After a week hiatus here is the return of the Day After Yesterday.

1. Playoff Picture Starting to Take Shape- The New England Patriots after their romp on the Chicago Bears have become the first team to secure a playoff spot, and can win their division with a win or a Jets loss next week. Atlanta came off a huge win yesterday as well, and if the N.Y. Giants loose to the Vikings today then the Falcons will also clinch a playoff spot. The Jacksonville Jaguars had an impressive game against the Raiders, and can wrap up their division next Sunday with a win over the Indianapolis Colts. After looking despair in the face after loosing important games last week the 49ers and Chargers have rallied to now become the favorites to win their respective divisions. Putting a more important spin on their Thursday night match up. Funny thing is, with the Rams and Seahawks loss yesterday, the 49ers can loose Thursday to the Chargers, but if they beat the Rams and Cardinals and finish in a three way tie for first with the Rams and Seahawks at 7-9, they would win the division due to tie breakers.

2. Jets Play Dirty- One week ago they came into Monday Night in first place of their division and #1 in all the AFC, after two back to back losses to division rivals, and if the Ravens beat the Texans tonight then the Jets will tumble down to the number 6 spot on the AFC roster. And with hard games in the next two weeks against the Steelers and Bears, the Jets could possibly miss the playoffs all together in a very competitive AFC. But what cold be worse news than that for the Jets? how about team trainers playing dirty and giving your team more negative drama than it needs right now? On a Dolphins punt Cornerback Nolan Carroll ran down the sidelines and forced out of bounds by the Jets, he raced down the out of bounds line running towards the ball when a Jets strength and conditioning coach named Sal Alosi stuck his knee out and tripped Nolan on the sidelines. Nolan was shaken up and hurt on the play but walked off under his own power. I know this is a frustrating time for the team right now having dropped two very important divisional games in a row and have their entire post season in question, you want to do everything you can to win, but that is just uncalled for. Let the players duke it out, taking cheap shots from the side lines like that, even against a division rival is unprofessional, and has no place in the NFL. The Strenth and conditioning coach Sal Alosi was rushed out of the stadium by the Jets security team well before reporters could catch up to him for comments on the act.

3. Mother Nature 1, Vikings 0- Yesterday I posted about the snow collapsing the roof of the Metradome stadium in Minnesota (If you haven't seen the footage I strongly encourage you to do so. It is awesome!) The result was a rescheduling of the Vikings vs. Giants game which will be played in Detroit this evening. Vikings officials are optimistic that they will be able to fix the roof in time for the Vikings final home game next week against the Bears, but even that is questionable and the Viking might become road warriors the final 4 weeks of the regular season. But what this also means is that Quarterback Brett Favre, who said that there was no way he could have played if the game was held yesterday, got an extra 30 hours of rest to try and bounce back and continue his streak of consecutive starts. His record is currently at 297, and he's looking at hitting 300 to end his career with. But even Favre admits that with the extra day to rest him starting is doubtful at best. And he refuses to dress up, take one snap then sit out the rest of the game to try and continue his record. The Lions and Ford Field are honoring ticket holders for the Vikings/Giants game today, and for those people who cannot make it to the game, the Vikings have already promised a full refund to those ticket holders. As to the rest of the seats? Any unclaimed seat for the game, the Vikings will give away for free, first come first serve.

SHOUT OUT PLAYERS-
Darren McFadden (RB Oakland Raiders)- Even with a loss yesterday to the Jaguars, McFadden had another great day. 16 rushes for 123 yards, 3 catches for 86 yards, and three Touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 rec) the Raiders still have a shot to win the AFC West, and will lean on McFadden to help win it with this kind of play.

LaMarr Woodley (LB Pittsburgh Steelers)- While Troy Polamalu's INT for a TD was the clip that was on Sportscenter all day yesterday, LaMarr Woodley had the more important INT returned for a TD as it was thee final nail on the Bengals coffin for the game. Woodley also had 5 solo tackles and two sacks in the game to round out an amazing defensive effort.