NFL Week 15 ... AT A GLANCE

TROUBLE IN BIG D?
What trouble? The 'Boys put the previous week's drama behind them and unleashed its formidable defense against the reigning NFL champions. The Dallas defense combined for 8 sacks and kept Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, guessing the entire game. Terrence Newman came up big with two interceptions in the game as well. Is it me or did the Giants just look lost? I don't care what anyone says, the loss of Plaxico Burress has stressed this team. They all say that it doesn't affect the team, but after two straight losses, you have to wonder. Plax was a playmaker who had the ability to stretch the field. Who takes his place now? Steve Smith? I think the Giants are reeling and need to win in a big way next week against Carolina, or they will lose all the momentum that they had before the Plaxico Burress incident occurred.

THE CARDS LAY EN EGG!
Arizona, fresh off celebrating its first division title in, well ... really can you remember the last time they won a division title, apparently forgot to tell their defense that they had to play another game this week. Kurt Warner looked old and the pocket constantly collapsed around him all day long. Sure, he had 270 passing yards, but without a consistent ground game, this offense was extremely one-dimensional. For goodness-sakes, the only ran the ball 7 times. Let that soak in a minute ... 7 times! Can you see this team and it's fragile quarterback standing in against the Dallas or Pittsburgh defense for anything more than a series or two.

THE PANTHERS CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY
Carolina continued it's efficient play with a victory over the Broncos. They now hold their own destiny in their hands. Next week this team plays the Giants. A win against the G-Men and Carolina will have earned their first round bye and home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. I like the grittiness of this team. This team creates plays and gets creative in it's deffensive blitzing schemes. I hope Eli didn't mind being on his back this week, because the Panthers deffensive front is as good, if not better than the Dallas front seven.

OH HOW THE TITANS HAVE FALLEN!
The Titans, now twice removed from being undefeated, have got to be questioning the play calling by Jeff Fisher and his offensive coordinator. When push comes to shove do you really trust Kerry Collins that much on 4th and 3. Personally, I would have kicked the field goal with Rod Bironas, who is easily one of the most consistent kickers in the game today, wind be damned. Anyway you slice it, don't take anything away from the Texan's defense, who played an extremely good game, and did not get burned by penalties or mistakes. This Texans team can win out this season and finish with a winning record for the first time in franchise history. Oh, Andre Johnson is the PREMIER wide receiver in the league, PERIOD. Don't believe me go, look at the game highlights.

THE STEELERS JUST FIND WAYS TO WIN ... THANK THE DEFENSE.
Say what you want, the Steelers are the best team in the AFC, right now. Their offense isn't flashy. They won't burn you deep downfield with the longball. The backs won't break off 80 yard runs on every snap. If I could find something to liken this team to, it would be novacaine. The offense just nips and bites off yardage in small chunks, lulling the team across the field into believing that this will be an easy game. Then the defense comes out and just knocks you around. Troy Palumalu is a BEAST. You have to account for this guy on every play. He's not the fastest or biggest guy on the defense, but he sure plays like it. His football IQ is up there with the greats of the game. He is always around the ball. On a much smaller note, there was a bit of controversy at the end of this game. The Ravens have nothing to argue here. You had the Steelers pinned deep into their end. There were 93 yards between them and the endzone. Your defense failed to get the job done. End of story.

This will be the first of what I hope to be many installments of my weekly NFL analysis. Stay tuned for more next week.