A Scheduler’s Dream

For the NFL’s Dennis Lewin, today is Selection Sunday -- and he can’t seem to make one.

Should he tune in to Dallas at Philadelphia, Indianapolis at Tennessee, Cincinnati at Baltimore, or Seattle at Minnesota? After that, does he watch Miami at New England or Kansas City at Denver? In all, six games feature first- or second-place teams squaring off, a serendipitous scheduling triumph this late in the season.

“I plan to turn on a couple of TVs and watch all of them,” said Lewin, the league’s retired vice president of broadcasting who still handles schedule-making duties. A team’s opponents are determined by a predetermined formula; Lewin determines game dates and times.

“I’d be lying if I told you we could have ever predicted a weekend like this when we were scheduling these games,” he added. “Sometimes it just works out.”

There are showdowns in all four divisions of the AFC, with the most unlikely being the Bengals and Ravens, in which Cincinnati Coach Marvin Lewis returns to the place where he assembled one of the best defenses in NFL history. He won a Super Bowl ring as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, and now he’s looking to take sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

Even as the prospects of making the playoffs get more real by the week, Lewis is determined to make sure his players don’t look beyond the opponent of the moment.

“We’re now being coached like a Fortune 500 company with a mission statement,” Bengal tackle Willie Anderson told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Win here, don’t worry about all those other teams.”

That’s sound advice for a franchise that has lost 39 consecutive road games to teams with winning records. The last time the Bengals beat a winning team on the road was Dec. 2, 1990, when they defeated the 6-5 Steelers in Pittsburgh.

The Ravens, who lost at Cincinnati earlier this season, have scored 44 points in each of their last two games. Out-of-nowhere quarterback Anthony Wright has passed for six touchdowns with one interception in his last two starts.

The Colt-Titan game features two of the league’s best quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Steve McNair. Although McNair is the leading most-valuable-player candidate, Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney doesn’t consider him the best quarterback in this matchup.

Asked which of the two is better, Freeney said: “Peyton Manning, by far.... Steve’s a great player, but Peyton, man, he does a lot.”

Freeney’s biased, of course, something his coach was quick to note.

“I think you’d have to take that with a grain of salt in terms of that’s what he’s supposed to say,” Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy told reporters. “That’s our guy. That’s our leader.”

New England will look to its leader, quarterback Tom Brady, to help the Patriots clinch -- yes, clinch -- the AFC East title with a victory over Miami. How could that happen so soon? Well, the Patriots (10-2) have a two-game lead over the Dolphins (8-4) and already have beaten them in a head-to-head matchup. So, even if both teams finished 11-5, New England would get the nod.

“This is definitely going to be a defining moment in the division,” Dolphin fullback Rob Konrad told the Miami Herald. “This is a game that gives us a chance to swing the tide in the conference a little bit.”

It’s highly unlikely the tide will turn in the AFC West. The Chiefs (11-1) can clinch the division title outright with a victory or tie at Denver. The Broncos were convinced they were the better team when they played at Kansas City this season, a showdown between 4-0 clubs that the Chiefs won, 24-23.

That prompted Denver safety Kenoy Kennedy to tell reporters this week: “The [Chiefs] know we physically whipped them. We ran up and down the field and pretty much stopped them, besides a play here or there.”

Warned Bronco defensive end Reggie Hayward: “For [the Chiefs] to come in and think we’re pushovers, we will run them out of Invesco.”

If only the Vikings were feeling so confident. They have a one-game lead over Green Bay in the NFC North but are 1-5 since Oct. 26. It has been a painful tumble from their 6-0 start, with the most recent humiliation being a 48-17 loss at St. Louis last Sunday.

“To lose by 30 points is an embarrassment,” center Matt Birk said after that defeat. “You lose by 30 points, you don’t feel like a first-place team.”

The Seahawks, a game behind St. Louis in the NFC West, are trying to get off the win-one-lose-one treadmill they’ve been on for the last seven weeks. They’re coming off a 34-7 victory over Cleveland.

The best game of the day could be Dallas at Philadelphia. The Cowboys are looking to rebound from their Thanksgiving Day collapse against Miami, a 40-21 loss that had Coach Bill Parcells questioning whether his team is playoff-worthy. The Eagles, who lead the division by a game, are riding a seven-game winning streak.

“Everybody is competing to make their mark, take that extra step,” Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb said. “This is why you watch. If you’re not playing, you sit down with your popcorn and pretzels and get ready to watch some action.”

Pass the remote.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Playoff Scenarios

Teams that can clinch division titles or playoff berths during Week 14 of the regular season:

AFC EAST

* New England Patriots can clinch division title with a win over the Miami Dolphins. Patriots can clinch playoff berth with: 1. New England tie plus Denver loss or tie plus Cincinnati loss. 2. New England tie plus Denver loss or tie plus Baltimore loss.

AFC WEST

* Kansas City can clinch division title with a tie or a win over the Denver Broncos. Chiefs can clinch playoff berth with: 1. Miami loss to New England. 2. Indianapolis loss to Tennessee.

NFC EAST

* Philadelphia can clinch playoff berth with: 1. Philadelphia win over Dallas Cowboys. 2. Philadelphia tie plus Green Bay loss or tie plus New Orleans loss or tie.

NFC SOUTH

* Carolina can clinch division title with a win over the Atlanta Falcons and a New Orleans loss to Tampa Bay.

NFC WEST

* St. Louis can clinch playoff berth with: 1. St. Louis win plus New Orleans loss or tie 2. St. Louis tie plus New Orleans loss plus Green Bay loss or tie.

Note: Arizona, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Oakland and San Diego have been eliminated from playoff contention