Tennessee at Jacksonville
Sunday, 12:35 p.m. ET, CBS

	The Jaguars must find a way to contain Jevon Kearse this time around.

Matchup to watch: Titans DE Jevon Kearse vs. Jaguars OTs Ben Coleman and Leon Searcy
The Titans move Kearse around a lot, flip-flopping him from the right side to the left. We saw against the Colts how important it was to get Edgerrin James with a chip block on Kearse. The Titans rookie can go around the corner so quickly. Kearse already has faced Searcy twice, but he will be a little unfamiliar with Coleman, who has replaced the injured Tony Boselli at left tackle. Coleman is not Boselli, but who is? Kearse can really make a difference, and the Jaguars must be conscious of him.

Stat to watch: Rushing yards for both teams
By rushing yards, I am more interested in yards per carry for Eddie George and Fred Taylor, not including one long run either back might have. For example, George's stats against Indianapolis (26 carries for 162 yards) were a little skewed by his 68-yard touchdown run. It will be more important how effective these two runners are on their other carries. The Titans can control Taylor more with their pass rush.

Darkhorse player: Jaguars WR Keenan McCardell
Titans cornerback Denard Walker should match up well against Jags receiver Jimmy Smith. So, if McCardell has a big day, Jacksonville will have a big advantage. Samari Rolle should be matched up with McCardell. Rolle made a leaping, game-saving interception against McCardell when the teams first met this season.

Edge: Titans
Jacksonville is favored, but the pressure is on Tennessee because the Titans have beaten the Jaguars twice and the St. Louis Rams once. From a confidence standpoint, the Titans must feel good about this game, and they will not be awed by the situation. The Titans are very familiar with the Jaguars, and going to natural grass will be good for them. They already have won once in Jacksonville.

Buffalo was the toughest puzzle for the Titans offense to figure out. It looked like they felt better against the Colts defense. Against Jacksonville, the Titans believe they have an advantage with their tight ends, Frank Wycheck and Jackie Harris, against the Jaguars safeties. The only way Tennessee wins is if McNair has a big day throwing the football, and I believe he will because he will be more comfortable. The last time the Titans and the Jaguars met, McNair threw a career-high five touchdown passes. One concern for Tennessee must be George's tendency to put the ball on the ground. He fumbled twice against Buffalo and once at a critical time against Indianapolis.

I felt the winner of the Buffalo-Tennessee game would represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and I still believe that. It will be more like a 20-19 game than a 41-14 game. The Titans feel like they can play with anybody. Despite the easy victory for Jacksonville, Mark Brunell still looked ginger on his injured left knee. Tennessee put him out of the game the last time. I don't know if Jacksonville answered any questions at all last week because Miami was so bad. The Jaguars still have to figure out how good they are.

Tampa Bay at St. Louis
Sunday, 4:15 p.m. ET, Fox

Matchup to watch: Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz vs. Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin
This game will be a chess match for the coaches. It's scheme against scheme because both coaches have athletes. The question will be, who can come up and create the opportunity to make a big play? They will need to come up with more than one. I promise you the Rams will try to get on the board in a hurry, as they did against Minnesota. The Rams scored 14 points in the first quarter despite possessing the ball for only 2½ minutes.

The Rams offense will try to spread out the Bucs defense. Because Kiffin likes to play a lot of two-deep coverage -- corners up and safeties back -- they won't be able to do that against the formations that Martz will run. The Rams get the ball off quickly. The Bucs won't sack quarterback Kurt Warner much, but they will need to at least knock the ball in the air -- rush and swat the ball. If the Bucs get a shot at Warner, they'd better make the tackle. If they don't, they will give up a big play.

Stat to watch: Shaun King's passing yards
Not yards after the catch; just yards passing. King must throw for at least 250 yards, either by necessity or by design. Running the football against St. Louis won't be good enough for the Bucs. St. Louis wants a shootout; the Bucs must come up with big plays. The Rams will blitz King because they did it successfully against Jeff George -- with four Pro Bowlers on the offensive line. King doesn't throw the ball well or down the field.

Darkhorse player: Bucs WR Jacquez Green
He is one of the players who must have a big game for Tampa Bay. He is the Bucs' best home-run hitter on the outside, other than Warrick Dunn. Tampa Bay's receivers need to be the difference and make plays.

Edge: Rams
Simply, the Rams have an offense that can score points; Tampa Bay doesn't. St. Louis brings a ton of speed. As fast as Tampa Bay is defensively, the Bucs will have problems on the turf. The turf favors Warrick Dunn, but not Mike Alstott.

The Bucs have no weapons to score points. Their receivers aren't big or terribly fast, and their quarterback is a rookie. The Bucs won't win by scoring 14 points like last week. If they do, I would be totally shocked. If the Bucs ever got an offense, they could well be the next dynasty in football.

This is as big a mismatch as I have seen in playoff competition for a long time. I would expect the Rams to win by a fair amount. If the Bucs win, it should be considered one of the greatest upsets in playoff history. Warner could throw three or four interceptions in the game. But unless they are run back for touchdowns, St. Louis still won't be hurt.