It seems a bit elementary to say that good teams usually beat bad teams. But that simple axiom was written in neon this week.

 

Between Thursday night and the early Sunday games, the schedule-makers served up seven contests between winning teams and losing teams. The winners won all seven. The Cowboys and Raiders threw a wrench in things later with upsets over Indy and San Diego.

 

They weren't all easy – New Orleans stuggled in Cincy, and the Bears certainly could have lost to the Lions. But the end was the same: good team won, bad team lost.

 

In the wake of Week 13, we get another step closer to an 11-5 NFC team with legitimate Super Bowl talent that will miss the playoffs. The Giants, Eagles and Packers are 8-4, the Bears and Saints are 9-3 and the Falcons are 10-2 – with only five spots between the six of them.

 

Gonna be a good four weeks of football. Bring it on.

 

Here are 10 observations from the Sunday action.

 

1.The Chargers might not recover from this one. And with a loss next week at home against the 8-4 Chiefs, it's over for the Chargers, period. With a two-game deficit and a loss to the Chiefs already on the books, that game is definitely must-win territory.

 

San Diego's 28-13 loss at home to Oakland Sunday was no fluke. While they've lost more than their share of games thanks to strange bounces, they lost this game because the Raiders were better. Oakland held the Chargers to 3-for-10 on third downs and sacked Philip Rivers four times. And the Chargers didn't even try to run (eight attempts, 21 yards, zero first downs on the ground).

 

But it was the San Diego defense that really let down the team, allowing 251 yards on the ground on a remarkable 52 attempts. Oakland's play-calling balance (16 pass attempts against those 52 runs) looked more like something you'd see from a high school team than a pro team. But it worked: Oakland outgained San Diego 368-286, converted 8 of 15 on third down and all four red-zone opportunities, and dominated despite 13 penalties for 105 yards.

 

Rivers has carried San Diego all year. But when you lose the time of possession battle nearly 2-to-1 (38:39 to 21:21), you're not giving your QB a shot to win.

 

2. The Manning brothers have been playing like their dad lately – and that's not good. Archie Manning was a gutsy QB in the NFL. But he also threw 173 interceptions in 3,642 attempts – about one for every 21.1 attempts. Compare those picks with his 125 career TD passes.

 

His sons are trying to emulate him of late. But they don't have the excuse of playing in a defensive-oriented league for a terrible franchise.

 

Eli and Peyton both played like rookies Sunday, throwing terrible interceptions and failing to play well against suspect secondaries. Eli's Giants still dominated the Redskins, 31-7, thanks to an offense that overcame his mistakes by dominating on the ground (Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs combined for 200 yards and 4 TD).

 

Peyton's Colts lost at home to the Cowboys, 38-35, in overtime. The Colts couldn't run (40 yards), but Manning's four picks, two returned for TDs, sunk the team.

 

Over their last six weeks, Eli has thrown nine interceptions and Peyton has thrown 15. That's 24 between them in 12 games – an incredible number in this QB-friendly league, especially for the Oreo Double Stuf tag-team champs.

 

3. Oh, by the way, the Colts should still win the AFC South. Seen the Titans lately? They're playing as poorly as anyone right now, with just six points combined in their last two games (including Sunday's 17-6 loss at home to Jacksonville).

 

And the Colts get to face them twice in the last four weeks of the season. Colts-Titans play Thursday night and in the season finale.

 

The 6-6 Colts also host division-leading Jacksonville (7-5) in Week 15, and travel to Oakland in Week 16. Even as poorly as the Colts are playing, that's a very soft slate. Considering the experience and pedigree on Indy's side, they can still go 9-7 and maybe 10-6.

 

It will all probably boil down to the home game vs. the Jags on December 19. Count Peyton Manning out if you want, but when his bizarre interception string comes to an end (which it almost certainly will), you're left with a team that can move the ball on anyone and is playing inferior opposition.

 

4. The secondary is the primary reason the Chiefs are in position to win the AFC West. The Chiefs offense was impossibly inefficient vs. Denver. They ran up 21 first downs, 359 yards and turned the ball over only once. Usually that kind of production is enough to get you 20-30 points. On Sunday, it was good for only a closer-than-it-should-have been 10-6 home win against the dysfunctional 3-9 Broncos.

 

Kansas City's defense needs big efforts from pass-rusher Tamba Hali and the secondary to cover for some holes elsewhere, and they got them vs. Denver.

 

Kyle Orton contributed with a sloppy, errant effort, but it was the combo of Hali and good coverage that limited Orton to 9 of 28 (32.1%) for 117 yards, 4.2 YPA, 0 TD, 0 INT and a 46.3 rating.

 

In particular, Orton's 11 passes to Brandon Lloyd resulted in just two completions – a heck of an effort for the Chiefs, especially with No. 1 CB Brandon Flowers playing hurt.

 

Kansas City entered the game merely mediocre (15th) in Defensive Passer Rating (83.03). But they'll get a big boost after stifling a passer who entered the game with more passing yards than any other QB in football (3,370). Orton dropped to fourth by the end of the day (3,487).

 

5. The 9-3 Bears can still go from first to frustrated. Chicago didn't play a particularly brilliant game in Detroit Sunday, eking out a 24-20 win against a lousy team playing with its third-string quarterback (Drew Stanton). And the Bears have turned in back-to-back subpar defensive efforts (they beat the Eagles, 31-26 last week, but nearly blew a big lead).

 

However, they looked very good on offense for the second straight week (117.0 rating for Jay Cutler, 28 carries for 114 yards on the ground). Combine that effort with the high bar the defense set early in the year and with great special teams? That's an awful lot for one team to have going for it, especially with a head coach that's already led the team to one Super Bowl.

 

But there's a catch!

 

The Bears are still not a lock for the playoffs. In their final four games, they host two AFC powers, the Patriots and Jets, visit division rival Minnesota (which exploded with Tarvaris Jackson at QB Sunday) and close the season at 8-4 Green Bay. You could argue that they won't be favored any of those games. With a 1-3 finish in that crowded NFC field, and they'll most likely be on the outside looking in at the playoffs.

 

6. Someone will get to at least 8-8 in the NFC West and the NFL will avoid a playoff nightmare. The Rams and Seahawks both did what playoff teams are supposed to do Sunday – they beat bad opponents by double-digits. St. Louis stifled the Cardinals in Arizona, 19-6; Seattle dominated Carolina at home, 31-14.

 

As a result, both teams are 6-6 and scheduled to square off in a Week 17 game guaranteed to produce one win for somebody there (barring a tie). It looks like Jon Gruden's (and our) nightmare scenario, in which a 7-9 team hosts a playoff game, will be avoided this year.

 

Of course, neither team looked great against the two worst teams in the NFL; St. Louis couldn't solve Arizona's secondary, while the Seahawks needed special teams and Carolina ineptitude to beat the Panthers (who actually led 14-0 in the second quarter).

 

But both teams flashed solid defense, especially the Rams, who made the Cardinals look even worse than usual passing the ball (11-for-29, two INTs). The St. Louis-Seattle Week 17 showdown might not be great football, but at least it will mean something: a division title and home playoff game will probably be on the line.

 

7. Aaron Rodgers' MVP candidacy got stronger. Another week, another quarterback who is doing some unbelievable things on the football field.

 

Green Bay's Rodgers was surgical in the team's 34-16 win over the 49ers: 21 of 30 (70.0%), 298 yards, 9.9 YPA, 3 TD, 0 INT and a 135.1 passer rating.

 

With his fourth straight game completing at least 70 percent of his throws, and his fourth straight game with a passer rating over 114, Rodgers is officially the hottest player in the league. And all four games came against NFC opponents that were everyone's picks for the postseason back in August: Dallas, Minnesota, Atlanta and San Francisco.

 

Rodgers has also run the ball 24 times for 152 yards and a TD over that span. And with 284 yards on the ground this year, he actually charts on the league-wide rushing list (50th). Despite the lack of a running game, he hasn't thrown an interception since the first half in Minnesota back on Oct. 24.

 

With Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan struggling Sunday, it could come down to Rodgers vs. Tom Brady for the MVP honor.

 

8. The Redskins might have been better with Jim Zorn/Jason Campbell than they are with Mike Shanahan/Donovan McNabb. The Redskins (5-7) were destroyed by the Giants 31-7 Sunday and their season is rapidly disintegrating.

 

Washington's terribleness has been underreported this year, mostly because they somehow managed to pick up five wins. Don't expect them to win many more – they've been doing nothing right all year, and the curse of Dan Snyder appears to be alive and well.

 

Against the Giants, only a fourth quarter of garbage time prevented this from being another game where the Redskins surrendered 400+ yards on defense while futilely chucking the ball all over the field on offense.

 

And the sight of a healthy-enough Albert Haynesworth sitting in a camouflage team jacket on the bench couldn't sit well with Redskins fans ... especially while the Giants were dominating Washington's defensive line.

 

The Redskins came into the week in the bottom 10 in our Offensive and Defensive Hog Indexes as well as in Passer Rating Differential. Failing to make an impact in all three indicators is pretty much the measure of a bad team. How these problems came to pass under Shanahan's supposedly stern watch is a question for him to answer.

 

9. It's as if Arizona's run of success never happened. The Cardinals (3-9)  looked pathetic (again) in a 19-6 home loss to the rejuvenated Rams on Sunday. It was another sign that the brief glory days for this terrible organization are long gone.

 

Imagine if you will that the architect of those glory days, Kurt Warner, decided in the summer of 2005 to sign with, say, the Texans. Houston would have been in the playoffs a couple of times (at least), and Arizona would have had an unbroken run of futility to rival the Lions. Remember, the Cardinals had won just two playoff games in their entire history (since 1920) before Warner led them to four postseason wins, and the club's only Super Bowl appearance, in the space of two seasons (2008-09).

 

Thanks to Warner (who retired after the 2009 season), GM Rod Graves got a four-year extension this past year. He earned it by letting most of his best players leave town and by putting a non-competitive team on the field in 2010.

 

Their last five first-round draft picks, meanwhile, have produced QB Matt Leinart (who was so bad that he couldn't start for this team), tackle Levi Brown (last seen getting every Arizona QB killed), Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (who has taken a huge step back this year), Beanie Wells (backing up Tim Hightower) and DT Dan Williams (still not starting).

 

On Sunday, they played all three of their terrible quarterbacks, and all of them showed their lack of ability. Was Matt Leinart really worse than all of these guys?

 

10. If BrettFavre doesn't return, it would be a fitting end to his career. Scrambling out of the pocket on gimpy legs, trying to keep a play alive. Getting hit from behind and crushed to the turf, leaving him writhing in pain. The ball launching straight up in the air only to be picked off by Bills CB Drayton Florence, as the home fans look on in disbelief.

 

Favre was a play or two away from closing his career out in the Super Bowl. Instead, it might end on the first drive of a garbage game between the disappointing Vikings and the lousy Bills. Minnesota won, 38-14. It was their best game of the year; and they did it without the Old Man.

 

Leslie Frazier has already anointed BrettFavre as the starter if he's still healthy. We don't know what he's thinking. Vikings fans at this point must hope that No. 4 isn't healthy. Tarvaris Jackson wasn't very good either, throwing three interceptions that would have fit right into Favre's 2010 resume. But even with the mistakes, the Vikings offense suddenly displayed an explosive spark missing all year. Minnesota scored 28 first-half points and 38 for the game. The team had not scored more than 27 points in a game all year.

 

Letting Jackson sink or swim the rest of the way will go a long way toward determining the team's future.

 

If BrettFavre does come back ... ugh.