Football is a funny game. One week a team could be limited to just 13 points by an inferior opponent and the next they could rack up 31 against the best defense in the league. Go figure.

Thanks to their 31-14 beat down of the Steelers on Sunday, the Tennessee Titans earned home field advantage throughout the postseason as the No. 1 seed. They amassed 323 yards, 117 rushing yards and 31 points against a Pittsburgh defense that has only allowed 13 points per game this season. That’s absolutely amazing.

For the Steelers, everything that could potentially doom them in the future doomed them in the present. They couldn’t keep Ben Roethlisberger upright as he was sacked five times, Big Ben hung onto the ball too long and also turned the ball over a staggering six times.

But the most amazing thing was that their defense couldn’t stop an offense that had struggled mightily just one week prior. The Steelers were burned for big plays, they couldn’t stop the run and even allowed Kerry Collins to complete 20 of 29 passes.

Every team has off days and maybe that’s what this was for the Steelers. Or maybe the Titans just proved that they’re still the team to beat in their conference. Either way, the road to the Super Bowl must travel through Tennessee this season in the AFC.

There are several times throughout a season when a team can look back at and say, “Damn, that’s a game we should have had.”

Minnesota’s 24-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday was one of those games.

For all intents and purposes, the Vikings should have beaten the Falcons at the Metrodome. But they fumbled four times – thrice in Atlanta territory – and failed to beat a team they essentially dominated for four quarters.

Okay, so dominant might be a bit strong. The Falcons still ran the ball well and Matt Ryan played mistake-free despite not doing anything exceptional the entire game. But for Minnesota to do whatever it wanted to offensively and still suffer a home loss has to be demoralizing.

The Falcons held Adrian Peterson to under 100 yards (76 to be exact), but it helped that AP couldn’t hang onto the ball. He fumbled twice in Atlanta territory and once more late in the fourth quarter, but was fortunate that his teammate hopped onto the loose ball and saved another disastrous situation. And despite having another nice day passing, Tarvaris Jackson (22 of 36 for 233 yards, 2 TDs) fumbled once and had a bad snap whiz by his helmet in the second half, which forced the Vikings to punt deep in their own territory.

Minnesota essentially shot itself in the foot all day and never recovered, although they did have a shot to at least tie the game in the end by their final drive ended on downs. The Falcons are a nice ball club and they’ll certainly take a win in a tough environment, but the Vikings have to feel like they had a golden opportunity slip through their hands (literally).

Now the Bears have hope. A win over the Packers on Monday night would put them in a tie with Minnesota for the division, although the Vikings would still own the tiebreaker. That means Chicago has to win its next two games and have Minnesota lose to the Giants next week. The Bears still have to take care of their own business, but the Falcons just gave them life.

Here’s something to think about – since Lane Kiffin was hired as the head coach at Tennessee, the Buccaneers are 0-3.

Coincidence? Absolutely. We have no reason to believe that just because Lane was hired at Tennessee that his father Monte (who told the Bucs last week he would join his son at UT as their defensive coordinator next year) has quit on his team. But it is ironic how Tampa’s defense has been in a tailspin ever since Lane was hired as the next head coach of the Vols.

Three weeks ago the Bucs gave up 299 rushing yards in a loss to Carolina. Two weeks ago they were shredded by Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons in a 13-10 overtime loss. And then on Sunday, the San Diego Chargers marched into Raymond James Stadium and treated Tampa’s defense like their personal chew toy, marching up and down the field at will in route to an impressive 41-24 victory.

So what happened?

Well injuries along the defensive line happened first, but that’s no excuse for the Bucs to miss countless tackles and forget their general assignments. I mean, this is a unit that has flat out forgotten how to make plays and now Tampa might not even make the postseason.

And even if they do make the playoffs, can their fan base feel good about what they’ve seen over the past three weeks? Defense has been a staple for this team for years and now in the final games of Monte Kiffin’s career in Tampa, it has been the source of their demise. That’s pretty ironic considering the major knock on the Bucs has been the lack of offensive playmakers. Now Antonio Bryant is dominating opponents and the Tampa defense is giving up 30-plus points at home to a mediocre Chargers squad.

After such a fantastic career, Monte Kiffin owes nothing to the Buccaneer organization. But he has just one game left in Tampa and it’s against the Oakland Raiders next week at the James. Think he can draw up a defensive game plan to shut down Da Raiders and get the Bucs into the playoffs? Or are his thoughts already on Georgia, Florida and the rest of the SEC?

It’s amazing how just one offseason can turn around the fortunes of an entire franchise. This time last year, the Miami Dolphins had just one win to its name. One season later, they now control their own destiny in the AFC East after beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38-31 in dramatic fashion.

For all the Raiders, Lions, Rams and Chiefs fans out there – it can happen. Your team can turn things around in just one offseason. But they’ll have to use the Dolphins as a blueprint. They hired someone with a football background in Bill Parcells, who had turned losing teams into winners before. Then they allowed him to do what he does best – put the best people in place to succeed.

He hired a no name in Tony Sparano, who didn’t have a great resume or wasn’t a big name, but Parcells knew he was a football coach through in through. Then the Big Tuna had a solid draft, which focused on rebuilding the offensive line after Miami selected Jake Long with their first overall pick. Then Parcells parted ways with players that no longer fit the long-term plans in Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas. Then he found a veteran quarterback that knew the offensive system and could succeed right away.

Now the Dolphins are 10-5 and after everything mentioned in the above paragraph, can we really be that surprised? Well okay, sure we can. The players still had to execute and Parcells’ master plan still had to come together. But regardless, we shouldn’t be too surprised that Parcells changed the fortunes of a franchise as quickly as it does for him to leave it in the lurch a couple years later – because he’s a born winner.

What was most impressive about Miami’s victory on Sunday was that they won after they received push back. Kansas City challenged them for four quarters and the Dolphins survived. Considering the Chiefs’ dud season and Miami’s desire to be a playoff team, the Dolphins should have cruised to victory. But winning isn’t easy in the NFL and Miami won a game they were supposed to. Case closed.

The Dolphins have just one more victory to earn if they want to put the icing on the cake. A win over the Jets next week in the Meadowlands would allow them to clinch the AFC East crown, which is amazing considering they were the doormats of the division just one season ago. Their magical ride isn’t over, but they’ve certainly put themselves in position to succeed – just like Parcells did in the offseason.

There are three things in life that we can all count on right now: Death, taxes and the Arizona Cardinals not making a Super Bowl appearance this season.

How could anyone outside of their fan base truly believe that the Cardinals are anything more than a team that will quietly exit in the first or second round of the postseason? They might win Wild Card week because they’ll play at home, but forget this team beating any opponent on the road. They won’t win in Carolina, New York, Minnesota or Timbuktu. They don’t have a chance – forgetaboutit.

The past two weeks have been an absolute embarrassment for Arizona. Two weeks ago they made Tarvaris Jackson look like Joe Namath and then on Sunday they made the New England Patriots look like the 1972 Miami Dolphins. They could have made a statement on Sunday in Foxboro. Instead, they got off the bus, saw how bad the conditions were and decided to mentally check out for four quarters.

I realize the Patriots have had a tad more experience playing in a snowstorm than Arizona has. But New England’s 47-7 smack down was less about weather experience and more about a Cardinals team that has given up since they clinched the NFC West three weeks ago. They dropped passes, they missed tackles and they flat out gave up after the Patriots took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Cardinal fans have suffered enough throughout the years, so they deserve to finally see a winner. But the fact of the matter is that this team received no challenge in the NFC West this season and that has left them unprepared heading into the postseason. Explosive passing game or not, the Cards’ confidence is shattered right now and whichever team draws them in the first round is getting a great matchup.

As of right now, Arizona simply is a team that is just satisfied to say it made the playoffs.