Bill Parcells thinks his Dallas Cowboys are playing well right now.

Or does he?

Trying to push his team, which at 8-4 controls the NFC East, Parcells told the Cowboys this week: ``We're trying to improve as we go here and play our best football, which I think we are right this minute.''

Then, with 8-4 New Orleans coming to town Sunday night, he realized he might have told his players they already had reached a goal. So he added:

``By no means do I think we will be successful if we don't keep our nose to the grindstone. Our margin for error is not that good. I don't think we can go out there and play badly and win.''

Parcells is right. The Cowboys are playing well right now - better than anyone else in the challenged NFC. If they can get by the Saints, who lead the NFC South, they're likely to be the primary challenger to Chicago for the conference crown. And perhaps a favorite.

A win over the Saints and losses by a bunch of other teams (one of those unlikely ``if,'' ``and,'' and ``but'' scenarios) and Dallas could wrap up its division.

More important here may be playoff seeding against a team that also has a two-game lead in its division; yes, there's one of those scenarios for the Saints, too.

New Orleans has been the NFL's most pleasant surprise. With the Gulf Coast still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, the Saints are ``America's Team'' this season more than Dallas. The arrival of Drew Brees has given the Saints a top quarterback, and Reggie Bush's four touchdowns last week against San Francisco have silenced the ``what can you do for me instantly?'' types who expected Bush to play like that from the start.

Then there's coach Sean Payton, who spent the last three seasons working for Parcells. He knows what to say - without a slip of the tongue.

``It's exciting to play in games like this. When you start to win games then there will be another big game,'' he says. ``So the next thing you know, you have played in seven of the biggest games of the year, and this is an important game.''

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Some division titles could be clinched this week.

One is the AFC East, where New England gets the title if it wins in Miami and the New York Jets lose at home to Buffalo. Another is the AFC South, where Indianapolis clinches by winning in Jacksonville. In the AFC West, San Diego wins if it beats Denver at home and Kansas City loses at home to Baltimore. The Ravens can't clinch the North, but can clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Chiefs and some outside help.

Seattle can take the NFC West with a win at Arizona and a San Francisco loss at home to Green Bay. Chicago already has clinched the North.

The weekend began Thursday night, with Pittsburgh routing Cleveland 27-7.

In other games Sunday, Minnesota is at Detroit; Tennessee at Houston; Oakland at Cincinnati; Philadelphia at Washington; Atlanta at Tampa Bay; and the New York Giants at Carolina.

Chicago is at St. Louis on Monday night.

---Indianapolis (10-2) at Jacksonville (7-5)

It's been a foregone conclusion for a while that the Colts will win the AFC South. But their playoff seeding is up in the air. Despite losing two of their last three, they still have the top seed in the conference because they hold the tiebreaker (one less AFC loss) over San Diego. This is no easy assignment - the Jags, who lost 21-14 in Indy, always play the Colts tough.

Jacksonville, fighting for a wild-card spot, also is much tougher at home, where it is 5-1. The Jaguars seem to be playing better with David Garrard at quarterback, winning only their second road game of the season last week, 24-10 in Miami.

Milestone: Indy's Marvin Harrison is five catches away from 1,000 career receptions.

Denver (7-5) at San Diego (10-2)

Three weeks ago, these two were tied for the AFC West lead. Then the Chargers came from 17 points down in the third quarter to win 35-27 in Denver, convincing Mike Shanahan what he may already have known: these Broncos are not a Super Bowl team.

So rookie Jake Cutler, the quarterback of the future, is the quarterback of the present for Denver. Not surprisingly, he threw an awful interception for a Seattle touchdown in the Broncos' home loss last week.

San Diego looks like the best team in the NFL right now and LaDainian Tomlinson is two touchdowns short of Shaun Alexander's single-season record of 28, set a year ago.

Baltimore (9-3) at Kansas City (7-5)

The Ravens are in good shape for the playoffs. A win here with some other circumstances and they clinch a playoff spot. Still, losing in Cincinnati last week could cost them a first-round bye even if they win the AFC North.

The Chiefs had a bad, bad loss in Cleveland last week, giving up two late touchdowns to QB Derek Anderson, who had never taken an NFL snap, then losing in overtime. That puts them back into a wild-card muddle with a bunch of other teams, and their closing schedule includes the Ravens, Chargers and Jaguars.

New England (9-3) at Miami (5-7)

The Patriots plod along, stumbling at home last week before beating woeful Detroit. Yet New England is still on track for a decent playoff seed, especially if Indianapolis and/or San Diego stumble. We all know how dangerous the Patriots can be in the playoffs.

It's the second straight season the Dolphins got going too late. They had playoff hopes entering the season, but started 1-6. The four-game winning streak ended against Jacksonville last week, putting to rest any outside playoff chances.

New York Giants (6-6) at Carolina (6-6)

Two teams who expected more, although they are in the middle of the NFC wild-card race.

Both have injury problems, the latest being QB Jake Delhomme, who has a thumb injury on his throwing hand.

The Giants, who have lost four straight, played pretty well in a 23-20 loss to Dallas last week after blowing a 21-0 lead in Tennessee. ``We just have to do our part and start winning,'' says Eli Manning, who came out of a slump last week by going 24-of-36 for 270 yards with two TD passes.

If Delhomme doesn't go, it will be Chris Weinke at QB for Carolina, which has lost five fourth-quarter leads. Delhomme threw a critical interception in Philadelphia on Monday night just when the Panthers seemed ready to do no worse than send the game into overtime.

Chicago (10-2) at St. Louis (5-7) (Monday night)

The Bears have clinched the NFC North and would have to totally collapse not to have home-field advantage. But they're in turmoil at quarterback, where Lovie Smith is standing behind Rex Grossman despite 14 interceptions in his last seven games and a passer rating of 1.3 in last week's win over Minnesota.

The Rams have lost six of seven. Marc Bulger, the normally easygoing QB, complained last week that some of his teammates had thrown in the towel.

Buffalo (5-7) at New York Jets (7-5)

The Jets are one of the league's surprise teams and what looks like an easy finishing schedule seems to give them a good shot at a playoff berth. ``I appreciate the excitement, I appreciate the fans' excitement - I think that's great,'' says coach Eric Mangini. ``But if we lose track of the next game and get caught up in the other things that are happening, then that's when you let a game slip away.''

The Bills lost just 24-21 to the Chargers at home last week and J.P. Losman seems to be developing into an adequate quarterback on a team that can run and play some defense.

Philadelphia (6-6) at Washington (4-8)

Jeff Garcia is a major upgrade over Mike McMahon, the stopgap last season when Donovan McNabb went down. He had 312 yards passing and three touchdowns Monday night in a win over Carolina that left the Eagles in a tie with the Giants, Panthers and Falcons for the two NFC wild-card spots, and softened the hearts of cynical Philly fans.

Still, this begins a tough three-game trip by the Eagles through the NFC East, although Washington is going nowhere and trying out rookie QB Jason Campbell.

Atlanta (6-6) at Tampa Bay (3-9)

For all the criticism of Michael Vick and despite the drops by his receivers, the Falcons are still in contention. That says something about the NFC, but it also demonstrates that Vick and the Falcons remain dangerous. Rookie Jerious Norwood had 107 yards in just nine carries last week as Atlanta rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Washington.

Bruce Gradkowski, who looked pretty good as Chris Simms' stand-in early, has stumbled lately as the Bucs play out the string. Jon Gruden could switch to Luke McNown or Tim Rattay, but says he won't.

Seattle (8-4) at Arizona (3-9)

The Seahawks are in sight of clinching the NFC West, surviving despite playing a good part of the season without Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander. The defending conference champion could be a dangerous playoff team.

Arizona has won two of three under Matt Leinart; last week it was 34-20 in St. Louis. Is that hope for the future?

Oakland (2-10) at Cincinnati (7-5)

A defensive struggle? Maybe. The Bengals, traditionally challenged on defense, have allowed just seven points in wins over Cleveland and Baltimore that ended a three-game losing streak.

The Raiders managed to hold Houston to minus-5 yards passing and still lost, which is what five turnovers can do to a team. Changing offensive coordinators - from Tom Walsh to John Shoop - didn't help.

Green Bay (4-8) at San Francisco (5-7)

Despite their loss in New Orleans last week, the 49ers remain alive for a playoff berth. Sure it's the mediocre nature of the NFC, but give coach Mike Nolan (and new offensive coordinator Norv Turner) credit just for getting the franchise to mediocre.

The Packers play respectably one week, then drop back to horrible, as in their 38-10 loss to the Jets last week. Foibles of youth - 20 rookies in Green Bay.

Tennessee (5-7) at Houston (4-8)

Vince Young is making strides quickly, rallying the Titans twice in two weeks to beat ``good'' teams: the Colts and Giants. Vince is now 5-4 as a starter, by far the best of the rookie QBs.

David Carr might be envious. Yes, the Texans won in Oakland last week, but he had just 37 yards passing and just minus-5 net because he was sacked five times.

Minnesota (5-7) at Detroit (2-10)

Last week the Vikings held Chicago to 107 yards of offense, forced five turnovers and rushed for 192 yards. They still lost 23-13 because they had five turnovers of their own. So it could be rookie Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback this week - Brad Johnson has one TD pass and 10 INTs in five losses.

The Lions actually played pretty well in New England and led by eight points with less than nine minutes left. They lost by seven - they are, after all, the Lions.

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