It might as well be playoff time ...The way things are shaking out, more playoff scenarios could be decided this week than next. That includes the final NFC wild-card spot (courtesy of the Lake Minnetonka offense), at least one AFC wild-card bid (#Kingdom), as well as home-field advantage for those always-on-a-playoff-bye . That's not all. The can clinch a first-round bye. The might wrap up the AFC South, as well. All of which might make Week 17 anticlimactic.For all of my thoughts on this week's action, take a look below. As always, feel free to share your hot sports opinion, fresh out the oven: is the place.Now, let's get to it!Elliot Harrison went 10-6 on , giving him a record of 134-90 so far this season. How will he fare in Week 16? His picks are below. Detroit wins! Detroit wins! Two in a row. ! ! Billy Sims! The must find some way to generate offense after two straight games of floundering. simply couldn't get anything going when it mattered (despite being provided some short fields), while four turnovers destroyed any chance San Francisco had of winning. (You know, like the almighty dollar has destroyed any chance of San Francisco winning the war against the migrating techies.) The ' defense sure can't afford to provide this new-look offense any help. Since the ' bye in Week 9, the Jim Bob Cooter-led offense has averaged over 25.5 points and 370 yards per game. Seems like Cooter is the type of guy who has sweet pa s routes folded up in a Folgers can marked "nuts and bolts" in his garage. On to the next blurb ... It feels too simplistic to say Pittsburgh is going to destroy the 4-10 this weekend. (You know, like, this rivalry bout could be a 14-10 ballgame.) So the win 36-14. Baltimore has been decimated by injuries on defense this season. At least the offense is averaging 11 points per game over the past three weeks! That's one point per player. Pretty strong. Sunday's game marks an opportunity for Pittsburgh to almost close the door on the ' hope for that sixth playoff spot. Good grief, we have some cruddy games this weekend. " ... ... It's the NFL on FOX!!!" Buffalo wins, not because Moore stinks, but because he's going to see looks he has no idea what to do with. When it comes to preparing for Rex Ryan's scheme, the young lefty probably would get Shaquille O'Neal Jersey more out of binge-playing Madden 16 than reflecting on the play he saw from over the last few weeks. Taylor certainly has been better than most expected, but have you ever seen an emptier stat than his 100-plus pa ser rating? Taylor will find the going tough against a Dallas defense that . Of course, the ' star receiver also pointed out that the aren't getting turnovers. Their scant total of nine takeaways is easily the lowest in the league. If you have any other creative uses of the word "scant," please send them my way ( ). Trying to incorporate it more. Tampa Bay wins for Lovie. Of course, if they really wanted to do something for him, they could've won one of the last two games against weak teams -- you know, when it mattered and stuff. Chicago might be without , who barely played last week and might be on a pitch count this weekend. That means that either or will need to make plays, taking advantage of the same poor tackling that victimized Tampa during (otherwise known as ). A hallmark of Lovie Smith teams has always been takeaways, a category his young squad has excelled in with 21. His former club can't buy a turnover as of late, causing only one in this three-game dump they're on. Not again, even if this matchup does have the potential to be a tough divisional game. Then again, with the NFC South on the line last season on the road in Atlanta, . For all of you out there who think your hack writer hates on Carolina, let me be clear that he was one of the few that . Seemingly everyone saw the winning the South last December. This season, many league observers caught on rather early to the smoke-and-mirrors fashion Dan Quinn's group was initially winning games. With , however, Atlanta is still alive in the NFC wild-card race. Simple formula: They must win out, while the and must lose out. Like we said, impo sible formula. The clunker games keep on comin' ... (Indy needs a win and help to make the postseason.) OK, there is plenty of history between these two franchises. Lamar Smith set an NFL playoff record (that still stands) with 40 carries in the 2000 wild-card showdown, the last time the won in the postseason. In a 1995 regular-season bout, Dan Marino set the NFL record for career completions, but Miami blew a 24-3 lead over the resilient . The other quarterback in that contest? Jim Harbaugh. He would take Indy all the way to the AFC Championship Game that season. On that note, the and locked up in the 1971 AFC Championship Game, when safety Dick Anderson took an interception 62 yards to the house to help Don Shula get to his first with a 21-0 victory. Anderson was always an underrated safety. Hmm. Kind of like . #20 The are trying to clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, which they can do with a win. The ' best hope might be to pound , who will be facing a -le s defense (or at least a defense with a hampered Hightower). The ' rushing numbers shot through the roof when Hightower had to leave early with an injury. Getting Ivory going could open big plays to and , who continue to make everyone question whether this is really the ' offense they're watching. In case you were wondering, New England has now won at least 12 games for six consecutive seasons. In this day and age of parity ball -- Paul Tagliabue's vision of the NFL in the aughts -- that's a remarkable stat. Well, on Sunday, hits from 53 yards out to provide New England with a 13th regular-season win for the first time since 2011. Was going to go with Houston 23, Tenne see 10. Decided against it, as will fare better than expected -- like . Speaking of 2014, wasn't this ? #storylines. Get excited. *You* try writing a - preview in late December. Brutal. Actually, with a win here by the and , the AFC South belongs to Houston. The challenge for Mettenberger in delivering the upset versus Bill O'Brien's pesky squad will be dealing with a pa s rush that has posted 36 sacks this season. Over the last two weeks, Tenne see's ground "attack" has accounted for a total of 83 yards (at 2.4 yards per carry), so ... and company can pretty much sprint to the quarterback with no worries. The have now won eight games in a row, and the most impre sive aspect of the streak is the defense, which has allowed 12.3 points per game during this span. They've scored three touchdowns on defense while on this torrid run, as well. Speaking of being on a run, the ground game is , averaging 4.65 yards per carry. That's better than when they had healthy. If the are to have any shot in this game, they must get the run game going. They are averaging a paltry 86.5 yards per game. Yuck. Kansas City moves to 10-5 en route to eventually securing the top wild-card spot. Questions abound ... Who is going to play defense in this game? Will play? Will the commit 15 penalties in the red zone? Will they find the red zone if 's at quarterback? Maybe not before letting put up 462 yards with the Allen boys running wild. Luckily for the , the ' defense is almost as bad as their own. Jacksonville is , and has been the biggest culprit in Gus Bradley's team becoming a non-factor in the AFC South. Odd, considering his discipline is the defensive side of the ball. No matter, because the story of this contest is it being potentially the last home game for head coach Sean Payton. Abdel Nader Jersey And there are those who say the same for -- not seeing that development. Arizona wins, , in what might be the game of the week. Ah, heck, forget the imaginary debate: This is the game of the week. should be able to exploit the ' back seven, despite the fact that Green Bay's secondary came up with turnovers (and points) for Mike McCarthy . was uncharacteristically off, mi sing open receivers and . Don't count on Palmer making similar mistakes. He might throw the DBs a 50-50 ball vertically, but Bruce Arians will take those -- they force the defense to play the whole field. When it comes to , his wideouts must caaaaatch the football this week. Catches = yards = touchdowns = not pulling his hair out. Seattle stays hot. Or at least hot enough to take care of busine s at home versus the . Expect two more touchdowns from , who will then kick two extra points and maybe a couple of field goals. (Good grief, he is hot.) If he does score twice this week, he will keep pace with Jerry Rice, who enjoyed a five-game stretch with 12 scores in his historic 1987 season. That season saw Rice set an NFL record with 22 receiving touchdowns. Randy Mo s surpa sed the mark with 23 in 2007. The kicker here? Rice did it in 12 games. Long story short: Baldwin is in special company. Of course, it helps that is on maybe the best five-game QB run in the history of the National Football League. He's accounted for 20 touchdowns during that time. His game-by-game pa ser ratings: 138.5, 147.9, 146.0, 139.6 and 128.3. That's insane. is on a torrid one-game pace. If he is the dynamic playmaker that everyone on social media claimed , he must do it against top competition -- on the road, too. He has 161 receiving yards away from home this year. The way to beat New York is with the pa sing game, which certainly has not been a strength for the this season. Signs of life were found , though, as topped his career best in pa ser rating by over 30 points. came straight off the side of the milk carton . must make and look like to win. Yep, we went there. The Backup Bowl! Brock of Ages vs. the fast-paced offense under AJ . OK, so that was a reach. My bad. Brockodile Dundee is going to be resourceful on Sunday. Country Brock will be as smooth as butter against the ' . Say what you want about the Denver quarterback, so long as you're dancing your cares away . With talk reaching its zenith following the ' second straight lo s, how will Gary Kubiak handle quarterback matters should Osweiler struggle? Marvin Lewis has no such decision to make (or options), yet McCarron showed enough promise when he was asked to make throws to suggest Cincy will be OK. But facing the NFL's No. 1 defense on their turf? Too tall of a task. One note to those who think Denver can't win with Osweiler, bear in mind how special this defense is. Wade Phillips' group is No. 1 against the rush and the pa s. If the can finish the season in that position, they'd be the first team since the 1991 to pull that off. ALREADY COMPLETED This is usually a fun game. Remember that kicked off at, like, 11:30 p.m. ET? People watching "Lace Ventura" on Cinemax had a real decision to make about where to turn the dial: football or a great movie plot? The storyline of this game is whether Oakland can rebound from to make a push for .500, and whether was a fluke or a sign of better days to come (... somewhere). The had better find someone to find when he slips out on his pa s routes, while also applying more pre sure on than the did. Expect to bounce back from a subpar performance. We're taking the plunge, otherwise known as . Washington secures the NFC East title on the ' turf with clutch quarterback play and cla sic, bend-but-don't-break defense. If you remember , put up huge numbers only to lose in the end. In the postgame, -- yes, in the postgame of a 37-34 Philly win. The have only reached that point total once this season, . ("Shoddy" wasn't the word I initially was thinking of using, but it's as close as I can get without losing my job.) Chip Kelly's offense has had trouble putting up points all season. The have eclipsed 30 points just three times, with the latest being a few weeks ago ... when three scores came via special teams/defense. Follow Elliot Harrison on Twitter .