New England, the top seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record, and New Orleans, No. 3 in the NFC, haven’t lost in the second half of the schedule. Like Green Bay (15-1), both have dynamic, sometimes unstoppable offenses led by magnificent quarterbacks, bolstered by a deep and dangerous group of receivers.

All three also have so-so defenses that often require Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady to win shootouts. That’s a difficult way to prosper in the postseason, particularly when playing against a rugged, versatile defense such as the 49ers, Ravens and Texans possess.

“A lot of it is working on what we need to work on; working on things that have been a problem for us, that if they come up again we need to handle better,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, not mentioning in particular a penchant for falling into deep holes. New England rallied from 17-0 and 21-0 deficits to win its past two games.

Remember, also, that New England has lost its past three postseason games, including at home to the Ravens and Jets the past two years.

Behind Brees’ record-setting performances, the Saints soared past all eight opponents at home, but if they can handle the Lions next Saturday night in the Superdome, then they must head to San Francisco. And if they get by the formidable Niners, who rode a stingy, big-play defense to a 13-3 mark, a date at potentially frigid Lambeau Field is likely.

That is, if the Giants don’t start partying like it’s 2007. They were seeded fifth that year, but closed the regular season with a close loss to unbeaten New England. Then the Giants knocked off division winners Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay before shocking the Patriots for the championship.

New York won three of its last four, including impressive defensive efforts in wins over the Jets and Cowboys to grab the NFC East title. Defense was an issue for much of the season, but with the pass rush suddenly reborn, the Giants can be dangerous.

“Different guys, different teams. I’d love to have the same ending as the ‘07 team,” Giants guard Chris Snee said. “We certainly have the capability of doing that, as we have shown. I’m happy just to be in the playoffs. We’ll take it from there. I don’t spend too much time reminiscing about that glorious time in our life.”

Baltimore, like New Orleans and Green Bay, went 8-0 at home and is an entirely different team on the road (4-4). Still, with some help from outside — ironically, the AFC North rival Steelers are the most likely to provide it — the Ravens might not have to leave the Inner Harbor to get to Indianapolis in February.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In theory, the Green Bay Packers’ group of receivers is deep and talented enough to make up for the loss of one player — even one as good as Greg Jennings.

It just didn’t look that way in Sunday’s loss at Kansas City.
Tight end Jermichael Finley dropped passes, and he wasn’t the only player who struggled to hold onto the ball. Jordy Nelson was relatively quiet after a couple of head-scratching offensive pass interference calls went against him. And when Aaron Rodgers needed to make big plays at the end of the game, nobody was open.

“We have to be on top of our game, and we weren’t in Kansas City,” Nelson said. “That’s all that matters.”

Jennings sprained his left knee in the Packers’ Dec. 11 victory over Oakland, and is not likely to return until the playoffs. He made a brief appearance in the locker room Thursday and appeared to be walking without difficulty, making a couple of moves to avoid reporters.

The Packers have a chance to wrap up home-field advantage in the NFC with a victory over Chicago on Sunday night, but they’ll likely need a better performance from their receivers to beat the Bears.

Rodgers acknowledged the offense was out of rhythm against the Chiefs.

“I think it’s us not executing and making the plays we expect to make and them playing good defense,” Rodgers said. “So all offenses are aided by a good rhythm, keeping drives going, converting on third downs, being good in the red zone. We just didn’t do those things on Sunday and they controlled the football, controlled the clock and the urgency just wasn’t there when we were on offense and we didn’t make the plays.”

Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said it’s too simplistic to say the Packers’ struggles were simply a case of the Chiefs being able to spend more attention covering everybody else with Jennings out.

“When you watch the film, there’s more to it than that,” Philbin said. “I thought at times, we had guys open that maybe the protection didn’t allow us to get to. At times, our protection was very good and we didn’t get guys open, so everybody thought, `God, the o-line got their (butts) kicked.’ Usually in football, it’s never that cut and dried.”

And while the dropped passes are beginning to mount for Finley this season, Philbin fully expects him to bounce back.
“Obviously there’s a couple relatively easy catches that he missed the other day, but we had other guys drop the ball as well,” Philbin said. “There’s no magic formula. He’s got good hands.”

Nelson, meanwhile, acknowledged that a pair of early interference calls changed the way he played Sunday.

“It affects you because you’re out there playing the game the way you’ve always played,” Nelson said. “So when you get two flags, especially as quickly as I did back-to-back like that, you kind of have to change something, because obviously what I was doing was incorrect. You have to adjust to the way the game is being officiated and move forward. I don’t think I was ever in the situation again with the back-shoulder throw the rest of the game. But it’s part of the game and you’ve got to adjust.”

And now for a special comment….

Packers fans received quite a scare during last Sunday’s game against Oakland as All-Pro receiver Greg Jennings went down with a knee sprain, Green Bay escaped disaster when an MRI determined that Jennings had not torn his A-C-L which would have ended his season…

So with the Packers on the brink of clinching home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, is the quest for perfection worth possible injury to their best players, thus potentially ruining another Super Bowl bid?

I say, yes…

The final three weeks begin with a road game at struggling Kansas City, followed by back-to-back home games against Chicago and Detroit on Christmas night and New Year’s Day. You would think there is no way the Packers lose to a Chiefs team with nothing to play for, then you have Da Bears!, well their season is in shambles after losing both Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, and the Lions, well Detroit has not won at Lambeau Field in twenty years….

Three games that the Packers should win, so a perfect 16-0 regular season is definitely within their grasp, a win Sunday over the Chiefs locks up the number one seed meaning the road to Indy will go through Titletown…

Is 16-0 truly worth it? I have been enamored with the Packers pursuit of perfection, yet after watching Jennings hobble off the field on Sunday, I must admit that I began to waver in my beliefs…

Jennings is Aaron Rodgers favorite target, number-12 would be the first to admit that number-85 makes everyone around him better… Jennings caught two touchdowns in last year’s Super Bowl victory over Pittsburgh, the other TD went to Jordy Nelson, it’s no coincidence that number-87 is enjoying a breakthrough season for the Packers in 2011….

Head coach Mike McCarthy said after beating the Giants two weeks ago and again this past Sunday against the Raiders that you can’t play football scared, that his players need to put their ‘big boy’ pants on and win football games. That certainly doesn’t sound like a coach that is going to let his foot off the accelerator…

Only one team has gone unbeaten in NFL history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 2011 Green Bay Packers would love to join that exclusive party, listening to veteran cornerback Charles Woodson, the only way to top last year’s Super Bowl championship is to repeat with perfection… I agree…

Sure the Packers dodged a bullet with the injury to Jennings, he will be back in time for the playoffs, but if Aaron Rodgers is lost in these final three weeks, I think most of us would agree there won’t be a championship belt to raise in Indy on Super Sunday….

I believe these are risks the Packers are willing to take, for it was legendary coach Vince Lombardi that said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing….”

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Receiving a modest pay raise was nice. But what Graham Harrell really wanted was a sense that he had a future with the Packers.

Green Bay signed Harrell from the practice squad to the active roster Wednesday, fending off potential interest from the Buffalo Bills.

And with Packers No. 2 quarterback Matt Flynn likely to receive some free-agent offers during the offseason from teams that might give him the chance to show he’s a starter, Harrell now appears to have an inside track to becoming Aaron Rodgers’ primary backup next season.

“It shows they want to keep you around, and that’s always nice,” Harrell said. “It’s a good thing to be wanted. It was a stressful day trying to decide what’s the best situation. It’s a good thing to be wanted, and I’ve always enjoyed it and am happy to still be here.”

Rodgers was happy to see Harrell receive a shot.

“There were some conversations yesterday about his situation,” Rodgers said. “I think he has a bright future in this league. And with Matt’s status up in the air about where he’s going to be next year, I think Matt has played well enough to get some opportunities to be a starter in this league. When you’ve got a guy like Graham Harrell who’s learned the position and done some really nice things, I think he has, definitely, the potential to be my backup and then a future starter in the league.”

Before deciding between Green Bay and Buffalo, Harrell talked it over with Rodgers.

“He told me I should stay,” Harrell said. “Maybe that was a selfish reason because he and I get along so well and he’s pretty comfortable right now. I trust him, and he wouldn’t advise me in the wrong direction.”

Harrell spent a tense Tuesday night talking with his agent, Joby Branion, then ultimately had to decide between Green Bay and Buffalo.

“They were very interested,” said Harrell, who had tryouts in the Cleveland Browns’ rookie minicamps in 2009 and 2010 before landing with the Packers last year. “I don’t know what the quarterback situation is there. They didn’t say they were giving (me) a position or anything like that. They just said, ‘We want to have you here,’ and Joby said they were very interested and picked you and wanted you to come.

“Being here, it’s been too great of a place to me, and I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve been here. This is too good of an organization to leave if you have an opportunity to stay.”

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

Aaron Rodgers got the ball back with the score tied 35-all and less than a minute to go. He completed passes of 24, 27 and 18 yards in a crisp five-play drive to set up a 31-yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final snap.

The defending Super Bowl champions (12-0) won their 18th straight game and clinched a playoff berth. The Packers clinched the NFC North when Detroit lost to New Orleans.

“It was a huge drive,” said receiver Greg Jennings. “We haven’t had one like that at the end in a while. It was very quiet in the huddle, actually. You could see everybody was focused. It’s great to see what we could do at the end like that.”

Rodgers completed all four of his passes in the 58-second drive that sent the Giants (6-6) to their fourth straight loss. It started with a 24-yard laser to tight end Jermichael Finley just over the hands of rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams.

The second one covered 24 yards to Jordy Nelson down the left sideline and moved the ball to the New York 29. An 18-yard pass to Jennings two plays later moved the ball to the 12.

Rodgers, harassed by the Giants’ front four and sacked three times, finished 28 of 46 for 369 yards and four touchdowns.

The Giants tied it on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks and a 2-point conversion run by D.J. Ware on Manning’s audible with just under a minute to play.

For the Giants, everything wasn’t terrible. Dallas also lost, leaving New York a game behind the Cowboys with four to go. The teams will play twice over that span.

___

BRONCOS 35, VIKINGS 32

At Minneapolis, Tim Tebow led yet another late rally, passing for a season-best 202 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns to help the Denver Broncos win their fifth straight game.

Matt Prater kicked two field goals in the final 93 seconds for the Broncos (7-5), who moved into a first-place tie in the AFC West with a loss by the Oakland Raiders. Christian Ponder set Minnesota’s single-game rookie record with 381 yards passing, including a pair of touchdowns to Percy Harvin, but his sideline throw with 1:33 remaining was intercepted by Andre Goodman to set up the winner.

Harvin had a career-high 156 yards for the Vikings (2-10), who lost their fourth in a row.

Demaryius Thomas caught four passes for 144 yards and both touchdowns for the Broncos, who raised their record to 6-1 since Tebow took over for Kyle Orton as the starter. Tebow completed 10 of 15 passes.

___

STEELERS 35, BENGALS 7

At Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for two touchdowns and set a team record for career completions against error-prone Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh (9-3) swept the season series from Cincinnati (7-5) for the second straight year behind a 28-point explosion in the second quarter fueled by Roethlisberger, running back Rashard Mendenhall and a 60-yard punt return for a score by Antonio Brown.

GREEN BAY (10-0) At DETROIT (7-3)
Sunday, 1 p.m., Fox
OPENING LINE – Packers by 6.5
RECORD VS. SPREAD – Green Bay 7-3; Detroit 6-3-1
SERIES RECORD – Packers lead 91-65-7
LAST MEETING – Lions beat Packers 7-3, Dec. 12, 2010.
LAST WEEK: Packers beat Buccaneers 35-26; Lions beat Panthers 49-35
PACKERS OFFENSE – OVERALL (4), RUSH (21), PASS (3)
PACKERS DEFENSE – OVERALL (30), RUSH (12), PASS (31)
LIONS OFFENSE – OVERALL (11), RUSH (22), PASS (8)
LIONS DEFENSE – OVERALL (9), RUSH (27), PASS (5)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Detroit beat Green Bay last year at Ford Field after knocking Aaron Rodgers out of the game with a concussion, starting a nine-game winning streak that ended after a 5-0 start this season. … In their 72nd Thanksgiving game, the Lions are playing the Packers for the 20th time. … Detroit has lost a franchise-record seven straight in its annual showcase – by an average of almost 23 points a game. … The defending Super Bowl champion Packers have won a franchise-record 16 straight games, including the postseason, since losing to New England on Dec. 19, 2010. … Rodgers is the first NFL player to have a 100-plus QB rating in 10 straight games in a season. … Lions QB Matthew Stafford matched a career high with five TD passes in last week’s comeback win over Carolina and is the only player in the Super Bowl era to throw that many TD passes twice in his first 23 games. … Packers CB Charles Woodson, who led Michigan to the 1997 national championship and won the Heisman Trophy, has seven INTs in nine games against Detroit. … The Lions are the NFL’s first team to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points.

This week, Packers linemen got together on their own to watch film of last year’s miserable 7-3 loss at Ford Field — an early step in their preparation for Thursday’s much-hyped game in Detroit.

The reigning Super Bowl champions are 10-0 going into a big Thanksgiving Day showcase and have been unstoppable at times on offense, but watching last year’s film was humbling.

“We were actually just watching that game, and we did not play well,” Bulaga said. “Didn’t do anything well, really. It was just a poorly played game. That may be a nice way of putting it, too.”

The Packers were forced to shuffle their offensive line on the fly in that game after an early knee injury to then-left guard Daryn Colledge. Jason Spitz replaced him, struggled, and was replaced by T.J. Lang.

The Packers couldn’t get anything going on offense, and the Lions knocked Aaron Rodgers out of the game near the end of the first half with a concussion. Backup Matt Flynn struggled, too, and a late attempt at a rally came up short.

The Packers allowed four sacks and several more quarterback hits that day while gaining only 66 yards on 20 rushes — and 25 of those yards came on a pair of runs by Rodgers.

“Let’s not take anything away from them,” Bulaga said. “They beat us, they were more physical than us. They deserved to win. We just didn’t play well enough to win that day.”

But right guard Josh Sitton dismissed suggestions that the Packers struggled because the Lions’ defensive line was superior that day.

“That’s not about them, necessarily,” Sitton said. “I’d say our fundamentals, as an offensive line, weren’t great in that game. We’ve got to start from within.”

But what about the player Sitton will line up against Thursday, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh?

“Good football player,” Sitton said. “But like I said, it’s about us.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged that watching film of last year’s game in Detroit is part of their preparation this week, but said they are far more concerned with studying what the Lions are doing on defense this year.

“It’s something we can learn from,” McCarthy said. “You pay more attention to what they’re doing on defense and the personnel matchups and the tendencies of the individuals. But, yeah, it definitely factored in the game last year.”

Detroit has 27 sacks this season, tying them for eighth-most in the NFL. While the Lions have been vulnerable to the run, they’re allowing 192.8 yards passing per game — fifth-best in the league.

“They’ve got as good a front four as you’re going to see and they rotate some guys in who can play as well, so it’s going to be important for us to control them when they’re just rushing four,” Rodgers said. “They’ve been getting after the passer really well with (Kyle) Vanden Bosch and (Cliff) Avril and they’ve got a good rush up the middle.”