–The 49ers seem to be on the fast track to the Super Bowl in the NFC. They routed the Cardinals 45-29 to go to 11-3 while the Cowboys lost to the Bills 31-10 and the Eagles lost their third straight to Seattle 20-17. The Cowboys and Eagles are both 10-4 and both were routed by the 49ers. The 10-4 Lions are the only other team in the conference above .500 as they beat the Broncos, 42-17.
–By contrast, it is a wide open race for the top seed in the AFC. Baltimore stayed on top of the AFC at 11-3 with a 23-7 victory over the Jaguars, but have to play the 49ers and Miami the next two weeks and those two games will determine whether they keep the top spot.
–Miami routed the Jets 30-0 to go to 10-4 but they have to prove they can beat good teams. They finish with Dallas, Baltimore and Buffalo as they attempt to show they are a contender, not a pretender. The Chiefs still have receiver problems but stayed on top of the AFC West at 9-5 with a 27-17 victory over the Patriots. They have a two game lead over 7-7 Denver in AFC West. Denver lost to Lions.
–Buffalo and Cincinnati cant be counted out. The Bengals beat Vikings27-24 while Buffalo drilled the Cowboys 31-10, The Bills and Bengals are both 8-6. Cleveland is 9-5 after beating the Bears, 20-17, but have to try to keep winning with veteran Joe Flacco at quarterback to get a wild card spot. They are two games behind the Ravens in the AFC North..
–Jacksonville’s loss to the Ravens was their third straight and dropped them into a tie with the Colts and Texans at 8-6 in the AFC South. The Jaguars have the tie-breaker over those two teams and will win the division if they sweep the Bucs, Panthers and Titans in their last three games. But the winner of this division is not likely to be a Super Bowl contender.
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