus losses by Oakland and San Diego.

Claymation Category-- although I'm all about the Island of Misfit Toys ... I prefer "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" for several reasons. First-- Santa Claus is kind of a shortsighted tool in "Rudolph". I mean if he's the rebel Mickey Rooney makes him out to be... how can he turn his nose down on Rudolph's predicament? Second-- the Burgermeister remains a badass and has no redeeming qualities. He BURNS TOYS. And unlike the Abominable Snow Monster-- he stays bad. Third-- the Kris Kringle romance with the schooleatcher trumps the puppylove storyline of Rudolph-Clarice. I won't even mention Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock.

Playoff possibilities-- both NFC wildcard spots can be wrapped up this afternoon. Detroit and Atlanta clinch berth with victories. They're also in if Seattle, Chicago, Arizona and the New York Giants all lose. The New York Jets and Cincinnati remain in a lockstep for the AFC's final spot; neither can clinch this week.

Christmas Movies-- who doesn't like "It's a Wonderful Life"? More than a few money scenes... from "George Bailey I'll love you til the day I die" to "We serve hard drinks to men who want to get drunk fast-- and we don't need any characters her to liven the atmosphere". On the musical front-- I like "Holiday Inn" more than "White Christmas"... despite the similarities the B&W 1942 classic is in my opinion the superior film. First, Fred Astaire easily has the advantage over Danny Kaye... and his character is much smarter. Second, the holiday songs in "Holiday Inn" actually advance the plot... while in "White Christmas" they seem to be filler. Lastly, there are more twists and turns in the story. Plus Walter Abel as the hyper agent.

Drafting for Draft Position-- Two straight wins by Indianapolis have the Colts previous stranglehold on the number one overall pick in doubt; Minnesota and St. Louis can tie for first/last with losses today. The Rams' path to #1 is a little easier: they face Pittsburgh and San Francisco (combined 21-7 record)... while the Vikings battle Washington and Chicago (combined 12-16) and the Colts meet 4-10 Jacksonville next weekend. Smacks of the 1986 season when the Colts began the season 0-13... fired coach Rod Dowhower and new coach Ron Meyer turned things around in a miraculous way. Indy upended Atlanta 28-23 after outscoring the Falcons 14-3 in the fourth quarter... then beat Buffalo 24-14 after trailing 14-0. The Colts then rallied from 17 points down to defeat Oakland 30-24. Meaning Tampa Bay (finishing 2-14 by losing its last seven games) would get the #1 overall pick. And choose Vinny Testaverde. After trading Steve Young to San Francisco because he was a bust. If the Colts don't wake up... who knows how Testaverde would have prospered under run-first Meyer? And would things have ever gotten any better for Young under a new coach in Ray Perkins? Do the Colts then even trade for Eric Dickerson (#2 overall pick Cornelius Bennett was a part of the deal)?