1. Titans vs. Giants: Are there two plodding inexorably toward a Super Bowl matchup? They are clearly the two best teams in football. We’d defend the Giants thusly – stack the line against the terrifying Earth, Wind and Fire trio (props to Brandon Jacobs for that one), and hope Eli makes mistakes. Ditto for the Titans, although the reinvetion of Kerry Collins continues to befuddle bloggers, analysts and, we’re fairly certain, anyone who watches football.

2. Detroit: So who do the Lions beat at home, Tampa Bay, Minnesota or New Orleans? Come on, you know they’re not going undefeated. winless.

3. Our 2009 Surprise May Not Need a QB: It is certainly too small a sample size, but Tyler Thigpen of the Chiefs has now performed exceptionally (8 TDs, one int) in consecutive games against the Jets, Bucs, Chargers and Saints (four playoff teams?) and perhaps the Chiefs can spend next year’s high draft pick on a pass-rush artist instead of a QB, because they have a league-low six sacks. Or a run stopper to play alongside Glenn Dorsey – they also have the league’s worst rush defense. Are you think Orakpo from Texas or Hardy from Ole Miss?

4. Why? Do West Coast teams always seem to lose when they travel East? They’re something like 0-13 this season.

5. Why? Does NBC’s Andrea Kramer always seem to ask the most painfully-obvious questions before and after games? Pam Oliver, she’s not. When Kramer asked Tony Romo what the “importance” was for the Cowboys-Redskins game, he should have laughed and said, “come on, Andrea, do you even need to ask?”

6. QBs Under Scrutiny. Slightly deceiving, since we’re not saying they’re jobs are in jeopardy, but without question, scrutiny will be heaped on the following signal callers this week: Phil Rivers of San Diego, Donovan McNabb of Philly, and Jake Delhomme of Carolina. Rivers has thrown six picks in the last four games (two losses), meaning the Chargers have to beat Indy next week. McNabb threw three picks and fumbled in Cincy, and the Eagles could only muster a tie because the offense was so dreadful. Delhomme figures to go under the microscope because since carving up the Cardinals, he’s had two dreadful games in victories over the Raiders and Lions, and somebody’s certain to say he’s the difference between 8-2 Carolina challenging the Giants for the NFC crown and being upset in the first round. Add Trent Edwards to the list if the Bills lose tonight

7. The Worst. Not under scrutiny because he’s not any good: Sage Rosenfels. If Sage is the quarterback, it is the fourth quarter, and the Colts are the opponent, chalk it up as a loss.

8. Just Wince, Baby: It has been 13 quarters since Oakland has scored an offensive touchdown. Notable occurences since JaMarcus Russell found Justin Griffin for a score back in October: Greg Oden’s first NBA points, a black President-elect and the Phillies won the World Series. (Hat tip: Dan Patrick.)

9. Denver. So Jay Cutler orchestrates late drives to beat Cleveland and Atlanta on the road, and we’re sure everyone’s going to be on his stick again. If they can win at the Jets, Carolina or Chargers, we’ll consider believing; win two of those and we’ll actually believe.

10. Special. Minnesota’s fourth quarter in Tampa: fumbled kickoff, 4-and-out, fumble. To recap: Zero first downs, two fumbles, loss.

11. Playoffs: We got New York, Washington, Dallas, Minnesota, Carolina and Arizona in the NFC. Tampa lost head-to-head with Dallas, or it could have snuck in. In the AFC: New York, Miami, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Denver, San Diego. Weird. We feel less confident about the AFC – New England’s schedule isn’t difficult, and Indy probably should be in there. Tough to eliminate Baltimore yet. Compounding matters, we’re just putting the Jets in there because we like them. Heart over head is always a bad move.