Guide to this week's games

OK Niners fans...here's who to root for this week:

Vikings at Packers:

Both teams share the same record as the Niners: 6-8. Root for the Vikings, as the Niners hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Minnesota but do not against Green Bay. Plus, it's always fun to root against the Pack. This game will be like the good ol' days (kind of), when it was actually important to root against Green Bay (it was usually for the No. 1 seed then...now, it's for a terribly flawed team to squeak into a wild card spot). A Vikings win would be an upset, given Minnesota will play a rookie QB in his first NFL on the Frozen Tundra. Go Vikes Go.

Panthers at Falcons:

Root for 6-8 Carolina against 7-7 Atlanta. A Falcons win would put Atlanta in the driver's seat for the last wild card spot. A division loss hurts them when it comes down to tie-breakers (neither the Falcons or the Panthers played the Niners this year)...and, of course, we'd rather have two teams at 7-8 than one at 8-7 and one at 6-9. A Panthers win would be an upset, given Carolina's QB woes; playing at Atlanta is never easy.

Saints at Giants:

Root for New Orleans. NO has the division locked up so a Saints win means nothing for the Niners playoff hopes. The Giants, however, might be the biggest threat to the Niners taking a wild card spot...they are 7-7 right now but have two loseable games remaining on their schedule...New Orleans should be mad after a horrific loss at home to the Redskins last week. I hope Brees and Bush show up to send NYC into a tizzy. The Giants might explode with another loss and totally tank the last week of the season...here's hoping for a Giant Explosion.

Eagles at Cowboys:

This game doesn't really matter, as I think Cowboys will win the division and the Eagles will take one of the wild cards...remember, the Eagles beat the Niners earlier this season, so they have that head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. Since the Eagles are 8-6, they are going to beat out SF even if they lose their last two and the Niners win both. Root for many injuries...just kidding.

Chargers at Seahawks:

If the Chargers beat Seattle, we can throw all of our attention to Tampa next week (assuming a SF win), as the division will be at stake. More than any other game this week, tune into Seattle and root hard for LT to go nuts.

Arizona at San Francisco:

If SF can't beat the Cards, there's no sense rooting against anyone.