LEGWOLD: Figuring out real contenders

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 18, 2008 at 7:52 p.m.

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New York Giants' Brandon Jacobs, right

Carolina Panthers' Steve Smith

Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning, left

Tennessee Titans' LenDale White

Photo by Jim Mone/Associated Press

Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson, left

Photo by Nick Wass/Associated Press

Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger

In their quest to repeat as the NFL's champion, the New York Giants might have taken things just a little too far.

Last season, just before they emerged from their yearlong cocoon as the surprise of the ages postseason butterfly, the Giants went 3-2 in December, having lost the two home games in that pile and having won the three on the road.

Overall, New York lost three of its last six games in the regular season in 2007 before winning three road playoff games, then defeating the previously undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl.

"They just got it together at the right time," Broncos cornerback Dre Bly said. "You can get hot at the end and do some things maybe people don't expect you to do. It's all about being the hottest at the end."

So, this is the time and December the place that everybody is talking about. Almost every head coach with a vision of the postseason dancing in his head has dropped the phrase "playing your best football in December" on the team assembled in front of him over the past three weeks.

And in that regard, the Giants are now 0-2 in December, having lost to division rivals Philadelphia and Dallas.

From their 11-1 perch, the one that had the assembled masses in their fair city panting at the prospect of another Super Bowl appearance, those two losses have nudged the Giants to 11-3 and put them in a scrap for home-field advantage in the NFC's postseason.

With running back Brandon Jacobs' sore knee, their offense has also been sporting a limp the past two games, decidedly not its best football.

But on a weekend when there are so many top-end games between division heavyweights, the question of who has the hottest of hands as they head toward January is worth a look.

Like the Carolina Panthers, one of three NFC teams to have current winning streaks of at least three in a row, who are now 11-3 and get a swing at the Giants on Sunday. The winner gets home-field advantage and the loser gets to worry about simply trying to get a rematch.

The Panthers certainly fit the etched-in-history profile of a championship contender. They pound people on defense and can pound the ball on offense.

Toss in the mercurial Steve Smith at receiver and you have a team that will likely be a tough out, that still has a smattering of players who pushed it into the Super Bowl to close out the 2003 season.

There are the Minnesota Vikings, who with four wins in a row currently constitute the NFC's hottest team. The Vikings have the league's top run defense, plenty of questions at quarterback and a slugger's chance of Adrian Peterson with the ball in his hands.

In the AFC, the Titans had been merrily cruising along in the fast lane of a 10-0 start when they had some bumps and bruises in the secondary and have now gone 2-2 over their past four games.

And Sunday they, too, find themselves now playing for home-field advantage - against Pittsburgh in Nashville.

The Steelers have won four in a row, are 2-0 in December and have a defense that has shoved itself into the discussion in the city over the franchise's best of all time. No small feat in a place that relishes every contusion its professional football team inflicts on somebody else.

The Titans and the Steelers have surrendered the fewest points in the league this season - 197 and 192 - and either a pair of field goals or the first one to 10 first downs might get it done in this one.

But if the search is on in the AFC for the team that currently has the most momentum behind it, simply look for the one that has in no way been in most discussions about the power players.

No matter, though, the Colts still won seven in a row to rise from their balky 3-4 start to their 10-4 mark heading into Thursday night's game in Jacksonville. Quick, raise your hand if you thought the Colts had any chance to win the AFC South title a month ago.

In 2006, when the Colts went on to win the Super Bowl despite sporting the league's worst run defense in the regular season, they also closed with a 2-3 December and didn't have a first-round bye.

They didn't play their best football down the stretch but had won enough games to earn a chance to do it in January instead.

Still, December has yet to reveal a favorite in either conference this time around. New York, Carolina, Tennessee and Pittsburgh may look the part, but Sunday will go a long way to show who has earned it.

Stretch run

* Since the start of the 1998 season, these teams have the best record in December games:

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