Who has playoff momentum, Texans end strong, more

Michael Pittman and the Bucs struggled down the stretch, losing three of their final four. Joe Robbins/Getty Images

RELATED • BROOKS: A Scout's View of Week 17

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If there was an overriding theme to Week 17, it was that this year's playoff field best hope that the traditional December emphasis on building momentum heading into the postseason is vastly overrated.

The last week of the 2007 regular season wasn't particularly kind to the teams that have earned the right to extend their seasons into January. The Giants fought gamely, but lost at home to New England. The NFC's top seed, Dallas, looked rather desultory in losing in the rain at Washington. Seattle, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh all rested some key starters, and fell to teams that started the day with losing records.

After Tennessee managed to beat Indianapolis in the Sunday night game, it means that seven of the 12 teams headed for the playoffs lost their final game of the regular season.

Meaningful? Maybe. Maybe not. The decision of so many playoff-bound teams to rest several starters undoubtedly skewers the Week 17 results. But still, you can't like what you see of the Cowboys offense about now. Or Seattle's defense. And the general state of affairs in both Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay -- which have both lost three of their past four games -- has to be making Steelers and Bucs fans a bit uneasy, to say the least.

On the old momentum meter, here's how I'd have my up to the moment rankings at the start of the AFC tournament:

1. New England; 2. Indianapolis; 3. San Diego; 4. Jacksonville; 5. Tennessee; 6. Pittsburgh. I'm pretty certain that's about right.

In the NFC, strangely enough I'd have it: 1. Washington; 2. N.Y. Giants; 3. Seattle; 4. Green Bay; 5. Dallas; 6. Tampa Bay. While we can have differences of opinion in the league's junior varsity conference, it's hard to make the case that anyone in the NFC other than Washington is playing its best ball of the season as the playoffs approach.

By next weekend, and the following weekend after that, we'll know how significant the momentum factor really was in this year's NFL postseason.

• One more thought about Tampa Bay: I know we didn't see much of starting quarterback Jeff Garcia in the season's final month, but if the same Giants team that pushed the Patriots to the brink Saturday night shows up in Tampa in next weekend's first round, New York could win by 17 points.

The NFC South champion Bucs (9-7) have beaten only last-place Atlanta over the span of their past four games.

• While it was great to see the Giants play it to the hilt Saturday night against New England, I've got no qualms with playoff-bound teams like Jacksonville and Green Bay resting a bunch of starters Sunday. It sounds great to pontificate on doing whatever protects the integrity of the game, but with how hugely important the injury factor is in the NFL, doing what you deem best in regards to your team's health is just a common sense approach.

The downside to that approach is that you do risk losing something in terms of the momentum you take into the playoffs. That said, I consider myself very much a traditionalist who wishes every team would play it straight up right down to the last week of the season.

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