Patriots hunt for the playoffs: important games today

There's 4 important games to keep your eyes on, gang:

1. 49ers @ Miami (FOX: 1:00) - The 49ers managed a win against NY last week, so let's keep our fingers crossed that they still have it in them and can hand Miami a loss.  Remember, Miami has a better conference record than us, so they would win a tiebreaker for either the AFC East championship OR a wildcard spot.
2. Bills @ Jets (CBS: 1:00) - Buffalo is all but out of the race, but they can influence our standings by handing a beatdown to His Favre-ness.  I am not necessarily a Favre hater, but the media and fan fawning has got to stop.  I mean, who on earth puts Brett friggin' Favre number one in the Pro Bowl list?  I can understand a Jets fan displaying their homerism, but just because the guy does Wrangler commercials doesn't mean he deserves a Pro Bowl nod.
3. Steelers @ Ravens (CBS: 4:15) - Baltimore has the wildcard 2 spot almost locked up IF they can continue playing well.  Today is a tough one against the NFL's toughest defense.  In my mind, defenses win games in December and Pitt has a clear advantage here.
4. Patriots @ Raiders (CBS: 4:15) - Duh!!  Of course it's important.  Right, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it.  We have to win out.  stI'm not saying playoff hopes would be dashed if we didn't, but it would be a lot harder.  Our playoff hopes are really not in our hands and any losses on our part would require other teams to lose more games than 1.

Summary: In order of importance, Pats beat Raiders, 49ers beat Miami, Bills beat Jets, and Pitt beat Ravens.