By Tom Morris I?m dreaming of a white Christmas. I live in Oakland, so that?s not likely to happen. But for the 19 (yes, 19) NFL teams itching to find their way, somehow, into the seven remaining NFL playoff spots, you can bet they?re dreaming of a winning Christmas. It?s so tight, and so logjammed, in both conferences right now that anything but a W means sour grapes, missed opportunities, and no proof-of-purchase return receipts for December 26th. It seems to be that way every year, of course, No matter how hard some teams try to play their heart out, they can?t find the separation in the standings necessary to guarantee a postseason shot come yuletide time (Patriots, Cowboys, Bengals). And no matter how poorly --convincincingly and with persistence-- teams tries to take themselves out of the running (Panthers, Giants, Seahawks, Vikings, Rams), that ubiquitous, powerful tide of mediocrity lifts them up then drags them into its crushing undertow. In reality, there are some slight differences between the NFC and AFC. The AFC still has most of the best teams out there, especially at the top of my Rankings List, where you don?t see an NFC team down the list until #5 (Bears). And, the AFC has a slightly more competitive field of wild-card hopefuls, taking some pride in the fact they have not one 6 ? 8 team still in the mix. The NFC seems to be taking its pride in just how many bad squads it can keep alive. They try to lower the bar to back-breakingly limbo-esque levels, but only Washington, Arizona, Detroit and Tampa Bay have yet slithered under. And now, they have five 6 ? 8 teams still breathing, none of which deserves even a sniff of a playoff game, but all of which are only one game back of doing just that. Makes you want to scratch your head. But if you didn?t see this coming five weeks ago, then either you?ve been watching too much hockey, or reading the daily baseball winter meetings blogs too closely. As an overview of Week 15: the division races remained all but set. Only the NFC EAST remains as a place of contention, with the Cowboys edging out the high-flying Eagles by a game, and the disappointing 7 ? 7 NY Giants hanging out sheepishly one behind them. The Jaguars, Saints and Seahawks all suffered the upsets of the week; Cincinnati came back down to earth against the rejuvenated Indianapolis Peytons?uh? Colts; Ladainian Tomlinson (199 yards rushing, 2 more TDs) continued to garner support for San Diego Mayor, and Atlanta?s Jim Mora almost took himself out of a job. So, as you wind down your last-minute shopping, fighting off throngs of desperate sale whores and oh-so-cash-depleted parents, you might be looking for that hard-to-find gift. Try the Chicago Bears? defense. It?s gone missing, and only the hardiest rummager can find it. What had proved to be the backbone of one of the pleasant surprise teams of this season ?in fact, what kept the team in its winning ways despite Rex?s dogged efforts to derail it?is now its biggest worry. Mr. Grossman may end up having to be the man who bails THEM out come 2007. If you think he?s a lock to do that, well, you?re just shopping in the wrong store, my friends. And so, as our NFL Christmas week begins today, here are your Rankings of the top 15 in the league. Yes, that?s the Chargers in the throne again, doing nothing to deserve usurping. Down the bottom of the list it?s almost entirely interchangeable. The next two weeks will surely unmuddy it? I think. [ Last Week?s Rankings, and W- L Records, in Parentheses ] 1. San Diego Chargers (1), (12 ? 2) Staying put safely atop the Rankings are the Bolts, despite Philip Rivers? clumsy 8 ? 23, 97-yard, 2-INT effort Sunday night against the Chiefs. It was the defense?s turn to shine, almost entirely healthy again as they forced two turnovers, sacked Trent Green six times, and held KC to 241 total yards. Oh, and LT got in the act of course, falling one yard short of 200 on the ground while racking up two more TDs. One of them came at the end of an 85-yard run, the longest of his increasingly awesome career. Plus, with his eighth straight 100-yard game, he passed Larry Johnson for this season?s rushing lead. This guy?s going to have to get a bigger bedpost; he?s running out of space for all these notches. 2. Baltimore Ravens (2), (11 ? 3) The city of Baltimore got its biggest scare since Peter Angelos bought the Orioles, when Steve McNair left the game with a throwing-hand injury early in the first quarter. But in a year peppered with excellent back-up and stand-in QB efforts, Kyle Boller proved no different, leading the Ravens to a win over a surprisingly hardy Browns team, itself being led by an inspired back-up QB, Derek Anderson. The NFL?s best defensive unit (265 yds/ game) held Cleveland?s RBs to 68 yards, and with Monday night?s Bengals loss, the Ravens won the AFC North for the first time since its 2001 Super Bowl. Thing is, they?re gonna have to beat either the Colts or Chargers to get their hands on that trophy again. 3. Indianapolis Colts (6), (11 ? 3) Vindicating themselves somewhat after that disastrous defensive showing against the Jaguars, the Colts stifled a Bengals team on a beeline for the postseason. It was Peyton Manning who helped his defense by keeping them off the field as much as possible (33:00 ? 27:00 time of possession). He hooked up for 3 TDs with his ?old blanket?, Marvin Harrison. Marv may dispute the ?old? part, but hey. Indi.?s defense showed improvement, making key stops when it counted, including holding the Bengals to 1-for-4 in the red zone, and keeping Carson?s passing numbers below 150 yards for the day. But let?s see if it?s a real change, or just a ?get out of jail free card? for the week. With the Texans and Dolphins to end the season, we may not know until the playoffs start. 4. New England Patriots (5), (10 ? 4) While Tom Brady did not put up outstanding numbers for the day, he really didn?t need to. It was the Pats? defense that won this one, plain and simple. 4 sacks, 4 INTs of David Carr, and only 198 yards allowed for the day. Brady kept the ball out of the hands of the opponent however, a skill that had been eluding him and the Pats almost the entire season (27 giveaways). But here?s a sobering fact: New England plays Jacksonville and Tennessee to the end the season, while the 8 ? 6 Jets have Miami and Oakland. Hmmm? 5. Chicago Bears (3), (12 ? 2) Rex Grossman is temporaily out of the hot seat, thanks to a couple of solid efforts. In his place now is the Bears? defense, which, after giving up 27 points to the Rams, let the Buccaneers (the Bucs!) score 31 in a game Chicago needed overtime to win. This is now a serious concern. They may have more defensive injuries than one can count in one breath, but it?s really starting to look as if the only thing this defense has in common with the ?85 Bears is team nickname. Lovie Smith, drearily assuring as ever, isn?t worried, so maybe we shouldn?t be either. Yeah, right. Let?s see what happens when they play the Eagles or Seahawks in the divisional playoffs. As they say on ?Around the Horn?, I?m selling. 6. New Orleans Saints (4), (9 ? 5) This was probaby the last upset anyone outside of the Beltway would have picked. In fact, most folks around D.C. didn?t envision this happening: 16 ? 10 at the hands of the Redskins. The Saints were fresh off a 42 ? 17 pasting of the rising Cowboys, while the ?Skins were scuffling with a brand-new QB and the worst pass defense in the NFL. Goes to show you can?t count on anything but death and taxes. The Saints still won the NFC South, which after last year?s 3 wins, is something indeed. But try telling that to Week 15 busts Drew Brees and Reggie Bush, who must come back against the G-Men Sunday to get back on track. 7. Dallas Cowboys (8), (9 ? 5) America?s Team, meanwhile, after suffering the aforementioned rout at Texas Stadium, proved their resilience with an efficient handling of the Falcons, who couldn?t fashion a win despite Vick?s four TD passes. Romo must have been chomping at the bit to redeem himself, while Terrell Owens? well, he was simply salivating at the thought of it. His spit-maligned PR disaster was likely the icing on the cake the Pro Bowl voters ate before snubbing him from the sunny February football game. He still managed to score twice, and leads all WRs for TD catches for the year. I think now we can safely say the Dallas-T.O. experiment has been a guarded success. Think of how much more destructive this guy can be, and has been. The Cowboys got themselves a good deal. 8. Cincinnati Bengals (7), (8 ? 6) Cinci. had been the hottest team in the NFL, one could argue. Since getting shellacked 49 ? 41 by America?s (Best) Team San Diego, the Bengals had allowed a total of 23 points over four games. Then? they went to Indianapolis. The idea was to run the ball, run the ball, then run the ball some more. But eventually, Peyton and Co. were up by two TDs, and they had to turn to Carson, who couldn?t get it done vs. Indi.?s secondary. That doesn?t jeopardize the Bengals? chances at the playoffs as much as it makes them interesting. Tied, in record, with the Jags, Jets and Broncos, the Bengals need to put this loss behind them, go into Denver and resume what they started six weeks ago. Look for Carson Palmer to have a huge day. 9. Philadelphia Eagles (14), (8 ? 6) OK, so you can count me in for a ticket aboard the Eagles bandwagon. Do they serve humble pie? Fact is, Donovan McNabb is just that important to this team --his season-ending injury spelled disaster for a team already slumping with him in the huddle! Now what happens? Jeff Garcia recreates his career with four straight solid games, throwing 1 INT while increasingly finding ways into the endzone. The Eagles have also rediscovered their defense; they harrassed Eli Sunday, clinching the win with a late-game INT return for a TD. This team looks just short of great right now. Or? as great as any other team is in the underachieving NFC. A huge game Christmas Day vs. the Cowboys will tell us a lot about this team. I think the fairy tale can only last so long. 10. Jacksonville Jaguars (9), (8 ? 6) The Jaguars continue to be unreliable, losing to a Titans team unstoppable right now. David Garrard had been looking like the savior QB for the Jags, before Sunday?s 3-INT effort. Having three turnovers returned for touchdowns by Tennessee?s defense has got to hurt. This team belongs to its defense, not to whoever takes the snaps. If they can find a way to stop opposing defensess from scoring three times a game like that, they should be fine. Remember, they scored 44 points against the Colts two weeks ago. Sunday?s matchup at home against Jacksonville should be a defining gam for both of those teams. 11. Denver Broncos (15), (8 ? 6) The star of Jay Cutler officially brightened Sunday in a 37 ? 20 defeat of Arizona. He showed off his skills at throwing the deep ball, making a wide receiver out of long-forgotten, underused Javon Walker. But the reality is, there are just too many issues with this team to be ignored: Tatum bell infuriating Mike Shanahan with his inconsistency; the defense, once proud owners of the ?1 TD allowed? moniker, is considerably weaker now, and now Javon Walker is down for Week 16?s game against Wild-Card rival Cincinnati. Same time next week, look for Denver?s stock to drop even more, sorry. 12. Seattle Seahawks (11), (8 ? 6) The only things keeping the ?Hawks up this high in the rankings are record, and potential. They are 8 ? 6, and lead the sad NFC WEST by two games, and have the ?buy low? appeal of having Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck ?both healthy and, sooner or later, bound to gell at the same time in the same game. But say all you want about the ?Niners? recent play, but the fact remains: Seattle lost to San Fran and Arizona. Now, with 12 ? 2 San Diego on deck, Seattle?s Christmas present may be a one-game lead over the 7 ? 8 49ers with one crucial game to play. Not what one expects from the reigning NFC champs. 13. Tennessee Titans (NR), (7 ? 7) Storming their way up the Rankings are the Titans, winners of five straight, seven of nine, and with the proud distinction of beating Philly, the Giants, the Colts, and Jacksonville this year. With potential Coach of the Year Jeff Fisher, Rookie of the Year Vince Young, this squad has escaped by the skin of its collective teeth too many times to count. This can?t last for too much longer for a team last in total yards allowed (366/game) and way down the list on offense as well. But they have the ability to get it done, which bodes well for the 2007/08 season. 14. New York Jets (NR), (8 ? 6) Another team not known for its dominating offense or defense, the Jets have nonetheless fought hard to earn this 8 ? 6 record. Chad pennington was the reason for the win Sunday, throwing for 339 yards en route to a convincing win over the offensively inept Vikings. Can someone please send Brad Johnson on to a commentary booth somewhere? This team may only be 3 ? 4 at home (5?2 on the road), but they play Miami and Oakland to end the season, and may be an invitee to the NFL playoffs. Who could imagine: the Bears with 14 wins, and the Saints and Jets both finishing with 10 or more games? Welcome to the NFL. 15. New York Giants (10), (7 ? 7) There are a handful of teams who could just as easily take this spot from the G-Men. The Steelers pop to mind. The Bills also, with the Chiefs very much on the outside. And it doesn?t get any easier for the Giants, whose season-ending game vs. Washington will be played for pride after they get thumped this week by the angry, determined Saints. This team just hasn?t been able to get it going all year, whether it be injuries, in-house fighting, or the inescapable truth that Eli Manning is far, far removed from the talents of his older brother Peyton. Next year, Giants. Next year.