Editor's note: ESPN senior NFL writer John Clayton's weekly "First And 10" column takes you around the league with a look at the best game of the week followed by primers for 10 other games to get you ready for Sunday and Monday. Here's his look at Week 16.

	Kurt Warner returned to form last Sunday with a strong performance against the Vikings.

First ... St. Louis at Tampa Bay: If this is a repeat of the type of game in the NFC Championship last season, the Rams are in trouble. As they proved last Sunday whipping Minnesota, the Rams thrive on energy, particularly at home. Low-scoring games provide energy to the defensive players, and that is where the Rams have to concede significant talent. What the Rams have to do is what the Vikings usually do in the Metrodome, score early and score often on the Bucs. The Bucs rank 30th in passing offense, and lately, it's a struggle to get Shaun King's net yardage numbers over 100. The big changes in the Bucs offense since the championship game is that they won't have fullback Mike Alstott for this game but they have added tall receiver Keyshawn Johnson. The key for the Rams defense is getting cornerback Todd Lyght to matchup against Johnson. What helps the Rams in this game is last week they worked against the zone schemes of the Vikings that are identical to the Bucs. Expect quarterback Kurt Warner to throw a lot in the middle of the field to affect the Bucs zone.

And 10. Indianapolis at Miami: The Colts are desperate and that's not good news for the Dolphins. First, the Dolphins probably will have to go with backup Damon Huard because of Jay Fiedler's left shoulder problems. Second, the Colts come in with defensive confidence following a nine-sack performance Monday against the Bills. Of the two Dolphins quarterback, Huard tends to hold the ball a little longer and take the sacks. The fun will be watching the Dolphins secondary -- perhaps the best in football this season -- trying to contain Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. The Dolphins are feeling a little pressure because they know if they lose a game, they could lose the AFC East to the Jets, who beat them twice. They need a huge performance from Huard if this becomes a high-scoring type of game. The Dolphins offensive line will have to overpower the lighter Colts defense so that halfback Lamar Smith can get to his targeted 100-yard day.

9. Detroit at New York Jets: The loser of this game will be considered in free-fall and in danger of not making the playoffs. The Lions are falling because of injuries. Quarterback Charlie Batch is struggling with his rib injury and isn't consistent passing the ball. The other problem is in the secondary in which they've lost cornerback Bryant Westbrook and safeties Kurt Schultz and Corwin Brown because of injuries. Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde is moving around well despite a groin injury. His mission is to attack the depleted secondary and get the running game started again. Halfback Curtis Martin was stuffed last Sunday night by the Raiders, which was a little bit of a surprise. The Lions will focus on testing the run-stopping ability of the Jets after they lost their most dependable end, Rick Lyle, for the season. If the Lions lose, they can forget about the playoffs. If the Jets, who face the Ravens in their season-finale, lose, they may be in the same position.

8. Green Bay at Minnesota: Brett Favre, for whatever reason, has had troubles in the Metrodome. Still, he will want to prove a point against the struggling Vikings defense, which was exposed again last Sunday by the Rams. The Vikings don't feel any pressure yet because they are close to clinching homefield advantage. The Vikings fell to 23rd in the defensive stats following their 40-29 loss to the Rams. The Vikings don't expect a repeat of the Rams game because they don't figure they will be down 14-0 after two defensive possessions. Normally, their offense is good enough to grab the lead and let their powerful offensive line wear down defenses. That's why Robert Smith has been so successful this year. The offensive line rebounded from the free-agent losses of Jeff Christy and Randall McDaniel and had great seasons. It will also be interesting to see how well halfback Ahman Green does against the Vikings defense. With 940 yards filling in for injured Dorsey Levens, Green could go over the 1,000-yard mark Sunday and give him the chance to challenge for the starting job next year.

7. Washington at Pittsburgh: Two institutions are crumbling Saturday: Three Rivers Stadium and the Redskins. They start taking the wrecking ball to Three Rivers following this game. Redskins owner Dan Snyder doesn't know what to do with his $100 million disappointment. The Cowboys used basically one running play -- an isolation play run into the middle of the defense -- to whip the Redskins last week and take away their will. While the Steelers will be emotional to close their home, the Redskins will just be going through the motions trying to get to the end of the regular season. That's unfortunate for interim coach Terry Robiskie, who didn't get a fair shake taking over the team after Snyder made the situation a circus with the hiring of Pepper Rodgers as a vice president. There will be a lot of memories in the Steelers' home finale. Many of the greats of the Steelers' past will be there. Ceremonies will be held one hour after the game with all the players involved. The question facing the Redskins is whether the players minds will stay in the game.

	Mike Anderson is tied for second in the AFC with 13 touchdowns.

6. Denver at Kansas City: The Chiefs do indeed have something to play for even though the playoffs are not possible. They hate the Broncos and would like nothing better than killing their chances of winning the division. It's an interesting matchup. The Broncos, who loved to pass in the John Elway days, love to run the ball, while the Chiefs, who played Marty Ball ground football under former coach Marty Schottenheimer, have become a passing team under quarterback Elvis Grbac. If the Chiefs can hit some pass plays early and force the Broncos out of the running game, it might get interesting. The Chiefs biggest task is stopping rookie Mike Anderson, who is second in the AFC with 1,353 yards. He's also rushed for 13 touchdowns. The Chiefs rank 21st stopping the run. It's likely that the Broncos will be a wild-card team, but if they keep winning, they put the pressure on the Raiders, whom they trail by one game and can win a tie-breaker because they swept them in the regular-season series.

5. Atlanta at New Orleans: The Saints can really choke the playoff chances of the Rams if they can keep their composure against the uninspired Falcons. A win on Sunday by the Saints would give them the NFC West title if the Rams lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. It would also give them insurance that they could lose next Sunday's season-finale against the Rams in the Superdome and still win the division title. Generating excitement in New Orleans is the possible return of halfback Ricky Williams next week. Terry Allen gave the team a big lift by rushing for 80 yards last Sunday against San Francisco. Allen picked the Saints over a couple of other teams because he wanted to make the playoffs. The Saints can also expect to add to their sack numbers (58) going against a Falcons team that has inexperienced Doug Johnson as the starting quarterback. The Falcons have been victimized for 53 sacks.

4. Oakland at Seattle: The Raiders figure to run the ball against the NFL's worst defense. Their only question is that they may not have enough runners. Tyrone Wheatley has two sore ankles and a broken finger. Napoleon Kaufman, Jon Ritchie and Randy Jordan are all banged up. That will force Rich Gannon to run around more and make plays, but that shouldn't be any problem. The Seahawks don't match up well against the Raiders, who have blown them out in the pre-season and once so far in the regular season. As if the Seahawks problems on the defensive line aren't bad enough, the Seahawks have lost defensive end Lamar King for their final two games and defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy is playing with a torn ligament in a thumb. The weather is expected to be cold and possibly rainy for this Saturday AFC West game. The Raiders don't mind the cold. Rainy, though, could be a problem.

3. New York Giants at Dallas: How can the Giants lose? The Cowboys enter with a quarterback, Anthony Wright, who won't be asked to throw many passes against the Giants defense. The Giants can clinch the NFC East with a win, and the Sunday Night exposure will be good, too. The Giants defense continues to jell at the right time. They rank sixth in the defensive stats and rank second stopping the run. With Wright not concentrating on passing the ball, all the Cowboys have left to do is run the ball, which will be tough. Being on the road won't be easy for the Giants, but they know the reward and should respond.

2. New England at Buffalo: The Bills are a mess. Their defense is down four starters and offensive players are pointing fingers for their disappointing performances of late. Quarterback Rob Johnson continues to take way too many sacks because he's holding onto the ball too long. What the Bills have to show over the last two games is pride and that shouldn't be a problem. The Patriots continue to use more and more young players but don't seem to be getting any better. It's hard to believe that the Patriots, despite having Drew Bledsoe as their starting quarterback, rank 26th in total offense. They rank 20th passing the ball. That's horrible.

1. Baltimore at Arizona: There are starting to be doubts in Arizona that Dave McGinnis is going to keep his head coaching job because the Cardinals haven't been competitive in recent games. The Ravens, meanwhile, come into this game looking for a shutout. Their defense is the master of the three-and-out, forcing offenses to come to the bench after three plays and a punt. Jamal Lewis figures to rush for over 100 yards against a defensive line not capable of stopping anyone. Trent Dilfer should add to his lofty passing numbers of late against a defense that can't pressure anyone. The question is whether no-shows outnumbers spectators in Arizona.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.