Many football fans have been asking this question since Week 2 when they fell to 0-2, but what in the hell happened to the Jacksonville Jaguars this season? This was a team that not only was supposed to push the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South once again, but possibly compete for a Super Bowl, too.

For three quarters Monday night in Houston (a 30-17 Texans’ victory), they were absolutely unbearable to watch. They couldn’t run the ball (their staple over the years), their defense couldn’t stop Sage Rosenfels and rookie Steve Slaton, and David Garrard couldn’t even drop back to pass without having his center step on his feet and falling down.

The Jags are a perfect example of what happens when a good team (or any team for that matter) doesn’t have an offensive line. Their line has been riddled with injuries this season and everything has fallen apart. Last year the o-line was opening up MAC-truck-sized holes for Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. This year you couldn’t fit mail between those slots.

Another piece of the puzzle missing this year is Mike Smith – the Jags’ former defensive coordinator who is now the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Many people noted that Smith essentially just ran Jack Del Rio’s defense over the years, but maybe “Smitty” had a bigger impact than people think because Jacksonville’s defense just isn’t the same nasty unit this year as they were in year’s past.

With all that, it’s still amazing how far they’ve fallen. Again, they were rough to watch last night and that was easily the worst Monday Night Football Game of the year. (Although Slaton was fun to watch and I think the Texans’ found a solid running back in last April’s draft.)

Before the season started, the addition of Jared Allen to the defensive line and then the continued development of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson had many NFL purists believing the Minnesota Vikings were the team to beat in the NFC North.

But Jackson was replaced by the ageless wonder Gus Frerotte, the team lost three of its first four games and suddenly the Vikings were like many other annual chic picks in the NFL – overrated.

Minnesota appears back on track, however, winning four of their last five games and seizing control in the NFC North by soundly beating the Bears 34-14 on Sunday Night Football. So the question is – were the purists right all along and the Vikes just needed time for things to fall into place?

The Vikings have a couple of key elements that make them a sound football team. They can run the ball (Adrian Peterson was a beast in their win over the Bears) behind a solid offensive line, they can stop the run and Allen gives them a dominant pass-rush. They still have some issues stopping the pass and both of their defensive tackles could be suspended soon, but they’re clearly the best team in the weak North division at this point.

Assuming Minnesota wins their division, the question now becomes – how far can they go? Peterson is such a weapon, but we saw Sunday night how much of a physical pounding his body takes because of how hard he runs. Frerotte has been a major upgrade over Jackson, but does his play have a ceiling? It’ll be interesting to see if not only the Vikes can wrap up the division, but also whether or not they can compete with the Panthers, Falcons, Cowboys or any other Wild Card team they would face in the first round.

Unofficial question of the day: Whose catch was better in Week 13, Steve Smith’s against the Packers or Mark Clayton’s one-handed grab vs. the Bengals?

Steve Smith vs. Packers:

Mark Clayton vs. Bengals:

Given the magnitude of the situation in the Panthers-Packers game, I would have to go with Smith’s since he essentially won the game for Carolina. However, in terms of the catch alone, I would have to go with Clayton’s one-handed snag. (Not that Smith grabbing a pass behind his back wasn’t spectacular.)

Coming off two 400-plus yard passing games, the mainstream media was ready to crown Matt Cassel MVP of the world and anoint him the next Tom Brady. But as the Pittsburgh Steelers proved in their 33-10 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday, maybe everyone should relax and let the rest of the season plays out before we start getting Cassel’s bust ready for Canton.

Cassel was just 19 of 39 for 169 yards and turned the ball over four times in the second half, which aided Pittsburgh in scoring 30 unanswered points. I’m not suggesting that Cassel’s previous two games were flukes (he isn’t the only quarterback who Pittsburgh has made look silly over the years), but again, let’s wait until he beats more tough defenses before saying he’s the second coming of Tom Brady.

This was an impressive win by the Steelers, although Cassel served up plenty of scoring opportunities with his turnoveritis. Still, Pittsburgh continues to win despite issues on the offensive line, and it’s a credit to Mike Tomlin and Dick Lebeau for coming up with outstanding defensive schemes week in and week out.

With everyone concentrating on the Titans and Jets this season, the Steelers are one of those teams flying under the radar in the AFC. They have a fantastic matchup coming up with the Ravens in two weeks.

I think the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens are joined together at the hip this season. Both teams have first-year head coaches, are starting rookie quarterbacks and were given zero chance to make the playoffs in the preseason. But with the Ravens’ 34-3 win over the Bengals and the Falcons’ 22-16 victory over the Chargers, both teams remain in the postseason hunt at 8-4.

Baltimore didn’t have much of a challenge in Cincinnati on Sunday, but the Raven defense was incredible. They held the Bengals to just six first downs, 155 total yards and 98 passing yards. I don’t care who you’re playing – those numbers are staggering.

The Falcons, meanwhile, didn’t make things easy for themselves in San Diego. They turned the ball over three times, which resulted in all 16 of the Chargers’ points, but Matt Ryan (17 of 23 for 207 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) was impressive again and the defense held San Diego to only 201 total yards. They also blocked a field goal and while the final score doesn’t indicate it, Atlanta’s defense really dominated this entire game.

Anyone that thinks either of these teams can’t win a playoff game hasn’t been paying attention. Both teams can run the ball, have quarterbacks that don’t make too many mistakes (which is incredible considering Ryan and Joe Flacco are both rookies) and their defenses have been solid. Now they just have to keep winning so they can get into the playoffs because other teams in their conferences certainly aren’t making things easy.

Nothing against the New York Jets or Tennessee Titans, but the New York Giants are clearly the best team in the NFL right now. How many teams would have gone into Arizona and Washington the past two weeks and soundly beat two good football squads in the Cardinals and Redskins as soundly as the Giants just did?

In their 23-7 win over the Skins on Sunday, the Giants shutout Washington in the first half and limited them to just 92 total yards on the ground. They also dominated time of possession (35:44 to 24:16), racked up 404 total yards of offense and caused two turnovers. The way the G-Men win is machine-like.

Even though this loss hurts, Washington is still in good shape. They have a tough matchup next week in Baltimore, but then they travel to Cincinnati, face Philadelphia at home and then wrap up the season in San Francisco. They should finish no worse than 9-7 and considering they already beat the Eagles on the road earlier this season, they should be expected to beat Philly. One would think 10-6 should be good enough for a playoff berth in the NFC.

But getting back to the topic at hand – will any team beat the Giants in the postseason? Tampa’s defense is good enough, but their offense has been hit and miss this year. Arizona’s passing game is dangerous, but the Cards would be no match for the G-Men in New York come playoff time. Carolina can be dangerous, but they’re also inconsistent. Washington, Atlanta and whoever wins the NFC North don’t seem

So who’s left? The team that many people had representing the NFC in the Super Bowl – the Dallas Cowboys.

When the Saints blasted them 51-29 last Monday night, my writing cohort John Paulsen wrote in the comment section of my game recap that his Packers just weren’t a very good team. After watching them choke away multiple leads in a 35-31 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, I would have to agree to JP – the Packers just flat out aren’t that good this season.

The offense is fine – Aaron Rodgers threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday – but the defense is average at best. Pundits like to talk about what kind of team the Packers would be if they still had Brett Favre, but Brett had a better defense on the other side of the ball last year.

This was a Panthers team that couldn’t move the ball against Oakland three weeks ago, struggled to beat the Lions and then was waxed last Sunday in Atlanta. Yet they were able to rack up 130 yards on the ground and 35 points despite losing the time of possession battle 37:52 to 22:08. It’s amazing how ineffective the Green Bay front seven has been this year after being one of the bright spots in 2007.

Mathematically the Packers are still in the playoff hunt (they could still even win their pathetic division), but how could you like this team’s chances of making a run over the next four weeks? Offensively they can hang with most opponents, but defensively they consistently get gashed on the ground.

Conversely, this was a massive victory for the Panthers. That catch by Steve Smith to set up the eventual game-winning touchdown was unreal. To go into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers in Green Bay in late November is impressive. Unfortunately for them the Bucs won, but they’ll have their shot to revenge a Week 6 loss to Tampa next Monday night in Carolina. Winner takes sole possession of first place in arguably the most exciting division in the NFL – the NFC South.

For all the talk about how Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees is an MVP candidate this season, the Tampa Bay defense made him look ordinary in the Buccaneers’ 23-20 victory on Sunday.

Brees threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns, but he was also picked off three times, including once on the Saints’ final offensive possession. Granted the weather did neutralize the potent New Orleans’ offense, but Brees looked awful. He consistently threw into double coverage and often behind his receivers. I hate to keep piling on Brees because he’s been fantastic all season, but the Saints’ defense played well enough to win. But he just wasn’t very good in the clutch.

Both the Bucs and Panthers won on Sunday, which means the Saints’ best hopes for a playoff spot is the Wild Card. And if the Falcons beat the Chargers, then even the Wild Card looks bleak.

Tampa, meanwhile, couldn’t separate itself in the NFC South, but they essentially control their own destiny. They still have to play the Panthers and Falcons one more time, but they also hold the series advantage against those teams, too. And with the way their defense is playing, they’re going to be tough come playoff time.

The past two weeks were supposed to be games the Arizona Cardinals used to prove that they belong with the elite teams in the NFC. Instead, they were soundly beat by the Giants at home and then absolutely waxed 48-20 by the Eagles on Thanksgiving night.

What was interesting about the Cards’ loss to the Eagles Thursday night was that Philly didn’t blitz all that much. One could fathom that if Kurt Warner were under constant duress for four quarters, he would certainly struggle. But the Eagles dropped extra defenders into coverage and relied on their four-down linemen to create enough pressure on Warner to get him out of rhythm. The result: Warner did throw for 235 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also picked off three times.

But a more telling sign that Arizona quite isn’t there yet is how both the Giants and Eagles did whatever they wanted to the Cardinal defense. Philly racked up 48 points and 437 yards in one game against Arizona, this after totaling just 20 points the past two weeks in a tie to the Bengals and a lose to the Ravens.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, they play in the weakest division in the league. They’ll win their division, but what happens when they have to go into Carolina or Tampa come playoff time or worse yet – the Meadowlands? They should be able to get by a Wild Card team at home, although so far they haven’t proven that they can go on the road and beat a good team at their place.

Kurt Warner has been a nice story this season, while Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston form one of the best receiving corps in the NFL – if not the best. But the defense is full of holes and ‘Zona has yet to prove they can beat a good team on the road. There seems to be a ceiling to this team’s success.

On our most recent podcast, John Paulsen and I debated whether or not the Detroit Lions should continue to be featured on Thanksgiving Day. I argued yes because it was a tradition in the NFL, he argued no because he didn’t want to see the Lions play every season.

After watching the Tennessee Titans completely demolish Detroit 47-10 on Thursday, I agree with JP – get the Lions off Thanksgiving Day. That was one of the most pathetic efforts of the season by any team and I feel for Lion fans that have to endure that on a weekly basis. There the Lions were with nothing to play for and they’re punting on 4th and 1 down four touchdowns in the second half. Are you serious? What do you have to lose?

That said, I’m officially petitioning for the Lions to be taken off of Thanksgiving Day. To be fair, I say take the Dallas Cowboys off of Thanksgiving Day too, although at least they field a competitive team more times than not.

Instead, why doesn’t the NFL do a rematch of the team conference championship games from the year before? Chances are the four teams will still at least be competitive, and therefore the networks should get decent matchups. This year would have been the Giants vs. Packers and Patriots vs. Chargers. Granted the Packers and Chargers aren’t as good as they were a year ago, but would anyone have a problem with those matchups? It’s probably safe to say both of those games would have been closer than the Tennessee-Detroit debacle. The third game of the day could be a divisional matchup of some sort.

Maybe that’s not the best solution, but they have to do something. On a day where everyone is off and enjoying football with family members, to watch the Lions get harassed for four quarters doesn’t make any sense. Fans don’t need a playoff-type matchup, but we deserve better that 47-10.

It’s a shame that the best matchup of the day is Cardinals-Eagles, which will be played on NFL Network for an audience of 12 people.