Four NFL teams try to clinch playoff berths

Agence France-Presse

The reigning Super Bowl champion Giants (11-1) will try to put the Plaxico Burress shooting controversy behind them when they host Philadelphia (6-6-1) without the receiver, banished for the season after criminal weapons charges. "I don't know if it's just being in New York or what causes it, but it seems there is always something going on, always there's a distraction. We have had our share of them," said Giants quarterback Eli Manning. "We have learned how to cope with them and how to deal with them and how to not make a distraction bigger by what you say and what you do." Should the Giants win or Dallas (8-4) lose at Pittsburgh (9-3), New York will secure the NFC East crown and a first-round playoff bye. The Tennessee Titans, level with the Giants for the NFL's best record at 11-1, play host to Cleveland (4-8) needing a victory to end the five-year reign of Indianapolis in the AFC South division. Should the Titans win and Pittsburgh lose to Dallas, the Titans would own a three-game edge with three games to play in the fight for a home-field playoff edge all the way to the Super Bowl. "We're kind of in the driver's seat," Tennessee defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said. "We don't have to look around, hope other teams lose. All we have to do is take care of what's in front of us." The Browns are down to their third-string quarterback Ken Dorsey after Brady Quinn suffered a broken finger and Derek Anderson suffered a torn left knee ligament. Arizona botched two prior chances to clinch its first division title in 35 years and the Cardinals (7-5) will try again to claim the NFC West crown by defeating St. Louis (2-10) in a return to the town it once called home. The Cardinals, who spent 28 years in St. Louis until leaving for the Phoenix area 20 years ago, can claim their first playoff berth since 1998 by taking their fourth victory in a row over the Rams, who have dropped six in a row. "We find ways to lose," Rams quarterback Marc Bulger said.