Two 9-3 teams, both coming off rousing victories, and both angling for that No. 2 spot in the NFC, which would result in a bye in the first round of the playoffs, followed by a home game the following week. Sweet!

(Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC, 8 pm should be watching during commercials of you-know-what. TiVO Chuck on another TV.)

Anyone believe in the Bucs on the road? Tampa won the first meeting at home, 27-3, but looking up and down the schedule, there isn’t a victory that jumps off the page. The rally in Chicago? Eh. Beating error-prone Minnesota at home. Enter shoulder shrug here. This just seems like yet another good-but-not-great Tampa Bay playoff team – you know, like the one that lost to Washington at home in the 2005 playoffs or the one that lost to the Giants in the 2007 playoffs.

Gotta go Carolina here, even though Jake Delhomme hasn’t had a 300-yard passing game this season, the Bucs have the fourth-best pass defense in the league, and they picked Delhomme three times in the earlier victory.