Anyone out there who knows the whereabouts of the New York Football Giants, please contact RedHouse HQ. There are tens of thousands of New Yorkers looking for those guys.

The other New York football team, the Rexes, er, the Jets, they not only make the postseason, they end up as the No. 5 seed. Weird but true, but Denver’s late-season implosion helped (though it doesn’t figure to do much for Broncos coach Josh McDaniel’s job jitters).

Getting into the Final Six is all that matters. The Jets will have to go on the road this weekend to face the Bengals, but Chad Ocho is Ouch-oh Cinco with a knee problem (he hurt it in warmups Sunday night) and you just have to think Cincy QB Carson Palmer isn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Rex Ryan’s defensive scheme for a second straight week.

It’s no mistake that the Jets DBs are so good; that how Rex’s dad Buddy got the job done with the 1985 Super Bowl Bears, even naming the 46 Defense after one of his safety’s numbers. That would be Doug Plank for those of you trivializing at home.

You have to like the Jets’ chances Saturday, even if they are living and dying with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.  Palmer needs to play to his capability for the Bengals to win, and a New York defense feeling little pressure (now that it made the playoffs) is likely to put some Big Pressure on the Southern Cal QB who preceded Matt Leinart who preceded Sanchez. The weather, which figures to be very un-SoCal-like, is likely to help the D’s and not the QB’s.

What exactly is up with the New Orleans Saints, anyway? Your guess is as good a theirs, losers of the last three after a 13-0 start, including two in the SuperDome, which maybe isn’t the home-dome advantage once thought. It is loud in there, no doubt, but teams feed off other teams winning road games, double no doubt. New Orleans coach Sean Payton has an extra week to figure things out and he is likely secretly thinking, “Not the Packers, please.”

Mike Shanahan coaching the Redskins and Mike Holmgren as Prez of the Browns. The NFL have-nots are almost exciting as the playoff teams. Another have-not with deep football roots, the Bears, will be keeping Lovie Smith (smart) and have already fired O-coordinator Ron Turner to make room (XXL) for Charlie Weiss. Whether that is a smart move, check back after, oh, about a thousand blog entries and 16 football games later.

–Bob Condor, RedHouse

Green is good. The green-jerseyed Packers were dominating in a 48-10 clocking of the Seahawks that, well, just wasn’t that close.  QB Aaron Rodgers is looking like a Super Bowl QB, if not this year (possible), then sooner rather than later. The Packers defense is ferocious, and NFC teams have to be secretly glad they don’t face LBs A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews, plus D-back supreme Charles Woodson, up there on the frozen tundra.

Green Bay fans were ready to clean house just two months ago, but six wins in seven games changes minds in a hurry.

With New Orleans’ recent hip-deep dip into the loss column, it is not hard to imagine one of the sweetest matchups in years for a Super Bowl berth: Green Bay and Rodgers vs. Minnesota and You-Know-Who-Didn’t-Retire.

But another green machine on a late-season, the Philadelphia Eagles, will have something to say about that NFC conference title showdown. Philly is looking Super-good after Andy Reid’s contract extension was hammered out. Quarterback Donovan McNabb hasn’t heard a boo in a couple of months, wideout DeSean Jackson is healthy and Brian Westbrook is getting there (the latter scares NFC foes the most). Plus, Philly is loaded at receiver and has a tight end, Brent Celek, most people don’t know–but will by the end of the playoffs.

Philly booted Denver on a last-second FG, 30-27, in a game much more lopsided than it looked. The Eagles were cruising in the third quarter, up by 17, when CB Asante Samuel ran back an INT 40 yards. But safety Macho Harris was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the runback and Samuel drew a 15-yarder himself for spiking the ball in celebration.

The ball ended up on the Eagles’ own 1-yard line and, after three and out, turned into a Denver TD. Harris flubbed the ensuing kickoff and Denver made it a ballgame by scoring.  Kicker David Akers saved the day, but dig this, Philly might just be the best NFC team in the league right now.

And Denver must have altitude sickness from dropping so low–no longer in control of its playoffs fate–after such a fast start this season.

Green is also lucky. The green-and-white New York Jets were in the right place at the right time on the NFL schedule grid. Since Indy had clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it (rightfully so) rested its regulars about halfway into the third quarter.

Colts fans didn’t like it, but you know Jets head coach Rex Ryan did, especially when rookie backup QB Curtis Painter fumbled his first snap from center and New York recovered in the end zone for a defensive TD. Remarkably, the Jets control their own playoff fate next weekend: Win and they’re in.

Their opponent? The Bengals, who, tah-dah, clinched the AFC North and will likely rest some starters next weekend at the Meadowlands in a 8:20 ET Sunday night start.

Seven AFC teams have a shot at the two Wild-Card berths, but only the Jets and Ravens (who travel to Oakland) can reach the playoffs by winning. Everybody else has to win and hope for some combination of losses for other contenders.

Guess you might say that makes those other five contenders–Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver, Miami and Jacksonville–green with envy.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

Pittsburgh looks to have losing-streaked itself out of the playoffs, but its 37-36 thriller win over Green Bay last weekend might have been the year’s best game. Ben Roethlisberger, who connected with rookie Mike Wallace (get him on your fantasy team for next year) for a 19-yard TD on the last play, threw for 503 yards (!).

That’s high-def entertainment and a reason why Steelers fans might isolate on the Pens’ run for a second consecutive Stanley Cup a bit earlier than normal, but leaves some ballast for next season.

And while Pittsburgh’s season dropped like a clay pigeon, the Titans’ second-half-of-the-season charge looks like it will fall short of the postseason goal line too.

In case you lost track of your calculations during a month of office secret Santas and last-minute online shopping sprees, Vince Young is 7-1 as a Tennessee starter. Uh, problem spot, Kerry Collins was 0-6 as the QB to start the season. Young has regained the confidence of head coach Jeff Fisher and then some–as in the “then some” that Fisher likely keeps his job despite the dismal start and insisting Collins be the QB at least one and maybe three games longer than necessary.

The Titans finish with San Diego (ouch) at home, then at Seattle. So even if Tenn can win out behind Young’s continued stand as a newly minted top-5 QB, there is another issue: The Titans have already lost seven games in the AFC (the 0-6 gift that just keeps on giving), which pretty much bazookas any tiebreaker with other teams angling for Wild Card Weekend.

Top-5 quarterback list? Has to include Philip Rivers. Another top-5 QB, Peyton Manning, and his Indy mates have to be quietly thinking, “gee, wouldn’t it be nice for someone to upset the Chargers earlier in the postseason so we won’t have to beat them in the AFC Championship Game to reach the Supe?”

The unlikely Cowboys victory over the Saints in New Orleans officially eliminated the Falcons from the playoffs and put Dallas firmly in control of its own January fate. But the Cowboys will have to get past the Redskins and Eagles. Don’t forget, the Giants have the tiebreaker over Dallas.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

Good week for two teams not headed to the playoffs, the Browns and Redskins, and they haven’t even played their Sundays yet. Mike Holmgren and Cleveland owner Randy Lerner hit it off in talks this week about Holmgren becoming the front office boss with the Browns.

Holmgren, a happily transplanted Seattlite, liked what he heard enough to look for houses on his Cleveland trip. That’s commitment, to move from that One Terrific American City. There has been speculation that the former Seahawks coach would be considered for the open GM job in Seattle. Holmgren said all this on his semi-weekly radio appearance Friday on Seattle’s KJR-AM 950.

In the other Washington, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder hired Bruce Allen as new GM one day after executive VP Vinny Cerrato (a former top recruiter at Notre Dame, just not a good year for Fighting Irish guys) abruptly resigned.

The Denver Post reports Shanahan is in talks about the head coaching job, even though, last RedHouse looked, Jim Zorn still occupied that role. Well, sort of occupied that role, after offensive consultant Lewis was hired to call the plays mid-season (guess that worked out pretty well?).

Zorn probably knew going in to his soon-to-be short tenure in D.C. that he was catching a huge break and would need to produce a playoff team to stay as head coach. Shanahan is no doubt a spectacular upgrade. Zorn will bounce back and his team is still playing hard for him, by all reports. But you do have to wonder why everybody just can’t wait until Week 18 (otherwise known as the off-season for also-rans) or at least until after Christmas.

The Shanahan topic will get plenty of airtime for Monday Night Football as the Giants head to D.C. for a must-win game.  Look for New York to win in a squeaker as Wash QB Jason Campbell is trying to hold onto his own job. Campbell is improving under Lewis’ direction, but Eli Manning will be money on the Giants side of the ball.

No doubt, no one is more interested in the Saints going perfect at least one more week. Dallas shows up in New Orleans Saturday night and its own must-win game. When you do all the jotting on your note pad or electronic clipboard, the answer is Dallas and New York will fight for the last NFC postseason spot. The Giants hold the tiebreaker so every loss by the Cowboys sort of counts double right now.

Weather report (Another great brand opportunity to put your company name on NFL RedHouse):  The Bears-Ravens game in Baltimore was moved to 4:15 Sunday in anticipation of some 10 to 20 inches of snow Saturday and Sunday earlier. That is not exactly going to improve Chicago QB Jay Cutler’s mood, but, well, possibly curb his INTs this weekend. Or not. Get your gloves, hats and boots ready for some Snowball on the East Coast.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

As a head coach for the Carolina Panthers during the team’s expansion years, Dom Capers almost took the franchise to the Super Bowl in its second season. Carolina fell one game short, losing in the NFC Championship Game, 30-13, to Green Bay.

Fast forward, Capers is a big reason why the Packers might just get back to the Super Bowl–or at least the NFC title game–this season, even Green Bay doesn’t have You-Know-Who-Didn’t-Retire at quarterback.

Capers is the D-coordinator for Green Bay and providing a solid component to a team that on offense is in good hands with QB Aaron Rodgers and RB Ryan Grant. The Packers D clamped down on Chicago and its big-money passer Jay Cutler to grind out a 21-14 win Sunday that puts Green Bay in a pretty secure (or about as secure as it can be in Week 14) position to make the playoffs.

Capers is running a 5-1-5 formation at times that he has nicknamed “Psycho” and, RedHouse educated wild guess, probably has something to do with the guy in between the hyphens. The GB victory was just a bit sweeter for Capers because his wife’s family is south side Chicago. Capers is one of the good guys in the NFL–smart too–and it is a RedHouse pleasure to see him headed back to the playoffs.

Aaron Rodgers is going to be trouble for whichever team gets Green Bay during the Wild Card Weekend. Just sayin’, fair warning.

Fantasy timeout: Hoping here no one from my fantasy league is reading this, but if you need a receiver for a playoff-round boost, look up Devin Aromashodu, who started Sunday for the Bears, caught eight passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Jay Cutler has been practically begging Lovie Smith to play Aromashadu and it looks like the Bears QB was onto something.

Indy wins again, ho-ho-hum (to be in season’s spirit), but the losers in that game, Denver, looked like a playoff team too. Josh McDaniels has righted a wrong-way losing streak. Most impressive is the Broncos didn’t bail when they fell behind 21-zip in the second quarter. They lost 28-16 and hung three INTs on Peyton (Not a Hair Usually Out of Place) Manning. And you just have to admire wideout Brandon Marshall’s 21-catch day (!) no matter what you thought about his holdout this past summer.

Twenty-one catches, 200 yards, two TDs. Marshall has busted 1,000 receiving yards for the season, his third in four seasons.

The Falcons, at 6-7, just can’t crowd back into the playoff hunt with all the NFC East teams in front of them. But Atlanta is a good team with some bad breaks. RB Michael Turner has been injured for weeks and last Sunday, a narrow 26-23 rivalry loss to undefeated New Orleans, no Matt Ryan at QB. Backup Chris Redman still chucked for more than 300 yards.

The problem in Atlanta on the O-side that needs fixing in the off-season is more depth at running back, so any down time for Turner isn’t down time for the whole team and city. On the D-side, everybody says left corner is the weak link. Honestly, giving only 26 points to a motivated Saints team (home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, maintaining dominance in the NFC South, yadda, yadda) doesn’t translate to desperation in the defensive backfield, especially when you consider Saints RB Reggie Bush was breaking some of the big plays.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

New Yorkers are enjoying NFL parity, no doubt. After an impressive second half Sunday, the Giants are in the thick of NFC East and Wild Card races. The Jets, who dropped Buffalo way back on Thursday night (more big-time INTs from Rex Ryan defense) had to enjoy feet up on the ottoman watching the Dolphins beat the Pats on the 50-incher.

Both NYC teams (who, yeah, play in Jersey) are only one game off division leads. The Patriots’ struggles are all road-related. They are 0-5 away from home. Sunday was a low point, losing an 11-point lead to the Dolphins and Chad Henne.

The Giants get Philly next and could make things tight in the NFC East with a win. More later in the week once RedHouse figures out who plays at RB and wideouts for the Eagles. We know Leonard Weaver, the former Seattle fan favorite, will be at FB and that is an underrated Eagles attack right now.

The Steelers have lost four in a row. They trail Cincy by three games. D-back Troy Palumalu says he is not sure he can return to play this season. Connect the dots.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak is looking at four AFC South losses in the last four weeks. This is not a good trend.

At 6-6 and QB Matt Ryan out at least another week with a toe problem (which sounds ridiculous but is one of the most painful body parts to injure as a NFL player), the Giants are about the only team that crack top 6 in the NFC now occupied by New Orleans (lucky, lucky), Minnesota, Arizona, Dallas, Philly and the Packers.

Kurt Warner, your spot for the post-season is reserved.

We find all we need to know about the Bengals as bonafide Super Bowl contenders. They go on the road to Minnesota and San Diego in the next two weeks.

Good news: Bears QB Jay Cutler did not throw an interception Sunday, first time that has happened since Week 4. Bad news: Cutler only completed eight passes total in a win over Rams.

The AFC Wild Card race is your basic free-for-all. Denver leads at 8-4, but goes to Indy next. New England and Jacksonville are 7-5 (with Pats wavering and Jax looking stronger in comparison). Then you have Ravens, Steelers, Dolphins and Jets all at 6-6.

A moment of silence for the Titans, whose loss to the Colts pretty much ended any Cinderella story there. It was fun while it lasted.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

Titans RB Chris Johnson gained 800 yards in November, the most ever in one NFL month. This is not an accident. QB Vince Young has revived Tennessee’s playoff hopes with five straight wins, including a career-making 99-yard drive (three fourth-down conversions) to win last weekend. This is not an accident.

The Colts needed 24 fourth-quarter points last Sunday to remain perfect on the season. Tennessee will get the lead against the Colts Sunday and an underrated Titans defense will not give it up. Tenn. will beat Indy. This will not be an accident.

RedHouse has been gauging Jeff Fisher’s job stock since Tennessee went 0-6. It’s way up this week and perhaps clear of any Got Fired line provided the Titans don’t drop the next five. But here’s what you need to understand: Fisher might well be putting himself in line to be wooed by another team, especially, oh, one that he played for as a tenacious DB.

That would be the Bears, who, hate to say, pretty much have to say so long to Lovie Smith. Fans in Chicago won’t expect QB Jay Cutler (reportedly having confidence issues) to be gone, so Smith and his coaching staff will have to do. Lots of the Bears faithful want Charlie Weis to be the O-coordinator (you learn things at Thanksgiving dinner) but that will be up to Fisher, er, the Bears head coach, whoever that is.

One question: After watching Notre Dame so closely, why would Chicago fans think Weis and Cutler are the right match?

More NFL job weirdness: Mike Holmgren, the former Seahawks coach who took them to a Supe and lost to the referees and not the Steelers, might be aligned to be interviewed and named the next GM now that Tim Ruskell lost that seat based on losing twice as much as Seattle won this season and last. Holmgren said he is interested in the GM job on his semi-weekly KJR-AM Seattle radio show Friday.

The problems in Seattle are deeper than QB Matt Hasselbeck’s achy back and assorted other physical problems that finally brought down one of the league’s toughest hombres. Ruskell’s draft choices have largely been busts and Seahawks fans are still shaking their heads about the long-term signing of RB Shaun Alexander (remember him) when everyone–well, most everyone, not Ruskell–thought the former Alabama star was past his prime as an over-30 back.

Speaking of Alabama, sign up the Crimson Tide for the title game vs. Texas. This time, Tim Tebow falls short. Just a little NCAA breather there.

Here’s where the Giants’ season stands: Beat the Cowboys and your postseason is looking good, since Dallas has to face both New Orleans and San Diego in coming weeks. Then New York beats Philly and things are looking up for January games. One major problem (or is it?): Eli Manning is listed as “ouchy,” or something like that, for Sunday’s early game (somebody explain to me why this is not a prime time game?). Manning’s got a right-foot “stress reaction.” Foot problems are trouble for QBs; only throwing arm injuries are worse. Lose Sunday to the Cowboys and the Giants will be out of it before the Jets.

NBC flexed for Vikings at Cardinals Sunday to preview a possible matchup of veteran throwers Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. But Warner is iffy and shared first-team time with Matt Leinart, who actually played well last weekend only to see V. Young (no, not him again, you could just see Leinart thinking that way).

Don’t look now, Kurt and Matt, but SF QB Alex Smith might be gaining on you. If the Vikings beat Arizona (likely) and Niners beat Seattle (highly likely), then a Week 14 49ers-Cards could be a chance for Mike Singletary’s guys to take the division lead. That’s why Warner will play, even if Minny DE Jared Allen might put the veteran QB back on the post-concussion shelf.

The playoffs are now for Arizona.

– Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

OK, call it kooky. But what’s wrong with giving Vince Young and Chris Johnson and the rest of the Titans a chance at upturning Colts’ perfect season-in-the-making, even if the game is in Indy?

All Young has done is win five straight since getting the starting QB job back from Kerry Collins, converting a lost Tennessee season into a bona fide shot at making the playoffs (thanks to losses last weekend by stocks-dropping-fast Miami, Jacksonville, Houston and, egads, Pittsburgh).

Young’s game Sunday was the best performance by a quarterback pretty much since, well, that Texas-USC national title game a few years back. Wait a minute, Young won that game in dramatic last fashion, too, against . . . riiiight, USC lefty flinger Matt Leinart, who, small world after all, started at QB for the Cardinals in Sunday’s loss to the Titans.

Leinart actually played a solid game and looked like the winning QB when Tennessee got the ball at their own 1 with not much time left. But Young proceeded to convert three–three!–fourth downs, including the game-winning TD win no time on the clock, a 10-yarder to rookie wideout Kenny Britt. Just who in the name of Mel Kiper is Britt? He picked up 128 receiving yards on Sunday. Guess Tennessee’s front office did its scout work picking Britt, who played at Rutgers, in the first round as the 30th pick last April.

More: Johnson has gained at least 125 yards in six games this season, which puts him in company with Eric Dickerson and Earl Campbell. He looks like he will break 2,000 rushing yards for the season and he could shimmy, cut and scamper right past Dickerson’s all-time NFL single-season record while, ahem, serving as a one-man wrecking crew for fantasy opponents.

Young has not only won five straight, he is now 23-11 as a NFL starter. Just sayin’–and so is Tenn. owner Bud Adams, who talked Jeff Fisher into saving his head coaching job by canning Collins after a 0-6 start.

Kooky, indeed.

If you want to believe somebody, anybody, can beat the Saints and ruin an undefeated season, go ahead. It is Santa season, after all. But the five remaining New Orleans opponents have lost twice as many as they have won. That’s South Pole stuff, not North Pole.

Mitch Levy, a Seattle sports talk show host and pretty much the best one in the country, thank you, always brings bottles of champagne when the last undefeated NFL team goes down, since he is a lifer as a Dolphins fan. But he won’t be able to imbibe on the air this season. Mark it down. Drew Brees, the Purdue Boilermaker, goes 16-0.

Trouble is, the Saints will have to play Minnesota in the playoffs and Brett Favre, yoo-hoo, he has 24 TDs and three–three-INTs. That’s MVP stuff. Could he possibly get more votes than Brees or Peyton Manning, who, all Young infatuation aside, could also finish 16-and-oh?

The Broncos probably saved their postseason Thanksgiving night, while the Giants’ turned to cranberry sauce. After Denver, here are the Wild Card possibles in the AFC: Ravens, Jags, Steelers, all 6-5 and Dolphins, Texans, Jets, Titans, all 5-6. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Pssst. Adrian Peterson fumbled twice in a Vikes’ romp over the Bears (Lovie, not so dovie right about now). That’s 15 fumbles in two seasons, the most of any RB in the league, in part because he is so good Brad Childress isn’t about the bench him. There is debate about whether AD carries the ball too much in his right arm on runs to the left side (hey, these commentators have to talk about something).

But, tell you what, RedHouse will take Peterson and whatever chances that adds up to in the postseason.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

Managing your management and Fan Dread during a crisis week is part of the NFL head coach gig.

Down in Atlanta, Mike Smith brought in four kickers for tryouts on Tuesday after Jason Elam missed his fourth FG in four weeks, a stat magnified by the Falcons’ three-point loss to the Giants that dropped the team to 5-5 and postseason life support. That brings certain satisfaction to the bosses and Joe Falcon Fans.

Meanwhile, Smith knows addressing his cornerback problems will be even more important, so he can do that more quietly. And the whole kicker tryout thing distracts everyone from wondering how RB Michael Turner’s high-ankle sprain has basically derailed the team.

But come Sunday against the 1-9 Bucs, the QB Question will re-emerge: Has Matt Ryan lost his confidence? Oh, come on, the guy will be a solid and successful pro for years–and you have to like the way he handled the game-tying drive up in Jersey.

In Chicago, Lovie Smith, well, maybe he should have staged some kicker or punter tryouts of his own, because the guy is Open Season. Except there in Chi-town GM Jerry Angelo is under the scope too. That’s why the buzz is bringing in Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan now, both guys who want GM-type power and both guys who are available.

Smith doesn’t deserve the fallout (though he will make another $11 million from the Bears no matter what), but Jay Cutler’s INT bug is a contagion that is going all H1N1 on the Bears. Chicago plays at the Vikes Sunday. Brett Favre has three interceptions all season, Cutler can throw that many in a quarter, that’s what Bears fans will be thinking on Sunday.

In Houston, Gary Kubiak’s job status appears shaky too. That’s two weeks after the Texans holding their own against Indy, only to lose on missed fourth-quarter FGs. Hmmm, kicker tryouts? Kubiak is hearing it about not finishing games, he and QB Matt Schaub. The Texans are 5 up and 5 down, losing a close Monday night to the revived Titans that didn’t help Fan Dread levels. Firing Kubiak would be flat-out goofy (to use a highly technical term) because the Texans are finally and consistently competitive.

Weirdly, Jeff Fisher may keep his job after all, and that’s after starting 0-6 and not changing QBs until owner Bud Adams (who might want to work on his celebration methodology) publicly made him do so.

Just another weekly episode of Coaching in a Crisis.

Two coaches not in trouble meet Monday night in New Orleans. Bill Belichick, in firm control of the division after dousing Rex Ryan and the Jets, will look for ways to upend the Saints’ perfect season. If his Patriots can’t do so, New Orleans might roll the table.

The remaining teams on the Saints schedule have lost twice as many as they have won.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

A win is a win is a win. That’s a fact as teams finish up the third month of the NFL season. You take a win any way it falls into your W-column. You can parse whether the defense gave up too many points or the offense can’t score inside the 20 or a coach didn’t make the right halftime adjustments.

In the end, the team that gets the win is richer for it, one step closer to the playoffs, qualifying you for a time when jelling in January stamps your Super Bowl ticket.

The Giants know all about that drill. That’s why Tom Coughlin was expansive after escaping Sunday with a 34-31 OT win over the valiant but now 5-5 Falcons. New York goes to 6-up, 4-down, one game out of first in the division and In The Thick for an NFC wild card spot. The Giants are so pleased with that W they haven’t even chirped a bit this week about no days off, two days of practice, travel Wednesday and play Thursday night in Denver–all while the Broncos played at home last Sunday.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Denver is imploding. QB Chris Simms looked lost on Sunday and Kyle Orton’s ankle is not going to get better try to play on it. Sunday’s 32-3 loss to San Diego (now in first place) wasn’t even that close. It’s been popular for commentators this week to say the 6-4 Broncos (won their first six, lost the next four) can still collect 10 wins by beating the Giants Thursday night and nailing down two remaining against the Chiefs and one more to play with Oakland.

RedHouse says not so fast–and knows this will make the All-Time-Greatest-Editor-of-Mobile Content Joey Alfino happy (yes, my boss, and, no, the superlatives are not bestowed because I am turning my usual Tuesday column into a Wednesday pre-turkey special). The Broncos won’t beat the Chiefs twice and they might not even beat them once. Kansas City is turning a corner and headed for better times. Releasing a star running back (easy enough to do if you were watching Jamaal Charles in practice) can work better than smelling salts for waking up your roster.

Pittsburgh, of course, lost an opportunity to go even up with Cincy after the Bengals lost a 10-point lead and the game to the Raiders and backup QB Bruce Gradkowski (say that three times, then ask yourself just how many NFL greats have been named Bruce). The Raiders play Thursday in Dallas, which beat the Redskins 7-6 Sunday in a game so meager in highlights that all of the sports shows used D-backs coach Dave Campo going all Scream-O on CB Terence Newman on the sideline as a key element of coverage.

Newman campo-ed it up Tuesday by saying he and Coach C were be on the undercard for a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout that Dallas owner Jerry Jones is trying to bring to his new $1.2 billion football palace. Weird, but better material than reviewing a 7-6 ho-hummer.

The other Thanksgiving Day game is Packers at Lions, which loses some luster with Detroit QB Matt Stafford out but still decidedly a better draft call than Mark Sanchez, at least 10 games in to Year One for both rookies.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse