NFL Poll: Week 15

Here's the thing:  Since the early 1980's, the Giants have had an array of different coaches, but they're always basically the same team.  Most of the time, they bounce around between 9-7 and 7-9.  But every so often, their defense comes together at the end of the year -- and then they are devastating.  Last week the Good December Giants showed up and whipped Dallas 10-7 -- knocking the Boys out of the top spot and putting New England back on top.  Meanwhile, the Chiefs won their big showdown with Oakland:

1.  New England Patriots:  11-2
2.  Dallas Cowboys:  11-2
3.  Kansas City Chiefs:  10-3
4.  Oakland Raiders:  10-3
5.  Detroit Lions:  9-4
6.  New York Giants:  9-4
7.  Seattle Seahawks:  8-4-1
8.  Pittsburgh Steelers:  8-5
9.  Atlanta Falcons:  8-5
10.  Denver Broncos:  8-5

The Redskins (7-5-1) beat the Eagles to remain in 13th place.  The Dolphins (8-5) beat the Cardinals to remain in 15th place.  I have no idea why the Skins are ranked ahead of the Dolphins.  It's possible that the voters just aren't paying attention.

The Game of the Week is in Denver on Sunday afternoon, where the Broncos -- who basically never play road games -- will host the Patriots in a rematch of last year's AFC title game.  But the game I really want to see will be in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area, where the Giants will be hosting the Lions at noon Central on Sunday.  I want to know if the Lions are for real, and if the Giants are likely to make another defense-based run from the wild card spot.

NBC went with the Buccaneers and the Cowboys for the Sunday Night game, figuring that folks would like to see the match-up between Jameis Winston and Dak Prescott.  But while I am very interested in Dallas -- I've always been about 20 percent more likely to watch any NFL game if the Cowboys are playing in it -- I never watch the Bucs unless they are in the Super Bowl or the NFC Title Game.  So I haven't watched a Bucs game since about 2002, and that's not likely to change this week.