The final Sunday of the regular season came with natural drama. Playoff spots were still up for grabs and momentum heading into the postseason is always a plus.

However, a tie nearly allowed a team to truly back into the playoffs. Needing only to beat or tie San Francisco at home, the Broncos lost to the 49ers in overtime.

The upset allowed the Chiefs to cap an improbable playoff run. After beating Jacksonville, Kansas City still needed Tennessee to lose to New England, Pittsburgh to beat Cincinnati and finally San Francisco to beat Denver.

After a 4-12 disaster of a season in 2005, the Jets are the biggest surprise participant in the deep AFC bracket. A win over the Raiders clinched a wild spot and means New York is hot heading into the playoffs, winning of five of six games.

The Chargers played with fire against the Cardinals. While the game was never really in doubt, both Phillip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson limped off the field during the game. San Diego ended the season on a 10-game winning streak and clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Heading into the season finale against Buffalo, Baltimore still had a chance to secure the top spot in the AFC. With the Chargers win, the Ravens had to settle for a first-round bye after winning a defensive struggle against the Bills.

If it's possible, the Patriots finished the season a quiet 12-4. New England looks to be hitting on all cylinders at the right time of year. Winners of three straight, the Patriots look to be peaking at the right time.

Although the Colts didn't look great against the Dolphins, Indianapolis kept Miami out of the end zone for the majority of the game. Peyton Manning passed Joe Montana on the career touchdown passing list, but the defense will still determine his Super Bowl fate.

The debate on how much to play your starters with nothing on the line was a short conversation in New Orleans. The Saints sat Drew Brees after just one series and had no problem watching the Panthers win in New Orleans. Despite a first-round bye, the Saints have lost two of three heading into the playoffs.

After clinching the NFC East and having already lost one quarterback for the season, the Eagles went with backup A.J. Feeley for most of the game against the Falcons. Even still, Philly piled onto Atlanta's woes and rides a five-game winning streak into a matchup with the Giants.

The Seahawks backed into the playoffs, losing three of four. Still, Seattle went on the road and won in Tampa Bay which is more than their divisional round opponent can say.

The Cowboys suffered their most embarrassing defeat of the season. With an opportunity to still win the NFC East, Dallas found a way to lose at home against the Lions. In typical Detroit fashion, even good things go bad. The win will cost the Lions the first pick in the draft.

So the playoffs are almost set. Yeah, there's a few spots still up for grabs, but there's a lot more on the line today.

There are jobs to be won or lost (think Mora, Jim and Green, Denny). Possibly some jobs to be vacated (Cowher, Bill and Favre, Brett)

There is momentum to take into the playoffs and injuries to be avoided.

We'll be watching and posting all day, and we want you to join in the fun. Leave a comment at the bottom of this post and if it's any good, we'll add it in and give you 15 minutes of Internet fame.

Bengals-Steelers:  Wow, so much to discuss for the first minute of coverage. They took about three seconds to start talking about Cowher's possibly leaving the Steelers. Then they go to kickoff and the Steelers try a tricky handoff on the return, which fails miserably. No sweat though, the Bengals bail em out with a personal foul after the play.

Bengals-Steelers: Cincy is the one fighting for the playoffs, so it makes sense that they are going for broke. But the Steelers (on defense at least) are bringing some serious heat as well. This season could definitely just be a hiccup for Pittsburgh.

Packers fan asks: What are the odds that this all happens for the Packers ... Packers win, Cardinals win, Lions win, Dolphins win, Vikings win, 49ers win, Panthers lose, Texans lose, Buccaneers lose. Well, when you say it like that ....

Jets-Raiders: New York takes the early 7-0 lead in a crucial game against the Raiders. If they win, they are in ... and if they win, it'll give them plenty of momentum heading into the postseason.

Patriots-Titans: Who doesn't want to see the Titans in the playoffs? With a transcendent talent at quarterback and a team with a flair for the dramatic, Tennessee is many fans' choice to get an AFC wild-card spot. What needs to happen for that to happen? Too much, really (sorry, America). The Titans first need to upset the AFC East champion Patriots, then hope the Bengals lose or tie the Steelers, the Broncos get beat by the 49ers and the Chiefs beat the Jaguars.

Seahawks-Buccaneers: The Seahawks backed into the NFC West division title during a three-game losing streak, thanks in part to the relative mediocrity in their division. Regardless of Sunday's outcome, a date with whoever loses the NFC East (unless, somehow, miraculously, the Packers find a way into the playoffs) lies ahead next weekend for the Seahawks.

Shadownoze says: I've seen quite enough bad calls this season and after all the improvements, I thought this cannot be happening!!! The ref who called the penalty against Terrance Newman in Cowboys vs Detroit for hitting a defenseless player was horrific. You cannot have made a worse call than that -- REVIEW IT, change to where you can REVIEW these plays with a challenge as well. Otherwise the Review program is as worthless as any wrong thing the NFL HAS EVER DONE!

Bengals-Steelers: So much for the Bengals looking fired up. I take it back. The Steelers have outplayed them at every turn.

Jaguars-Chiefs: Both teams need a lot of help to get into the playoffs, but have beaten some of the top teams in the NFL. Kansas City is the last team to beat San Diego, while the Jaguars have matched impressive wins with embarrassing losses. Not surprisingly, it's been a back and forth game.

Bengals-Steelers: Apparently somebody in Cincy is reading this and alerting the Bengals on the sidleine, because they are suddenly playing with some chutzpah.

Bengals-Steelers: Chad Johnson just made a catch over the middle and got body slammed something vicious. Now that will leave a lasting impression.

Bengals-Steelers: Man, this game just keeps getting more violent. T.J. Housmandzadeh just got rocked for the second time. He and Chad Johnson are taking a serious beating.

Jaguars-Chiefs: Desperate times call for desperate measures. In an effort to spark the Jaguars, Jack Del Rio has benched quarterback David Garrard in favor of Quinn Gray, who had not thrown a pass this season before today.

Steelers: Based on how they are playing today with nothing but pride on the line, they are going to be just fine next year. Even with that tough Willie Parker fumble in the fourth quarter and even if they end up losing.

Bengals: What a turn of events. That Willie Parker fumble turned into a 66-yard Chris Henry TD and suddenly the Bengals are winning.

Bengals-Steelers: Carson Palmer leads the Bengals on a clutch touchdown drive to take a 17-14 lead with just under three minutes remaining. That could give them a pretty big confidence boost next week.

Bengals: Once again, a bad kick attempt in the closing moments has the Bengals in trouble. This time Shayne Graham at least got the kick off, but it went wide right and left the game tied at 17-all and headed to OT.

The NFC EAST: The Lions beat the Cowboys, giving the Eagles the NFC East title. My poor brain cannot comprehend this turn of events. Good thing it's New Year's Eve and I can forget it al later.

Falcons-Eagles: Does the pressure on Jim Mora Jr. get even heavier if he loses to a bunch of backups today? It's a decent question because it could be on its way to happening.

Cowboys: Talk about a team with no-mentum, this is it. Losing three of four to end the season, including the finale against a Detroit team that's better off losing is not the way you want to go into the postseason.

Patriots: Speaking of teams with momentum, how bout the Pstriots? Bill Belichick's boys head into the playoffs on a thorough whipping of the Titans and holding a 12-4 record. Looks like the rumors of their demise were a bit premature.

Cutler out: Jay Cutler took a nasty hit to the head and was knocked out of the game against the 49ers. Yep ... that means Jake Plummer may have to lead the Broncos to the postseason after all.

DCBOB1956 chimes in: The Cowboys have just sunk to a new low in giving up 39 points to Detroit. This is the same team that had such momentum after Tony Romo started the run to the playoffs, now they will be lucky to get through game 1 in the playoffs.

Chargers-Cardinals: While Phillip Rivers has struggled down the stretch, he's playing well against Arizona. Despite leaving the game briefly with an ankle injury, Rivers has looked great since.

How bad are things for Detroit? Even the protests are lame.

About 100 people staged a walkout midway through the second quarter against the Bears, calling for Matt Millen's firing after yet another losing season.

But here's the embarrassing part: they had a big protest last year that drew 500 fans. That means 80 percent of the protestors don't even care any more.

Of course, since it was a Lions home game, half the fans there were Bears fans anyway.