Week 17 Breakdown

Here's a look at what to expect in Week 17, as I see it.

AFC

Patriots - They want to go 16-0, expect them to keep their stars in until it is assured, just don't expect them to try to run up the score quite as much.

Colts - They have the #2 seed locked up and nothing to play for...if you blink, you may miss Peyton and friends. Bench your Colts. There will, however, be a brief Marvin Harrison sighting. If you held onto him this long, I suppose this qualifies as excitement.

Chargers - They need to win, or else the Steelers could steal the #3 seed. The #3 seed benefits because they would 1)Play against the Titans/Browns rather than the Jags and 2)Travel to Indy rather than New England. The Chargers likely won't have much trouble against the Raiders.

Steelers - See above. The Chargers and Steelers both play late, so expect them to keep their stars in until the game is no longer in doubt. The Steelers have a higher level of injury concern, so they'll likely be scoreboard watching.

Jaguars - They have the #5 seed locked up and nothing to play for. Fred Taylor and MJD won't be playing much, if it all. Same for David Garrard. Bench your Jags.

Titans - Win and in, lose and out. Expect the Titans to be giving it their all against the second string Colt squad. This is the last of the teams which the result has a significant impact.

Browns - Their future relies exclusively upon the Titans. If the Titans lose, the Browns are in regardless of whether or not they actually win the game. After several recent unimpressive showings, expect them to be playing to win, but players will be shut down if any injury concern at all arises.

The rest of the AFC is out of the playoff picture and they should be playing all of their healthy starters as usual. Titans/Colts has the distinction of being the final regular season game.

The Miami Dolphins are officially on the clock for the first pick of the 2008 NFL Draft.

NFC

Cowboys - They have the #1 seed locked up and nothing to play for. TO is hurt and don't expect the Boys to be risking injury to any other starters. Expect lots of Romo smiling pretty on the sidelines in his backward ball cap. Marion The Barbarian will also be used very sparingly.

Packers - They're the #2 seed, locked in. Still, they're an enigma for this week. They may want more work due to their Week 16 meltdown against the Bears. Still, don't be comfortable relying on Favre, Driver and Grant. They'll stil llikely be pulled early.

Seahawks - They have the #3 seed sewn up. Don't expect much out of Hasselbeck and pals.

Buccaneers - Coach Chucky made a curious decision to start resting players in Week 16 when the Bucs were still in contention for the #3 seed. Now that they aren't in contention, do you really expect their stars to see much action?

Giants - They'll play to win tonight...with their backups. Despite the public spin, don't expect them to risk further injury with a banged up Jacobs and Plax while they've already lost Shockey. The exception is if they game is still close at halftime.

Redskins - Need a win to ensure a playoff berth. They'll go against the second string Cowboys, so expect decent numbers out of their starters.

Vikings - Need a Redskin loss and win of their own to make the playoffs. They'll keep their usual starters in all game, since both the Skins and Vikes play late. Feel free to leave Purple Jesus in your lineup, although he's not the savior he was before the injury.

Saints - Need a win and losses by both the Skins and Vikings to make it to the dance. They play early, so expect a full effort from all of their starters, and whoever lines up at RB.

The rest of the NFC will be on the golf course by this time next week, so expect them to all be playing their regulars.

No in-season coach firings, surprisingly enough (Bobby Petrino quit like a bitch, he wasn't fired). Expect plenty of activity there come Monday.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks. There will be recaps, commentary and Milton J's Playoff Picks.

There will still be activity.